Lending girlfriends money - good idea?

greyster

I have a girlfriend of 3 years in the final 6 months of her 4 year QTS degree. She will have the standard 15k student loan debt (no problem), 2 student bank overdrafts at 0% (no problem) and two credit cards ......

One at £500-700odd being charged v. low interest apparently

and a £1700 one which 0% ends in February.

She has failed at getting another CC to transfer on to.

Being a former student myself and careful with money I am worried for her. She has asked for me to take on the £1700 debt which I can currently pay off or add to my 0% card.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? i.e. taking on a girlfriend/boyfriends debt?

I am in a position to pay it as I have a well paid job and wiped all but my student loan debt - even looking at ISAs now.

However I feel uncomfortable knowing that she will not be in a position to pay it back for over 18 months. I have lent her about £800 in the past and she has paid it off relatively quick but this was before the time of her credit cards and her being near the end of her degree where the debt is probably going to be the highest in her life.

She has not told her family (who are quite hard up themselves) about the cards.

At this stage I am on the fence on whether I will or not so I appreciate any stories/feedback people are willing to share.

Loafer

If she transfers it to a 0% in your name, I assume she will be paying back at least the minimums til the 0% term runs out? then the option is to transfer it again into one of your names. The debt would be paid eventually if this was done.

If you're not in a position to comfortably lend her the money outright then would the above scenario be ok?

The debt would be under your name but she would be managing it. Or is the issue that dont trust her with taking a debt under your name.

I am not sure from your post what your stance on the matter is. Whether you WANT to pay off her debt or not.

You've mentioned your concern about her not being able to pay it back but I am not sure whether that is concern for you, and whether you can afford to live without your money for 18 months or for her having this hanging over her head during that time.

AnnieH

If she transfers her debt into your name, and then you subsequently split, YOU will be liable for the rest of the money:eek:

I personally don't think that it's a good idea, but then you know your gf better than any of us:)

Loafer

AnnieH wrote:

If she transfers her debt into your name, and then you subsequently split, YOU will be liable for the rest of the money:eek:

I personally don't think that it's a good idea, but then you know your gf better than any of us:)

I thought that but didnt want to plant seeds of doubt!!

Smashing

I thought this would be about lending a tenner or something...in other words, SOD THAT.

clu

Go with your gut, the fact that you have doubts already maybe holds the answer for you.

conradmum

I think the fact that you have doubts tells you all you need to know. Despite being a student (I've been a student myself) I do think it was a little irresponsible of your girlfriend to run up such a large debt, which does not bode well for predicting her willingness to pay it off. It's a rotten suspicion I know, but is it possible she might saddle you with this debt and plan to split up with you?
If she likes and respects you, she'll accept your refusal to take on her debt with good grace, if she doesn't, you're better off without her.

Edited to add: it's actually quite immature and irresponsible of her to appraoch you to solve her problems IMO.

greyster

I think the doubt is coming from the fact that I don't know how much trouble she will be in after her course - either does she. I would be happier if I was the only creditor (excluding 0% o/d & SLC) but at this moment in time I dont think either of us can tell.

I don't want to take the debt now only to see her have problems in 3 months time and her taking out a new card or asking for more support.

Hehe - I am not overly worried about her leaving debt on me if she splits with me. She couldn't risk me telling her mum about her credit cards!!!!

clu

i you take over her debt and she could not pay the repayments would you be able to pay them by yourself?

greyster

conradmum wrote:

I think the fact that you have doubts tells you all you need to know. Despite being a student (I've been a student myself) I do think it was a little irresponsible of your girlfriend to run up such a large debt, which does not bode well for predicting her willingness to pay it off. It's a rotten suspicion I know, but is it possible she might saddle you with this debt and plan to split up with you?
If she likes and respects you, she'll accept your refusal to take on her debt with good grace, if she doesn't, you're better off without her.

Edited to add: it's actually quite immature and irresponsible of her to appraoch you to solve her problems IMO.

There is no pressure for me to take on the debt. She did say she can sort herself out. Therefore I dont see it irresponsible that she suggested it in a no obligatory kind of way (as she has done before) ... but the fact she is quite happy to let interest roll up should a) she not find another means or b) I dont help her. I live with her and I have to see her struggle with this kind of stuff which at the end of the day affects me too whether I help her or not.

greyster

clu wrote:

i you take over her debt and she could not pay the repayments would you be able to pay them by yourself?

I could, no problem.

The problem is I credit card tart, so she would only have to make min repayments of about 2.5%-5% which would take ages. I doubt she could pay it off any quicker for the next 12 months.

This should ideally be a good situation but as I said in the above post, I don't know if she will be stuck again in 3-6 months or not as her degree draws to a close.