Rent-To-Own Firms 'selling To Vulnerable People

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36389824

Worrying report from the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme.

It looks like another Wonga scandal to me....interest rates of 69.9% per annum. There appears to be evidence that people with learning difficulties are being persuaded to take out these loans, without having the ability to understand them completely.

[ToraToraTora]

Age old problem mikey, must have it now, don't care what it costs. My mum was the same, always buying stuff with ridiculous rates of interest. She wasn't thick just ignored the arithmetic because having it now was most important. They should not be targeting learning dis people though right out of order.

[mikey4444]

The difficulty is TTT, companies like Brighthouse, and Wonga always target
the most vulnerable.

Wonga has been effectively dealt with and now perhaps attention should be turned towards Brighthouse.

Out of curiosity, I visited a Brighthouse shop here in Swansea a few years ago, thinking that they were some kind of new Currys. But it only took a few mins to realise what they were truly about.

[ToraToraTora]

I assume the shop was full of stuff at silly prices with offers of credit at silly rates.

[Togo]

I cannot ascertain that the Loan Companies named are "targeting" people who are vulnerable or have learning difficulties 3T. Of course we could always say that such poor folk should not have access to the means for obtaining the consumer goods that they covet, after being bombarded by the advertisement industries. In fairness it would appear that the company has stopped taking payment, for the one case that was confirmed, and are asking for the anonymous accounts used as examples in the Teee Vee show to be properly identified.

[mikey4444]

People leapt to the defence of Wonga, despite its ludicrous rates of interest.
Nothing was done about the company, until the pressure became too great to ignore any longer, and then, eventually the Authorities acted.

This new issue of Brighthouse has all the hallmarks of the early stages of the Wonga scandal.

To quote from my link ::::

"Citizens Advice said it receives thousands of complaints every year about the sector, and has evidence suggesting affordability checks were not always being properly conducted by firms"

All I am asking is that the company should be investigated as to whether the claims made by the Derbyshire program has some grounding in truth or not.

[Togo]

To quote from your link :: ::

BrightHouse said in a statement: "[Mr Miliband] consistently misrepresents our business. BrightHouse serves those lower-income families who are excluded from mainstream credit. Rent-to-own is a very different proposition to other forms of retail.

"We undertake extensive affordability assessments before lending and seek to support all those customers who find themselves in difficulty."

[mikey4444]

Togo...I hear echos of Mandy Rice Davies here !

[Togo]

You would say that though wouldn't you.Haha

I don't suppose that the presenters and makers of the Teee Veee show have any qualms about exploiting the vulnerable, as long as they get their own 15 minutes of public, self righteous, self congratulation, virtue signalling.

[hc4361]

Brighthouse would be fine if it sold basic essentials such as washing machines and televisions at the lower end of the market. They don't - they sell high end goods for high end money. No low income family needs a range cooker or a Dyson vacuum cleaner.
Nor do they need a curved, OLED television at a final price of £4,600.

I'm not saying low income families should not have televisions but we all have to live within our means, and high end luxuries are not essentials.

[youngmafbog]

It's always difficult though. If these companies didnt exist then legs would be being broken by unscrupulous loan sharks.

There has to be some medium ground but how to achieve that I really dont know.

[mikey4444]

ymb...that same argument was made to excuse WONGAs extortionate rates of interest....1509% APR.

Credit Unions are part of the solution to the problems that these people face...those that find it difficult to get finance from Currys, for instance.

I just hope The Financial Conduct Authority don't take months and even years to investigate Brighthouse, as they did with WONGA. Previous experience should show that it pays to take action as early as possible.

[youngmafbog]

I'm not making any excuse, just pointing out that a kee jerk reaction to the problem may cause more issues than it solves.

Credit Unions may seem a reasonable idea, but even they dont loan to all and sundry, especially those that habitually fail to repay their debts.

[mikey4444]

Waht I fail to understand with Brighthouse is......

People rent-to-buy from them...ie, if they don't keep up with payments, then the goods can be repossessed. So why the punitive rates of interest ?

http://www.brighthouse.co.uk/on-finance/pay-weekly/

[Jackdaw33]

Rent-to-own? Why isn't given its proper name, Hire Purchase?

[hc4361]

mikey, used goods are worth a fraction of the new cost. There is no guarantee that the goods repossessed will be in good condition, nor that the customer doesn't do a flit with thousands of pounds worth of goods.

They are dealing with high risk customers.