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Rent-to-own firms 'selling to vulnerable people' - Brighthouse
Rent-to-own firms 'selling to vulnerable people' - Brighthouse
This is a duplicate of the Blog Entry made on: 4th July 2016 14:36
This is a duplicate of the Blog Entry made on: 4th July 2016 14:36
Rent-to-own companies are selling products to vulnerable people with mental health problems and learning disabilities, the BBC has found.
The firms allow customers to pay for a household item in instalments, with high interest rates, until they own it. Citizens Advice worries that vulnerable people are being "pushed into further financial difficulty". BrightHouse - the biggest company - denies exploiting consumers in vulnerable circumstances. During an investigation for the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme, former Labour leader Ed Miliband called for better and clearer regulation of the rent-to-own sector. "It seems to me that too often rent-to-own companies are taking advantage of people who feel they have nowhere else to go. The regulator needs to stop the most vulnerable people in our society, like those with learning difficulties, being taken advantage of," he said. "Paul", who has asked us to hide his identity, has learning difficulties and mental health problems. At one stage, he was paying BrightHouse for five items - including furniture and electrical goods - using his welfare payments.....Source Here
The firms allow customers to pay for a household item in instalments, with high interest rates, until they own it. Citizens Advice worries that vulnerable people are being "pushed into further financial difficulty". BrightHouse - the biggest company - denies exploiting consumers in vulnerable circumstances. During an investigation for the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme, former Labour leader Ed Miliband called for better and clearer regulation of the rent-to-own sector. "It seems to me that too often rent-to-own companies are taking advantage of people who feel they have nowhere else to go. The regulator needs to stop the most vulnerable people in our society, like those with learning difficulties, being taken advantage of," he said. "Paul", who has asked us to hide his identity, has learning difficulties and mental health problems. At one stage, he was paying BrightHouse for five items - including furniture and electrical goods - using his welfare payments.....Source Here
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