UK Consumer rights group Which? accused payday lenders of unlawfully charging excessive default fees and called on them to cut their high fees.

According to Which?, ten of 17 leading payday lenders have default fees of £20 or more, and four charged £25 and above, with Wonga topping the table at £30.

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Richard Lloyd, executive director at Which?, said: "If they cannot justify why these charges are so high and refuse to cut them, we would look to take further steps to protect vulnerable consumers. The regulator must also take action to ensure all fees are fair, proportionate and only reflect lenders’ costs."

Previous Which? research has found that more than half of payday loan users (56%) had incurred charges for missed or bounced credit repayments over 12 months, compared to 16% for all credit users. One in five payday users (20%) said they had been hit with ‘unexpected charges’.

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