Is there any way of saving my brother?

PHARR

Hi guys,
Me (23 years old) and my youngest brother (19 years old) are serving in the armed forces. I am doing well and have always been onto of my money and finances.

However, he is starting to fall in a world of pain. He's an absolute nightmare and is going to Military Prison in the next few months. Here they will stop his wages completely until he is back out. We don't speak much but when we do he hides it all from us.

He currently has 2 bank accounts, one with all his wage in the other with nothing. The bank account with all his wage in is empty due to to spending it all... So he applied for a money lend from a company just like wonga. Not only has he applied for it where his wage goes but to the other account with nothing in it.

So now he has a bank account with nothing at all in it, This company have tried taking back their 400 but the bank hasn't let them as he has no overdraft. But the bank is charging his 30pounds every time they try to take it.

The empty account is also in the same situation, the company want their money back but he has nothing in it.

He currently owes 848pounds and then theres the bank charges onto which is roughly 30pounds.

What can he do? I'm absolutely angry, very mad and i can't afford to bail him out. He has no money incoming till the end of the month too.

Is there anyway he can get out of this mess?

Tixy

Hi

The payday lenders will keep trying to take money from the account - if the money goin in at the end of the month is his last lot of wages they are likely to take the money out of that.
Ideally he needs to open up a new bank account with a different bank and have any future wages paid into that account, so that he doesn't end up with nothing to live on.

His next step would be to write to the payday loan companies and explain his situation and make an offer to pay a fixed amount per month at a rate he can afford. He should also ask them to freeze interest & charges (they don't have to but sometimes will).

Is he likely to be able to pay it off before his wages are stopped in a few months?

He might also need to write a similar letter to his current bank to ask them to freeze interest & charges on the accounts, and to offer to repay any debt built up.

The first few posts on this thread might be worth a read - Dealing with Payday Loan Companies

One thing that might be worth saying - once he had defaulted on these payday loans they will likely mark his credit file to show that. This should mean that he will find it harder to get credit in the future, which might be a good thing for him - although of course he will need to change his spending habits to live within his means and to ensure he can repay the debts he has already run up.