Caught in the Wonga Loop

[Deleted User]

pcrosland wrote: »

Now i'm up at 6.30 am everyday and get home at 5.30.!

Blimey. Wish I had hours like that. Up at 5.30, home at 8 is more like it.

DCFC79

I have to say wongas new radio ad is good.

bbfc

solitude1 wrote: »

hi, sorry to jump onto your thread but l have just taken a wonga loan out today for £80 due to pay in 12 days but after seing a lot of horror stories on the internet lm getting worried now, there are lots of reports of people accounts being emptied and wonga taking the money days before the due date so lm just looking for some advice people who have dealt with wonga if they have had any problems?
l am fine to pay the money back, its just to cover a bill due next week. l'd hate to end up having loads of hassle and charged just over an £80 loan.
l know what lm getting into with a payday loan but any advice would be appreciated.
thank you.

Pay them back when it's due and you'll be fine. As already said below, the people who have problems with PDL are the ones who don't/can't afford to pay them back and think they have the right to spend money that is not theirs, but not to pay it back.

I've had a few Wonga loans and always paid them back. Never had any problems with them at all.

FireWyrm

I usually hang out over at the DFW board...just slimming over here since it's slow on that board. Search for Statement of Affairs, fill it out as accurately as possible and someone will be along to tell you what they think and where you can cut back. However, the biggest culprits are usually groceries, if you're spending £300+ each month, your first port of call is to stop that. £100 a month for a family of four is perfectly doable, I do it. Next, examine your mobile phone spending, can you go PAYG etc? Drop the Sky if you can and move your Internet to the cheapest plan possible. If it isn't actively keeping you alive, or getting you to work, it should go. When you get into this situation, your best defence is to be proactive in your financial affairs and head off the situation before it becomes unmanageable. With regard to Wonga, you will have to pay but if you pay on time, then you should be just fine. If you even suspect you are going to default, open a new account with someone like the post office and get your wages paid there. Wonga, like most PDLs can and WILL take every penny from your account on the day it is due and they will keep trying until they get it. They charge extortionate APR simply because the majority of borrowers tend to default at some point and they are wise to all the tricks. Cancelling your card because it was 'lost' won't work, they have continuous authority on your account for the life of the loan. If you have an overdraft, they'll take that as long as the bank keeps honouring the request so, even if you don't have 'cash' available, you are still not out of the woods.

I'm sorry, but I cannot stress this enough. DO NOT USE PDLs EVER. Default on any other payment except council tax in order to square the PDL and clean up later, but you are in a precarious situation and you need to get out if it by any means you can. If as one poster says, "they didn't really need the money", pay it back on demand and never do this again.

immoral_angeluk

Bank of mum and dad?

DCFC79

solitude1 wrote: »

hi, sorry to jump onto your thread but l have just taken a wonga loan out today for £80 due to pay in 12 days but after seing a lot of horror stories on the internet lm getting worried now, there are lots of reports of people accounts being emptied and wonga taking the money days before the due date so lm just looking for some advice people who have dealt with wonga if they have had any problems?
l am fine to pay the money back, its just to cover a bill due next week. l'd hate to end up having loads of hassle and charged just over an £80 loan.
l know what lm getting into with a payday loan but any advice would be appreciated.
thank you.

You wont get any hassle (or you shouldnt do) if you pay the money back on time, the horror stories you have read are frm those who for some reason or other haven't paid back on time and thats when the bank accounts get raided.

You sure you know what your letting yourself in for with a PDL ?

KingElvis

Those little puppets in the adverts have go a lot to answer for I guess.

redfox

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

give_them_FA

Actually, whilst it used to be that loan sharks like Wonga could continue with "continuous authority" against your wishes, your bank must now obey an instruction to make no further payments from your account. This has changed fairly recently. So, OP, you need to instruct your bank NOT to make any further payment to Wonga, give yourself a little breathing space until you catch up. Their interest rates would probably fall foul of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations, if they tried to charge you interest at higher than normal levels (bank normal, not their normal!).

nrsql

Think wonga is 1% per day and you can repay early (makes them one of the best PDLs - bot saying much though).
Check whether you can do that and also part repay - if so then put any spare cash against the loan to reduce the interest. Every £1 will save you 1p per day outstanding so £10 paid 10 days early will save you £1.