Fair for You is a British, not-for-profit online lending company. It is a

Community Interest Company A community interest company (CIC, colloquially pronounced "kick") is a type of company introduced by the United Kingdom government in 2005 under the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, designed for social ente ...

set up to provide finance to families who do not have access to mainstream credit, so that they can purchase goods for their home directly from the manufacturers. Fair for You is the trading name of Fair for You Enterprise CIC. It is owned by the Fair Credit Charity, a registered charity previously called Fair for You Ltd.

History

Fair for You was established in 2015 by Angela Clements, who had run the Citysave Credit Union in Birmingham. The business model was developed over two years, based on market research done on family households on less than £25k a year. Fair for You secured £470,000 in September 2014, obtained its FCA licence in December 2015 and was launched in February 2016 at the House of Commons. According to the

Financial Conduct Authority The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulation, financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom, but operates independently of the UK Government, and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The ...

, around half of the people who have used other rent-to-own companies have experienced some degree of late payment fees, with more than one in 10 thought to end up having their goods repossessed. Chair of the

All Party Parliamentary Group An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) is a grouping in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that is composed of members of parliament from all political parties, but have no official status within Parliament. Description and functions All-party ...

on Debt and Personal Finance and Labour MP Yvonne Fovargue said at the launch event: "Fair For You is a real alternative to other rent to own companies." Founder Angela Clements left Fair for You in 2020, and Simon Dukes was made CEO the following year.

Awards

Fair for You has recently won the 'Consumer Credit Team of the Year' in the Credit Awards 2020 by Credit Strategy. Fair for You has been voted ''Firm of the Year'' and ''Best Loan Provider (Lending <£2.5k)'' at the Consumer Credit Awards 2020, retaining the title ''Firm of the Year'' for three consecutive years. In March 2020 Fair for You with EML and Lending Metrics won the ''Affordable Credit Challenge'' by Nesta in partnership with HM Treasury. In 2019, Fair for You was the only triple award winner at the Consumer Credit Awards, voted ''Firm of the Year'', ''Treating Customers Fairly Champion'' and ''Customer Service Champion''. Previously at the Consumer Credit Awards Fair for You were voted, ''Best Alternative Finance Provider'' and ''Firm of the Year'' in 2018 and ''Consumer Credit Champions'' & ''Best Newcomer'' in 2017. They have also been finalists for the ''Customer Engagement Solution'' category in the Credit & Collections Technology Awards 2018.

Product offerings

Fair for You offers finance to purchase essential household items at an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 55.6%.

Charity and partnerships

In 2018 Michael Sheen launched an alliance of organisations that are working towards providing alternatives to high cost credit and eliminating the

poverty premium A cost of poverty, also known as a ghetto tax, a cost of being poor, or the poor pay more, is the phenomenon of people with lower incomes, particularly those living in low-income areas, incurring higher expenses, paying more not only in terms of mo ...

in the UK, which Fair for You is a part of. Fair for You have been members of the Social Enterprise UK since 2017. Fair for You has built an online high street by partnering with manufacturers and retailers. In 2015, the company partnered with Whirlpool, whose brands include

Hotpoint Hotpoint is a British brand of domestic appliances. Ownership of the brand is split between American company Whirlpool, which has the rights in Europe, and Chinese company Haier, which has the rights in the Americas through its purchase of GE A ...

and Indesit. They received funding from a number of partners in 2014, such as Esmée Fairbairn Foundation,

Joseph Rowntree Foundation The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is a charity that conducts and funds research aimed at solving poverty in the UK. JRF's stated aim is to "inspire action and change that will create a prosperous UK without poverty." Originally called the ...

, The Funding Network and others. The organisation is working with a range of organisations, including

Turn2us Turn2us is a trading name for Elizabeth Finn Care, a charity registered in England and Wales, and in Scotland that helps people living in poverty in the UK. Turn2us provides information and support about welfare benefits and charitable grants th ...

and the

Money Advice Trust Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are ...

, to bring the offering to market."Can short term loans ever be ethical?" Good With Money (accessed March 2016)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Fair for You (Charity)
Financial services companies of the United Kingdom 2015 establishments in the United Kingdom Financial services companies established in 2015 Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2015