Martin Lewis issues urgent warning to peopl who use Buy Now Pay Later

Martin Lewis has issued an urgent warning after a Buy Now Pay Later lender went bust. The BBC Sounds and ITV star, who has regular stints on the likes of Good Morning Britain, This Morning and The Martin Lewis Money Show, spoke out on Twitter, now X.

Mr Lewis said: "Buy now pay later firm Laybuy has gone into administration, full help if you're a customer..." In reply, a Twitter user said: "I reckon if you owe money to a company that goes bust, you should be let off having to pay the rest back. Only seems fair."

"Never heard of it...," a second said but a third typed: "For Laybuy customers, support is available during this challenging time." A third said: "I assume no one needs help as theyve not paid anything and have the goods."

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A notice on the Laybuy website reads: "Payment services are currently suspended across all regions. This impacts our customers ability to create new orders online and in store. During this time, all existing orders will be processed as normal. We'll share more information as soon as we can."

The firm has more than 300,000 users in the UK and allows customers to spread payments over six weeks, without paying interest. However, Laybuy does charge a £6 fee if your payment is late, and a further £6 if it's still unpaid seven days later.

Sam Ballinger, joint administrator at FTI Consulting, said: "The joint administrators are currently assessing the options available to the companies and supporting the employees, merchants and other affected stakeholders through this difficult period. Laybuy is not currently accepting new transactions, however, customers should continue to make payments as normal."

Kevin Mountford, a financial expert and co-founder of the platform Raisin UK, issued this urgent advice for Laybuy customers. “At present, the administrators are not accepting any new transactions for Laybuy, however, it is critical that customers continue to make their repayments as normal," he said.

“The administrators will be actively working to explore options as to whether a sale of the business can be achieved, and in this case, your debt would be sold on and transactions would need to continue as normal as you would be expected to have made all your payments.

“This news will be incredibly frustrating for their customers across the globe and will be unsettling news for the thousands of users in the UK who have used Laybuy for purchases from leading retailers like Amazon, Marks & Spencer and Next.

"It also will further add to calls for Buy-Now-Pay-Later platforms to face better regulation to help protect customers if another provider were to collapse in the future. With BNPL platforms continuing to contribute to credit scores, this uncertainty will cause significant concern for their users.”