Payday lending complaints surge in Britain, says watchdog
Concerns about the solvency of firms and lax affordability checks persist
London — Complaints about payday lenders in Britain have rocketed as concerns about the solvency of firms and lax lending practices in the sector persist, a UK financial watchdog said on Tuesday. Payday lending, where often vulnerable people borrow small amounts for just days or weeks, has been criticised for charging very high interest rates and trapping borrowers for months. Caroline Wayman, CEO of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), said the state watchdog typically deals with about 100,000 complaints annually that financial firms have not been able to resolve on their own with customers. “We have seen quite significant increases in demand for our services. Short-term lending has been particularly acute,” Wayman told parliament’s treasury select committee. FOS had forecast about 20,000 short-term lending complaint cases in its current financial year, but now expects at least 50,000, compared with about 2,000 annually in recent years. It would be even higher had payday sector l...
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