Home goods store BrightHouse has gone into administration, putting 350 jobs at risk. The firm, which has a store in St.Benedict’s Square in Lincoln, is blaming the coronavirus lockdown for putting pressure on the retail industry.
BrightHouse says existing customers should continue with usual payments till further notice.
BrightHouse is a rent-to-own retail chain supplying home domestic appliances, electronics and furniture. Rent-to-own Businesses provide individuals with leases that allow small weekly or monthly payments to be made until the item is bought and owned.
However, some critics argue that these weekly payments can quickly add up to hundreds of pounds more over the course of the lease making it more expensive than similar items if they were to be bought straight away.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed the introduction of a price cap on BrightHouse on April 1st. This is in order to protect vulnerable customers in the UK, saving up to £2.7m in a year by preventing the firms from increasing prices for insurance premiums and extended warranties to make up for lost revenue. This Forces BrightHouse to pay out nearly £15m to almost 250,000 customers after the FCA deemed it was “not acting as a reasonable lender.”
Christ Laverty, Andrew Charters and Sarah O’Toole of Grant Thornton accounting have recently been appointed as joint administrators and are now in full control of the business and in charge of all
supporting services, warranty and insurance claims for all BrightHouse customers in the UK.
During this time the logistic and engineering business Caversham Trading Limited will continue to assist existing customers who need essential item repairs and will also continue delivering small items by leaving parcels on doorsteps.
