Are there any institutions that will give personal loans if you have a bad credit history, in the same way some institutions specialise in giving mortgages to people with a bad credit history????
If the person in question has a poor credit rating and existing outstanding debts then arguably they should not be incurring even more debt. Perhaps you could give more details about the specific case in question? I think that there are a few other lenders (e.g. GE - if they're not the same as Woodchester?!) offer loans to those with poor credit ratings but as PINK says they generally charge a higher rate for the privilege and due to the additional potential risk involved.
Senor why do you have a bad credit history? If you missed payments in the past because of unemployment or temporary ill health, but are now back on track, you might still be able to approach the mainstream institutions rather than pay crazy APR's like the ones mentioned. Can you give more details?