Been bitten by a loan shark?

As part of the government’s biggest ever crackdown on illegal money lending, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is launching the East Midlands Public Protection Project Team.

The new team, which will be based in Nottingham, will provide support to victims and secure convictions against illegal lenders. The new team has been developed under the government’s financial inclusion agenda to help people gain access to affordable credit.

John Hutton, the Secretary of State for Business, said:

"Around 10,000 households in the East Midlands are exploited by loan sharks every year. Victims are not only charged astronomical interest rates but very often are subject to violence, intimidation or blackmail if they fall behind with payments. Using a loan shark can ruin your life and that’s why this new team is so important!"

Caraline Ryan, Head of Public Protection for Nottingham City Council, said:

"We welcome the opportunity for Nottingham to host this regional team and provide increased protection for consumers in the East Midlands. The team will work with partners in other enforcement agencies to track down and take tough action against loan sharks. We will also work with voluntary groups and other financial inclusion projects such as Victim Support, Citizens Advice and Credit Unions to provide support to victims and help ensure the availability of affordable credit."

Anyone who has been approached by a loan shark or threatened as a result of not making repayments to a loan shark should contact the Public Protection Project Team.

The new hotline, 0115 851 0351, will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and all calls will be taken in total confidence.




Posters will appear on bus shelters and billboards the week commencing 18th December. Information leaflets (plus A4 posters) will be distributed throughout each city at a wide range of partner agencies including: Police, NHS, PCT Sure Start, Housing, Job Centre Plus, Credit Unions, Social Services - Welfare/Benefits, Local Magistrate/Crown Courts, Victim Support, Witness Service, Crime and Drugs Partnership, Citizens Advice Bureaux, Age Concern, Colleges, Universities and Community Centres, plus a wide range of voluntary agencies.

Loan sharking is a criminal offence, so members of the public who owe money to a loan shark may not be legally obliged to pay back the loan.

The team will initially be targeting their activity in the Nottingham, Leicester and Derby areas but will eventually cover the whole of the East Midlands.

The evaluation of the initial pilot project shows that, since the launch in Birmingham and Glasgow in September 2004, the teams carried out 111 investigations and helped 1765 loan shark victims. They recovered 1m in assets, with a further 1m likely to be collected pending court cases. The evaluation, together with the research report, is helping to inform policy decisions on taking forward this work with other relevant government departments and organisations as part of the wider social and financial inclusion agenda.

The schemes piloted in Birmingham and Glasgow in September 2004 have achieved a number of notable successes:

• Teams have helped identify almost 250 illegal lenders.
• Loan books of nearly 3 million have been shut down.
• Proceedings have been instituted against 58 individuals.
• Teams have benefited nearly 2000 victims.
• Court cases have resulted in prison sentences of more than 15 years.
• Cases have also resulted in 230 hours community service and rehabilitation orders of 24 months.
• The longest prison sentence to date is 6 years 9 months for a loan shark also charged with kidnapping, assault, wounding, blackmail and counterfeiting.