Safer alternative to payday loans

jackieblack

If you need cash quickly wouldn't a car boot sale be better (quicker) than ebay?

Any supermarket loyalty points/vouchers you could use? (I see tixy already suggested this)

An inventory of cupboards/fridge/freezer ofeten produces surprising results.

Regarding travel to work, as others have suggested, a few days off work (whether that's by holiday/illness/family emergency) will give you some breathing space.

Car insurance - as prevously suggested, you only need to find one or two months before your DH will get paid.

You don't actually need £600 right now, you need to tackle the problems one step at a time. Food costs can be dealt with day by day if necessary. Bank charges will have to wait.
Are your children at school? can they get FSM?

Max_Maxwell

abbierhodes wrote: »

Right- my bank won't help, not even in the short term. My credit rating is 'fair'. Not due to any defaults, just due to the amount of credit I already have...

...I'm concerned because my bank charge £5 for every day I'm over my limit, and it will be a while before I can get it under.

Your bank may not be willing to lend you additional money but they should at least increase your overdraft to the amount you are overdrawn. Your account will then be within the 'agreed' overdraft limit and your daily charges will reduce to £1. That's a big difference between £30 and £150 per month.

The bank cannot refuse this request when you are already overdrawn over and above your agreed limit. Declining this request would be seen as knowingly forcing the account holder into paying higher than necessary bank charges.

Remember, banks are under increasing pressure to be accommodating to those in financial difficulty, and visiting your branch in person would be better than attempting to arrange it online or over the phone.

[Deleted User]

You won't get £600 (I think £500 is the limit for new customers), but you could try Provident.

The interest is high, but if you settle early, you'll get a chunk of it back.

And it doesn't affect your eligibility to borrow from other lenders, like a PDL does.

cockmad

You could approach your local Credit Union. They often give loans to new members who haven't yet saved with them. I am fairly confident that they could help you out if you explain your circumstances. They are very approachable.

Their membership joining fee is usually £5, no more than £10.
Hopefully you could scrape this small amount somehow. You have nothing to lose. Call or visit.

pozza_73

Having done both Provident is far, far higher rate of interest than a payday loan. If you got a £600 payday loan for 2 months then the interest would be £180 (prob a lot less) max whilst a £600 provident loan would be around £600 interest mark. Combine the two perhaps? Have a car boot/ebay with whatever you have lying around the house and top it up with a payday loan if necessary. You may only have to get a couple of hundred. If you can avoid a PDL then please do so but Provident is a lot worse!

jackieblack

I notice the OP hasn't posted in the last 24 hours (having posted 5 times in the initial 2 hours).
I've noticed this often occurs when people don't get the responses they want or don't like the response they get :cool:

katsu

I agree with Credit Union as the best loan solution and sell/pawn things as a better way to avoid more debt.

You could try churches or google for local advice on short term food parcels - Trussell Trust I think has details of lots of them.

I'd be careful about faking a family emergency - you don't want to cause problems in your job.

Good luck.

[Deleted User]

pozza_73 wrote: »

Having done both Provident is far, far higher rate of interest than a payday loan.

With respect, you're not comparing like for like.

A loan from Provident would only be around 100% interest, if it was over a year.

Over 23 weeks, it would cost less than 50% interest.

If you paid it off in the same 2 month period as the PDL, the interest would be even less, due to the ESB.

If you borrowed £500 (the maximum allowed for a new customer) over 23 weeks, the repayments over the full 23 weeks would be £747-50.

However, if you paid half of that amount (£372-75) in the first month, then the rest in the 2nd month, the total amount repaid would be approx £559, hence the interest paid would be around £59.

If you can avoid a PDL then please do so but Provident is a lot worse!

I disagree.

As you can see from the above figures, over the same 2 month period, Provident works out cheaper.

Indeed, Wonga would charge you £125-48 interest, to borrow £400 for 30 days, so I think your estimate of "£180 (prob a lot less)" for £600 for 2 months, is a bit wide of the mark.

Also, borrowing from Provident doesn't impact on borrowing from banks etc., like a PDL does.

pozza_73

If you put it like that Bob it is indeed a lot higher. I will explain my avenue of thinking. Waiting till the last minute that the OP possibly can then borrowing the extra money after they have explored every other avenue - car boot sale, ebay etc. IF they need to borrow again then waiting as long as possible then borrowing again - again as little as possible. Like I said, I took out a loan with Provident and I have never missed a payment but because I pay it monthly and not weekly I have ended up in arrears which is negatively impacting on my credit rating. Thankfully, I don't have any PDL at the moment but they are far less "dangerous" than Provident if it is for very short term borrowing.

Cycrow

you say the car is needed for work, is this as part of the job, or just as transport to get to work ?

if its for transport, how far do you need to travel to work ?