Advice on which personal loan to get please help totally confused!

redheadrockchick

i was just wondering if any one had any advice maybe from personal experience on whether or not i would qualify to get a loan with fair credit rating...

And also any advice what company to go with, i was going to try nationwide my main bank but they withdrew my overdraft last year as i didnt have enough funds going into my account and they put me on a monthly reducing overdraft policy....

Also having checked my credit report i can see i have 1 missed payment in the last year and 3 years ago ended up on a managed loan from with another bank as i went over my overdraft limit for about 5 months in a row and they also withdrew that one...

I have a credit card too, and have applied for cards before and been accepted but that was awhile ago at the beginning of the credit crunch...

I was going to use it to pay off my credit card, overdraft which is high interest and on a reducing limit and a managed loan, so therefore my monthly payments would be less in theory but spread out over a longer period of time...

i have seen black horse are good for fair credit rating and the post office has a really low apr, but am still totally confused as to what to apply for and really want to get it right!

Also, are personal loans easier to get than a credit card, i have been advised by a friend who is a bank manager that it might be easier for me to get a loan right now if i say its for refinancing my debt... but i am so unsure about who to apply for and want to make sure i go for the right one before ruining my credit repeort with applications that arent successful!

Thank you in advance for any advice, i really appreciate it, just want to find out of anyone has been in a similar situation and what their experiences were!

Rafter

rockchick,

based on what you have said, I think you are really going to struggle to spread your existing debt over a longer period. Consolidation loans are very hard to come by, and you could find that the interest rate is just as high as your overdraft or current credit card.

The low loan rates you see advertised are generally for 'excellent' credit rated customers.

I suggest the best thing to do is fill out a statement of affairs (link below) and post onto the debt free wannabe board on here. You can then get some advice about how to reduce your outgoings and get yourself in a position that you can repay your existing debts faster.

If that is unrealistic, and you really can't manage your current payments, it may be worth you approaching citizens advice, debtline or cccs about negotiating reduced payments with your creditors. However, that may reduce your ability to get credit in the future.

Good luck

R.

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

redheadrockchick

Hiya

thanks for your advice, really appreciate it! i have spoken to my bank who i have my current account with to get a personal loan over 5 years which is 19.9% apr - thats really high!

Its just i might be losing my job soon and if i end up on jobseekers/housing then i cant afford to pay my debts at the moment... I was in a similar position last year when i got made redundant the 1st time...

If i pay all my debts with a personal loan then i have a monthly payment of £100 which i know i could manage, plus my credit card is coming to the end of its interest free period and someone stole £100 in cash off it which has a really high interest rate so god knows what i will be paying for that! (tried to sort out the fraud but they refused to protect me against it)!

Rafter

Not sure how someone could get £100 in cash without the pin - but if it is a genuine fraud you should report it to the police and keep bugging your card company until they refund you.

If you can't afford to pay your debt because you are made redundant, then you don't have to - but that will impact your ability to get credit in the future and as soon as it happens, contact your lenders and someone like the CCCS to help you negotiate a payment plan that you can afford until you get another job.

Although you think a loan will make life easier for you (and it probably would) lenders don't see it that way anymore, having lost a lot of money on consolidation loans.

Good luck

R.

redheadrockchick

Hi

Thank you - they got my pin off my phone because like an imbecile i had saved it under barclaycard, i suspect it was someone i know as well, although it was totally my own fault, i still could have found out who it was had barclaycard told me to file a crime report at the time (which they didnt and by the time i had reported it to the police they had wiped the cctv off the cash machine 2 days too late!)

I was told by my friend who is bank manager that enders are more likely to give loans to pay off other debt as they dont see it as getting into more debt? I dont know!

Anyway cheers for your help!

Rafter

oh dear At least it was only £100.

I think your bank manager friend is right, but only if your overdraft and credit card are with the one bank. They can then reduce your overdraft or credit card limit to make sure you can't borrow up to your limit again.

Another bank will be more cautious though.

Anyway - good luck and hope you get it sorted out....and that you avoid redundancy again.

R.