Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
Rent-to-own companies such as BrightHouse charge eye-watering interest rates for essential goods. The Financial Conduct Authority has just revealed that the average debt for rent-to-own customers has doubled. May we therefore have a statement and real action from the Government and FCA to keep this sector in check?
Andrea Leadsom
The hon. Gentleman raises a very concerning point about the debts people get into by using these high-cost lenders to facilitate the purchase of essential white goods, furniture and so on. I know from my time as City Minister that the FCA takes this incredibly seriously. It has capped the interest rates that such companies are allowed to charge, and it is doing further work to ensure that we protect consumers from the practices of some of those companies.
[Official Report, 1 February 2018, Vol. 635, c. 1002.]
Letter of correction from Andrea Leadsom.
An error has been identified in the response I gave to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) during questions on the Business of the House.
The correct response should have been:
Andrea Leadsom
The hon. Gentleman raises a very concerning point about the debts people get into by using these high-cost lenders to facilitate the purchase of essential white goods, furniture and so on. I know from my time as City Minister that the FCA takes this incredibly seriously. It has capped the interest rates that such payday lending companies are allowed to charge and it is doing further work to ensure we protect consumers from the poor practices of some of those rent-to-own companies.