Lenders could make fortune from late payment
November 13, 2007
Industry officials are warning that certain lenders are set to make a small fortune from consumers as the result of the series of postal strikes that may have affected some consumers’ ability to make repayments on time.
Lenders such as credit card companies, may be adding costly late payment charges after customers that made cheque payments found that their payment was delayed as the result of the postal strikes.
One recent strike by postal workers left Royal Mail with a massive backlog of post to get through at the end of the strike, and with more strikes planned for the coming weeks the problem could continue to get worse.
One official stated: “Those borrowers who put cheques in the post to their lenders over the last 10 days or so stand to incur a late charge as their remittances languish in the Post Office’s overflowing depots.” He stated this after a strike of several days, which took place a couple of weeks earlier.
He also stated: “With little or no deliveries this week and a huge backlog of post to be dealt with, millions of people could be affected unless they pick up the phone to their lender and stamp out the possibility of being treated as a bad payer.” He recommended that consumers that have been making cheque payments contact their credit card companies to explain the situation, and wherever possible consumers that tend to pay by cheque look for alternative payment methods until the Royal Mail action has ended.
Royal Mail is planning more walkouts over rows about pay and conditions, and those making repayments by cheque could quickly find themselves clocking up charges because their cheques have not reached the lender in time to be credited to the account by the due date.
Alan Wright
13th November 2007
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