A new service for anxious pet owners has been established by a short term loan company called Petloan which is designed to allow pet owners to meet their vet’s bill without having to extend their credit card debt any further or simply can’t find the money to pay the bill.
The company, a new entrant on the rapidly expanding instant cash credit sector, claims to be the only loans company to lend money to pet owners, although similar companies have already started targeting other niche markets, like students.
The loans will be offered to pet owners at an APR of 2120%. The new company is apparently backed by several significant money lenders – more than 20 according to a spokesperson form Petloan, and is based in Birmingham. Pet owners, worried about the increasing cost of looking after their pets will be able to take out instant cash loans from fifty up to fifteen hundred pounds, according to Ash Sethi, Petloan’s managing director.
Mr Sethi said that the company had acknowledged the increasing burden of pet care in the country and the fact that many pet owners did not want to have to wait for treatment by the vet of their beloved animal because of cashflow problems.
Payday loans companies have certainly been on the news a lot recently and have been accused of taking advantage of people’s financial misfortune in trying economic times by adding to their debt burdens. Mr Sethi said that it was not the policy of his company to add to the credit problems of the country. He said that the typical short term loan of ₤200 for 30 days would mean ₤258 being paid back at the end of the loan period, which equated to an annual interest rate of just over 350%.
Last month, the instant cash loan company, Wonga, had been involved in controversy over it having advertised short term loans to students so that they could fly off for a holiday to the Canary Islands. After being accused of targeting students with excessively high interest loans for inessential things, the company withdrew the advertising and said that it had not intended to target the student community.