Personal finance website, uSwitch made a startling revelation wherein almost one borrower in three was found to have lied for his or her loan application to get acceptance.
Millions of Britons admitted to have lied to receive loans and strongly felt that had they spoken the truth, their loan applications would have never seen the light of day. Besides, embarrassment and confidentiality were other reasons that borrowers’ used to justify their lies.
Nick White, head of personal finance at uSwitch said that UK personal debt had reached the appalling £1 trillion mark last year in the UK and Britons had somehow become so used to taking loans and borrowing on credit cards that they didn’t even mind dodging the truth for the purpose; the clear evidence being one in every three borrower resorting to lies to get a loan.
He also cited shocking instances wherein consumers had taken loans for plastic surgery and had later backed out from repaying, saying that their surgery results had been unsatisfactory. Therefore, lenders are justified in being selective about giving loans since they would obviously not want to be placed in such awkward positions. Certain lenders have even stopped giving loans for plastic surgery. He, nevertheless, confessed that it was very annoying when truthful consumers with intentions to repay were shown the door.
uSwitch however, plans to encourage consumers to follow the honest path to loans and to take up extra borrowings only when needed or if they can comfortably manage the debt repayment.
The site also divulged that 54 per cent of loan applicants were taking money more than necessary, with 38 per cent borrowing over £10,000 extra. Of the borrowers, 41 per cent were found spending the surplus money on their social lives, 26 per cent were out on a holiday, 24 per cent binged on new clothes and the remaining numbers intended to utilize the cash to set up their own business.
Posted
on : Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:00 GMT | Loans News
By : Salim Patel
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