Decision due on unsolicited loan offers

Rogue traders contact people initially through a text message

A decision over whether action should be taken against firms making unsolicited loan offers is due from the fair trading regulator later.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) must decide whether to intervene following a super-complaint from Citizens Advice.

The group said that unscrupulous firms were charging hefty up-front fees after offering to find loans for people who were desperate for cash.

Some loans failed to materialise and calls to the firms were expensive.

Citizens Advice said that the current economic conditions were providing “fertile ground” for rogue credit businesses, with many households facing financial difficulties.

The charity said it had spoken to people in England, Wales and Scotland who had suffered at the hands of unscrupulous credit firms.

In these cases, people had received a text message or telephone call from a firm offering to find them an unsecured loan.

Those who accepted were then charged large up-front fees for little or no service in return.

Other victims were persuaded to hand over their bank details and later found that money had been taken from their account without their permission.

Victims struggled to get somebody to deal with the issue, and were charged a premium rate when calling to complain.

They also found that, instead, they were being inundated by calls and text messages offering loans or debt management services from other firms.

The OFT must respond to this super-complaint from Citizens Advice within 90 days of it being made. The deadline for that response is on Wednesday.

The Association of Business Recovery Professionals, which represents legitimate debt management companies, has also called for the OFT to step up regulation of the industry.

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