Louise Jankowski, 36, a from Guildford, turned to Provident to help keep a roof over her family when she split with her partner in 2012
A SINGLE mum-of-three took six years to pay off a doorstep loan after being charged double the initial amount in interest.
Louise Jankowski, 36, from Guildford, turned to Provident to help keep a roof over her children's heads when she split with her partner in 2012.
Today, The Sun launches its Stop The Rip-Off campaign to help the millions of families struggling with rent-to-own and doorstep lending.
Just like Louise, at the time her children - who she has asked to not be named - were aged 12, nine and three.
Suddenly a single-parent, Louise - who is a full-time carer to her youngest son - fell behind with her rent payments while she waited for her benefits to come through.
Louise owed her landlord £400. She turned to the only place she knew for a loan - Provident.
She claims it took her six years to pay off the £1,000 loan, after paying an additional £2,200 in interest.
WE never want you to pay more than double the amount you've borrowed - whether it's for a new sofa or a loan to help pay your bills.
That's why The Sun has launched a campaign calling for a cap on the total cost of rent-to-own loans and doorstep lending at double the original price or loan amount.
A similar cap was introduced for payday loans in 2015 and since then the number of people struggling with unmanageable debts to those lenders has more than halved, according to Citizens Advice.
People on the lowest incomes, living in the poorest places, are paying a poverty premium - up to 7 million people have resorted to high-cost credit, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.
People whose wages or benefits don't stretch far enough need to borrow from rent-to-own or doorstep lenders to help pay for things such as an unexpected bill or to furnish their homes.
These come with exorbitant rates of interest - more than 1,500 per cent in some cases of doorstep lending.
It is scandalous that one mum who borrowed cash to help keep a roof over her family's head ended up paying back over THREE times the original amount.
It's time to stop the credit rip-off.
Here's what we demand:
Rent-to-own
Doorstep lending
She'd already used the loan company for vouchers to help with the shopping over the Christmas period.
So, when her agent came over to her house to collect the £5 she owed for the vouchers, she asked for a £500 cash loan.
"Because I'd been taking out the vouchers over Christmas for 10 years I was already on their system," Louise told The Sun.
"I was so desperate for the cash, I went for it. I took out £1,000. I was a single mum struggling and I had a child with special needs.
"I had no choice but to go to them.
"I asked them for the money and the next day the agent came round with the cash in an envelope."
Even though her income was £328 a week, she was forking out for gas and electricity as well as trying to bring up her children.
She soon fell behind on the £35 a week payments to Provident.
She added: "It was horrible. The agents would come to my house and I'd feel so guilty that I couldn't pay them."
Provident reduced her weekly payments to £10 a week.
Louise's circumstances changed, which meant she was able to go back to work. Last month she finally paid off the last £700 in one lump sum.
She added: “It’s a dangerous spiral and a very slippery slope. When I finally managed to pay off the £1,000 they offered me money off another loan to pay of the £750 interest.
“I hated it. Every week an agent would come over to collect the money and they’d have envelopes full of wodges of cash.
“The temptation was unbelievable. Even when I'd paid off the entire loan they tried to get me take out another loan because I’d paid mine off.
“Six years later I’ve learned and I will not be doing it again.”
A spokesperson from Provident Financial PLC said: “Our customers need access to credit to live their lives.
"We lend responsibly, our customers know what they need to pay back as the amount they repay is fixed at the outset, and we work with them should their circumstances change and they find themselves in financial difficulties.
"We’re committed to doing the right thing by our customers. We’ll investigate this case to find out what has happened."
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