Smack in the face

david756

Hello all!

Today (well yesterday now), I had the biggest wake up call I could ever remember.

I got caught in the payday loan circle (wonga, cashgenie, quickquid, payday UK etc) and this went completely out of control, and racked up some massive debt.
I also had Littlewoods, Very, Next accounts.

I had to take just short of a year out of work, and at the time was juggling all of the above. Then no job, no money effectively.

So I put all of this to one side and blindly ignored it.

Anyway, now I am here and back working which is great.

Debt has racked upto just over 15000 which has absolutely terrified myself!
I am in the process of emailing every single company and advising that I cannot make the payments that they would require due to the amount owed. Just asking if we can come to some form of agreement.

I really do not want to go via a debt management company.

One positive thing though is that the Next account had 114 on it this morning, and I have just knocked that down to 44. That was a nice feeling. I don't know if it was the best one to down, but it was the smallest.
All the debts have stopped having interest added to them, so figure it is okay?....

Sorry, probably ranting now, but it feels so good to just get it off my chest.
I will be debt free by the end of 2017 (I think that is realistic).

Anyway, you'll probably see abit of me on here, just want to get going now. I'm terrified, and excited.

moneyonmymindsam

Hi
Good Luck on your journey ...well done for posting . :T


Key thing is to make a budget and stick to it - Nothing wrong with a self managed DMP but things will probably get worse before they get better.


It may be worth Giving Stepchange a call as their may be other options to talk through like Debt relief order depending on your financial situation and assets.. Like car / property etc.


15k sounds huge but there are honestly people on here who have busted through 4 times that amount and are now debt free.




We are all here cheering you on. A few basic's are to do an SOA , Join some challenges or ....maybe start a diary - that way you will be more inclined to keep on track and keep motivated to get that debt gone.
:beer: Good Luck !!

david756

I had a look at an SOA, and truth be told, it confused the hell out of me. None of my credits had APR on them now, as interest has all been frozen.

Diary is definitely something I am going to do.
Will also be sitting down to create a budget.
Like the challenges idea! Shall be checking that out.

Popstess

Hi David, I just wanted to say hello and to say I too have had a "smack in the face" or lightbulb moment (LBM) as its referred to in here.
The SOA's confuses me too so I just filled out the rest of it e.g my Incomings and all my outgoings including my cc's and loan monthly payments I must admit it's taken me a few goes to get it right and I keep remembering little payments that I pay out regularly but have never accounted for. It's made me realise where my money is going and the lovely ppl on here have helped me look at ways I can cut back when I thought I'd cut back as much as possible. Good luck!

Pixie5740

If you fill in a SOA then just put your APRs as zero because that's what they are now. Writing down the APRs is just to let you know which debt to concentrate on first, usually the one with the highest APR.

Have you written to any of the pay day loan companies to see if you can have some of the charges and interest refunded since you were stuck in a vicious circle?

david756

Pixie5740 wrote: »

If you fill in a SOA then just put your APRs as zero because that's what they are now. Writing down the APRs is just to let you know which debt to concentrate on first, usually the one with the highest APR.

Have you written to any of the pay day loan companies to see if you can have some of the charges and interest refunded since you were stuck in a vicious circle?

Hello,

I have contacted most of them now, and only Quickquid have gotten back to myself. They have written off £125 off the loan. Which is a decent start.
I did get one email back from a company saying that I should call to discuss, but I advised that I wanted everything done via email so that I have a trail.

Regarding my APR, I do not have any that have APR. They are now all fixed rates. So what I owe, is what I owe. Nothing more.

fruitisbad

Depending on when you took out your Wonga loan it may be eligible to be written off. I'm sure there was a raft of them that were written off.

david756

Well I originally started taking out Wonga loans back in 2008. I must have had about 20 to 30 of them over this period, mixed in with other loans bridging the downfall.

Is it actually worth going back and seeing exactly how many loans were taken out and just ended up going round and round?

david756

Anyone have any advise regarding the above?

Pay day today - Have just cleared my Next account. Only £44, but that feels pretty good. Knowing that one of them has gone.
Written to most of my creditors asking them for statements etc, and only 2 have come back so far. Interesting that they aren't overly bothered about getting the money back haha.

fatbelly

Given the current climate we should be encouraging more people to complain about their payday loans.

I am surprised there isn't a guide on this site.

Citizens advice have the process outlined here

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/borrowing-money/types-of-borrowing/loans/payday-loans/payday-loans-making-a-complaint/

but your goal should be asking for a write-off not a freezing of interest!

lazer-zxr

Great attitude and pro active start David following you LBM. You'll get there I'm sure of it. Learn on the journey, enjoy the challenge, and keep in touch. We all need each other.:money: