Stop Loan Sharks

Borrowing from a loan shark can lead people into long-term financial hardship, with exorbitant interest rates as high as 100,000% and threats that leave borrowers trapped in a cycle of debt for years. If you have borrowed from a loan shark or are worried about someone else, Stop Loan Sharks can help. They investigate and prosecutes illegal money lenders and provides support for borrowers in the UK.

Not Sure What A Loan Shark Is?

If you can answer yes to one or more of these questions you might be borrowing from a loan shark:

• Did they offer you a cash loan?
• Did they not give you paperwork?
• Did they add huge amounts of interest or APR to your loan?
• Have they threatened you?
• Are you scared of people finding out?
• Have they taken your bank card, benefit card, passport, watch or other valuables from you?

For more information and support, you can visit the Stop Loan Sharks website

Mersey Care X England Illegal Money Lending Team

Mersey Care are supporting the England Illegal Money lending Team (IMLT) Stop Loan Sharks campaign and want to prevent people falling victim to loan sharks. We want to make sure that our workplace is financially robust, and staff know where to go to get help or access financial advice if they are struggling. We want all NHS sites to be aware of this issue, so we are better placed to support our community and residents, if they are victims of a loan shark. Although people may come to us for help with physical injuries, addiction and mental health complaints, sometimes it’s the underlying loan shark debt that is the real issue. By working with the IMLT we will be able to recognise the real issue and help people get the right support to deal with this.

IMLT will be delivering sessions for staff to help raise awareness of illegal money lenders, recognise when you or your colleagues are a victims of illegal lending,  and identify what steps to take to seek the relevant support.