Consumers 'responsible for their homeowner loans'
Published On 3 July 2007
Consumers who take out homeowner loans and other forms of secured borrowing must take some responsibility for rising personal debt in the UK, an industry expert has said.Speaking at the first ever Association of Finance Brokers' (AFB) annual dinner, MP and AFB chairman John Gummer said that ultimately consumers must be responsible when considering things like homeowner loans.
"How do we create a society where wrongs are righted but make sure that people accept responsibility for decisions they take?" Mr Gummer wondered.
"With the problems of consumer indebtedness and rising interest rates, newspapers often rush to blame all but those who took out the loan.
"Personal responsibility does not excuse mis-selling, or not explaining the full details but the first person that needs to be concerned is the consumer."
Mr Gummer concluded by pointing out that the loan industry was "very important to society", adding: "It needs to work for the good of the UK. That is why we want to promote best practice, improve standards across the industry and increase qualifications across business."
Recent figures show that personal debt in the UK exceeded £1.3 trillion at the end of April.
