Fears more people in the North East will be forced to turn to loan sharks as Universal Credit uplift ends
Over 420,000 households in the North East were on Universal Credit last August
There are fears more people in the North East will be forced to turn to loan sharks as families wake up to a £1000 a year cut to their Universal Credit.
Yesterday, the £20 a week uplift to the benefit officially came to an end, which has started fears of vulnerable families falling prey to illegal money lenders who target struggling to pay the bills or feed their kid.
Figures from the Department for work and Pensions show that. over 420,000 households in the North East were on Universal Credit last August
The charity Crime Stoppers has issued a warning some families could turn to illegal lenders to put food on the table.
Read More: 25% cut to young peoples Universal Credit could put thousands at risk of homelessness
Ruth McNee, regional manager for Crimestoppers in the North East, said: "If you borrow from a loan shark it's actually only going to make things much worse. They use so many psychological threats and coercive control to try and get the money in. Of course, they're not looking for just that original loan back, they put huge levels of interest payments on so the debt soon spirals out of control.
"Sometimes believe that if they've borrowed money from a loan shark that they've broken the law. I think that is something people get afraid of, and the loan sharks play to that and they'll say 'you've broken the law because you've borrowed money from a loan shark', and that's just not true.
"It could be anybody. Some of the signs to spot to protect yourself from this is if you're borrowing money, and you're able to perhaps borrow it in cash or in a bank transfer, and there is no paper work. Then of course they may resort to intimidation or threats of violence."