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July 28, 2008 - PRLog -- A BBC report today stated that the financial regulators should step in and prevent companies from charging the equivalent of anything up to 2000% APR. The shock revelation shows just how much vulnerable people are being forced to pay, often just to meet day-to-day living costs.

A spokesman from Sterling Trust said, "We may be shocked at the level of repayments, but are not surprised to find some companies are profiteering at the expense of the most vulnerable members of the public. We take exception to the fact that they are getting away with it and increasing the burden of misery on those who can least afford it.

Often these loans are taken out simply to heat or light a home, put food in the cupboard, pay for fuel for the car if they have one, or public transport if they don't; just so they can get to work. Most people would never enter into one of these agreements if they could possibly avoid it, even less so if they realised the full cost of their actions.

The Office of Fair Trading and Financial Services Authority should take urgent action to clamp down on this kind of activity. The Government could also possibly step in to fill the void. If they were to offer loans at a reasonable rate from a social fund and at the same time give financial advice, much of the heartache could possibly be avoided.

Most people simply do not understand enough about credit, what it costs, what it means, what happens if things go wrong. By educating them it may be feasible to reduce the amount of havoc it can wreak on society.

Millions of working days are lost in the UK every year due to stress related illness. If absenteeism, stress, anxiety and mental illness induced by the worry of debt were to be reduced effectively, it would save the UK economy billions of pounds every year. The financial cost doesn't end there. Hospitalisation, primary care trust treatments, medication, therapy, counselling etc all add to the financial cost.

But what of the human cost? Marriages break down and people commit suicide due to financial pressure. Alleviating the symptoms would reduce these statistics significantly. Surely it should be our moral duty as a civilsed nation to show compassion and if it saves vast amounts of money too, it makes sense on every level.

We need to do more and take more accountability as a nation for what is happening. Please visit our website and post your comments. If we can show enough strength of feeling on this and other major financial issues, perhaps we can begin to make a change!"

www.sterlingtrust.org.uk

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