Discharged bankrupt and the way forward

bizarebazaar

Hi All

Briefly, I petitioned the court 2 years ago when I was unemployed, was discharged a year ago and found a decent job at the same time. Two and a half years of unemployment ment that I could'nt keep areliable car going and having 4 children keeps me skint, including the fallout of the period of unemployment.
With petrol now costing a minimum of £45 per week for small mileage, I now know I can manage £20 to £30 per week for a car loan.......if I could find one. The situation is grim as the car I have is 14 years old and although feels sound, the engine is living on borrowed time. (knocks loudly!)
There appears to be ''car finance'' (one called ACF) outfits out there who get their information from wonga.com.....for one who charge extortionate interest rates for seriously overpriced heaps of junk, not to mention their interest rates.....
So much about that, well we hear about credit rating and scoring which is the block to discharged bankrupt people to try to move on.
The fact about cars is that they are the second most expensive item for anyone, it also happens to be the second most important item for those of us who cant use public transport, yet nothing remotly sensible exists to help people sort out their transportation issues.
Its beyond me why the high street banks have not got a system in place (perhaps enforced by the government) where they provide some sort of small finance plan so people in our situation can have access to their own affordable car, instead of Wonga and ACF who are no better than loan sharks.
I've looked and searched everywhere and the following sites were the significant ones, but not one of them can offer a solution to my problem.

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
http://www.unbiased.co.uk/
http://www.payplan.com/debt-library/bailiffs-bailiff-law.php
http://www.payplan.com

I know someone is bursting to suggest Credit Unions, which are undoubtly brilliant and the best type of banking given what they do, but the small problem remains, you have to save and spend some time saving and then start with small borrowings before you need something larger. For me, my problem is NOW and not in 6 months or 12 months time.
If my car dies before I replace it, then the job will go as well!!!
There is no other solution.

DON79

Believe it or not, I have seen people asking for and receiving a car from freecycle! so anything has got to be worth a try.

Have you considered leasehire? ok, you won't own the car and mileage would be restricted but if you need only 1 car for just you to and from work, the cheapest I have found in a five minute google search was £120 per month for a Citreon C1.... but there could and probably are cheaper deals to be had if you spend longer searching than me

Other than that, have you any family who would be willing to help with the costs of buying or to act as a guarantor for you?

bizarebazaar

Yes

Good point DON79 about freecycle, Considered leasehire, but even for a £5k + they want £1000+ down payment and having researched the car market £1500 is as much as I need to buy a replacement and do any servicing/maintenance myself.
Unfortunatly neither my wife nor I have any family members left alive that could help, so a garantor is out of the question and it's a question I'd never ask a friend......not out of pride though, I did ask my employer for any assistance and got a flat no despite the fact that I'm a ''good'' employee.

DON79 wrote: »

Believe it or not, I have seen people asking for and receiving a car from freecycle! so anything has got to be worth a try.

Have you considered leasehire? ok, you won't own the car and mileage would be restricted but if you need only 1 car for just you to and from work, the cheapest I have found in a five minute google search was £120 per month for a Citreon C1.... but there could and probably are cheaper deals to be had if you spend longer searching than me

Other than that, have you any family who would be willing to help with the costs of buying or to act as a guarantor for you?