UK economy suffers further slump

There is a saying in my proffession: "If you owe the bank £5000, that is your problem.If you owe them £50 0000 that is their problem, and that is exactly what the average, creditworth borrower is paying for, Properly underwritten lending is the problem here. The problem woth WW.100 mortgae comment is that it is not the lending which is the issue; it is the way it is managed by both Creditor and Debtor alike. Banks are "pulling the plug" on perfectly viable businesses, only because they are preferential creditors and no they will not incur a loss: sod the company and its creditors; let alone staff. However, the same Banks are crying in their beer when lending goes wrong. People need wealth not loans.; if Messrs Darling and Brown had not taxed the Shite out of people then there would be more money for investment, without the need for loans. Of course this has all been seen before in the '70s when Dennis Healy created "super-tax" at 98%.

I was intrigued to be advised by the desk-clerk that they reason why they had increased their APR from 9.9%- 15% was "to protect themselves from bad debt. I asked if they were concerned about my Credit Worthiness, and if so, the logical thing to do would be either to call the account in, or decrease the credit limt. No, they were happy with the way the account was being handled, and there was no question about my status. However, it appears that protecting themselves actually meant:" making as much money out of the situation as possible, despite the fact that they are charging 15 Times Base Rate., and actually encouraging defualt and losses. Frankly the Banks deserve all the bad debt they get and it is about time the "Extortionate Credit Terms " Clause in the Consumer Credit Act 1974, was reduced from 50.1%, down to say 30%. More people would be able to stop this ludicrous overcharging by the banks. If the bank does not wish to take the risk, it should not underwrite it

The issue is not that simple. As far as I am concerned much of this problem has be whipped by hysterical press and mis-reporting. Speaking as someone who deals with debt and trying to stop companies and people going bankrupt, I would suggest that the vast moajority of the debt created is out of need not just greed as many people, particulalry the Banks and the Government have asserted, In the case of the latter, this is rather the post calling the saucepan tarnished! I am fortunate in that I have a good line of Credit and a perfect record of repayment. However, it came as a surprise to me when I receved a letter from Halifax Bank, with whom I have a Credit Card, with a nominal facility of £3000. That facility is used responsibly and there is no question of late payment or default. What I found bizzare was the fact that I was being informed that they were RAISING the APR from 9.9% to 15.1%, "due to the current financial crisis". I suggested to them, that if they were

If the banks would lend businesses some money and people, then they would have money to spend more. Get the banks lending loans and mortgages, come on people!