There has been such an onslaught of complaints against the excesses of the short term loans sector in the media recently, it’s surprising that any of them are actually still in business.
Now, one of the bigger loan companies has put out a press statement defending their company’s “ethical standards” and generally supporting some of the curbs on short term loans that have already been proposed, while defending some of the policies of loans firms from an industry perspective.
Umbrella Loans director, Charlotte White, has defended those companies, like hers, that do not abuse the personal financial situation that borrowers face at the moment, while welcoming moves by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and others to limit excesses.
She says that her company is an “ethical lender” and defines this as a short term loans provider that does not deliberately target the vulnerable and those that have developed a reputation for being unable to pay back loans. Umbrella Loans, according to its director, already maintains policies which are within the guidelines of the OFT on payday lending.
Umbrella Loans welcomes the OFT’s investigation into the top 50 companies and their stated determination to revoke any licences for firms that have regularly breached the guidelines set out for the industry.
Ms White said that it was good news that the investigation miight lead to tighter short term loans standards as it would give the industry a better name if the more undesirable elements were weeded out.
She went on to say that the industry can only present a better face if the worst offenders are not able to legally operate in the short term loan industry.
Payday loans, according to Umbrella, are designed only to provide instant cash credit to short term borrowers to meet small, but immediate payments for such essentials as food or rent. They were not designed to help people go on holidays to far away and exotic places or to pay for cosmetic surgery or to pamper their pet poodle with a hair cut and shampoo treatment.