need help

petedj83

Tixy,

Of course it is, how on earth are they supposed to make any money? Say that you, Tixy, are the CEO of GP, how much do you want to charge customers to make your business any money?

They worked out a plan for me which was to get me debt free in 4 years. It took 3 years and 3 months because in that time I got a better paid job and they allowed me to up my payments - no extra charge. I was never lied to and the person I was assigned to was always very helpful. Although i'm not saying that everybody has had a wonderful experience with them, just that I did.

Whilst I do understand the concerns of going with a company such as GP, they did set out to me how much I would be paying throughout the four years right at the beginning of my term and how much they would be taking. From that, it was then my choice to accept and in the end I am debt free. I'm perfectly happy with my decision whilst at the same time accepting that other people make other choices.

THEDON25 has asked for some ideas and I have given him one. Clive Woody has given him another. They all have their pros and cons. It's up to THE DON25 to make this decision.

pigsmightfly

THEDON25 wrote: »

I am in £25000 debt and looking for a consolidation loan. I dont know who to ask our where to apply as all the advice companies seem to be out for all they can get.

I have a 9k loan monthly payment £204
8500 credit card monthly payment £230
7500 credit card monthly payment £ 280

I have a clean credit history but I am at the maximum i can lend.

my mortgage is £124,000 and the house is worth 155,000

i have even thought about selling the house to clear but really dont want to do this.

who can i trust?

i just want a managable monthly payment
Thanks

Hi there,

I totally understand where you are coming from here. I hit £20,000 debt before I realised I needed to do something. I too looked around at debt consolidation etc. but in the end decided that I'd got myself into the mess, I was going to get myself out of it.

It depends on how strict you can be with yourself now you have reached this point? I listed my income and all expenditures and then worked out what I had to spend in total on my debts. I then started paying them off in interest value order. I used a website, https://www.whatsthecost.com to help which I personally found very useful. You can enter your details of all your debts and it will help you snowball them. I've never looked back from that point and am now down to just under £3,000 debt now in 5 years. Was very hard at the beginning but if you can be strict, it all worth it.

Good luck xx

Tixy

petedj83 wrote: »

Tixy,

Of course it is, how on earth are they supposed to make any money? Say that you, Tixy, are the CEO of GP, how much do you want to charge customers to make your business any money?

I don't care how firms like GP make money, I'd like them not to exist. We are here to advise users on the best option for them, on this money saving website. And for a consumer the best advice is to contact one of the recommended debt advice charities.

Oh and trust me, I would never be the CEO of a firm like GP.

petedj83

CHR15 wrote: »

Not really, It's more like saying, "why buy £80 shoes direct from Clarkes for £95 when you could buy them from a high street store for £80".

By going with these fee paying companies you are paying much more than face value, a good portion is going directly into their pockets. You have paid a lot more than the debt you owed.

Good news it worked for you but you could have saved a LOT of money by going elsewhere.

Again, an absolutely fair point.

I could have saved a lot of money going elsewhere? You're probably right but at the time of looking, GP felt the most professional and I felt I could trust them.

I'm not ashamed to say that at that point, I needed a bit of hand holding to get me through it. Any sort of scheme that required strong will power to pull through may not have helped me. This does not make me a bad person, we're not all angels.

Like I say, i'm not forcing GP on anybody. It's merely a suggestion that i'm happy to recommend as it worked for me and I am happy.

I just don't see the need to be derided for it.

petedj83

Tixy wrote: »

I don't care how firms like GP make money, I'd like them not to exist. We are here to advise users on the best option for them, on this money saving website. And for a consumer the best advice is to contact one of the recommended debt advice charities.

Oh and trust me, I would never be the CEO of a firm like GP.

Fair enough, but please put the Daily Mail down for one second.

This is a money saving website, and guess what? I saved myself a lot of money.

Your problem with my method is that I didn't save as much money as the Mighty Tixy would have done in my situation. Which is an easy thing to do with powers of hindsight.

I can only recommend from experience.

Surely getting the end result you want and finishing the process as happy as you initially set out to be is what we are after - which is probably smaller than the happiness you get from being derogatory to people with debt issues.

Tixy

Its great that you are debt free now, and that you feel your DMP went well, I'm pleased for anyone who has got out of debt.
But now that you are aware that you could have had the same or better service and paid less and been debt free sooner would you not in hindsight agree that would have been a good thing?

And if so does it not make sense for us to make it clear to the OP that this same service you described also exists for free?

As for being derogatory - I am not. And I have given you advice on the thread you started, which is what I, like many others am here to do to give people advice.

petedj83

Tixy wrote: »

Its great that you are debt free now, and that you feel your DMP went well, I'm pleased for anyone who has got out of debt.
But now that you are aware that you could have had the same or better service and paid less and been debt free sooner would you not in hindsight agree that would have been a good thing?

And if so does it not make sense for us to make it clear to the OP that this same service you described also exists for free?

As for being derogatory - I am not. And I have given you advice on the thread you started, which is what I, like many others am here to do to give people advice.

Ok, Tixy, I apologise for my last post.

I very much understand that I may have been able to get debt free another way. I already was aware of this. I just can't recommend a method I haven't used.

I feel slightly ambushed here and the tone of the responses to my first post on this thread have been nothing short of patronising.

Even though I understand your heart is in the right place Tixy, even on your last comment you wrote "But now that you are aware..." as if I was born yesterday.

Amazingly for some, I chose this method, as a lot of people have also. I perfectly understand people who advise against doing what I did, but there are ways of going about it.

For eg.

"Whilst petedj83 may have found his method successful, I would like to recommend..... My reasons for this are..... "

I just don't think a lot of the more senior posters on this website realise that whilst they do give good advice, they are very harsh on those who they don't agree with.

I do apologise that I may have tarred you with the same brush as others Tixy, I didn't mean to but surely you must have noticed some arrogance amongst the people 'in the know'.

CHR15

I do apologise that I may have tarred you with the same brush as others Tixy, I didn't mean to but surely you must have noticed some arrogance amongst the people 'in the know'.

Not sure about arrogance, it's more a case of experienced posters seeing things with more clarity.
There is no clouded judgements, no panicking to find a way out.

If you stick around you will see just how many people fall foul of Broker scams, which are perhaps, the most obvious scam to see through. When panic sets in people will agree to anything which sounds like a solution.
From the outside it is obvious it is a scam so the replies will also sound arrogant to those who blissfully get caught.

The more experienced posters aren't impressed with fancy websites or convincing, friendly, professionally sounding employees on the phone persuading someone to use their service.

If it can be obtained for free, go for it. It is simply madness to pay huge amounts of money to a company when you could get the same for nothing...fact.

Remember you aren't talking about buying a BMW over a KIA which would be understandable paying more, this is to get yourself out of debt, a completely different scenario.

If you are out of debt, things seem a lot clearer than when you are buried under so much pressure.

petedj83

CHR15 wrote: »

Not sure about arrogance, it's more a case of experienced posters seeing things with more clarity.
There is no clouded judgements, no panicking to find a way out.

If you stick around you will see just how many people fall foul of Broker scams, which are perhaps, the most obvious scam to see through.

I wouldn't have said GP is a scam. Just a more expensive way of dealing with a problem.

I am however aware of such scams. I was looking at getting a loan and have come across so many companies who ask for up front fees etc and then after checking this superb website you see countless stories of people who either don't see anything or get a payday loan for £300 when they wanted a unsecured loan of £10k over 4 years.

I have seen complaints from people who used GP saying that they didn't explain charges and the fees were extortionate. However, they haven't been scammed. It's just a mixture of poor communication by the GP representative and a lack of research by the consumer.

Some may think the fees are high but I tended to think long term about the debt thing. Yes, I would have saved a lot of money, but only if I had saved that money every month and had it in a pot afterwards. It probably amounts to about £25-40 a month -> £6-10 a week which, when having 3 kids and a needy wife, is just beans.

Clive_Woody

petedj83 wrote: »

Hi Clive,

You're absolutely correct and i'm sure charities work very well. I never explored that avenue.

I just felt that when you are paying a company to do a job, they tend to do it better as there is something in it for them.

I had £16,000 in debts which were cleared in full in 3 years & 3 months. I can't complain because I got what I paid for, even if it has cost me some money.

It's a bit like saying "why buy some shoes from Clark's for £80 when you can go to Priceless Shoes for £8?". Both will do the job, it's just whatever quality you think you'll get.

I see it more like having a dog and paying somebody to bark for you. This site is about moneysaving, you clearly felt you wanted to spend money to get somebody to repay your debt for you, your choice obviously.

In a similar way companies have sprung up to reclaim PPI for people, again at a considerable fee.

I have not seen any evidence to show that fee paying debt management offers a higher quality of service in fact I have seen many many complaints, you almost seem to be the exception having positive feedback. From what I have heard the debt charities do a brilliant job.

I am glad it worked out for you, but as many have pointed out, you could have saved yourself a considerable amount of money and now people are advising that the OP do just that and avoid companies such as the one your promote.