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in a rare interview, two loan sharks have spoken to the bbc revealing more people are increasingly turning to them to pay for essentials. as interest rates and the cost of food and bills are expected to remain high, demand is unlikely to wane soon. ben can tell us more. we have been speaking about high food prices, high mortgage costs. this is a consequence of all of that. yes, we re talking about illegal, unlicensed lenders handing over cash at hugely inflated rates and with big risks. so who is turning to loan sharks? well, according to research commissioned by government backed body fairliall finance, typically its people who have been declined traditional forms of credit elsewhere. those turning to illegal money lenders racked up an average of £3,000 of debt. but ended up paying back double what they borrowed ? that s an interest rate of 100%. and there is a warning more people
it s better to have that fear, that intimidation, all that coercion, pictures outside your house, that type of thing. that is terrifying. erm. ..then, pay. as inflation remains high, business for illegal money lenders isn t likely to slow, but industry figures are keen to highlight there are other options for borrowers, like community lenders and credit unions. if you are in debt, speak to your creditors. have conversations there rather than borrowing more money to get out of it. i see what it does to lives. and itjust isn t worth it. laura jones, bbc news. when samuel smith found out he had parkinson s at the age of 44, he thought his guitar playing days were over but since his diagnosis, he has assembled a band of grammy award winning musicians from around the world and recorded an album of folk music. jon kay s been to meet him. birds tweet. guitar notes.
no, open the door. we ll explain what is going on as soon as we come in. as prices in the uk rise, officials are trying to crack down on those taking advantage of the cost of living crisis. in this case, illegal money lenders. with more regulation around payday loans and home credit, there are limited options for those who struggle to borrow money. it seems some might be turning to loan sharks, who offer cash loans without any paperwork, but at a price. notjust exorbitant rates of interest, but sometimes threats of violence. i wanted to understand how those desperate enough to use their services might be exploited, so i ve come to meet d. he says he s an enforcer. he collects debts. we re not using his real name. what happens if somebody can t pay their debt back? it depends on who it is, or what relationship we ve got. like, the ones that seriously take the- have no - intention of paying you. they re the ones in trouble. what does trouble mean?
that s how i see it. there s no paperwork and no credit check for a reason. and that reason is you re not protected. they re not checking your credit history because they don t care if you can pay it back. they will absolutely bleed you dry. maybe they threaten you explicitly, in terms of physical harm, or it may be subtler than that. a lot of the time it s much more about being in someone s head than it is about breaking their legs. there is no such thing as an average loan shark any more. a fifth of those arrested by cath waller s team last year were female, and some were in their 70s. new research from non profit fairliallfinance and fraud prevention firm we fight fraud shows illegal money lenders could be businessmen, religious leaders and working men and women. the authors of this report spoke to more than 200 current and former clients, as well as eight illegal lenders. the research can t be generalised, but it found that while violence is still used, it s rarer than you might th