Provident I just Can't Afford To Pay

margaretclare

adewolves wrote: »

Me and my wife both have loans with Provident below is the breakdown of what we have with them.
Myself
1000.00 loan over 105 weeks 39 weeks paid
300.00 loan over 55 weeks 26 weeks paid
200.00 loan over 55 weeks 20 weeks paid
100.00 loan over 55 weeks 10 weeks paid
100.00 loan over 55 weeks 4 weeks paid

My wife
800.00 loan over 105 weeks 56 weeks paid
200.00 loan over 55 weeks 8 weeks paid
300.00 loan over 55 weeks 4 weeks paid

We are paying 68.00 a week on these loans and we just can't do it anymore, we have been robbing peter to pay paul for so long now its crippling us, its meant we have got behind with council tax and rent. I went to the cab they gave me a self help booklet. I wrote to Provident on Wednesday with my financial statement and offered them 20.00 a month. I just wondered what will happen now. Any advice most welcome.

Work out the interest you're paying on these loans and it will shock you and (hopefully) motivate you to sit down, the pair of you and work out your finances. Make a plan for kicking these guys into touch. I realise that they're the type of 'doorstep lender' who say they're offering a service but in fact they're preying on people who have difficulty making ends meet and having access to cheaper credit from more reputable lenders.

So you owe £1700 in total and your wife owes £1300. The varying time periods make it difficult to arrive at an APR - are you paying £68 a week EACH or between you? You both owe £3000 to a lender who has a reputation for charging top-dollar interest, and because there are these additional little bits, £100 here, £100 there, often just to cover the cost of borrowing itself, it's a bit like 'smoke and mirrors' and very difficult to work out. AFAIK they are obliged to state their APR somewhere, though.

The CAB have given you good advice. How they work is to categorise all your spending into 'priority' and 'non-priority'. Priority is the roof over your head, rent or mortgage, council tax, fuel, water etc, the things we must have and can't live without. Non-priority means all debts, whether credit card, storecard, catalogue, or Provident. Sit down and work it all out. You MUST pay council tax - it's the one debt that you can still be sent to prison for.

HTH

Margaret

cattie1

margaretclare wrote: »

Work out the interest you're paying on these loans and it will shock you and (hopefully) motivate you to sit down, the pair of you and work out your finances.

So you owe £1700 in total and your wife owes £1300. The varying time periods make it difficult to arrive at an APR - are you paying £68 a week EACH or between you? You both owe £3000 to a lender who has a reputation for charging top-dollar interest, and because there are these additional little bits, £100 here, £100 there, often just to cover the cost of borrowing itself, it's a bit like 'smoke and mirrors' and very difficult to work out. AFAIK they are obliged to state their APR somewhere, though.


HTH

Margaret

The interest is added to your loan from the beginning. unlike bank loans etc who charge interest over a period of time-so there are no hidden costs.

cattie1

albertross wrote: »

I'm intrigued why so many people who are getting strangled by the devil, then go and jump into bed with them and start strangling others.

When you do have a word with your agent because they are very kind, ask them to explain the apr, and how much interest is accruing on your debt.

see above.

SarahNeedle1872

margaretclare wrote: »

Work out the interest you're paying on these loans and it will shock you and (hopefully) motivate you to sit down, the pair of you and work out your finances. Make a plan for kicking these guys into touch. I realise that they're the type of 'doorstep lender' who say they're offering a service but in fact they're preying on people who have difficulty making ends meet and having access to cheaper credit from more reputable lenders.

So you owe £1700 in total and your wife owes £1300. The varying time periods make it difficult to arrive at an APR - are you paying £68 a week EACH or between you? You both owe £3000 to a lender who has a reputation for charging top-dollar interest, and because there are these additional little bits, £100 here, £100 there, often just to cover the cost of borrowing itself, it's a bit like 'smoke and mirrors' and very difficult to work out. AFAIK they are obliged to state their APR somewhere, though.
Margaret

According to their website, apr is 177%....

cattie1

albertross wrote: »

No hidden costs.. What is the apr charged on your loans, and what apr would you get from a high street bank?

what I was trying to say is there are no accruing interest rates,
like I said it is not hidden because they tell you straight away and put the interest on your loan from the begginning:D
people who get provi loans aren't usually able to get a loan from the bank:o
Also with bank loans you are penalised for paying them off early with most of them, at least with provi if you pay them off early you are given a rebate of the interest.
ps I paid 177%:rolleyes: (extortionate I know but the banks wouldn't have touched me with a bargepole!)

adea

when you take any loan out with provident, the agent should tell you what you will be paying in total, how long for and the weekly amount.
eg for a £100 loan, you pay £3 a week over 55 weeks and the charge for credit is £65, total amount to repay = £165.
when a customer signs the agreement they are given the top and bottom copy and on the top copy the APR is listed.
The APR is different depending on the period of time that the loan is to be paid over.
I think the reasons why the APR is so high is because the amount you repay never changes,no matter how far behind you get with your payments and you are almost guaranteed to be accepted for a loan plus have someone come round and collect it for you.
At least the payments with provident aren't as bad as some other companies such as welcome finance.

cattie1

albertross wrote: »

A small loan at that apr might be acceptable for an emergency when you can't find any other source of credit, but more likely the loans you are dishing out are just causing and storing more misery up for people further down the line.

As can be seen from the OP's post, they are borrowing more and more at an extortionate rate, to fund their existing debts at that extortionate rate. Borrowing from Peter, to pay Peter.

Was that meant for me or adea?
I would just like to inform you I do not work for provi anymore.
I completely agree that with provi you keep borrowing more and more hence the reason I don't work there anymore.
but provi were a godsend to me (not often you will here that!:p ) when my son(1) had suspected pneumonia and I couldn't afford the petrol to go and see him and the time off work but through provi we managed - the bank wouldn't loan me anything at all.

freejack2k

nomoneytoday wrote: »

Since it was an agent who lent money 4 weeks ago to someone who couldn't pay, why should they gain sympathy or commission out of this scenario?

does the person who signed the agreement 4 weeks ago not understand what they were signing? yes they did and they knew they could not pay it so i would say its a case of pot and kettle

I do love the way the words "ive never been that desperate" is chucked round in this thread. Do you realise how insulting it is for people who have to use provident? yes i work for them but i also care about my customers, all ive done in this thread is try and offer helpful advice for people who have got themselves in too deep and all i get in return is people taking cheap shots trying to make themselves look good. Makes me wonder why i bothered although if my advice helps anyone then it was worth it.

margaretclare

freejack2k wrote: »

does the person who signed the agreement 4 weeks ago not understand what they were signing? yes they did and they knew they could not pay it so i would say its a case of pot and kettle

I do love the way the words "ive never been that desperate" is chucked round in this thread. Do you realise how insulting it is for people who have to use provident? yes i work for them but i also care about my customers, all ive done in this thread is try and offer helpful advice for people who have got themselves in too deep and all i get in return is people taking cheap shots trying to make themselves look good. Makes me wonder why i bothered although if my advice helps anyone then it was worth it.

Please note that I never said any such thing.

Margaret

freejack2k

margaretclare wrote: »

Please note that I never said any such thing.

Margaret

I wasent saying anyone in particular, the ones with that opinion know who they are. There are a lot of arguements i could go in to about the company i work for, i dont think everything they do is right but on the other hand i dont think everything they do is wrong. I had people who had saved with park last xmas thanking me for giving them small lones to get their kids some pressies as everywhere else they had tried refused them. Its very easy for people to sit above with big opinions while they look down, its another matter being at the bottom having and having to live with the life you have been dealt.
And im not aiming that statement at anyone its just my opinion after what i have read here.