Loan companies 'need to know when a consumer moves house'
Published On 14 March 2008
Consumers need to remember to inform their loan and credit card providers when they move house, an industry expert has said.Samantha Owens, head of personal finance at Moneyfacts, said that it was vital people let their loan providers know when they changed address so that they did not unwittingly miss repayments.
She explained that missing payments could cause long-term financial difficulty, as this information is "going to be on your credit reference".
However, Ms Owens said that many people did not intentionally set out to avoid paying back their loans.
"A lot of people might be getting lost in the system rather than purposely avoiding paying," she explained.
"If you are moving you should remember that you do have this debt and you need to keep your providers informed. If you have a credit card and you move house and you don't tell them and the bill goes to the wrong address, you're still going to get your penalty charge."
Separate research from Moneyfacts showed that the average rate of interest changed on personal loans in the UK had been steadily increasing.
Michelle Slade, an analyst at the firm, added: "Anyone looking to take out a loan in 2008 is going to find themselves faced with having to shell out more by way of monthly repayments than they would have done over the last couple of years."
