Payday Loan Companies

BrownBear9

I have used Payday loan companies on and off for a few years... however these last 6 months I became reliant on them too much-a couple of reasons why -including I was made redundant and the only job I could get was a significant drop in salary compared to my previous one- I’m bringing home £500 a month less (but I am not complaining- I am just very grateful to be in employment with the current economic situation). For the last couple of months I have just been paying off the interest or paying the loan off in full just so I could then get another loan on the same day for a higher amount- things had quickly spiralled out of control! I had payday loans with 4 different companies and in total I owed almost £3,500 – double what my take home pay is! I realised I couldn’t go on like this- my only option was a very close friend- so I swallowed my pride... and they gave me the money to pay off the loans. My loans weren’t due to be repaid until the end of the month (in 3 weeks time)- but now I had the money I just wanted them paid off and get them out of the way and have the peace of mind that I didn’t have any oustanding payday loans- so I phoned the 4 companies and explained that I wanted to pay the loans back early- all 4 were in total shock! –it was quite amusing! Two companies even asked me ‘why do you want to do that?’ –as if it was a really silly thing to do! Actually I’m pleased that I paid early rather than waiting until the end of the month when they were due because one company reduced the amount I had to repay- so saved myself about ~£150 (bonus! :-) )
I consider myself to be an intelligent person (-I have a PhD) but in the case of payday loans I was TOTALLY, TOTALLY STUPID !!! I willingly signed the agreements and agreed to such high interest rates- there is nobody else to blame for the mess I got into except myself and if I didn’t have my friend to bail me out I don’t know how I would have got out of the mess ???!! I am never, never going to take a payday loan out again!!! -I have drawn up a budget plan and I am going to stick to it and live within my means. I have learnt from my mistakes, Payday loans just equal misery!
The reasons I am posting are:
1. People considering using payday loans please think VERY, VERY carefully before taking one out. Yes payday loans are very convenient, quick and easy- but they can also very rapidly spiral out of control within just a couple of months- as I soon discovered! Unless you can pay the loan back in FULL on your next payday and also have enough money left to pay your other bills and live on- DON’T DO IT!!!! Please listen to my warning!- I soon found I was in a situation that as soon as my wages were going into my account they were going straight back out again to just pay the interest on the loans- I'm not joking, I was logging into my back account online after just getting paid to find I had something silly like £3 left out of my wages and I was having to take out further loans just to cover my rent and money for food..... I can’t tell you how nice it will be when I get paid at the end of this month and all the money will be mine!!

2. Less than 24 hours after paying my payday loans off I am getting emails and texts from the companies offering me more loans and with increased credit limits –I’m NEVER taking a payday loan out again- I’m just wondering has anybody tried to completely close down their accounts with these companies (in my case, Payday Express, Wage day Advance, Month End Money and Uncle Buck)- and how did it go ? Thanks!

iolanthe07

I owed almost £3,500 – double what my take home pay is!
I have a PhD

What a screwed up world we live in! A PhD and (s)he earns less than two grand a month.

zxspeccy

Hi,
You are very fortunate to have a friend with that much trust in you, and they have helped dig you out of a big hole. As you say the debt would have very quickly spiralled out of control.

Please do the decent thing and pay you friend back as soon as you can (stick to your budget plan) as they have saved you £100’s in charges and interest.

Also it does appear to be common practice for PDL companies to chase their “customers” that have paid back loans, offering them more lending. I don’t know how to stop the PDL companies from contacting you in future, as I have never gone near them. I am hoping a professional, but strongly worded, letter sent to them (recorded delivery) should do the trick. Common banking practice dictates that if customer does not want contact for promotional material they can opt-out of emails, letters and phone calls. However when has common banking practice ever applied to PDL companies.

You sound like one of the lucky ones, you have learnt you lesson and it hasn’t cost you too much.

DCFC79

OP i take it you cut back on your spending when you were made redundant and continue to do so when in the job that wasnt paying as much as previously.

BrownBear9

Hi DCFC79... I don’t want to go into many personal details but ...

I was very fortunate- I finished my old job that I was made redundant from on the Friday and started my new lower paid job on the Monday- so I had no break in income.
The problem was my new job was at the other end of the country and it was very expensive to relocate (£1,500 for the removals van alone!), also my old letting agency were extremely slow at returning my deposit and in the meantime I had to put a deposit down on a new place –I had no savings hence my reasons for taking out payday loans- my point is, it wasn’t just excessive over spending on unnecessary things . I fell into the trap of payday loans and I just wanted to warn other people if I could through this forum. I am now back on my feet and I plan to stick rigidly to my budget plan including putting a small bit side every month for a ‘rainy day’.

DCFC79

The only trap with PDL is if you keep on using them eg getting loan 2 to pay off loan 1 then loan 3 to pay off 2 etc.

I wasn't expecting personal details.

InsideInsurance

iolanthe07 wrote: »

What a screwed up world we live in! A PhD and (s)he earns less than two grand a month.

Not all PhDs are as commercial as the next; you can be a genius at the history of textiles of Micronesia that doesnt mean you have any experience or demonstrable skills that an employer would be willing to pay more than £30,000 for.

To the OP - there is little way to get off these lists. I did some research on the functioning of these sites and so gave some details to them and since then I have a dozen texts a week and probably a dozen emails a day offering payday loans, debt consolidation and inevitably PPI claims, personal injury etc.

Once your details are out there it is next to impossible to stop them without changing your contact details.

tell_it_how_it_is

Glad you got sorted, and hope close friendy person enjoyed their nice slap-up meal!

As you say, good idea to build up a few quid month to month to fall back on if needed.

BrownBear9

Hi InsideInsurance

Thanks for the advice- that's a good idea about changing my number- I don't have a landline just a PAYG mobile so would be relatively simple... not sure how easy it would be to change my email address though as it's a work one ?? Thanks for your reply!

InsideInsurance

I am surprised you gave a work email address for a personal loan but still the damage is done. You could ask work if they'll change your email address but they may not be too keen on doing it, otherwise just tell your IT helpdesk that you are getting lots of SPAM and is there anything they can do or finally just keep adding the senders domains to the Blocked Senders List (if using Outlook or equiv if using another mail client)