Payday Loans Disaster ...

stupidboy69

Hi all,

I am a firs time poster, would appreciate if I could get some help from you all. Before I start, I would like to confirm that I am indeed an idiot for getting myself into this situation and take full responsibility for it.

The situation I am in is quite dire, I have Payday loans with several companies, total amounting to around £5000.00. Here is a breakdown below:

Satsuma (total owed £900.00) - payments of £28.50 per week
QuickQuid (total owed £1695.00) - first payment is for £198.00
PoundsToPocket (total owed £1750.00) - £150.00 per month
Sunny (total owed £460.00) - £460.00 due end of month
MyJar (total owed £114.00) - £114.00 due next week
Lending Stream (total owed £115.00) - £38.50 due end of month
Wage Day Advance (total owed £180.00) - £180.00 due end of month
Payday Loans UK/memecredit (total owed £440.00) - £440.00 due end of month

I am penniless until 29th of January, and am in fact already over my planned overdraft by £350.00 (so when my wage comes in, it will deduct £350.00 from my overdraft automatically). I have two bank accounts, one where my salary goes into and one which PDL companies pay into, so in that sense I am in control of what happens when I get paid.

I live with family and voluntarily pay £200.00 in rent (family do not know about my debt crisis and ideally I would like to keep it away from them...). I could probably live off £350-400 a month (incl. voluntary rent) which leaves my disposable income to £1400 a month to pay these lenders.

If I get things right, I am slightly optimistic that I can get things at least under control after two pay days, but I need your help to prioritize which of these loans should I pay first and which should I try to negotiate a repayment plan with? This month it is impossible for me to pay all my lenders.

Also, because I will be over my planned overdraft by £350 (will be charged £10/day) what should I tell my bank? What will the immediate consequences be?

I know I made a stupid decision, I am only 22, and find myself in such a situation whilst most people my age are saving up etc. it is very depressing but I want to sort things out now...

Appreciate all replies,

Thanks.

edit: just a quick summary, disposable income for this month will be around £1300. Total owed this month is £1609 in PDL alone.

jonesMUFCforever

To help it would be useful to know what the money has been used for?

Would it be gambling at all?
If so you need help with that first or your problems will continue for more than just 2 paydays.

I would in first instance open one of the new basic accounts and get your wages into that then contact a debt advise charity for help.

stupidboy69

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, embarrassingly enough it was gambling - but I am confident in my ability not to gamble again, and I am undertaking counselling for it too from Saturday.

Bank account isn't an issue because I have my salary deposited into an account which PDL don't have access to.

Do you think its worth for me to contact certain lenders first rather than go to a debt charity instantly? My way of thinking is that, e.g. Sunny seem to be more lenient with rescheduling repayment, but someone like WDA are a hassle - in which case I will pay WDA in full and reschedule with Sunny.

MyJar for example is due next week and I have sent an e-mail to say I will pay them at the end of the month instead...

The less lenders I owe money to, the easier it will be to manage in some ways, or am I on the wrong track.

The last thing I want are lenders constantly calling my workplace asking for a payment.

RuthnJasper

Hi there - welcome to MSE. First off, don't beat yourself up about what is done. You can't change what you did to get yourself into this situation, but you CAN manage how this is remedied and you have realised that you are in a bit of a predicament that needs sorting. That's a tough thing to admit, so well done for that.

I was in a similar fix myself. The basic thing to do is to work out exactly what you have coming in and going out outside of the Payday Loans, what you need to survive on and what you can afford to offer each one by way of token repayments. If you get yourself onto http://www.stepchange.org/, they will be able to offer you guidance through the whole process of working out the figures, writing with offers to the PDL companies and cancelling the continuous payment authorities with your bank. Stepchange are free to use, very helpful and non-judgemental.

You will be able to resolve this with determination; it won't be like this forever. But you do need to be firm about not juggling the PDLs indefinitely, taking out one in order to pay off another, etc. Get a repayment plan set up with Stepchange and be strict with yourself about sticking to it.

Best wishes to you. x

Clive_Woody

stupidboy69 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, embarrassingly enough it was gambling - but I am confident in my ability not to gamble again, and I am undertaking counselling for it too from Saturday.

Bank account isn't an issue because I have my salary deposited into an account which PDL don't have access to.

Do you think its worth for me to contact certain lenders first rather than go to a debt charity instantly? My way of thinking is that, e.g. Sunny seem to be more lenient with rescheduling repayment, but someone like WDA are a hassle - in which case I will pay WDA in full and reschedule with Sunny.

MyJar for example is due next week and I have sent an e-mail to say I will pay them at the end of the month instead...

The less lenders I owe money to, the easier it will be to manage in some ways, or am I on the wrong track.

The last thing I want are lenders constantly calling my workplace asking for a payment.

To be honest I would have thought you would be best calling someone like Step Change and getting advice from them, they are the experts and their advice costs nothing.

You've dug a hole but there are ways out. Your credit file will most likely be trashed but this may be no bad thing to stop you borrowing for some years to come.

You've taken the first step get some proper advice and keep moving forward.

stupidboy69

RuthnJasper wrote: »

Hi there - welcome to MSE. First off, don't beat yourself up about what is done. You can't change what you did to get yourself into this situation, but you CAN manage how this is remedied and you have realised that you are in a bit of a predicament that needs sorting. That's a tough thing to admit, so well done for that.

I was in a similar fix myself. The basic thing to do is to work out exactly what you have coming in and going out outside of the Payday Loans, what you need to survive on and what you can afford to offer each one by way of token repayments. If you get yourself onto, they will be able to offer you guidance through the whole process of working out the figures, writing with offers to the PDL companies and cancelling the continuous payment authorities with your bank. Stepchange are free to use, very helpful and non-judgemental.

You will be able to resolve this with determination; it won't be like this forever. But you do need to be firm about not juggling the PDLs indefinitely, taking out one in order to pay off another, etc. Get a repayment plan set up with Stepchange and be strict with yourself about sticking to it.

Best wishes to you. x

Thanks for your reply.

I will give Stepchange a call tomorrow, thank you for the recommendation. I guess it would be better if charity represent me on my behalf, I probably should have stepped back from replying to PDL companies myself but I will see what they say tomorrow (only e-mailed Sunny & MyJar).

In your experience, even after Stepchange stepped in, did you receive any harassment from lenders at your workplace-- did they still try to attempt to consonantly call? This is one of my biggest fears...

Thanks and best regards,

stupidboy69

Clive_Woody wrote: »

To be honest I would have thought you would be best calling someone like Step Change and getting advice from them, they are the experts and their advice costs nothing.

You've dug a hole but there are ways out. Your credit file will most likely be trashed but this may be no bad thing to stop you borrowing for some years to come.

You've taken the first step get some proper advice and keep moving forward.

Thanks for your reply.

I will call Stepchange, as others have suggested. I guess I will probably not be allowed to borrow for a while but this is the initial risk and as you insinuated, perhaps a blessing in disguise...

Thanks and best regards,

SnowTiger

stupidboy69 wrote: »

The situation I am in is quite dire, I have Payday loans with several companies, total amounting to around £5000.00. Here is a breakdown below:

Satsuma (total owed £900.00) - payments of £28.50 per week
QuickQuid (total owed £1695.00) - first payment is for £198.00
PoundsToPocket (total owed £1750.00) - £150.00 per month
Sunny (total owed £460.00) - £460.00 due end of month
MyJar (total owed £114.00) - £114.00 due next week
Lending Stream (total owed £115.00) - £38.50 due end of month
Wage Day Advance (total owed £180.00) - £180.00 due end of month
Payday Loans UK/memecredit (total owed £440.00) - £440.00 due end of month

That's pretty staggering considering these lenders are suppose to have turned over a new leaf and should consider affordability before lending.

What a horrible start to the new year for the OP.

Anyway, OP, contact StepChange as RuthnJasper suggested. You won't get it sorted out on your own.

I'd probably let them default me. At least that would mean the mess would disappeared from my credit files in six years time whatever happens. With a balance of £5,000 made up of APRs from 200% up to over 1,000% it's likely to happen anyway. Better sooner than later.

moneyonmymindsam

Welcome :j


Up to you but can you pay all except S~unny and make a token payment to S~unny of the remaining £100 or are you able to make a small payment over a longer term - reschedule the S~unny payment plan?


This way only one creditor will be calling you? and hopefully they won't call if you contact them first ?;)

Next month you would have 3 less debts then the month after pay S~unny and LS in full so another 2 off the list . Then the month after pay S~atsuma in full.

I think it will take you a few more paydays to pay off the other two as they are quite hefty but at least that way then after 3 months your PDL commitments are more manageable at £350 a month and you could overpay with any spare cash?


Welcome and don't worry we all make mistakes is how we learn from them that counts


Do try a debt charity for support and advice
Good Luck !!

stupidboy69

SnowTiger wrote: »

That's pretty staggering considering these lenders are suppose to have turned over a new leaf and should consider affordability before lending.

What a horrible start to the new year for the OP.

Anyway, OP, contact, as RuthnJasper suggested. You won't get it sorted out on your own.

I'd probably let them default me. At least that would mean the mess would disappeared from my credit files in six years time whatever happens. With a balance of £5,000 made up of APRs from 200% up to over 1,000% it's likely to happen anyway. Better sooner than later.

Thanks for your reply.

It is quite staggering, especially if you consider that I had maxed out 3 credit cards (totaling to 1500 pounds, as well as maxing an overdraft of 1500 pounds, before turning to the lenders). But I guess this is where they make their money.

Are you able to explain in a little more detail why you think I will be defaulted? I was under impression that after two months, it would probably be more manageable to pay lenders, because although Satsuma + Pounds To Pocket are large loans, their monthly rate is fixed.

Thanks and best regards,

SnowTiger

stupidboy69 wrote: »

It is quite staggering, especially if you consider that I had maxed out 3 credit cards (totaling to 1500 pounds, as well as maxing an overdraft of 1500 pounds, before turning to the lenders). But I guess this is where they make their money.

Are you able to explain in a little more detail why you think I will be defaulted? I was under impression that after two months, it would probably be more manageable to pay lenders, because although Satsuma + Pounds To Pocket are large loans, their monthly rate is fixed.

I missed that you had £1,400 of disposable income a month.

I guess you probably could knuckle down and get it all paid off.