Do you

SunderlandBlackCat

I blame the idiot who nearly killed me by not bothering to secure his ladders to his van before heading on to a busy dual carriageway for my initially getting into debt.

The subsequent mishandling of those debts are entirely my fault.

rosysparkle

When I had debts, I only had myself (and my high-spending ex) to blame. The banks made it easy for us, with cards and overdrafts and loans to pay it all off and start again, but nobody forced us to live beyond our means, we chose to do that and not face up to the consequences of wanting everything now.

I think that I had to learn to put the blame on my shoulders (and my ex) in order to have a lightbulb moment. As long as I blamed the banks, I wasn't taking responsibility and I wasn't changing my lifestyle so I could pay off the debts.

Broken_hearted

My debt is my DHs fault mostly

Hobsch

I didnt want my post to sound like I was not blaming myself because I do, and I have gone over and over this in my head many times. Hindsight - what a wonderful thing.
I do blame banks for not assisting when you ask for help. And for not giving you a simple bit of help thats sensible but offering more credit when they know you are in trouble already, not checking and when you are in trouble you sometimes use these means as its an easy way out or sometimes the only way out.
I used a lot of credit cards to pay of others as payments wouldnt be accepted. At the time I offered for example £60 when £75 was needed as that was all I could afford. Turned down so then its under payment fees, late payment fees etc. so the only way to avoid this was use other credit.
Basically I got into trouble and could have been in a much better situation with a bit of earlier help which was not given.
Still my fault though. Sorry to moan.

FerociousDave

All mine, but I agree that we're not exactly discouraged from taking out loans, cc etc.

southernscouser

All my fault! I was a !!!!!!!

But what it's made me realise is that the lending criteria is to slack!

Also there are some clowns out there. I was once sold a £1,000 loan over 7 years! :eek: Now OK I didn't have to take it but the bloke selling it convinced me!

When I went to pay it off early and the balance was really high I demanded to speak to the manager, who admitted to me that it was irresponsibe lending and knocked a wad off! :think:

But ultimately we have to take responsibility for our own actions.

nearlyrich

I have seen the credit card envelopes come in for my two student children since they turned 18, fortunately they are both sensible and have been educated in the smart use of money. With no income except a student loan and from a part time job I can see how tempting it can be to have all that money to spend.

I got 5 letters this morning 4 of them were either loan or credit card offers, I have no idea why they keep sending them, I usually send all the bumf back in their pre paid envelope with a request to be taken off the mailing list.

heppy23

99.99% my fault. 0.01% the fault of the "buy now pay later" culture we live in, irresponsible lending.

I am impulsive by nature and am bad with money. Always will be I think.

kathyd_2

I_was_a_fool wrote:

I take the blame for my own debt.

Finance companies should check peoples income & outgoings and only lend if they have a reasonable sum left to live on after all the repayments.

How right you are. I worked for a Finance company in the 70's and things were done so differently back then. The 'acceptance' for a loan could take 2 or 3 days to authorise. Evidence of income needed to be seen ie 6 months wage slips, employment confirmed, credit checks were made and if credit agreements were current customer was asked if they intended settling or continuing with the agreement. People with CCJ's were refused straight away. Evidence of outgoings ie rent book etc. Quite often a rep would visit a potential customer at home and all this took place before a yes or no was given. If a customer was applying for a personal/home improvement loan we asked to see quotes by suppliers. But all that was way back in the good old days.

I eventually left finance to start a family but returned to the business again in mid 90's. How things had changed. Customers were given approval for loans within 30 minutes or sooner. The only checks we made were with credit reference agencies (Experian etc). Approval was given to people not listed on electoral registers; people who had CCJ's; no employment checks done until the loan had been paid out and the paperwork was on my desk - more often than not when I telephoned an employer they couldn't tell me under the data protection act; no questions about income or outgoings; no landline telephone numbers. I remember phoning an employer on a number given by a customer and it was a mobile and when I voiced my concerns to my boss he told me to keep it under my hat. He wasn't bothered in the slightest so in the end I started making notes of conversations I'd had with him and hiding it in the back of the files to safeguard myself. He was of the opinion that if we didn't give that person the loan, some other company would, so why should he miss out on the commission?

Needless to say I left finance pretty swiftly. I couldn't bear contributing to the financial mess people were getting into any longer. However, just because a financial institution says 'yes' it doesn't mean to say customers can afford the repayments. You should do your own 'sums'. You know what your own income and outgoings are. I sympathise with people whose employment difficulties have caused their financial problems but not those whose 'wanting' is their downfall.

kathyd_2

I_was_a_fool wrote:

I take the blame for my own debt.

Finance companies should check peoples income & outgoings and only lend if they have a reasonable sum left to live on after all the repayments.

How right you are. I worked for a Finance company in the 70's and things were done so differently back then. The 'acceptance' for a loan could take 2 or 3 days to authorise. Evidence of income needed to be seen ie 6 months wage slips, employment confirmed, credit checks were made and if credit agreements were current customer was asked if they intended settling or continuing with the agreement. People with CCJ's were refused straight away. Evidence of outgoings ie rent book etc. Quite often a rep would visit a potential customer at home and all this took place before a yes or no was given. If a customer was applying for a personal/home improvement loan we asked to see quotes by suppliers. But all that was way back in the good old days.

I eventually left finance to start a family but returned to the business again in mid 90's. How things had changed. Customers were given approval for loans within 30 minutes or sooner. The only checks we made were with credit reference agencies (Experian etc). Approval was given to people not listed on electoral registers; people who had CCJ's; no employment checks done until the loan had been paid out and the paperwork was on my desk - more often than not when I telephoned an employer they couldn't tell me under the data protection act; no questions about income or outgoings; no landline telephone numbers. I remember phoning an employer on a number given by a customer and it was a mobile and when I voiced my concerns to my boss he told me to keep it under my hat. He wasn't bothered in the slightest so in the end I started making notes of conversations I'd had with him and hiding it in the back of the files to safeguard myself. He was of the opinion that if we didn't give that person the loan, some other company would, so why should he miss out on the commission?

Needless to say I left finance pretty swiftly. I couldn't bear contributing to the financial mess people were getting into any longer. However, just because a financial institution says 'yes' it doesn't mean to say customers can afford the repayments. You should do your own 'sums'. You know what your own income and outgoings are. I sympathise with people whose employment difficulties have caused their financial problems but not those whose 'wanting' is their downfall.