With living costs spiralling, Citizens Advice has found that one in 12 people turned to buy now pay later (BNPL) to cover basic costs - such as food and toiletries - in the last six months.
A Citizens Advice poll of 1,124 people who had used BNPL in the past 12 months showed that young people, those in debt and those claiming Universal Credit, are at least twice as likely to have used BNPL for essentials than the general population.
Generally used for higher value purchases such as fashions and electronics, Citizens Advice is particularly worried about the rise of firms offering BNPL for food shopping in the past few years.
The charity’s frontline advisers have been raising red flags on the problems they’re seeing, including a parent using BNPL to buy baby clothes while waiting for a benefit payment and someone in debt using BNPL for the weekly food shop.
The charity cites the case of a pensioner - Audrey - who used BNPL for a £40 grocery shop as she didn’t have enough money for food that month. Despite struggling to repay, the provider has bombarded her with offers to borrow hundreds of pounds more.
Audrey says: “It was either use BNPL or starve, so I used it. I sort of knew I would struggle to make the repayments but I did not have any other way of getting food. I bought canned food as they are non-perishable and would last me longer.
“I have been struggling to repay the money. They constantly harass me, calling me for payments. It's really stressful as if I could afford to pay it back straight away, I would.
“This company also sends me texts and emails offering £100 credit and even £500. It makes no sense as I can't even manage to repay £40, how would I repay £100 or even £500?”
Citizens Advice has been calling for urgent regulation of the sector, including for consistent, market-wide affordability checks and for BNPL firms to make the consequences clearer for consumers if things go wrong.
Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, comments: “The fact that people are turning to Buy Now Pay Later for their groceries really hammers home the urgent need for industry regulation.
“As living costs spiral, we fear more people in desperate situations will see this unregulated form of credit as the answer.
“The Government must keep pace with these firms and ensure consumers are protected.”