As crazy as it sounds, councils have been found actively encouraging tenants to make payments with their credit card! According to the Financial Times, 3,300 tenants at 40 councils and housing associations made rent payments with their credit cards in just one month.

The Liberal Democrats claim to have uncovered evidence that social housing tenants are being encouraged to use their credit cards to meet their arrears.

Fathers paying child support are also being urged to meet missed payments as quickly as possible and many are relying on plastic to do so, the party claims.

Its housing spokesperson Sarah Teather said: “While offering a range of payment methods increases choices for tenants, public bodies should be wary of actively encouraging credit card payments.”

She suggested that using credit cards for arrears could exacerbate debt problems, since interest rates are typically much higher than for other forms of borrowing.

Research carried out last month by AXA revealed that 3.7 million people in the UK are struggling to cope with their credit card debts.

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