Loan Interest Rates

The petition is entitled Cap the rate of interest (APR %) that any bank or financial services company offer on unsecured loans and the explanatory notes say

"The amount of interest payable on unsecured lending today can be huge. I would like to see the rate capped at 10% above the Bank of England base rate. Some lenders, especially in the sub prime market, seem to charge what ever they want to. This again amounts to rip-off Britain !"

I really dislike - you've probably gathered - the concept of legislation to protect people from themselves, except in exceptional circumstances.

If you want a loan, shop around for the best interest rates. If you can't get it at a good interest rate, do without. Capping interest rates would merely mean that some people who can currently get loans wouldn't be able to - because without the insurance of, say, nine out of ten people paying the high interest back to compensate for the tenth who defaults on the loan, the companies wouldn't lend to any of the ten.