Help getting a Catalogue with bad credit rating.

Zoie

Hey guys.

I have bad credit House repossesed & Outstanding Loans, we were given a mortgage when i had just turned 18 and hadent been in work very long, then my BF had an accedent and is now disabled & Im his full time carer. The loans are being paid back. I am trying to get a catalogue now our financial situation has improved. I finding it difficult to get one.

Ive tried
Littlewoods
K&co
Very
Marshall ward.

Any ideas what i can try?

BitterAndTwisted

With that sort of credit history I doubt that you will be able to find one. In any case, they are disgracefully expensive. It would be cheaper and more sensible to save up to buy things. Being repo'd and having debts is a serious business and it's not surprising to hear of companies being reluctant to help you to repeat history.

Zoie

I am not trying to 'repeat history' I am now in my mid 20's and sick of getting my things from primark. When i was given a Mortgage and loans i was a teenager!! Companies were irresponcible to give this kind of money to teens.

Thank you for your post but i was looking for help, Not judgment.

Dolly66

Might be worth trying Grattan. I got one from them when I was 18, self employed and had absolutly NO credit history. All I had was a current acccount with chequebook (no guarantee card, overdraft or credit card though).

At the time I was struggling to get a mobile phone contract which I needed for work (PAYG was getting really expensive) and thought a catalogue might help build my credit history.

Just be aware they are flipping expensive, although purchases come with so many weeks interest free credit (the length of time depends on the cost). Customer services people were really nice as well from what I can remember, although I made a point of paying it early cos the late fees were horrendous.

I kept it for about 18 months, buying the odd low value item (trainers or something) and paying it off during the interest free period. Got me my phone after about 6 months, so it did all I needed.

podperson

Bitterandtwisted has given you excellent advice but perhaps you don't want to hear it? With your credit history your chances of being accepted for any credit at the moment are extremely low. You say you don't want to shop at Primark but what's wrong with saving for a few weeks and buying from the high street, the clothes are the same quality as most catalogues and the prices are lower - even before you add on the extortionate interest rate that the catalogue will charge you.
Also all the catalogues you have listed are owned by the same company! Shop direct have a strong monopoly on clothing catalogues at the moment so if you've been refused by them you will struggle to find somewhere.

the_cat

You are being done a very big favour by being refused!

Even leaving aside that if you have a poor credit rating it is not in your best interests to be given more credit, there is a very large mark up on catalogue goods so you would be paying well over the odds for them.

There are many options in between primark and a catalogue. Best advice is to shop elsewhere on the high street and not resort to getting fleeced by the catalogue companies

Dolly66

podperson wrote: »

Bitterandtwisted has given you excellent advice but perhaps you don't want to hear it? With your credit history your chances of being accepted for any credit at the moment are extremely low. You say you don't want to shop at Primark but what's wrong with saving for a few weeks and buying from the high street, the clothes are the same quality as most catalogues and the prices are lower - even before you add on the extortionate interest rate that the catalogue will charge you.
Also all the catalogues you have listed are owned by the same company! Shop direct have a strong monopoly on clothing catalogues at the moment so if you've been refused by them you will struggle to find somewhere.

Please consider what both other posters have said, as I would be inclined to agree with them. I wasn't however aware of the monopoly thing, so it may be that you have no joy with Grattan either.

However, if you do decide to try them, please bear in mind that when I got accepted, I had no credit history at all. I don't know if they view things differently in different circumstances.

Also, try not to apply for too many in a short space of time, Too many searches can make things more difficult as well.

jenniewb

If your in dire need of basic things and do not have the money, try going to the CAB or local council offices as they sometimes have access to lower priced things which companies give out so people on low incomes can afford them.

Other then that I'd suggest making a savings account: put aside what you would have paid back to the credit people if you'd purchased from them. Get it into a savings account which is not so easy to get it back from unless you have prior arrangement (helps to stop knee-jerk-reaction buying: something I seem to have aquired since joining the grab-it board!). This way you wont have to worry about paying anything back nor paying the wacking third+ more for everything via credit account fees.

If your looking to get any credit its probably going to be an 8 year wait and the best advice I can give would echo what everyone else has already said: do not apply for any credit. The best way out of bad credit history from what I understand (I have bad credit too btw) is to get a basic credit card and pay it off in full every month and do this for a while, eventually you'll build things back up again and with minimal effort other then waiting for time to pass. But actually getting credit to use because you need to is not a good way out: it immediatly puts you in a vugnrable position. Only get a card or account when you know you can pay it off first: ie you already have the money to do so sitting in your bank account/wallet.

Sounds upside down but this is building up credit, not using credit because you need it: two different things.

margaretclare

I completely agree with what everyone else has said.

With the benefit of a lifetime of experience, looking back I can see that I never got into debt until I started buying things from catalogues. It was the start of a very slippery slope, and one I wish I'd never started on.

Please bear in mind that Marshall Ward is part of a very big group and they all use the same credit information!

It's a bit silly to say 'shops shouldn't have given credit to a teenager'. You could have complained, on grounds of age-discrimination, if they had NOT! The law as it stands now says that everyone must be treated alike, male and female of whatever age.

scorpiod

Zoie, don't do it!! My credit rating is not great but I did get an account with Very and Littlewoods and I wish I never had!! It really is overpriced for what they sell too.

Try going to carboots and charity shops for clothing, you'd be surprised at what you can pick up.

margaretclare

scorpiod wrote: »

Zoie, don't do it!! My credit rating is not great but I did get an account with Very and Littlewoods and I wish I never had!! It really is overpriced for what they sell too.

Try going to car boots and charity shops for clothing, you'd be surprised at what you can pick up.

I agree about charity shops. Depending on the area, you can really get some bargains. People who lose weight often offload their whole wardrobe contents! DH is especially good at bargain-hunting. He recently picked up a weekend suitcase that had obviously only been used once, and a Valentino handbag for me (C Valentino, the Italian designer, sells for thousands). You can get real bargains and only pay a minimal amount.