Stop Loan Sharks
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Stop Loan Sharks … Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly. Micah 6:8 Easy credit has turned Britain into a nation of debtors and we are currently £158billion in the red. According to the BBC, nine million of us have serious financial problems due to personal borrowing, resulting in vulnerable members of the community turning to controversial loan sharks to make ends meet. In February, in partnership with the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) I’ve invited church leaders and their congregations, our Community Projects, Credit Unions, Debt Advice agencies, and their partners across our diocese to take part in a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of borrowing money from illegal money lenders, more commonly known as loan sharks. This is in response to the plight of individuals and families whose lives are being destroyed by the illegal and threatening practices of loan sharks to enforce repayments. Loan sharks charge enormous interest rates, which leaves families in severe debt or poverty, causing misery and destroying lives. Over 310,000 households across the UK are affected by illegal money lending. The current public demand for quick cash has seen the sudden rise in unscrupulous loan sharks, whose loans are costing residents dearly. Loan sharks charge exorbitant rates of interest and use bullying tactics such as threats, intimidation and violence to enforce repayments from borrowers. Emma initially borrowed £500 and ended up paying back a staggering £128,000 to a ruthless loan shark. She lost her home and was pushed to the brink of suicide. I believe deeply that Christians should be involved, and we should be involved with passion and commitment; this is about more than just money, it’s about a just society and about the common good. Archdeacon Simon Burton-Jones said “As Christians, we believe deeply in the equality of all people, and the way we express the goodness of God is by offering the most protection to the people who are most vulnerable.” A loan shark is someone who lends money without the correct permission from the Financial Conduct Authority. If payments are missed, loan sharks will often resort to bullying tactics such as intimidation and violence to enforce repayments from their borrowers. Residents are urged to never to use an illegal money lender who:
The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) can provide help and guidance if you have:
If you, or someone you know has been a victim of a loan shark, you can make a report to the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) To report a loan shark: Call the 24 hour hotline on 0300 555 2222 Text a report to 07860022116 Email reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk Complete an online report form at www.stoploansharks.co.uk Private message the team at www.facebook.com/stoploansharksproject A recent BBC documentary called The War on Loan Sharks, interviewed a man who had been a victim of a loan shark victim for 3 years. He said “The first time I met him; he came across as somebody that wanted to be your friend, not just someone who was helping you. Then it got nasty because we weren’t paying back the exact amount because interest kept getting added on: threats started to be issued that the windows would get put through. At times there was spit coming out of his mouth when he was talking, and it just affected me so much: I was scared about what was going to happen. I sat down in the chair one morning with my phone in one hand with details to ring the illegal money lending team, and a pile of pills on the other side, and it was a toss-up which to do. There is always another option: stay away from loan sharks because they’re nothing but poison.” The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) have helped over 26,000 victims of illegal money lending. Tony Quigley, Head of Service for the England Illegal Money Lending Team said “We will continue to work to combat loan sharks. They can cause untold misery to the most disadvantaged in our communities. We would urge anyone with information about loan sharking or victims of loan sharks to contact the team on 0300 555 2222.” In our diocese we support several agencies offering debt advice, bringing good news, hope and freedom to people living with debt: these include West Kent Debt Advice, Christians Against Poverty (CAP) and CMA. CAP is a national award winning charity releasing people from a life sentence of poverty, debt, unemployment and addiction. They provide free debt counselling, job seeker support and help with life controlling dependencies: there are five centres in our diocese. CAP Bromley Manager, Rachel Williams, told me “People use loan sharks because they think this is their only option, their only way out of debt. However, there is always another way and we at Christians Against Poverty offer a free debt counselling service. I’m really pleased that our diocese is raising awareness about this important issue.” We also support our four Credit Unions: Martin Kingman, President of Kent Savers Credit Union said “Credit Unions are financial co-operatives and provide savings accounts, loans and related services to their members. We are authorised and regulated by Government who provide our license to operate; loans sharks are of course acting outside the law. We also encourage our members to build up savings to give them protection against unexpected bills, including our popular Christmas savings account.” How you can get involved: Here are some suggestions, but please feel free to do your own thing and let me know: we would love to put your event and photos on our Facebook page and website.
I hope that our Stop Loan Sharks campaign will encourage all of us to raise awareness about the dangers of borrowing from loan sharks, and get the message out there that there are other options and places to get help, advice and to report a loan shark. I wanted to run the campaign during February because it’s a month that many people associate with Love and expressing our love for others: in this small but important way we will be able to share and express God’s love and concern for the most vulnerable in our communities, and we will be able to say that we did this together. Sundays in February:
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