ABSTRACT
Whilst the banks, finance companies and building societies dealt mainly in large advances to prosperous customers (see above), other lenders, such as check-traders, moneylenders and pawnbrokers (see post, para 15.17), more often lent modest amounts to poor families.6 Vendor credit to poor families would typically be supplied by mail order (see post, para 8.19); or door-to-door traders. Developing out of the credit drapers and tallymen or ‘Scotch drapers’ of the 18th century,7 these businesses provided goods on credit on a door-to-door basis in low-income areas. Providing small amounts of finance and flexible home collection, their services are relatively expensive and disadvantaged by the APR rules (see post, para 8.23), the doorstep selling regulations (see post, paras 10.2122) and the cancellable agreements regime for regulated agreements (see post, para 10.28 et seq).
