Call for protection on COVID loan debts as the bounce-back payback begins
During COVID-19, millions of UK businesses took out ‘bounce-back loans’ from the government – enabling them to access finance more quickly to cover costs lost as a result of the pandemic.
This week, more than 1.5 million small businesses across the UK are due to return around £47bn in this government-backed COVID credit, as the first set of loan repayments are due.
Whilst lenders have pledged to be fair to customers and will do their best to avoid provoking government guarantees that could cost UK taxpayers billions, campaigners say that banks may find it difficult to do right by those companies struggling to pay back what they have borrowed.
London Partner, Ned Beale, spoke to the Banking Correspondent at The Guardian, Kalyeena Makortoff, stating:
“There is a mass of regulation out there, which business owners big and small assume protects them. But the problem is that regulation is only as powerful as your ability to enforce it. Actually, when push comes to shove, much of this regulation is not enforceable.”