A MOTHER-of-three who spent 18 years locked right into a spiral of debt with BrightHouse claims the rent-to-buy company "bullied" her.
Yesterday, the weekly payment store received fire after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ordered it to repay lb14.8 million to customers who was simply treated unfairly through the store.
Laura Taylor, 38, from Northamptonshire, got her first agreement with BrightHouse in 1996 when she was 18 and a hairdressing student at school.
Since then, she got around 26 agreements with the loan company which she paid off over almost 2 decades.
Laura, whose agreed payment day was a Saturday, told the Sun Online of her horror of being "bullied and intimidated" on her own front door step by staff in the loan store.
"Two men would turn up on my front door on a Saturday, hours prior to the payment was due," she said. "The payment wasn't even late and they'd be banging on my door ensuring I had been likely to visit the store to pay.
"At that time I had two young children in the house and that i needed to hide them in the living room so they wouldn't see.
"It was back before they accepted payments over the phone, so even when I'd a sick child, I had to drag them on the bus to the store to make sure that I paid promptly.
"There have been times when I was late paying on the Saturday and they'd come knocking at my door around the Monday," Laura recalls.
"I don't realise why they couldn't just call me to remind me first, before visiting the house. I'd be so scared of opening the doorway that I'd hide until they went away."
Laura called BrightHouse's customer services to verify what agreements she'd taken out but they would only give details on the payments she had signed up to since 2011.
She's now a unique needs teacher and paid off all of her debts to BrightHouse in 2023.
Over the 18 years, she believes she's paid approximately lb31,587 to BrightHouse for goods which cost around lb17,509.
BrightHouse continues to be accused of charging up to 70 per cent interest on items, meaning that hard-up households are paying around 5 times the standard cost of home furnishings.
On the surface of the repayments, BrightHouse offers insurance policies like damage liability cover for customers who don't have home cover, as well as charging extra for delivery and installation.
Laura found rely on the rent-to-own company probably the most when she first split from her husband.
As just one mum with two young children, she found that it had been the only place she could turn for assistance to afford furnishings for her house.
"Personally i think like they victimize probably the most vulnerable. They were very pally-pally when you got an agreement and you could be in and out in Twenty minutes," Laura added.
"I personally feel sick when I think of the profit they've produced from me."
She became so scared of being chased for payment that they fell behind on her council tax, instead giving the cash to BrightHouse in the hope that they wouldn't get a visit to her house.
On the website, BrightHouse state that "lending responsibly" is essential for their service and that the "very last thing [they] want is perfect for customers to fall under a spiral of debt."
But according to Laura, it had been simple to take out financing agreement together as all you needed was to show proof you had a regular income plus they didn't take into account your outgoings.
"They provided me feel that I had not choice but to pay them, even if I couldn't afford to," she said.
"Every time they came to the house, I really believed that they might take away my things with their van."
A spokesperson for BrightHouse said: “BrightHouse takes all customer concerns extremely seriously.
"We are surprised that after many years as a customer, this is the very first time that BrightHouse continues to be formally informed about Ms Taylor's concerns. We'd be happy to discuss all of them with her personally.”