the “Money Saving Expert”, Martin Lewis. This was around the time
of my appearance on Radio 4’s Money Box programme, have I mentioned
that before? Yes, I’m not just any old columnist, I’m a star of
stage and screen! Well, Radio 4, actually, and the occasional
appearance at NACFB dinners.
encouraging people to write to Carol Vorderman, who was appearing
in an advertisement for a debt consolidation company, saying that
they should complain as she was a trusted person pushing a product
that would not be right for many people. Well, that’s as may be,
but my argument was that Martin was suggesting shooting the
messenger. The real problem was that people watching the ad didn’t
understand the full implications of the product and whether on
balance it would be of benefit or more likely to lead to even
greater problems.
Of course there are people who will be seduced by
the presenter, me in particular if it happens to be a shapely
woman, but the problem is that there is simply a lack of
information out there: whether it’s a consolidated loan or car
finance, people and small businesses are simply unaware of all the
implications.
Education, education,
education
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When I was working with Yes Car Credit as
a consultant, I remember speaking to a customer of theirs and
asking how she got the poor credit that caused her to use Yes. She
was rather bemused and said, “What poor credit? My credit is fine.”
She hadn’t been told that the credit was at a high rate but had
been seduced by the fact that they offered her a great price for
her old car and put her into a two-year-old car that she could
afford. If she was aware of all the options she could have probably
saved anything up to 40 percent of the cost.
This brings me back to a point that I have made in
the past. The finance industry needs to educate the public and
small businesses about the various forms of finance on offer. In a
soon to be released e-book, I have identified over 40 ways to
finance a car. I don’t stand a hope in hell’s chance of getting the
book out to the masses, but the industry or government should
really find a way of getting at least the more popular methods of
finance out there, along with a full explanation as to what the
benefits and potential dangers are, rather than a few lines
appearing on broker and lessor websites.
If we could get more information out there, we
would get more people buying used cars, which would stabilize the
resale market, leading to lower lease rates, which, along with
education about the way that various types of lease work, would
kick-start new car sales. So if any funder subscribes to my idea
and is looking for someone to promote more information about car
finance on TV, as a former star of stage and screen, I would be
happy to help – for the Carol Vorderman fee of course!
Graham Hill, chief executive, Graham Hill
Automotive Finance
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