A mum-of-four has described how she was attacked in her own home and left without cash for food and rent after she borrowed money from a loan shark.
Sally - not her real name - was lent £700 just before Christmas so she could buy presents for her children and had agreed to pay back £200 a month.
But on the day her first payment was due, the loan shark turned up at her house and instead demanded £1,000.
The 39-year-old, who lives in the south of Liverpool, says she told the loan shark she couldn’t afford to give him more than the £200 they had agreed.
She tells The Mirror this is when the situation turned violent.
Sally, who is mum to four children aged between eight and 18, said: “He came to the door with two other men and demanded all of the money. I argued and said I’d had the £200 - I said I couldn’t afford to pay him more.
“I had money from Universal Credit and that had to cover me and my children for the whole month. He knew the date when my benefits were due.
“He demanded all of the money and started assaulting me. He grabbed me by the head which left me with a big bruise on my eye and side of my face.
“I was trying to get him off but then he started screaming and my kids were crying. I had to agree to pay him. I went to get cash out and emptied £800 from my account. I had no rent and no way of feeding my kids.”
Are you in financial difficulty because of a loan shark? Get in touch: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
The loan shark told Sally he’d come back for more money and she ended up giving him another £200. In total, she handed over £1,200 - £500 more than the amount she originally borrowed.
She says the whole incident has left her family traumatised, especially her eldest son who has autism and witnessed the attack.
But Gerard Woodhouse, Labour Councillor for Liverpool County Ward and CEO of the Liverpool Six Community Association charity, says this is far from an isolated incident.
He told The Mirror his L6 Centre has helped thousands of families and vulnerable women in a similar situation.
“She isn’t alone with this problem in Liverpool. These loan sharks work in patches and there are thousands of people in the same situation," said Mr Woodhouse.
“There needs to be more money given to organisations like ours to educate and help people.”
The Liverpool Six Community Association started 24 years ago as a community centre and has since opened a pop-up shop that works in a similar way to a food bank.
They also provide advice services, lunch clubs, youth clubs, a food bank, tea dances, short breaks away for the elderly and children.
The Liverpool Six Community Association was able to help pay Sally’s rent, provide her with food for a month and top up her gas and electric metres.
Its latest GoFundMe fundraiser has raised £21,000 so far.
How to get help with loan sharks
Loan sharks are illegal and are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to lend money.
They typically charge extortionate rates and will use intimidating measures to get money off the people they've borrowed to.
This can include threatening violence, turning up at your place of work or at cash points, or taking away your valuables.
If you suspect someone of being a loan shark in England, you can contact the Illegal Money Lending Hotline on 0300 555 2222 or email reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk or text loan shark and your message to 60003.
In Scotland, you can call the Trading Standards Scotland team on 0800 074 0878, or report it online to them at www.tsscot.co.uk.
In Wales, you can call the Wales Illegal Money Lending Unit on 0300 123 33 11.
Or if you live in Northern Ireland, you can contact the Trading Standards Consumerline on 0300 123 6262.
If someone who has lent you money threatens you or is violent, contact the police straight away.
