provident loan

ethankatie

hi all!

new to this site but i wanted some advice

been unemployed for a while and have been stuggling to pay off bank charges each month from exceeding my overdraft, and on top of that charges for returned direct debits

i have just started a new job, only 16 hours for now but its a start

i am seriously considering taking out a provident loan to top up my bank account so i am not paying all these fees each month (last month i paid almost £250)

do you think this is sensible or do you have any other advice you could offer???

its a last minute resort to me as i have been refused any other credit cos of my poor banking

what do you think?

thanks fo any replies i recieve, love steph xxxx

Willsnarf1983

most people would say that getting a loan isn't the answer but as ur struggling i am not sure, the experts will be here.

What i will say is that people have sent letters complaining bout charges and have been refunded as they are not a fair charge for going over the o/d

FILE WIZZARD we need u lol......please and thanks


will

southernscouser

Have you contacted the lenders and explained your situation? They may well sympathise with you and stop the charges until you are back on your feet.

j-baby-scotland

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Old_iron_balls

Hi Stepth

Firstly, good on you for posting and asking advice. your on the right track

Have you been in and spoke to somebody at the bank ?
If not then id go in straight away and explain the situation your in.
They may be able to help rather than you taking out a loan and getting yourself furhter into trouble.

Thats how I started, quick few hundred quid here and there off people like Provident to tide me over.
It all adds up and next thing you know you cant afford the repayments.
Then yet more bank charges etc etc etc its a vicious circle


Id stay well clear of Provident. The interest you will be paying will be hoffific !

Take some time to look through previous posts on here.

Im also new to this board so im no expert, but one thing i do know is more educated posts will follow mine so sit tight :beer:

silverfoxdude

When I was a single mum, Provident looked like a quick attractive fix to some minor problems I was having with my budgeting.... I ended up getting caught in a trap of borrowing their money and paying back way over the odds for it, then they pushed me to take out another loan from them to pay off the original loan and I'd then have some extra cash to play with, hmmm for a while until I was nearly giving them all my Income Support to pay their weekly tarrif!!

Be careful and like everyone said, I'd approach your original lenders as they sometimes help when a customer is having difficulties.

$17mma

Hello ethankatie

I agree with the others and suggest you steer clear from Provident, you will only replace one concern with another.

I know that contacting your creditors can be daunting so why not try this site for some letters instead.

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#6

http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx

Also cancel the DD and explain to them in your letters that you are doing so. This will save you any further charges in the mean time till you get things sorted.

Finally ring your bank and explain your situation to them and ask them to waiver some or all of the fees... if you dont ask you dont get!

Good luck

tattooed_lady

Hiya Steph,

I think you will have gathered from the other replies that a loan from Provident is not the answer to your troubles, infact it will probably make them much worse. I would do what the others have said and contact your bank and see if you can come to some sort of arrangement to pay the OD back monthly and ask them to freeze the charges (worth a try) and open a basic bank account with a different bank with no OD facility. Meanwhile, like the other posters have said, cancel your DD's (inform the companies first) and arrange to pay them manually until you set up DD's on your new basic account.

Best of luck

file_wizzard

All I will say is if you are thinking about using provident PLEASE DONT DO IT !

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=111430

even if you were working full time the last thing you should do is take out more credit; let alone with provident

If you are finding that the bank charges are making it hard to survive each month then your first course of action should to be to open a new basic account which has no link to you current bank.

You should then have all benefits, or wages paid directly into this account, in this way you will have money to live on and can repay the original bank at a rate which is realistic for you situation.

with regards to the charges, perhaps if you post some more details then I can offer some suggestions

fairmorn308

Sorry to jump and hijack the thread

what would be the best company to go with for a short term loan to get out a fix apart from the company named above.

Northernbird_2

I'm not happy about it but I'll admit I went to Provident. It's now one of my priority debts to pay off as the interest rate is high but I was faced wth no money, no food and no way of getting any for at least a couple of weeks. I know some of you will say Oooohhhh!, but there are times when you have to do what you have to do. If you know that you may be getting some money in the next couple of months that will cover it, or if you're pretty desparate now, I would understand. I'm at emergency point, and when you're getting charged admin charges left, right and centre, it can be difficult to get back on track.

I'm not advocating the company, I'm just saying that if you're faced with no money until payday in 2 weeks, no family around to help, a rubbish credit score and nowhere else to turn, what are you going to do? Starve?

I don't want people to blow up at me for this message, I'm just saying there can be levels you have to go to, to get back up again. I don't like it, I think the interest charges are criminal and it's pretty humiliating, but .....

I don't want to offend anyone out there, but at the same time, I do want people to know that if they're faced with Provident, it's not the worst thing in the world. It's a last resort, but if anything, it's a resort.

Big hugs to all out there :grouphug: