RENT-TO-OWN store Brighthouse is reportedly on the brink of collapsing as a result of improvement in compensation claims.
The retailer has put specialists Grant Thornton on standby to deal with its possible insolvency, based on Sky News.
If the weekly payment store does get into administration it could put 2,400 employees' jobs at risk.
Sky cited a resource close to the Brighthouse shareholders as saying that the possibility collapse is not inevitable, but has become much more likely in recent weeks.
In 2023, the shop was ordered to repay 14.8million to customers after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that it had treated customers unfairly
And it seems the retailer continues to be struggling under the weight of claims for historic mis-selling.
A Brighthouse spokesperson said: "BrightHouse is exploring a range of choices to cap its exposure to claims for historic mis-selling.
"To achieve success in this, BrightHouse needs the support of its stakeholders and is currently in active discussions with them.
"Naturally, the protection of value in the business and safeguarding of customers' interests are core to our planning."
Money blogger DebtCamel said: "Brighthouse's recent results state that they're concerned about the number of of complaints about affordability they're getting.
"The regulator's rules say financing is just affordable whether it can be repaid without the borrower getting behind along with other bills or needing to borrow more. These complaints will go back many years.
"Brighthouse had hoped the Financial Ombudsman would only accept claims about loans in the last six years, but it appears as if the Ombudsman has decided it may look look at old loans too – just like it's accomplished for payday loans.
"This means Brighthouse could be taking a look at having to pay out a really large amount of money to stay these issues."
Earlier in February this year, the Brighthouse announced plans to shut 30 stores and axe 350 staff.
It asserted it was likely to lose a tenth of its workforce and shops over the next two months.
Top management happen to be trying to restructure the company recently following a Financial Conduct Authority crackdown on rent-to-own firms.
The watchdog promised to cap the price of domestic goods bought with these shops from April, following The Sun's Stop The Credit Rip-Off campaign.
BrightHouse traditionally offered weekly payment intentions of household goods to families with poor credit histories who're averted from traditional lenders.
The firm cashes in on customers who are in financial hardship, charging rip-off rates of up to 99 per cent.
We've been told by countless customers who'sdebts have spiralled unmanageable after being allowed to remove more policies compared to what they can afford, while some werehounded by shop staff once they couldn't maintain repayments.
In early February, Brighthouse announced a shift away from it's rent-to-own model towards high-interest loans, in a bid to change the ailing business.
But reports in Sky News claim that the turnaround plans aren't working, and also the retailer will finish in administration within weeks.
Mum-of-two claims she was chased for washer repayments by BrightHouse staff 'while in labour'.
Meanwhile, a mum-of-four needed to ration electricity at home to repay mounting BrightHouse debts.
And Laura Taylor said she was bullied by BrightHouse on her doorstep for nearly two decades'.