Borrow £500, pay back £20,000. Doesn’t sound like a very good deal, does it? But that’s exactly what one unsuspecting person had to stump up after agreeing to take money from a loan shark. Now Wigan Council has joined forces with the other nine authorities in Greater Manchester to create a powerful task force to combat the scourge of loan sharks, or unlicensed moneylenders.
Working alongside a team of specially trained officers from Birmingham Council’s Illegal Money Lending Team, investigation officers will gather evidence about loan sharks in our borough and work closely with their victims.
Council chief trading standards officer Julie Middlehurst says: “We all sometimes end up borrowing more than we meant to, but if you do find yourself in financial pressure please don’t be tempted with the promise of quick money from a loan shark. It will only make things worse.”
One Birmingham loan shark charged his victims a staggering 8,000 per cent interest, taking benefit books from disabled and vulnerable people and threatening terrified clients with violence if they could not pay. All the while he drove a Porsche and a BMW, paid for through the misery of others.
Julie says: “When the police caught up with this loan shark he was jailed for four years, but there are plenty out there willing to take his place.”
Since it began life in 2004, the Birmingham team has helped to wipe out more than £2 million of debt from loan sharks. It has also seized guns, drugs and more than £100,000 of counterfeit goods.
Anyone with concerns about loan sharks or wanting to report cases in confidence can contact the new Illegal Money Lending Team on 0300 555 2222 or e-mail stoploansharks@manchester.gov.uk
Help is available
If you have debt problems, don’t suffer in silence. There are organisations who will help.
- Citizens’ Advice Bureau: Your local CAB can provide free advice on dealing with debt, welfare benefits and other personal issues. Ring 08701 264459 (Mon-Fri 10am to 4pm).
- Wigan Independent Advice Centre: Offers expert welfare rights advice. Phone 01942 324851 for advice and locations of weekly surgeries.
- National Debtline: Free confidential help over the phone. Call the helpline on 0808 8084 000 9am-9pm Mon to Fri and 9.30am-1pm on Saturday, or visit www.nationaldebtline.co.uk (external link).
- Consumer Credit Counselling Service: Free impartial advice for people with debt problems. Call 0800 1381 111 8am-8pm Mon to Fri.
Even if you have been turned down by other lenders, there are alternatives to loan sharks. Credit Unions are owned and controlled by their members who pool savings to offer loans to members at low interest rates. Unify Credit Union is available to everyone who lives or works in Wigan borough. Give them a call on 01942 701706 or visit www.unifycu.org (external link).
