Advice needed regarding loans/debts/baliffs

bradqwer

Ok this is for my girlfriend, she recently got herself in a mountain of trouble regarding debts etc, I dont know an exact figure but I know its run into thousends ie 5k i think but she wont give me a exact figure.

These are the debts she currently has amounts maybe off but the debts are a guide:

WONGA: £1k
PADDAYUK: £1k
Multiple parking/bus lane fine: $1.5k

She has credit card debt also but not sure of figures, she currently pays nothing as she has stuck her head in the sand and this is why debts have got so out of hand, obv the payday loans are vile and the interest is insane.

She has a job and can pay stuff off but she is being hounded by people calling at her house and phoning she had a baliff trying to take her car the other day that is on finance but luckily she was home

She has emailed the payday loans asking for a repayment plan but gets no reply only more demands, also she would like to do the same with her parking fines.

What advice can anyone give me its either a payment plan of some sort or these people wont get paid because currently if she pays everything she be left with around £100 a month to get to work live on etc and thats really not a option.

I think she prob earns about 16k a year if that figure helps

HappyMJ

Parking fines can usually be ignored for quite a while. Payday loans...well you'll need to come to an agreement to pay them back even if that is only £1 per month. Whatever amount is affordable.

bradqwer

Yeh i am going to do all this but she has emailed wrote letters and all they do is demand payments how can i put it in terms that are understandable so they realise that there no other option BUT to start a plan

heartbreak_star

If it's council parking or bus lane fines won't that go to county court fairly quickly? I had a fine for an expired tax disc years ago that had bailiffs knocking on my door before I got paid!!

HBS x

Tixy

Regarding the bailiff trying to take the car - presumably this was a bailiff trying to collect a debt with a CCJ or the court fines, rather than the finance company trying to collect the car?

Is she up to date with her car repayments?

I'd suggest she gets some advice and help from one of the debt advice charities, they should help her prioritse payments and work out what she can afford to offer. They may even be able to make the offers on her behalf. IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

Has she set up a new bank account with a different bank to the one she took out the payday loans?

Oh and suggest you tell her to stop driving in bus lanes and parking in places likely to incur fines.

bradqwer

Yeh its gone past all that stuff things need to be got on top of soon if only for her own peace of mind, if i can sort this out with her, get some good advice on here I can then move forward on her behalf, sort out these loans and leave her with some pride at least

give_them_FA

OK, the payday loan companies will go away if she makes a resolution to ignore them. They will make themselves a nuisance but if she doesn't answer their calls or letters then they will eventually stop. After all, they charge the sky-high interest rates to cover the level of bad debts they have, and hers will just be bad debts.

The same is true of the credit card, don't rob Peter to pay Paul. Everyone threatens court but ultimately very few actually do it, particularly if you totally ignore them. Speaking to them is bad because they know you are there and they know you are worried. If there is no contact they won't even know if you are still alive.

Surprisingly, maybe, it is the parking tickets that present the greatest threat. There is a set system of collection for those and it is followed through in every case. If the car is on hire purchase or lease it technically does not belong to her and can't be seized. But if it was bought using a personal loan it can. This is undoubtedly the reason for the bailiff visit. If the car is liable to seizure I suggest she keeps it somewhere out of the way or even puts it in your name if she trusts you... lol. Bailiffs cannot force entry into her house (I take it they have not already been inside) and they will give up if persistently refused entry. The final bill may be frightening but a lot of parking fines do go unpaid if people are not frightened of bailiffs.

Payment plan? Up to her but the credit file is already shot so there is little or no point in paying now. As you say those payday loans are a disgrace, so I certainly wouldn't feel any qualms about knocking them.

bradqwer

Hey tixy Ill address your points

Yes this was a ballif not ford themselves, she is up to date with the car payments.

She has switched accounts on my advice to stop money going from her account on payday and being penniless because of the payday loans.

As for driving fines parking is disabled well she is learning the hard way

could u suggest the charity im in bradford west yorkshire

kaya

i am not sure that ignoring a loan that will only grow with interest and charges/fees is classed as "good advice" in any part of the world really , burying your head in the sand is where this all started, so your advice is to stick it back in the sand and hope things get better? lol, you are an eeeejit !!

Tixy

bradqwer wrote: »

could u suggest the charity im in bradford west yorkshire

She could try her local CAB, or just phone one of the national ones, such as CCCS.

bradqwer

yes the car is on finance she bought it with a 300 deposit so no loan taken there, as for the ignoring them I cant do that, I wish it was that easy what we need is space to breathe she worries because she has no money or would have no money if she met all the commitments