‘We’re seeing the next generation of adverse credit coming’ – Jannels

Speaking on Specialist Lending Solutions Television in association with Pepper Money in February before the coronavirus lockdown, Jannels noted that mobile phone companies and car park enforcement were particularly strict.

“We’re seeing the next generation of adverse credit coming through, if you cough on your phone bill you’re slapped with a default almost immediately,” said Jannels.

“The biggest increase at the moment we’re seeing is car parking fines. People don’t want to pay a silly little charge because they went into a pet store, and then they’ve got private firms chasing them down.”

Jannels noted that things could escalate quickly and before they know it those parking charges are up to £700.

He added that the biggest surprise was people then buried their heads in the sand and did not think they could find a mortgage – instead dropping onto the lender’s standard variable rate or just not purchasing the property.

Citing its research, Pepper Money sales director Paul Adams noted that many people with credit issues fell into in the prime age of property purchase between the ages of 35 – 44.

“But surprisingly it’s not just the less affluent borrower customer, a lot of these customers, the majority in fact, are associated with the social grades associated with higher incomes,” he said.

“So a good 61 per cent of people looking to buy in the next 12 months were of those social grades where income and earnings aren’t a problem.”