Considering DMP - SOA advice please

AliceBanned

asparagus1968 wrote: »

So sorry to hear what you have been through, very unsettling. That insurance excess is dreadful too,is that because it is an older car or something? Is there a little independent garage somewhere that would do you a little paint job? maybe ask around. It certainly wouldn't cost anywhere near £400! Or ask on the motoring board on here for any tips on sorting it cheaper? I never do anything these days without asking on here!
keep your chin up poppet

Thanks asparagus - the irony is I've done quite a bit of work on the bodywork - all with great advice on the motoring board here. And much encouragement! I really enjoyed it as well. I posted photos of the rust patches and the progress as I sanded them off. The policeman said T-Cut will hid the scratch pretty well - it is fairly superficial, but the length of the car! It is not so much what has happened, but what might happen as it is the second scratch.

I set the excess at £400 - supposedly moneysaving as it reduces the premium. The car is 13 years old but higher insurance as it is the sporty number. :cool:

AliceBanned

I had a look in Maplins yesterday and got a really helpful sales assistant who sympathised. They have a CCTV for £130 that I could put on the back window and keep fairly obscure and it would give a shot from most angles of anyone approaching the car. The police suggested doing this also. I will see what happens over the next few days. it may be worth me investing.

I wouldn't go for such an insurance excess again - think I could do more like £200-250. At least the insurer covers malicious damage as some don't but the guy in Maplin said it is a massive problem - he heard of a whole street of cars being keyed.

catriona79

AliceBanned wrote: »

Thanks asparagus. Well done for overpaying on the mortgage!

It may be cheaper to borrow from credit unions for some of my debt, but they seem to have started charging more. They are allowed to charge up to 42%! But they do lend responsibly. A lot of the loans are at 1% a month but you have to keep savings with them to get those rates, and have reasonable credit rating. The last loan I had was 32% but it was only £500 so didn't take long to pay off. Because you have to keep savings with them I am persuading myself that they are not hugely better than a credit card if you have a debting problem; ie it is still another loan, another debt and that is how I used them in the past - supposedly consolidating but ending up spending again on cards. So I resolved to keep reducing the number of separate debts that I have as well as the actual amount, regardless of interest or getting a better deal in a panic. The good with with credit union loans is you can pay them off early with no penalty however.

I am going to pay off what I can and then weigh up my options in a couple of months - it may be that I can get a better deal than with a credit union by that point.

Any chance at all you could get some money out of a 0% credit card (super balance transfer) on 4% and pay off the loans that are charging you 32%?

If you have to have savings with them, that's a bit tough, as you can't get at your savings if you need them... So can't use them in an emergency. You're actually just offsetting your debt without access to your own money. I wonder if there is another way you could access cheaper credit?

catriona79

AliceBanned wrote: »

And two steps back...


On Saturday morning I saw that my car had been keyed for the second time. This is quite devastating as I just did lots of work on the body due to rust. I have my suspicions about who could have done it and the police are coming this afternoon, but I can't know for sure so I suppose there is not much they can do. They are taking it seriously though as it is both harassment and criminal damage.


The scratch is right from the front to back on one side. My insurance covers malicious damage but my excess is £400 so I can't really use that.


I am trying to rise above it and work out what to do so that this problem doesn't escalate.


But sometimes I feel at my wit's end with the world. You do the right thing but it doesn't do the right thing back.


A friend said to me 'can't you just change where you park?'. Well of course I can, at home and on the way to work, but I will still never know that I am avoiding further damage and I live with the constant worry of it - that is why they do it. It is sick behaviour. I won't go into now why I was worried already about my car before this happened but a neighbour has been awful to me for no reason at all. There are some low-life drug dealers that use my residential car park and she is mixed in with them. Who knows why people take out their problems on other though. I have nothing whatsoever to do with them and have been minding my own business..


Anyway it has raised the question of whether I should sell my car. I wouldn't consider it yet otherwise but was thinking of doing it in the summer and getting a moped for a while. It would give me £1500 cash (I wouldn't take less but might not get this) and when I eventually get a new car I could park away from home a bit and stay incognito. It's terrible that I would have to but I think if I let this problem escalate it could be me in danger not just my car. Who knows with some psychopaths. It could be just a threat - the scratches - it could get worse - or it could mean the person is crazy enough and hates me enough to go for me. I really don't know but it could be personal.

Hello - sorry to hear about your troubles. Is the car new? If it is, that's a real shame, though it can be put right before you sell. But if it's an old car, it won't make much difference, so I wouldn't worry about it at all, the financial side of things that is.
I had an old (10 years) Clio, which (to PX) was valued at £450. Then I had a lorry go into the side of me. Write off, but drivable. Cost to repair £1200. I went to get my current car and the garage gave me £400 for it, even with the damage. Beyond a certain point in the age of the car, it doesn't make much difference.

Some things are just not worth worrying about.

Unless of course you think someone is trying to threaten you. It may just be kids, bored. Do you have reason to believe that someone is trying to threaten you?

Please don't worry yourself about it. The car is still as safe as before and the keyed side, although I'm sure it doesn't look great, it's just a piece of metal. Your mental well being and a good mental,attitude is worth much more than that.

AliceBanned

Hi Catriona I should be able to but according to Noddle I can only get a cap 1 or Luma card at 3 or 6 months 0%. As i have done this in the past I have 2 Cap 1 cards already. I could apply now or wait a few weeks for possibky a better deal. Also I am £300 away from getting some of my credit union savings out. So it is a tough call on whether to just hold on before I apply. What do you think?

catriona79

AliceBanned wrote: »

Hi Catriona I should be able to but according to Noddle I can only get a cap 1 or Luma card at 3 or 6 months 0%. As i have done this in the past I have 2 Cap 1 cards already. I could apply now or wait a few weeks for possibky a better deal. Also I am £300 away from getting some of my credit union savings out. So it is a tough call on whether to just hold on before I apply. What do you think?

Hi Alice, I can tell you what I would do, if it helps you make your decision at all. You would need to post here or PM me with the details of all loans incl totals and rates , as well as the amount of savings, and which are tied up. Without this info, it's difficult to say.

AliceBanned

catriona79 wrote: »

Hi Alice, I can tell you what I would do, if it helps you make your decision at all. You would need to post here or PM me with the details of all loans incl totals and rates , as well as the amount of savings, and which are tied up. Without this info, it's difficult to say.

Hi Catriona. That's very kind. I'll try and PM you with this info on my debts tomorrow. Just home from a long day and too tired at the mo!


On the car issue - it is an old car, so not worth much, but yes I do have reason to think I am being targeted. However I am not certain yet, and I could be imagining things. Basically I was doing some work on a rust patch on my car over the summer and the neighbours started getting friendly and/or nosey, and mostly were very friendly but one of the girls has been giving me daggers ever since, even though I smiled and been nice to her. She lives facing the car park so I see her sometimes. Since she gave me such filthy looks I make a point of pretending she's not there, but she stares and stares in such an extreme way, it gave me the creeps, really aggressive! Again I have ignored and stayed calm and happy. So I wonder whether she just can't help annoying me another way, and she clearly knows my car means a lot to me as I have spent all that time, on the bodywork as well, so I wouldn't put it past her to go and key it. Anyway that is my initial thought - as there are two separate lots and I ignored the first 'keying' and the second one is far worse. So I am not sure whether this will continue, so I called the police and they are trying to help me. He reassured me I probably wouldn't be personally attacked, not by someone who just does scratches on my car, but if it gets worse it will be another matter. Anyway for now I have got over that episode and will wait and see..

AliceBanned

Hi Catriona


I don't mind posting here re my debts and rates etc:

CCs:
Capital One - owe £900 - 34%
Halifax - £3100 - £21.9%
First Direct - £1990 - 19.9%
Barclaycard - £3200 - 6.9% - for 2 years
Co-op - £2380 - 6.9% for next 2 years
Capital One - £840 - 0% until Jan 2016 then 34%

All are close to the maximum at the mo. I have paid off one of the CU loans, partly with its savings. The other:


Savings: £487
Loan: £686

When the loan amount is lower than the savings, I can withdraw the savings (to an equal amount eg if loan is £387 I can withdraw £100 etc).

I am also using most of 2 £500 overdrafts most months but these only cost me about £2 each as they are quite good deals - would prefer to pay them off when I can though obviously.

Thanks for your kind offer of advice on this. I can see that another Cap one card is available to me (according to Noddle) of 0% for 6 months, but not sure I can get or want another.

catriona79

Hello Alice. Please could you edit the list to say what your minimum repayments are on each and how much can you realistically overpay each month for the next 6 months.

I'm helping my friend move today so will look tomorrow morning x

catriona79

Also - have you used the card tool here on mse to find out what your acceptance chances are for other cards that are a good deal?
If you look under balance transfer cards on the main website you will find them