Struggling consumers in debt in the UK are being targeted and hassled by some High Street banks, in a bid to try and get the consumer to ‘deal’ with their debt issues by taking out a more expensive loan. In many cases the banks are leaving the consumer in an even worse situation, with more interest to pay on their debts. Even consumers that are on debt management plans to try and clear their debts are being hassles by some banks, who are trying to get them to repay their debts using a more expensive loan instead.

According to one customer HSBC, one of the UK’s leading High Street banks, has been hassling him to settle his debt with a loan that would involve him paying twice as much interest as he is paying now. He said: “I have had multiple letters from HSBC saying they want to help people in financial difficulty - when clearly they don’t. HSBC have agreed that the amount I can repay each month is acceptable. But the only way they will accept that repayment is if I enter in what they call a managed loan.”

The Citizen’s Advice Bureau has pointed out that more and more banks are using pushy and aggressive tactics with customers, with many even trying to get those in debt to pay more than they can realistically afford.

CAB officials stated: “We see a lot of cases of people coming in who have tried to talk to their banks about arranged payments and they haven’t been listened to, and they have been asked for more than they can afford. Typically people find that, even after they have been dealing with us, they have found that they have been continued to be written to. They get aggressive letters and phone calls from their lenders.”

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