Customers receiving credit cards that they did not ask for

According to recent reports many consumers in the UK are being sent credit cards from Laura Ashley despite the fact that they have not ordered them.

The clothing and furnishings company has reportedly been bombarding consumers with credit cards, as have various other companies in the past, and has been accused to contributing to the UK's debt crisis by offering credit to those that have not even applied for it.

According to experts and MPs the Consumer Credit Act is flawed in that it allows companies to send out unsolicited credit in this way, and MPs are now demanding that the Act is looked at in order to try and stop this from happening. With the UK already facing crisis over consumer debt levels according to some, it is crucial that this sort of activity is stamped out as soon as possible.

GE Capital is responsible for sending out the unsolicited Laura Ashley cards, and this is the finance company that is also responsible for nearly half of the UK's store cards. Store cards such as these are known for the extortionate interest rates charged for those that stretch out the repayment of the balance.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vincent Cable stated: 'Once again, GE is promoting irresponsible lending. It is high time this card upgrade loophole was closed. We called for the law to be changed in 2005. In the meantime, thousands more people have found themselves with credit cards they didn't ask for and do not want.'

A spokesman for the Citizen's Advice Bureau added: 'Consumers take out a storecard with a specific purpose. It is wrong to then force a credit card upon them that has an entirely different use, giving them an opt-out only if they say they do not want the card.'

Tom Smith
15th May 2007