Amigo loans

katherine_86

I find it incredible that there is such an attack on those who are genuinely in need. I understand that there are many people who abuse some of our institutions such as healthcare, education and housing however this representation is only the equivilant to approximately 3% of all that use it and they are usually the same 3% that drain the same services if you get my drift...such as the police just to be clear.

I don't think that people who have been affected by life chances or been if a situation that they can't easily see a way out of should be persecuted or demonised by 'holier than though' type attitudes. Put yourselves in a similar position, granted, Christmas and the likes probably not the most valid of reasons to get into debt however, in other scnario's where some other's can turn to the reasonable interest rates of the wealthy, those who have face the worst circumstances in life are often face with the most depressing interest rates, this is clear. It is unfair that those who are struggling the most are taken advantage of in this way.

Most people will work as hard as they can and pay off all bills on time before food goes onto the table. Unfortunately, those same people have been hit the hardest during this recession, may not have wealthy parents to turn to or financial guidance from their predecessors. I think it's very harsh to criticise people like that and believe that fair interest rates should be available for a range of reasons to assist those mose desperate.

It is almost impossible for some people to avoid high interest rates and this type of non productive slander does little to assist the real issues that exist for people financially.

Gaz83

katherine_86 wrote: »

I find it incredible that there is such an attack on those who are genuinely in need. I understand that there are many people who abuse some of our institutions such as healthcare, education and housing however this representation is only the equivilant to approximately 3% of all that use it and they are usually the same 3% that drain the same services if you get my drift...such as the police just to be clear.

I don't think that people who have been affected by life chances or been if a situation that they can't easily see a way out of should be persecuted or demonised by 'holier than though' type attitudes. Put yourselves in a similar position, granted, Christmas and the likes probably not the most valid of reasons to get into debt however, in other scnario's where some other's can turn to the reasonable interest rates of the wealthy, those who have face the worst circumstances in life are often face with the most depressing interest rates, this is clear. It is unfair that those who are struggling the most are taken advantage of in this way.

Most people will work as hard as they can and pay off all bills on time before food goes onto the table. Unfortunately, those same people have been hit the hardest during this recession, may not have wealthy parents to turn to or financial guidance from their predecessors. I think it's very harsh to criticise people like that and believe that fair interest rates should be available for a range of reasons to assist those mose desperate.

It is almost impossible for some people to avoid high interest rates and this type of non productive slander does little to assist the real issues that exist for people financially.

It's not about demonising anyone, but people need to realise that poor decisions have negative consequences. There are tons of websites around that offer impartial, good financial information and education. Heck, if you Google "payday loans" the first result is a link to an MSE information page on payday loans. I'd be interested to see how many people read it and how many skip by it to the likes of Wonga.

Regards interest rates - high interest rates are not there to penalise people. They are there because the type of person likely to be using these kind of places have messed up their credit in the first place and thus fit a certain risk profile of being more likely to default on a loan. That's why there are high interest rates for some people. Low interest rates will always be there for those who manage money sensibly.

playsteve316

Came on here to check out what people thought of amigo loans, lots of good advice and different opinions.

My story:

5 years ago lost my house due to burying my head in the sand when my ex split up with me, was irresponsible with bills/time off work for depression/drinking too much and ended up with a 25k bill after halifax selling my house for ALOT less than what it was worth at auction. Went Bankrupt... utterly embarrasing, big life lesson learnt

5 years down the line am a year or so away from my credit file clearing, i havent wanted any credit as im happier to live within my means theese days plus i cant actually get credit as such anyways lol

I was told that to rebuild my credit score i need to get credit if i want to apply for a mortage again in a few years so i got a VANQUIS (I KNOW!!!) credit card, i do my shopping on it and pay off in full each month, it was the only credit card i could get, cant even get a store card?

Anyways back to the guarantor loan, I need a new van for work, im about to get a big payrise so in theory i could save up over 6 months but then i cant get to work so its not even a theory, i dont have any savings. You know my history, i learnt a painfull lesson, if i could get a standard loan i would, if i could save up enough i would. Saw the advert and thought it seemed like a good idea for people who have been irresponsible in the past and need a second chance. My brother or sister know my circumstances and that i wouldnt intentionally let them down, but after reading other peoples experiences its not helped to make my mind up. Any advice or alternate options to get a van, so i can earn more money would be greatly appreciated

pvt

If your brother or sister are in a position to act as guarantor for a loan, then it would make far more sense for them to take out a loan in their own right from a proper lender, and give it to you. They will get a much better rate than you will get from Amigo. The risk for them is far less, as they are then in control of the loan and the repayments.

Have you thought of asking your employer for a loan?

playsteve316

That does make sense as a whole but then im also wanting to help rebuild my credit rating. By early next year all defaults will be off my file leaving only my Vanquis card, if i apply for a mortgage in a few years with no credit history apart from the vanquis card will that affect my chances? Unless i get other types of credit before hand maybe? I suppose this is a sub topic for other parts of the forum. It took me years to get a payrise out of them, asking for a loan would take decades to get out of them

ArtyGirl80

Some very smug types on this thread.

My partner and I have a £500 Amigo loan, which we are paying back without a problem.

Pixie5740

playsteve316 wrote: »

That does make sense as a whole but then im also wanting to help rebuild my credit rating. By early next year all defaults will be off my file leaving only my Vanquis card, if i apply for a mortgage in a few years with no credit history apart from the vanquis card will that affect my chances? Unless i get other types of credit before hand maybe? I suppose this is a sub topic for other parts of the forum. It took me years to get a payrise out of them, asking for a loan would take decades to get out of them

Amigo loans and Pay Day loans don't look great on your credit file so I'm not sure there's much benefit to having one if your main goal is to rebuild your credit. In fact will the Amigo loan show on your credit file or the guarantor's? I'm not sure.

This MSE guide has some suggestions on how to rebuild your credit file.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

Pixie5740

ArtyGirl80 wrote: »

Some very smug types on this thread.

My partner and I have a £500 Amigo loan, which we are paying back without a problem.

Good for you, I'm sure your guarantor is very pleased. Amigo loans may work for some people but I wouldn't act as guarantor for anyone. Better to either just give them the money myself so that if they can't/don't pay it off it's only the initial loan amount I lose rather than all that interest.

I found the MSE budget planner and YNAB helped me keep on top of my finances so that I now have a good emergency fund in place so that, touch wood, I never have to use one of these companies. It might be worth your while checking out on of these budget planning tools.

Enfieldian

playsteve316 wrote: »

Came on here to check out what people thought of amigo loans, lots of good advice and different opinions.

My story:

5 years ago lost my house due to burying my head in the sand when my ex split up with me, was irresponsible with bills/time off work for depression/drinking too much and ended up with a 25k bill after halifax selling my house for ALOT less than what it was worth at auction. Went Bankrupt... utterly embarrasing, big life lesson learnt

5 years down the line am a year or so away from my credit file clearing, i havent wanted any credit as im happier to live within my means theese days plus i cant actually get credit as such anyways lol

I was told that to rebuild my credit score i need to get credit if i want to apply for a mortage again in a few years so i got a VANQUIS (I KNOW!!!) credit card, i do my shopping on it and pay off in full each month, it was the only credit card i could get, cant even get a store card?

Anyways back to the guarantor loan, I need a new van for work, im about to get a big payrise so in theory i could save up over 6 months but then i cant get to work so its not even a theory, i dont have any savings. You know my history, i learnt a painfull lesson, if i could get a standard loan i would, if i could save up enough i would. Saw the advert and thought it seemed like a good idea for people who have been irresponsible in the past and need a second chance. My brother or sister know my circumstances and that i wouldnt intentionally let them down, but after reading other peoples experiences its not helped to make my mind up. Any advice or alternate options to get a van, so i can earn more money would be greatly appreciated

Alas, you may find that details of you being repossessed is kept on public record for 12 years and not 6.

pinkprincess09

shaunny wrote: »

i used these clowns when they were flm loans when my credit history was rather iffy !
$3000 loan - repaid on time and in full using my workmate as guarantor
these are the absolute last resort .
as usual they are fine when everything is going according to plan but....
i changed my payment date by phone and subsequently found they had'nt carried it out .
1st they went into my bank account repeatedly over a 2 day period trying to remove their funds in ever decreasing amounts until they found an amount they could take ( my salary date had been moved by a week hence the original change of date)
now bear in mind this is only 1 day late on their original payment date - not like i was defaulting on the loan at this stage .
then a particularly ignorant little trollop called Elise started phoning my work for the guarantor who was on holiday . but instead of taking this as fact ,she must have phoned another 6 times over the day to be told the same thing every time .
and worse she had been sending e-mails along the lines of :
"could mr *** ***** please contact Elise of flm loans on an urgent financial matter"
these were not going to anyone in particular but just to our employers e-mail address for anyone to see (which is unethical and unprofessional if not illegal) .
so the head office contacted us and i was able to phone flm and sort it out as i had known nothing about any of this before hand .
no letter from flm quering the payment THEY had messed up before hand - just straight in to clearly drop me in hot water with my employers and attempt to empty any funds they could get from my account with no contact to me whatsoever .
to recap - a totally unprofessional joke of a company and all this friendly nonsense is total fantasy .
now i'm sure the blue card worker Elise has moved onto her dream job flipping burgers but when i phoned up to give off stink they really couldn't have been less helpful before finally having to admit their own !!!!-up .
i couldn't believe some of the glowing reviews of this sham company on trustpilot.co.uk for eg. -and must assume the reviews were all written by their own employees as most of them couldn't be further from the truth.
and you should'nt believe their sickening little tv ads either !!:mad:
they want your 49% apr and that's all .
never again - AVOID AVOID AVOID

I've had the pleasure of the lovely Elise too! Telling me paying them comes before buying food and that she would take my house from me and sell it if needed!!