Doorstep lenders face inquiry

DOORSTEP lender Provident Financial has attempted to ward off criticism ahead of an expected investigation into the credit industry.

The National Consumer Council will release research following a study and it is expected to file a complaint about a lack of competitiveness in the UK home credit market to the Office of Fair Trading on Monday. The regulator is obliged to investigate such 'super complaints'.

Provident is the largest player in the niche market of doorstep selling. Rivals include London Scottish Bank and Cattles.

Borrowers can take on small loans, as little as £50, and repayments are collected each week on the doorstep. A typical loan term is 12 months, but interest charges are often sky-high.

The National Consumer Council says this sort of credit is usually taken by those on low incomes or with poor credit history, where bank and High Street credit channels are not available.

Provident attempted to pre-empt any criticism from the NCC by saying its home credit customers are 'highly satisfied' with the personal service provided and that its home credit product is 'ideally suited' to its customers' needs.

Provident chief executive Robin Ashton said there are no hidden or extra charges even if customers are late in repaying their loan.

'Provident Financial is a responsible lender operating in an increasingly competitive market with transparent products and a home service which is highly valued by our customers,' he said.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in