Are You Able To Obtain A Payday Loan On Unemployment Benefits?

We’ve seen the payday loans industry boom over the past 18 months, becoming one of Europe’s fastest growing industries in recent years; however it is generally a well advertised fact that you must have a steady income in order to be able to take out such a loan. We fully appreciate the thinking behind quick payday loans, that we all come into a financial emergency at some point or other; be that to urgently have the car repaired, to fix the boiler or to pay some other unexpected bill which lands in the middle of the month.

As such, we thought we’d take a look into whether or not it’s possible to obtain quick loans for unemployed people and, as a matter of fact, it is indeed possible! We found a number of companies who would lend to those on unemployment benefits, as this, in most cases, is paid in regular intervals. Whilst the maximum amount of the loan for those in unemployment is often limited, there are certainly lenders out there who are willing to accept regular benefit payments as a form of income…at the end of the day, just because someone is currently unemployed, it doesn’t mean they have absolutely zero income. These people could be unable to work due to illness, for example, and as such, may be classes as unemployed due to having no job, but as a matter of fact are on long-term sickness and claim benefits because of this. As such, surely they should be entitled to take out a payday loan if you run into a little bit of short-term financial trouble?

Other options which we discovered for those who are unemployed are of similar essence to payday loans, but are collected in person on a week-by-week basis and often known as ‘doorstep loans.’ In a similar way to a lot of payday lenders, such companies are often willing to lend to those unemployed providing that some form of income is able to be proved.

This then got us thinking … should payday loan companies treat the unemployed any differently? Our answer to this was somewhat incoherent … on one hand, payday lenders are running a business and need security; if the loan isn’t repaid, they don’t make any money. Of course this isn’t completely true as if repayment isn’t made, interest is added on and the like, however that’s a different story for another time. On the other hand; many people live comfortably on benefits and are able to repay just the same as someone in employment.

That said, if someone who is unemployed can prove their income through unemployment, there is no reason why they should be treated any different and, as we found, in many cases, this is true!