THE Never Never is back... after years when we’ve taken out loans or used credit cards to spread the cost of buying items such as furniture or televisions, we’ve suddenly gone back to the old way of doing things, back to the days of hire purchase (HP) agreements.

When all other methods of borrowing are shrinking, buying on HP soared earlier this year – up by nearly a quarter.

Buy now, pay later, is a great idea.

Spreading the payments over a couple of years can be a real lifesaver if your finances are stretched, even if it does seem that you’ll never pay for it.

But there are still plenty of pitfalls, so before you sign on the dotted line, it’s best to be clear what you’re getting into.

■ When you buy something with a loan or a credit card, it’s yours straight away. Not with HP. You are hiring the goods until you’ve made the very last payment. That means that until then, they are not yours.

■ It also means that if you miss a payment, the goods can be taken away from you. And you don’t get any of your money back. Creditors can’t come into the house to take the furniture back, but if your car’s parked on the street, they’re quite entitled to take that away.

■ If you have paid more than a third of the total price, then the creditor will have to go to court first.

■ If you want to end the HP agreement at any time, then you might still have to pay half the cost of the goods, as well as handing them back. So you’ll have paid all that money and will have nothing left to show for it.

■ If you want to sell a car while you are still paying for it, it can get complicated.

■ There are some good 0 per cent interest deals available, but the price might be higher to allow for that. It might not be the bargain it at first appears.

■ Dealers make money from finance agreements as well as the profit on the goods they are selling you. It’s not always in their interest to give you the best deal.

■ HP is good for people who might find it hard to get credit elsewhere.

■ It can be a very good way of buying something expensive like furniture or a car.

■ But you must know exactly how much you’re paying, how long you will be paying for and that you will be able to keep up payments.

Otherwise, you might end up spending a lot of money for nothing.