I'm shocked this is allowed to be aired.

There are people who do understand and don't give a damn because they are doing fine.

We have a saying "bones of your a**e ", been there when we were first married. Second hand furniture, no washer or fridge. The only thing we got on the never, never was the gas cooker. Brighthouse appear to be getting rich on others misfortune, shame on them.

Yes it's dreadful but it's the only way some people can afford anything, let alone luxuries

Do you all also know that if you are struggling, and choose to pay for your gas/electric via a key meter, so that you don't have large bills, you also end up paying more? If you can afford to budget monthly for a DD then it saves you money. Unfortunately the old saying of money goes to money is true. If you are on the Bones of your A*$@, you end up paying through your nose, if you have money, you save money.

It's sad fact but the poor in our society always end up paying more for everything - and always have. My Grandmother could not afford a whole jar of jam, only a few tablespoons bought in her own cup, which she took to the grocers. Huge profit for grocer per jar , very expensive jam for poor person's children for a Sunday treat. It's just thee same now with loans, as we all know if you have money you can get a loan and if you don't you may end up with a loan shark charging interest rates that should be illegal. The other side of this coin is that expectations are a lot higher and people will get into debt for items that would not have even been there to buy thirty years ago.

I’ve seen that first hand knickas63 when my DS and DDiL has one of those prepayment meters. I lost count of the times they ran out of gas in the cold weather and having to dash to theirs to get the key to have it topped up . Paying way over the odds for the privilege too. It sickens me ( as others have said) that the poorest in society get ripped off while the very richest enjoy the most favourable prices .

Apparently it costs £2-300 a year more to have a prepayment meter. It’s an utter utter disgrace and another symptom of how the poorest are shafted - in fact they are subsidisng those of us on the cheaper tarifffs, There’s also evidence that shows tbat private rented homes are often more poorly insulated and therefore more expensive and inefficient to heat so a double whammy

Oops Had one, not has one ( big difference)

Most towns now have "local banks" such as credit unions which those on low income can use to save a little and obtain loans at minimal interest rates.

Our local credit union shut down and was replaced by nationwide.

Nationwide's savings rates are pretty low and they do not give credit to people who cannot afford it. In face when I joined them from my old high street bank they SLASHED my overdraft to next to nothing despite me being on a good salary.

"Ethical lenders" do not give out credit to people who cannot afford it. You won't get a CU loan if you arent already doing okay financially, and Nationwide is far less eager to hand out credit than less ethical companies (and they have taken over a lot of the more independent local credit union branches)

Used to be years ago that if you were an established CU customer they would give you a loan, based on how long you had been with them. Doesn't work like that now, now it goes on affordability.

Even with ethical banks and CUs the better rates go to those who have better finances.

There are no nominal rate loans for the poor. CUs wont lend to those in dire straits.

Apparently it costs £2-300 a year more to have a prepayment meter.

"It takes money to make money" and the poorer you are the more things cost.

Blame the education system a lot of young people have no idea at all about personal finance, it is considered more important to spend time on LGBTQ issues

For example a young lady I know was taking out a loan to buy a scooter and was asking me if the interest rate was OK.
At the time the rate was about 7% so to her it was easily affordable 7% of say £1000 per year .
No Debbie if it's a 3 yr loan it's £333+70 per year roughly

She was not the brightest but had just graduated from a local university!

E.g. recently browsed for a car loan. With one main lender, if you buy a car worth less than 5k, including 4999.99, the rate was 8%.
If you buy a car for 5k or more the rate is 1%.
So you are penalised for trying to stay within your means. Also the cheaper cars cost more to run & repair & are less likely to have a warentee...

...so you start off being able to afford less, and end up paying more!

(Before the "why dont you save for a car like I ALWAYS do" brigade pounce on me, I did. I was just looking to see if adding on a SMALL loan to bring me up to the "approved used" with warranted category would work out better value in the long run than a cheaper private used)

They were on the news again recently regarding their huge interest charges and pressure selling. I can understand why some people are forced to use them for household essentials, i.e. washing machines, cookers, tv's. But they sell 75 inch tv's, top of the range mobile phones etc. Things that most working people can't afford, so people on low incomes shouldn't be buying. I think it's time the government stepped in and regulated the charges and also what they are allowed to sell.

Yes financial planning should be a core subject.

But that doesn't get you anywhere when the only flat you can afford is not on a bus route to the only job you have been offered and you need a car now.
Or if the job is shifts with uniforms you are expected to clean at home so making do without your own washing machine until you can save for one is not viable.
Etc.

Their ad for some large screen TV or other is double the price if paid for weekly. Dreadful

I was quite upset when passing a Bright-house shop with a ten year old foster boy who was staying with me. He said "Don't ever go in there for anything, because they bring things out to you like tvs and washing machines, then come back a few weeks later and take them away again. It gave me an insight to his previous life and the rogues running a business on the strength of the poorest people.

But they sell 75 inch tv's, top of the range mobile phones etc. Things that most working people can't afford, so people on low incomes shouldn't be buying.

Its the psychology of debt.
Once someone is already in over their heads for the essentials, 2 things often happen simultaniously:
1. They start going to great lengths to hide it, including "flashing cash" in ways they cant afford
2. They see now way out of the debt they are in, so in their mind oweing another 1k makes no difference if they already owe 10k that they cant imagine ever making a dent in

Once people get onto debt for essentials, and then feel trapped and dont believe they will ever get OUT of debt no matter what they do, that's when they are targets for the non essential items. Some companies will simply elongate the debt keeping the weekly payments low if you add that TV onto your existing fridge and washing machine loan, trapping people forever

After reading the title but before reading the OP, I thought it was going to be about that strip on This Morning where (a decidedly aged and dodgy looking - yeah, never liked him) Dr Chris, handled some wannabe's junk when talking about a medical problem. This, however, is a different kettle of fish...
It's not unknown for companies to levy a much higher rate of interest, as high as ver 1,000% but more usually 259%
99% seems mild by comparison.
Luckily, I've never needed to have credit and nor did my parents.
It's readily available, like a shark with it's jaws wide open, waiting for the unfortunate or the gullible to enter it's maw.
I did think of 'investing' in peer to peer lending at one time but I like rock solid certainty and there are no guarantees.

maryeliza
I think that there are far fewer real victims than there appear to be on the surface.
I should imagine that there are some who are greedy, have never saved, want it all but have not built up a decent credit history. Craving the good things but not reflecting on the reality of their ability to pay it back.
£6+ change pw seems insignificant to them at the time but, should illness or accident befall the borrower, who ultimately pays? That's why those lenders have to cover their massive insurance and investments.
If borrowers default, there is not much lenders can do as the items will be second hand and their redeemable value seriously diminished.

I saw that advert a couple of days ago. Appalling APR !! I don't think that should be televised in the run up to Christmas when many children will be wanting a new Xbox. But more importantly Brighthouse shouldn't be allowed to charge that much interest! We have a local Brighthouse store, I have never been in there, but I have noticed it's always very busy with shoppers. I wondered do they allow buyers to purchase outright at the cash price, or do you have to pay in installments as that is clearly how they make a (huge) profit?

Is this store to be investigated by the Ombudsman?

It has been investigated by ?last year and this is the new improved version

If you are on very low wages (or living on benefit) and having to pay high private rents (no social housing available) then, after paying council tax, utilities, food, etc. there will be very little over to buy things like washing machines (personally, I don't consider this a luxury, especially if you have children). The ideal alternative is a Credit Union but not enough of those exist, so these people have no alternative (going to a loan shark would be even worse). It's just the equivalent of buying from a catalogue and lots of us did that in the past. It was never the cheapest way of buying things but it was do-able on a low income.

maryeliza54
I disagree. I have single glazed windows (they look much prettier) in a period property.
My heating bills are lower than the lowest for a single occupant in a 2 bedroom property. My DD is £14pm and I'm £22 in credit ATM.
Standing charge us 5.5ppd
Unit price is 3.4p.
All good.
It's a normal metric meter.