Need sensible advice re secured loan

angelface

Right, I've just done Martins budget thingy. I have my own one but i thought I'd fill in his too.

what it revealed is what I already know. My boyfriend and i pay nearly £900 per month to various loans, store cards, credit cards etc. We have a mortgage, which we have only had for a few months. In fact, its having the mortgage which has finally made us sit down and take a good look at ourselves. We have never missed a mortgage or rent payment and we pay off at least the minimum payment every month along with all the loan payments.

However, you don't get to owe £23K with sensible spending and what with buying a car and things for the house its all got a bit out of hand. We now pay travel fees that we never used to and my boyfriend took a different job, with better prospects, although at a massively reduced wage of £9000.

Although our heads are currently just... only just... floating above the red line any missed payment will send us spiralling. We have no savings.

We realise that at some point we were using credit to subsidise a lifestyle that is not sustainable over the long term. We now do not use them and are paying them off but its just ridiculous.

We have been looking at loans to consolidate. I know that its not preferred and that snowballing is recommended but this is an option i want to consider. Taking a loan, to cover the debt, one monthly payment at a reduced price, all credit cards have been cut up. My boyf tried for an unsecured loan in september last year for this amount and was refused.

Is there a company that is preferrable to use over others? i am looking for a loan that will last approximately 8 years. it will need to be around £300 per month, which is a payment that i could cover with the rent and bills if my boyfriend were made redundant or ill and vice versa. Can anybody help?

Many thanks.

Dylanwing

Are you looking at an Unsecured Loan? If so, go to Moneysupermarket.com, fill in the questionnaire and see where it points you. It will also give a good indication as to whether this is a viable option. It worked a treat for me and got me a very good deal. If it's not a lender you recognise, it's well worth checking them out with the experts on this Forum.

CLAPTON

borrowing 23,000 over eight years and repaying 300 per month means you need a loan at less than 6%.
knowing nothing of your income and jobs and other outgoings one can't really comment but it seems unlikely that you will get one that cheaply.
i would suggest you go over to the debtfree wanabee board and post a full SOA and your general circumstances and see what people can suggest .

angelface

No I do not think we will get an unsecured amount for that much. i was looking at secured.

i did look at moneysupermarket but its top loan at 6.2% was First Plus. I have been researching the company on here and I've read some horror stories. Most of the stories were about people attempting to repay the loans quicker or overpay and being charged for it. Unless we win the lottery we would just want to repay it over 8 years. I'm not jumping into anything without a bit of research.

Clapton, that figure was approximate. i could go to £330 or 9 years. However, i do need some kind of ball park figure to aim for. I want to be paying at least £500 per month less though.

Dylanwing

Doh!! The clue was in the thread title!:embarasse

We were looking for a secured loan, and our friendly Broker put us in touch with two reputable firms who would do a better deal than the 'Daytime TV sharks' They offered loans at 12.9%.

Moneysupermarket pointed us towards Ocean Finance and we got a deal at 9.9%, and it was just like on the ads. They were quick, helpful, kept us informed of progress, overlooked the odd missing pay slip and were generally excellent.

As for Worst Plus, I had dealings with them many years ago, and would avoid them like the plague. :mad: They were so bad that I no longer find Carol Vorderman attractive because of those ads!

Good luck, we got the right deal and it really stabilised our finances.

angelface

Dylanwing wrote: »

Doh!! The clue was in the thread title!:embarasse

.

:rotfl: No worries. All advice is always gratefully received!

angelface

PS what happened with first plus to make you feel that way?

Dylanwing

Same as most people have, loaded charges on early settlement. We were advise that what they did was legal, but unethical. We also had a few financial problems briefly, and they were the most unhelpful of all of our creditors - being worse than Barclaycard really was an achievement.

angelface

OK so has anyone got any recommendations for a secured lender? who has been oK

angelface

Also, how do i know if the loan is fixed or not, do they all go up and down with interest rates?

Dylanwing

Best bet may be to check out Moneysupermarket to guage best potential lenders, then give them a call with your questions. Most are very helpful at that stage for obvious reasons, and any reputable lender will confirm details in wrtiting so that they can't deny what was said.