Loans can help if you can’t afford a purchase. However, the Hamburg consumer advice center warns against this.
Berlin – Rising food and energy prices mean that consumers are making larger purchases consumer can quickly become a problem. Some may already have toyed with the idea of taking out a loan. However, the Hamburg consumer advice center warns against it.
Consumer advice center warns against taking out a loan
Die Prices in supermarkets are constantly increasing. to be added high costs for gas, heat and electricity. If there are still high rental costs, people could be willing to take out a loan to finance their livelihood. The Consumer Center Hamburg now warns against prematurely taking out a loan. Any credit traps could further increase the financial problems of consumers. You should be particularly skeptical of some offers.
Despite the price brakes for electricity, gas and heat, more and more people in Germany are getting into payment difficulties. The supposedly quickest solution: a loan. These are offered by banks, savings banks and other credit institutions. The consumer advice center has already warned of the credit portal Maxda.de – unnecessary insurance is said to have been sold there.
You should beware of these credit traps
On World Consumer Day, the Hamburg Consumer Center announced the ten most common pitfalls when taking out a loan. All of these traps can result in high additional costs for consumers – so caution is advised with these loans:
- The overdraft facility: If you overdraw your checking account, you automatically fall into a credit line, also called overdraft facility. This is granted by your own bank, but can be expensive. If your own account is in the red, you will incur high interest rates – in 2022 the interest rate was around ten percent.
- Short-term and mini loans: This form of credit can provide quick relief. Since no sufficient creditworthiness is required for this and it is only a matter of small sums of a maximum of 199 euros, it is of interest to many consumers. As the consumer advice center states, the conditions for this are usually rather bad.
- Schufa-free loans: With this form of credit, there is no credit check. Credit institutions take advantage of this and offer the loans with bad conditions. In some cases, it is even said that dubious providers offer to send contract documents for a fee. However, the promised money is never paid out, the processing fee is gone anyway.
- Buy now, pay later: For consumers who can only partially afford a new purchase, the offer of not paying until they receive their next salary seems attractive. The saying: “Postponed is not lifted” hits the mark here. Don’t lose track of outstanding payments.
- Privatkredite/Peer-to-Peer-Kredite: If you do not want to get a loan from a bank, you can also take it out from private individuals. There are even providers who act online as intermediaries. The Hamburg consumer advice center warns against these providers: The costs are often concealed there.
- Zero Percent Financing: Like “buy now, pay later”, zero percent financing is interesting for consumers because the purchase price does not have to be paid in one go. A loan is taken out with a bank that cooperates with the dealer. If the dealer also wants to sell you a credit card, you should not accept the offer.
- residual debt insurance: Taking out insurance can significantly increase the overall price of a loan. Banks often offer residual debt insurance: the bank collects a high commission. The following often applies here: The benefits are out of all proportion to the costs.
- Pawnbroker: Anyone who does not get a loan from a bank sees the pawnbroker as the last resort. Valuables can be exchanged for money there. As a rule, however, the money received, including the fees, is disproportionate to the object of value given. If an extension has to be applied for in order to release the deposit, the interest also increases significantly.
- Credit cards with partial payment function: With a revolving credit card, a credit can be exhausted monthly. As with many other loans, there is a risk that more money will be spent than consumers have available.
- Expensive additional products: Whether credit cards with zero percent financing or insurance with credit institutions or banks: additional products often only increase the amount that has to be repaid to the other party. Only very few offers are useful.
If you fall into one of these credit traps, you can get advice from the consumer advice center. The urgent message from the Hamburg consumer advice center: “Don’t let yourself be put under pressure! Your chances of getting a loan do not improve just because you take out a life insurance contract, for example. You are under no obligation. Don’t be fooled by tempting-sounding loan offers.” (Robin Dittrich)
