Non working son able to borrow from Pay Day, please help

opinions4u

tell_it_how_it_is wrote: »

How you can make such a judgement about someone from so little information is completely ridiculous.

Call it a wild leap of faith.

But there is more than a suggestion of stupidity, lying and fraud from the information given.

Lola23

heidihawkinsuk wrote: »

can anyone advise me about a problem we've got with our 23yr old son, who's taken out 2 Pay Day loans without our knowledge. He's taken a loan out for £420 in April, after he'd been sacked from his job Feb 20th and another one for £120 which we think he took out to help pay his 1st loan. Both of these loans were given to him when he was out of work and also unable to claim any Jobseekers benefits until the end of September, due to the 26 week rule when someone's dismissed from employment and of course, we're no receiving letters threatening legal action, as no payments have been made since June, which we're assuming he managed to pay when he took out the £120 loan, to pay off some of the loan he'd acquired in April. Is it legal for a loan company to give money to people like my son who have ZERO money coming in? Any advice or help would be very much appreciated as both myself and husband are getting very stressed over it all.
Thanks

Hi

Sorry I can't give advice re the legal stuff you are asking about.

You have come on here because you are concerned and you should not be feeling judged or your son being slagged off...that's just not on.

I know we all worry about our kids...and yes we know they should be responsible for their actions, but let's face it there are a lot of families in the same position for one reason or another taking out loans, sometimes there's just no other way.

A wee honest chat is needed I think.

It's obvious you are going to be concerned for him as most of us are for our kids.

Good Luck and I hope he realises what a caring family he has.

Lola x

[Deleted User]

My darling Mum tells me, yesterday on the news, that if someone is unemployed/stuggling to pay back payday loans then now (apparently cause my parents are known to get the wrong end of the stick!) if I have this right ooohhh :jthe lenders have to now freeze interest and assist as much as they can with repayments immediately, no doubt they will need to know circumstances ie. no income, but should accept token payments or whatever if/is manageable - keep everything in writing if you decide to help contact lenders with or for your son which I think is the very first thing to do, rather then harp on about the irresponsibility that was on BOTH sides

You can provide as much support as you like and can tell your boy off (ok my parents still do me!) it is your flesh & blood after all x

SnowTiger

Deleted%20User wrote: »

My darling Mum tells me, yesterday on the news, that if someone is unemployed/stuggling to pay back payday loans then now (apparently cause my parents are known to get the wrong end of the stick!) if I have this right ooohhh :jthe lenders have to now freeze interest and assist as much as they can with repayments immediately...

The BBC article is here.

And details of the new Code Of Practice are here.

Elvisia

I would sit him down, treat him like an adult, explain what will happen if he doesn't help himself, and tell him how to deal with this (ie talk to the payday company, find ways to make his own money). Then let him do it and learn from his own mistakes. It's a matter of keeping an eye on it to make sure he doesn't get thousands in debt, but while it's not an enormous figure it's a good amount for him to learn that he must take financial responsibility.

I was talking to my friend the other day who is 33, and she was saying if she spent all her money it didn't matter as her family could just pay her rent for her. I asked her if she had money in the bank to pay a month's rent in case she lost her job, and she said her family would deal with it. I would love to see them tell her to sort herself out!

AlexLeigh

Lending firms are "supposed to stick" to responsible lending practices and if your son is unemployed, this looks like it hasn't happened. Unfortunately it's quite difficult to enforce and lenders can impose their own criteria.

However, this is taken directly from the OFT's literature;

2.2 The OFT would expect creditors to:
• fully consider the suitability of credit products based on the
borrower's needs and taking account of his circumstances
• assess a prospective borrower's ability to meet repayments over the
life of a loan in a sustainable manner, taking into account the impact
of the loan on the borrower's overall financial well-being
• actively encourage borrowers to seek independent advice,
signposting appropriate sources
• regularly monitor credit agreements and notify borrowers who are –
or appear as if they may be – in difficulty, and
• take appropriate responsibility for any acts or omissions of brokers,
12
debt recovery businesses (DRBs)
13
and other intermediaries or agents
who act on their behalf.

2.3 Creditors should not encourage borrowers to increase, aggregate or roll
over existing debt when borrowers may face difficulties clearing their
debts.

(See here for full details oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consultations/oft1107con.pdf)

Now, although payday loans are only intended to be very,very short term. It seems unlikely that your son would be in a position to repay the money (as per bullet point 2) without employment. JSA is intended to be purely for living expenses and shouldn't be factored into any income calculations.

Your son may wish to raise this with the creditor if he feels the money shouldn't be lent to him.

RuthnJasper

Heidi,

Whatever happens, please remember that these mistakes are your son's, and your son's alone. It is not a reflection on you as a person or as a parent.

Sorry that I have nothing better to add to the advice given above... though you could have a look at some of the other threads on this forum board and point your son in the direction of a few (and sadly there are plenty) where folks have got themselves into a even worse pickle with PDLs - perhaps he might learn something useful from others' experiences?

Anyway, best wishes to you and your family. xx

roh999

these are just the loans you know about.

datostar

Like it or not, young men and women get into financial difficulties and often make faulty decisions in trying to get out of them. I'm presuming that the OP's son still lives at home, hence the concern which is commendable. Taking out these loans, unwise as it may have been, looks like an attempt to act independently. OK, he's an 'adult' by years of age but none of us commenting on here know the circumstances or his personal maturity and it's a very hard punishment to cut off a son or daughter over a few hundred pounds.
Personally, I'd be paying off these sharks and negotiating hard for a discount (it works, I've done it) then getting the money back - that also works, eventually.

KingElvis

Bet that money was well spent too....

Financial Darwin Awards, here we come.