The FCA, in the person of its boss Martin Wheatley, has announced it will get tough with payday lenders. Not before time.

They quote an OFT report stating that 60% of complaints about payday lenders are about unfair collection practices; and the BBC talked of lenders phoning up to 16 times a day, sometimes to workplaces.

The OFT, currently responsible for this area, already had a fairly comprehensive code of practice about harassment of lenders but I don’t think it was policed. Finding a way to enforce that code could be a starting point for the FCA when it takes over responsibility in April.

I mentioned the code and the fact it was being ignored, and listed its provisions, in a blog post two or three years ago; it seems nothing has changed and the situation has got worse. There’s plenty for the FCA to go at!

http://getbacktotheblack.com/debt-collection-official-guidelines-ignored-2/