Citizens Advice Scotland carried out a year-long survey of members of the public who had used payday loans (November 2012 to 2013). This followed the introduction of a payday lenders ‘Good Practice Customer Charter’ which 90% of payday lenders signed up to and committed to stamping out bad practice. Our results, backed up by case studies seen at CAB, show that one year on, many of the problems still exist for borrowers, and the code of conduct is being ignored repeatedly.
CAB across Scotland are seeing over 100 cases a week concerning issues with payday loans. Problems such as increasing debt, payday loans being rolled-over, payments being taken out of accounts leaving customers no money to live on, problems negotiation affordable repayment plans, and harassment when people are having difficulty paying of their debt.
Our briefing details the findings of our survey along with case studies of clients who have faced issues with payday loans. It also contains the detail of our ten recommendations which we believe would make a positive step towards preventing irresponsible lending practices that consumers are still being subject to. CAS will be continuing to campaign on this issue and take these recommendations forward.
