Local
money lenders exposed by Inside Out
An
undercover television investigation will tonight show how local
representatives of a money lending company are exploiting some of
Brighton's and Southampton's poorest residents.
The
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Inside Out programme assigned a reporter to work for Shopacheck,
a national company which offers loans to people who have no access
to conventional credit.
Shopacheck,
which has a turnover of £150 million, charges customers an
annual percentage rate (APR) of 440% on its standard £100
loan.
The
devastating effects of this type of lending can be seen on the Whitehawk
Estate in Brighton, where at least half-a-dozen companies offer
high-interest credit.
A
former Shopacheck collector tells the programme that he used to
gather £2,000 a week on Whitehawk.
Many
of his customers were on benefits, but he was still allowed to lend
them large sums of money.
"To
start with you could lend £100 in vouchers to a new client,"
says the former Shopacheck collector.
"If
they paid that ok then you could increase it over a period of time,
just judging by the way they paid.
"The
people on income support are on guaranteed money so they are probably
a safer bet than the people who are working."
Single
mother Sandra Burtenshaw lives on the Whitehawk Estate.
She
borrowed money from a number of lending companies and was soon expected
to pay back £130 a week from her benefits.
"Nearly
every night I wouldn't sleep, wondering where I would get the money
from, knowing that they would be knocking on my door," she
tells the programme.
"It
just used to go round and round my head. I used to think what can
I sell in my house just to get some money for my kids?"
She
says: "They make it so easy for people like me to get into
debt."
Inside
Out's reporter was taken round Southampton's most deprived estates
by one of the company's top debt collectors, Carol Greenwood.
In
secretly filmed footage, Carol Greenwood describes the collectors
as "loan sharks" and admits that the company targets people
who cannot afford the loans they are taking.
"You're
going to pick on Mr and Mrs Vulnerable aren't you? People who need
something now and don't care how much it is going to cost,"
she says.
The
programme shows how Carol Greenwood extracts money from customers
who cannot pay and how she spies through their keyholes to see if
they are at home.
Shopacheck
refused to be interviewed for the programme, but issued the following
statement: "Shopacheck is a responsible lender and cares about
its customers and representatives.
"Shopacheck
is licensed under the Consumer Credit Act and conducts all its operations
in accordance with its regulatory requirements.
"The
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ refused to show us the footage prior to screening meaning we
were unable to comment. We will of course take all criticisms seriously
and investigate them thoroughly."
Notes
to Editors
The
Inside Out investigation is part of a special series of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ programmes
about debt, called Hey Big Spender.
Inside
Out, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ ONE (South), Monday 26 January 2004, 7.30pm.
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