UP to 800,000 struggling British families might be left in limbo after an IT meltdown at doorstep lenders Provident Financial.
People with a bad credit score ratings who depend on the firm to tide them over with cash might not have it due to a software bug, based on reports.
The problem also means collectors won't visit homes to take payments – although no one will be charged extra interest consequently, the firm said.
The crisis emerged as Provident's share price plunged 66 per cent in one day, wiping lb1.7billion off the value with what is thought to be the steepest ever stock price fall in the FTSE 100 index of major companies.
Chief executive Peter Crook resigned in disgrace yesterday as the firm announced its door-to-door loan business would lose as much as lb120million this season.
It has around 801,000 customers, mostly those with a bad credit score ratings who're typically charged annual interest of 535 percent.
The Bradford-based firm let go 4,500 freelance debt collectors inside a lb21million overhaul but then struggled to hire a new workforce of full-time agents.
Things went from bad to worse with a brand new IT system designed to make booking appointments easier.
Bugs in the software mean meetings are arranged at the wrong time and collectors aren't sure when they are designed to meet customers, reports the Daily Mail.
The issue is so bad only 57 per cent of debts are being collected on time, compared with 90 percent before.
And the chaos does mean it is harder for new loans to be dished out, potentially leaving regular customers dangerously lacking cash.
Provident's chairman Manjit Wolstenholme, who has absorbed day-to-day running from the company, admitted: "We have people on the floor, but we have difficulties with the software getting used by them.
"Agents are turning up at the wrong time when customers aren't there."
In a second major bombshell, Provident also revealed the Financial Conduct Authority is investigating its credit card business Vanquis Bank over alleged misselling of its "repayment option plan".
Customers typically pay around lb155 for the product, by which they pay a monthly fee to freeze their account without incurring extra interest when they encounter difficulties.
The scandal will finish up costing Provident lb140million, according to the Mail.