Pressure to take loans

[vehelpfulguy]

Is anyone else fed up with pressure to take loans and have an overdraft, or take more credit cards?.

I am with one of the "high street" banks. I manage my money very well, and have never had a loan from them, or been overdrawn.

But today I opened two letters from them, one saying there was a �7,500 loan waiting for me, the other saying they have given me a �1,200 overdraft facility on my current account.

What is worse, is that the loan application form is pre-filled in with my name and address (on 3 different pages). If I had not noticed I may have just thrown it straight in the bin and perhaps been the subject of ID fraud or a dodgy loan application.

As it was I shredded the loan application form, but I do not believe that ANY bank or building society should send out an unsolicited loan or credit card application form, particularly with a name and address already filled in.

[snook]

I agree, there's far too much insistence on everyone taking out loans, without any thought for those vulnerable types who will gladly go along with it and get into a heap of trouble. I think it should be stopped. And I also agree there should be no sending out of ready-completed applications. It's simply wrong.

Of course, the government won't do anything, they'll just wait til there's been a spate of suicides due to people being neck-deep in debt and the papers highlight the dangers. Then they'll appoint a sub-committee to look into it and 'make sure it never happens again'. Yeah, right...

[STAH]

Hi there vehelpfulguy.

I would adviseyou should ask your bank to make a note on your account which states that you are not to receive any unsolicited letters or maketting. This can also stretch to receiving unsolicited phone calls from the bank.

However, there may be a need for the bank to contact you; to ensure that a large cheque leaving your account was written by you, or to let you know you are going overdrawn (or in excess of your overdraft facility). I am sure that such communication would be greatly received!

Be that as it may be, a stop can be placed on the type of mail that you are receiving. I work for a bank, and I always check the customer's preferences to make sure that we have received consent from them before I call, or send marketting literature.

Good luck, and I hope that this makes sense for you!

Scott

[dzug]

I wouldn't call getting the occasional letter, even with a part filled application form, 'being pressurised'.

But yes these letters do annoy me a bit, not enough to do anything about it though. I'm occasionally tempted to fill one in for a laugh - amount wanted �4M, security none, to be spent on lottery tickets and a ticket to South America. Proposed repayments nil.

[ruthann58]

perhaps if we all did what dzug suggests they might get the message its no wonder some people get tempted as there is something in the mail nearly every day encouraging people to get into debt

[flaming]

It is shocking indeed. I have one credit card for convenience and because I pay off the sum quickly my credit rating is good. Thus my max.credit amount keeps going up, unasked for by me.I could go on a massive spending spree. I keep reading things about the authorities regulating the Banks about sending this unsolicited literature, but nothing seems to change.I must watch out for pre-completed application forms.