Submitted on Thursday 19th March 2020
Rejected on Wednesday 15th April 2020
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: duplicate (see below for details)
Ban banks from hiking interest rates during the coronavirus crisis
HSBC has recently almost doubled its arranged overdraft interest rate; this prevents many people losing work from being able to pay their rent and bills.
The government should immediately freeze interest rates, and reverse any made during the crisis, so that those unable to work can survive.
While mortgage payments have been stopped, rent and bills have not; evictions have been temporarily banned but rent is still due. Evictions are only banned until the end of the moratorium, and landlords only advised, not required, to cooperate on repayment with tenants afterwards.
In order to avoid being evicted as soon as the ban ends, many will have to resort to using their overdrafts; this interest hike dramatically increases the amount of debt incurred by those least able to shoulder it.
You can't sign this petition because it was rejected. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!
The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
There's already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.
You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action.
Encourage lenders to suspend interest, fees and repayments during COVID-19: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/305297
Since starting this petition, many UK banks have announced measures to help people who are experiencing financial difficulties due to coronavirus. You should look at your bank's website or contact them directly to find out more.
You can read the Financial Conduct Authority's announcement on the temporary financial relief that banks can offer customers here: www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-confirms-temporary-financial-relief-customers-impacted-coronavirus
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
NHS website: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
UK Government website: www.gov.uk/coronavirus
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read correspondence with Government Ministers asking further questions: committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
3.145.10.45 Fri, 05 Jul 2024 20:22:46 +0100
