We have been contacted by a number of financial counsellors, community workers and the general public with serious concerns about ClearLoans. On its website ClearLoans advertises itself as “guarantor loans: fast, flexible & straightforward” where consumers can borrow up to $15,000 in 24 hours. The website says that, “it doesn’t matter if you have bad credit or are self employed – the most important thing for us is that you have a friend or family member who trusts you enough to guarantee to make repayments if you don’t, and that you can afford to repay the loan.”

In response to these concerns, we have prepared a toolkit for lawyers and financial counsellors who are helping someone with a loan or guarantee from ClearLoans. Here is a toolkit for assisting borrowers which includes:

• a cover sheet explaining how to use the template documents
• a template letter requesting copies of documents
• a template letter of demand
• a template letter of complaint to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.