Money Shop and Cheque Centre Loans

ChrisBuchanan_2

Hi Everyone

My name is Chris and I am 26 from Glasgow, over a year ago I applied for a Money Shop Loan as I was struggling on my wage at the time, I worked 20 hours a week and had to support myself without benefits. I did not want to ask family for money as they didnt have a lot themselves. So initially I borrowed £100 and had to pay back £125 at the end of the month. Struggling with surviving the following month I had to keep paying the interest as I couldnt afford to pay it off. As my work situation improved and my contract increased to 30 hours a week my earnings went up and this allowed me to take further money out from them so I increased it to £200 which resulted in paying back £50 a month. Now I know a lot of people think it is stupid to get into this situation and I cant account for what exactly I needed the money for but it was for things like food and essentials. Although I will admit I have expensive taste. Regardless I got tempted to take out a seperate Money Shop Loan this time with the Cheque Centre who asked for the same things, 30 Day Bank Statements etc, they never asked me if I had any other loans with any other money shops and they dont even do credit checks, I am sorry but how can these places be approved by the FSA if they dont even do credit checks? So it was easy as pie to get another loan this time a £400 loan paying back £500 at the end of the month. So with the 2 loans together to pay them both back that is £750 which is my whole months wage. Yes it was my choice but this is irrisponsible lending, I wasnt thinking at the time obviously and surviving was my priority but ultimately this is making people really poor and making the economy suffer, people could be spending this money in the shops etc helping to rebuild the state of the recession. My Cheque Centre Loan has now increased to £650 a month paying back £812, and in my new job I now earn £900 a month so just for one loan shop they think this is justifiable to give me a loan of my full months wage and expect to pay it back, I am so angry at them AND the government for allowing this on our High Streets and taking advantage of people who are struggling. Why is nothing getting done about it? Lucikly I am in a relationship where my partner is helping me get out of this situation, the Money Shop loan is now payed off and I have extended it for next month so I will reduce it by half next month and hopefully start the new year debt free but not everyone is fortunate enough to have someone to help them, I really want to rally with people, network, get Martin involved and get these places shut down or get them to lower the interest rates! What do you all think?

eyeopener2

You won't get much disagreement on here mate, you really won't. I hate them with a passion.

R_P_W

So you say you HAD to borrow the money to SURVIVE? For FOOD and ESSENTIALS?

You also then say this is irresponsible lending?

Which is it? If they hadn't lent you the money what would you have done?

You can be angry at them and the government all you like but neither of them forced you into taking a loan did they? And taking a bigger loan as you earnt more money?

Angry_Bear

In my opinion you would be better to contact them and tell them that you are in financial difficulty. Agree a payment plan (that you can afford) that doesn't involve taking out another loan.

Have a look around here and maybe even post up a SOA to examine where you can cut back to pay off your loan.

I agree that Payday loan companies are sharks and that they lend irresponsibly to people who are financially vulnerable, but you have to take some responsibility for your own actions too.

ChrisBuchanan_2

As I said I am not in financial difficulty anymore, I agree with some of your comments but they dont need to charge that much interest and no they shouldn't be allowed to lend the way they are doing so as its immoral, the public should be protected, did you not watch the documentary on Panorama about them and how they are selling instore, completely disgusted by them!

R_P_W

I imagine they charge the interest they charge for two reasons:-

1. Their target customers probably don't have any other lending option so they can lend on their terms.

2. You say yourself that they don't do any credit checks, so they have to assume that a significant amount of people won't pay back what is owed, so they have to make their money from the people that do.

What APR were you paying out of interest?

[Deleted User]

Well they did "help" you I guess, and you helped them keep going strong.

There is always someone that will lend you money, if it not them would you have been to the local loan shark? Maybe you would still be in debt now, thats if you were here to tell the story :eek:

The blame lies with you alone, we all make mistakes, but it's really just the same as any other stupid product that we are offered, you just decided to accept the terms and the high interest - you have now learnt a hard lesson like most of us

Well done, be glad your debt was so low :T

Heffi1

If you think they are immoral then why did you go to them, not the first time as presumably you did not realise how much you were going to be charged.

The second time is all on you unfortunately, as you were fully aware of the trap you were falling into.

Only by your partner helping out have you got out of this mess, take it as a life lesson to live within your means and never touch payday lenders again.

I think you have been incredibly lucky to have got away so lightly.

Sorry if this is a bit harsh, but you are an adult and that means making grown up decisions about your finances.

If they were not allowed to charge such high fees then they would not do so. They specifically target those that can least afford it.

VitaK

I think you too made some incredible poor financial decisions. You took out a loan you knew you would be struggling to pay back, and when your financial situation improved, you used that to take out an even bigger loan to finance overspending. Irresponsible borrowing if you ask me.

Sheilalou

Pay day loan company's on the high street DO use experian for a credit check, the money shop won't lend to you if you are on insufficient income I.e income support jsa and a bank statement review is done before the loan is accepted. It is very expensive if you borro more than u can afford to pay back on due date as I am told everytime I use them. In my experiance they're doin the best to lend responsibly I only borro what I need and can pay back so I'm also lending responsibly.

lynz68

These sorts of places make it perfectly clear what you have to repay for the amount you borrow while it may be immoral it is not illegal.

Nobody forced you to take the loans and really when your work hours and income increased you should have paid of the first loan and walked away. You chose not to.


Maybe you would like to get them closed down in the hope you won't have to pay what you have borrowed.

You need to speak to them and make arrangements pay that you can afford and stick to and don't borrow any more. You need to learn to live within your means.