18 yr old given store card despite having no credit history - help!

never-in-doubt

UnoriginalGuy wrote: »

Well first off, a lot of people in debt got there though a far more complex path (e.g. Mortgage base on housing prices during the boom) while a lot of others got laid off from their work and thus had to finance to keep from, for example, getting evicted. I have a fair amount of sympathy for those people.

But anyone can see that if you borrow 1K and cannot afford to pay it back then you will be subject to a high APR, and in this case it is a very high APR. You can say in hindsight that is a bad idea, but frankly even in foresight doing something that silly is a terrible idea.

I totally agree with you. Nicely put.

Canny Jock mentioned in another thread he's totally pro-debt advice in schools or something, maybe that's what we need... just a basic 30 minute lesson to explain that if you borrow you must pay it back and the charge may also increase!

Maybe that is all that is missing....... basic training. :beer:

ILW

never-in-doubt wrote: »

Really? Maybe in your opinion but unfortunately if you switch the TV on you'll actually see we have 100,s of thousands of people that done similar or worse - you saying we're all a little daft then are you?

Not all, but I reckon sizeable majority.

never-in-doubt

ILW wrote: »

Not all, but I reckon sizeable majority.

valid point actually - haha..... that'll teach me for asking a dumb question!

flyingscotno1

never-in-doubt wrote: »

I totally agree with you. Nicely put.

Canny Jock mentioned in another thread he's totally pro-debt advice in schools or something, maybe that's what we need... just a basic 30 minute lesson to explain that if you borrow you must pay it back and the charge may also increase!

Maybe that is all that is missing....... basic training. :beer:

To be honest I dislike the total reliance on schools to totally educate children on things like this. Whilst some financial training should come from schools, they have a different purpose and financial and lifestyle advice should come from family.

Was it irresponsible of a lender to give that amount of credit? IMO not really- £1000 is a limit that can allow a bigger purchase on their card, that they may have been saving- a laptop for instance and give protection under credit acts. Typically £500-£1000 is given to students on their cards.

What happened was silly and a situation has arisen and it needs to be fixed- possibly the best way is to balance transfer assuming she can qualify for those cards. All the best in fixing it.

UnoriginalGuy_2

While I think it is unfair to expect schools to keep kids out of financial trouble, I do think some education is a good thing. Learning things like how income tax works, what an ISA is, what a premium bond is, APR means and how it is calculated etc. These are real "life skills" that people will need.

KimYeovil

MZie wrote: »

Her card had a £1,000 credit limit which she has maxed out, and is struggling to meet repayments esp. as the card has a 29.9% annual interest rate.

She can not be struggling to make the repayments. To repay over twelve months would cost less than £100 per month. She can not not afford even more than that per month.

KimYeovil

never-in-doubt wrote: »

you saying we're all a little daft then are you?

No. We would express it a darn sight more strongly than that.