Council issues advice to Wonga customers

Northumberland County Council Trading Standards Service have issued advice to residents to be aware of the need to keep a tight grip on their finances following the collapse of lender Wonga.

Wonga Group Limited and WDFC UK Limited (Wonga) have been placed into administration but their debts don’t die with the business. Insolvency Practitioners from Grant Thornton have been appointed as administrators to manage the firm’s business and affairs and they will continue to operate Wonga until a buyer for the business can be found or decisions are made about what will happen to the companies’ assets.

Residents are advised that they need to be aware that nothing will change for them other than it is the Administrators that will be dealing with their loans and payments.  Importantly the debt will not be written off and it is essential that customers continue making their payments for their loans

If any customer is struggling to repay their loans then they can get free and impartial guidance from Citizens Advice or the Money Advice Service. (https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en).  It is important that you do not try and ignore any problems in repaying your debt and seek independent advice where appropriate.

Councillor John Riddle, Northumberland County Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning, Housing and Resilience said “We are concerned that people with a poor credit rating who are looking for loans may be tempted to go to a loan shark. Residents need to know that these are illegal lenders and even small loans from them can very quickly turn into huge debts.”

Anyone wanting to know more about loan sharks or who is suffering at the hands of a loan shark can report this at https://www.gov.uk/report-loan-shark

Residents are advised to search the Financial Services Register for bodies who are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (https://register.fca.org.uk/) to lend money.