Will my Employer be Contacted if I get a Payday Loan?

Traditionally, lenders will often ask for a whole raft of contact details in an effort to validate your application. This will usually include a home number, mobile and an office contact. Whether or not they actually choose to contact your employer will largely be dependent on the payday loan company and the way in which they operate.

One scenario that is common amongst many short term lenders is to call your place of work anonymously (i.e. without stating an intention) and simply confirming that you are employed with that particular business. They won't identify themselves as being from a particular company or ask personal questions regarding your employment, just simply ascertain that you work there.

This isn't standard practice by any means, although it is used with reasonable regularity. In the most part though there will not be any form of contact in which the loan provider will state where they are calling from and the reason why. This is unnecessarily invasive and wouldn't serve any form of positive purpose.

Instead they will often provide you with alternative ways in which you can validate your personal and employment details. This includes sending a copy of your bank statement that shows the last time you were paid. This can be a slight inconvenience, particularly if you don't have a fax or scanner available. However it is necessary to ensure that applicants can back up their claims and are able to provide evidence that they have the money or salary to repay any loan that they request.

Generally speaking though, payday loan providers tend to be far more lenient when it comes to deciding the suitability of a borrower. Whilst they do have to perform checks in order to comply with lending rules and to make sure that they don't find themselves lending to people who will never repay, this can usually be done in a way that doesn't cause undue hassle to customers.

Often this kind of scrutiny will only be applied to new clients though. This is purely because as time goes by and you successfully repay a number of loans, your risk rating is reduced and the lender can verify that you can be trusted. As a result you can get access to a payday loan much quicker than you might ordinarily and there is no need for calls or the sending of any documents.

It is generally a good idea to have a good read through the website or other documentation provided by the lender before you actually carry out an application. Not only will this give you an idea of the likely costs, but you can also check the finer points - including the confirmation techniques used. A payday loan company will ordinarily suggest whether or not they are likely to contact your company to verify details or indeed whether they require further evidence. Therefore if you are uncomfortable with the thought of them doing so, you might want to contact them beforehand or indeed look elsewhere.

The important thing to note though is that payday loans aren't a standard bank loan. Lenders don't need to dig up your entire back history and current situation to work out if you're worthy of their finance. Of course there will be checks, but most are mindful that you don't want to have your financial status broadcast to all and sundry or, more particularly, your employers. Therefore a certain amount of discretion is often assured. Most too will look to make it all as straightforward and hassle free as is possible, without compromising on their own liability.

Vincent Rogers is a finance writer who writes for a number of UK companies. For quick payday loans, he recommends Paydaypower.co.uk