Salad Money Impact Report 22-23 WEB - Flipbook - Page 26
“IF YOU CAN’T PAY,
YOU DON’T GET AN
EDUCATION”
IT specialist Harriet carefully manages her 昀椀nances so she
can send some of her monthly wage home to Zimbabwe
to support her two children. Her sons are being cared for
by her family and are being educated at a senior school
Harriet pays for.
“I miss my boys so much; we
video call every day, but I haven’t
physically seen them for three years.
They love school and understand
and appreciate what I am doing for
them, and it is really important to me
that they get a good education,” she
says.
But once a year, when their school
fees are due, she doesn’t have
enough money and has to take out a
loan to cover them. Harriet has lived
in Rotherham since 2020 and works
full-time, but is unable to get a bank
loan.
Last year when the fees were due
and there were uniforms to buy,
Harriet couldn’t 昀椀nd a loan at a fair
rate. She ended up feeling she had
no choice but to borrow the £1,500
she needed from a 昀椀rm which
gives unsecured personal loans to
people with bad credit ratings. Her
18-month loan was at a sky-high
rate.
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“I had no choice but to take it my eldest son was starting at his
brother’s senior school and the
fees have to be paid upfront,” says
Harriet. “I paid back over £3,000 and
really struggled with the monthly
payments.”
When school fees were due again
this spring, she was still paying o昀昀
the last instalments of her Everyday
Loan.
Harriet, who hopes one day to be
allowed to bring her children to
join her in the life she has made for
herself in Rotherham, said: “It was
an easy process and acceptance
was quick. I will pay back £1,500
in total – I wish I could 昀椀nd a lower
interest rate, but it’s more than £500
less than with any other 昀椀rm that
will lend to me, and my monthly
direct debit payments are more
manageable.”
She needed another £1,000 but
didn’t want to apply to the same
昀椀rm again and end up paying back
double what she had borrowed.
She went online to check her credit
rating with ClearScore, where she
found out about Salad Money loans,
and made an online application to
borrow the money over 18 months.
It’s more than
£500 less than
with any other
昀椀rm that
will lend to me.
Fair Lending for Key Workers
