Loans for poor credit

Pippa19

Hi everyone,

Without going into all the details, I was the victim of fraud, perpetrated by a lifelong "friend". Even though I have always handled money well, I was plunged into lots of debt and eventually had to get a debt relief order.

The friend was taken to court and found guilty of around 20 counts of fraud and went to jail.

Before getting the order, I had a very supportive friend who essentially got a credit card for me, and let me just pay them the minimum payment each month to get me out of a tight spot.

Now my debt relief order is finished and I am in a much better financial situation, I really want to take the burden of the credit card off of my friend. The money still on the card is about £3,000, and I really want to get my own credit card or loan and take care of that £3,000 or at least as much of it as I can.

Now I realise that I am only going to be able to get a really crappy loan due to my poor credit history, but I have made the decision that I would rather take a hit with a high interest rate, if it means taking the burden away from my friend.

My question is basically this - what are the "best" loans or credit cards for people with poor credit history. I realise that the standard answer is that you really shouldn't be taking such loans, but hopefully I have explained my situation.

Thank you everyone,
Pippa.

Mara69

Best place to start would be with your own bank.

Apples2

If the DRO was a result of fraudulent activity, you should not suffer a poor credit file.
Why is it showing against you if someone else fraudulently piled up this debt?

bigadaj

The easiest solution pressing your improved financial cir umstances mean that you can afford much increased payments is to simply overpay your frien dtp overpay on the card. at least this way you won't be subject to punitive rates of interest and can use the money saved from this to overpay on the debt.

Stuart_W

You may struggle to get the same interest rate that your friend has if you apply for a loan/credit card yourself, making it significantly more expensive.

Now the DRO is all over, can you afford to pay more than the minimum amount? You could set up a standing order for a fixed amount each month. A £3,000 credit card debt could take around 25 years to clear using just the minimum payment, but at a typical 17.9% APR, £100 a month will do it in just over 3 years, £200 will do it in less than one and half years.

If your friend is happy to keep it in her name, whilst the desire to transfer it to a loan in your name is laudable, it could be significantly more expensive.

Try your bank and see what interest rate they can offer, and compare it with the account your friend has.