PPP Raising Awareness of Illegal Money Lenders with 'Loan Sharks' Poster
We were delighted to present Sienna, age 7 from The Willows School Greenham, with an art kit following her winning entry for our 'Loan Sharks Awareness' poster competition. Congratulations Sienna and to all the other fabulous entrants.
PPP are providing the posters for community hubs and schools to raise awareness around illegal money lending. The project provides schools and community advice on illegal money lending and signposts to the illegal money lending hotline 0300 555 2222. You can download the poster here or request one by emailing tsadvice@westberks.gov.uk
Illegal money lenders, are unlicensed (lending without a Consumer Credit licence) and operate outside the law. They are commonly referred to as loan sharks. These loan sharks charge very high interest rates on open ended loans, making it very difficult for the borrower to see when the loan would ever be paid off. Loan sharks take advantage of vulnerable borrowers and bring disrepute to legitimate lenders.
An estimated 165,000 households in the UK use an illegal money lender each year.
Tony Quigley, Head of the England Illegal Money Lending Team, says: “We would urge anyone affected by illegal money lending to get in touch on our 24-hour helpline or contact us via live chat on our website.
Our advice to residents in need of financial support would be to turn to a credit union rather than a loan shark who could take advantage and charge extortionate interest rates.”
Confidential help and further information for victims of loan sharks is available from the Illegal Money Lending Team, 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the hotline number 0300 555 2222 or at www.stoploansharks.co.uk. Live Chat is available on the website between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
