I'm shocked this is allowed to be aired.

Exactly Maryeliza a lot of people don’t understand the 99% interest rate but see the £6 (or whatever ) per week as being affordable which is such a shame.

There is talk of legislation toscalily but sadly they have already worked a way around it.

When I was working at CAB the thing that people understood and which impacted on their lives was weekly rates of repayment not interest rates - it’s this that is exploited.

Sadly some people don't understand interest rates and places like Brighthouse exploit them.

Brighthouse should be tackled in the same way as Wonga, they are nothing more than usurers with fancy shop windows. Forget all the distractions about X-Boxes and such, they are sometimes the only way for people to replace essential items such as cookers, fridges, washing machines. When you are living pound to pound, finding £100 or so for a second hand cooker is impossible, that's without the difficulties of getting it delivered. I would have thought it is quite a simple piece of legislation to limit the amount a customer pays for an item compared to the RRP. The business principle of buying a new cooker for £6 a week is fine, adding interest is fine, but the customer paying 4 or 5 times the RRP certainly is not.

I too thought there was legislation being brought in to do something about this but obviously not yet. Not only do I object to the advertisement clearly aimed at the most vulnerable at an extortionate rate of interest but also to Channel 4 who presumably are adding to their revenue by showing this advert.

Your own posts are a model are they MaryE ?
Perhaps so ( although I won’t say a model of what.)
I have already said that regulation would be a good idea for these loan firms, but since the OP was talking of the Brighthouse XBox offer then I still hold the view that parents shouldn’t allow themselves to be suckered.
Because you don’t have much money doesn’t mean you are unintelligent or vulnerable.
Over and out.

Just as I said up thread Oldwoman Capping the total interest payable to no more than the original price just means they raise the original price even higher.

Of course it’s your view and in most people’s opinions on this thread , it’s wrong. So what? And trading early experiences is irrelevant - people either have empathy or they don’t. I rather think I can take your comments - responding to them doesn’t mean I can’t take them. Your posts are hardly a model are they?

Singling you out? Only for your unpleasant and personal comments MaryE as you well know.
You dish it out but can’t take it.

I realise my view is unpopular on this thread and have said so. Nevertheless, it’s my view.
Nobody could have had a poorer upbringing than me ( at least in the UK) but our Mother was never lured into HP and neither was I or DH when first married.
Other views are available.

Sadly true old about companies finding a way round any legislation and the illegal loan sharks will continue to thrive I’m sure.

Whilst there is talk of a cap on the interest charged these companies will find a way around it. Just like when they were told they have to show the interest rate in TV commercials - they are shown but in very small print in white on a light background so it is almost impossible to read them. I think the actor voicing the ad should state the interest and the total amount that would end up being paid, speaking in the same speed as the rest of the ad - not speeded up.

It’s not that simple wild. CUs vary enormously in who they will lend to in what circumstances. For some, you have to have saved with them for several months first or to demonstrate an ability to repay the loan. They are wonderful organisations but cannot just lend money ( which they are lent by other people) in the vague hope it might be paid back. Sometimes people’s lives are so chaotic and hard that they cannot be organised enough to do the sensible thing.

There are other options available these days. 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.

lemon It must be hard being in such a minority on this thread that you have to resort to singling me out yet again. Your posts demonstrate a complete lack of compassion and understanding about the nature of poverty and the impact it has on the lives of the people experiencing it. It’s the very relentlessness of it all, the lack of hope that things might get better, the need to for once treat your child like others are treated. I’ve never been hard up and at the same time had no hope - it was always short term and I knew without doubt that it would not always be like this. But the world is not like this for so many - read the heartbreaking stores of those on UC, of people sanctioned for missing appointments when the letter was sent to the wrong address or they were in hospital. And this government is deliberately and maliciously rolling out UC at the moment so that the 5 week ( if you are lucky) waiting period coincides with Christmas. So yes I am angry - angry at this shitty government, at people pontificating about how people with so very little should behave rationally and sensibly and be criticised for wanting to bring some joy into their children’s life, angry at a system which allows wicked companies like Brightside to operate unfettered. And anyone that isn’t angry at all this should damn well be ashamed of themselves rather than making comments about others anger and posting stupid pathetic childish emojis.

Disgustingly greedy !! I'd have nightmares if I was forced to rely on a company such as this. It should not be allowed.

All the willing in the world will not magic money from nowhere lemon . I would like to see a government backed fair lending scheme which would help those with no other choice but to use the vile Brighthouse . No interest (or very low interest) charged. All children talk about what they got for Christmas at school and I can imagine the reason some parents turn to BH to buy an XBox or whatever is that they don’t want their child to feel left out . I can totally understand that .

I remember loads if launderettes when I was a child and can only think of one in the whole town these days .

I think there is talk of passing legislation to forbid these companies for charging any more in interest than the original cost . Problem with that is they already hike up the original cost and will hike it even further, so it won’t make any difference whatsoever .

Actually, there wasn’t a laundrette on every corner everywhere!
In any case the point I was making was that gadgets such as XBoxes are not needed, wanted, but not needed.
Not everyone is ‘vulnerable’ btw though I realise it’s a fashionable word.
There were plenty of poor people back in tbe day, as well.
Yes, these loan sharks do need more regulation, but people need a bit of ‘will’ too.An unpopular view I know.

www.gransnet.com/forums/charities/1254641-Child-Poverty

Fingers crossed this works .

Excellent post Notanan2

I think there is one launderette left in our town and it mainly serves the foreign students . Heaven help anyone who lived on my dads estate and had to use that laundrette it would cost them £8 in bus fare before they even got there .

The point being that as a young couple we had to make do with not having a washing machine ( trips to the laundrette)

Cool. I also made trips to the laundrette.... when there was one on every corner!

Now they are few and far between and if you HAD actually been to one in the last few years, you would know that they now cost over £5 per load to wash and dry. Per load. So that would be at least £10/week for one single person who doesnt have a "dirty" job that requires more washes. Not including petrol/bus to get there now that there isnt one in every neighbourhood any more. The only one I know of in a 5 mile radius of my home is an outdoor drive-up coin set up where you sit in your car while you wait...so you need a car..

So laundrettes, IF you can find and drive to one, are not the frugle option these days and cost more per yr than a HP washer/drier. But thanks for the tip I'm sure that any youngsters planning to go back in time will find it useful...

These rates are disgusting. They prey on the poorest in our society making their position worse and worse. At those rates of interest the item will probably have broken down and another needed before its paid off. Sometimes it's to buy practical household items. Sometimes expensive Christmas presents for kids who hear what others are getting at school and desperate parents succumb to pressure. Yes we said no when we couldn't afford things but not everyone manages this, Government should protect the hardest up, however they got in that position, through legislation which stops loan sharks cynically exploiting them.

I agree lemongrove, re not falling into the trap of buying something like this which is unnecessary.

However, I'm just wondering what time the advert was on C4 and whether it was at a time that children would be watching then pestering their parents for an X Box.

It does seem immoral for a loan company to use something such as this - they are using an enticing product, not selling the product itself, to promote their loans.

Has this been reported to the the Advertising Standards Agency? It's not right that the Iceland ad was banned but this is allowed to be shown.

MaryE it must be exhausting being so permanently angry,
Especially at our age.

I agree with you Auntyflo there should be a cap on all these interest rates, as most of them are huge, certainly for cookers, beds and similar.
Anyone can live without gadgets such as XBoxes though, which was the point I was making.

There was an article covering these extortionate interest charging outlets, recently on television. One woman had paid about 8 times the cost of a gas cooker, I think. It led on to show the plight of other folk who had been charged such rates of interest. From what I understood, I believe that there is going to be a cap put on these rates. I sincerely hope so.