4 April 2008
Service providers are still offering credit to consumers before making adequate checks on their income, uSwitch.com has revealed this week.
While conditions have been shored up in the last year, the organisation stated, matters could still be improved under the conditions of the Banking Code.
In total, £20.9 billion was given out by banks in the form of unsecured personal loans without any evidence of income levels that consumers have, uSwitch.com observed.
Moreover, 15% of loan applicants were not prompted to divulge their salaries when applying for such products, the outfit noted.
Personal Finance Expert at uSwitch.com Mike Naylor urged lenders to adopt a greater level of responsibility when checking the histories of customers, otherwise debt and repayment problems will not be alleviated.
"With more than 7,716 loan repayments being missed every day and record write-offs, you might think that lenders would have learnt their lesson, but the potential profits have clearly been too good to resist," he asserted.
Borrowing of an unsecured nature rose by £2.4 million during February, recent Bank of England figures stated.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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