Morally right or wrong, my head can't compute

Ben75

My position is that it depends on whom.

Friend / family / small business - would always try to pay back in full if I could

Large financial institutions - caused the mess we were in and were bailed out by my tax money and led to me losing my job, causing me a massive drop in income for years and fouled up my credit rating for six years - so no issue with negotiating a f&f discount.

Debt collection agencies who have bought debts - my responsibility to my original creditor has discharged and as far as I am concerned I can use the law to pay these evil sharks as little back as possible.

andyfromotley

Thats an interesting post IWANTBE. Whilst i dont agree with all of the sentiments it was certainly thought provoking.

I sometimes idly wonder if a rule saying, 'any (non mortgage) lending that exceeds a persons annual income must be written off' would end excessive lending.

moneyonmymindsam

Your creditor's don't share your compassion or morals.


i.e. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.


Don't feel guilty.

enjoyyourshoes

I assume you consciously made all the purchases and as a result feel you got the maximum benefit for these at the time?

As you got the benefit you should pay the 'bill'.

If you don't, then the people the suffer are:-

1. Creditors
2. People in debt as the market adjusts to none payers and the result is difficult to source credit and very expensive credit.

If you constantly overspend (not learn from past poor judgements) then you will be at the mercy of point 2. You can't get credit and when you do its at massive interest rate. Thereby you will end up on the sharp end of what customers with similar habits have generated.

The rest of the financial community can and do benefit from generous tax free savings and generous (comparatively) bank account interest rates. We also benefit from investments (again tax free) in companies who benefit from point 2 above.

So I applaud your question and applaud you seeking opinions about your decision or future decision.

rizla_king

moneyonmymindsam wrote: »

Your creditor's don't share your compassion or morals.


i.e. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.


Don't feel guilty.

too true. they'll screw you nine ways to sunday if they can get away with it!

sourcrates

Money lending is one of the oldest trades we have, stretching back many centuries in one form or another, but Prior to the Consumer Credit Act 1974, legislation covering consumer credit was slapdash and focused on particular areas rather than consumer credit as a whole.


A report of the House of Commons Select Committee on Money-Lending included testimony from one moneylender who admitted he charged 3,000% interest, while another had worked under 34 different aliases to avoid having notoriety associated with his name, so high interest lending, and dis-honesty within the industry, is nothing new.


The previous Acts on commercial credit provided no mechanism to regulate and enforce the rules, and the Consumer Credit Act's licensing system was the first major regulatory process within British consumer credit law. Licenses are now required to carry out a consumer credit business, before the act was passed, anyone could set up as a moneylender, without any regulatory checks at all, and there were no restrictions on what they could recover from a debtor, if they were unable to pay, losing your house, for instance, for what would be considered a paltry amount of debt, was fairly common place.


The consumer credit act should be considered as important as other acts of parliament which have all had hugh impacts on the way we live our lives, morality simply does not come into it, its about consumer protection from greedy companies, simple as that.

lazer-zxr

My personal thoughts. Borrowing something and not giving it back ..... morally wrong on any level really, no matter how it was first loaned, or how you wriggle out of it ... incl bankruptcy etc.
Sorry if some don't like this, but it's my personal opinion.

Jagraf

I have been a slave to my credit card companies for the past ten years (free of debt now). It was my fault (well, life circumstances which weren't my fault, but not the banks/credit card companies either). I took it on the chin and paid it back.

However, when I get all the marketing material through the door, explaining how fab it would be to have a new extension / car / garden, I feel in a way that I'm being mocked for my mistakes. Of course, it's not personal, but I now don't find it ethical at all.

We are saving and the interest rates are so dire which makes it even worse.

It all just goes in the bin, but even so I do have a different perspective on my mistakes now.

andyfromotley

Jagraf wrote: »

We are saving and the interest rates are so dire which makes it even worse.

It all just goes in the bin, but even so I do have a different perspective on my mistakes now.

This isnt entirely acurate.

TSB 5% up to £2000 (ten times the inflation rate)

Santander 3% up to £20,000 (Potentially £60k for a couple) (Six times the inflation rate)

First £1000 of interst now tax free.

Inlation bumping around at 0 - 0.5% for some time now.

Whilst its not a path to untold riches its certainly possible to return a tidy profit on savings.

enjoyyourshoes

Well identified andyfromotley.

Savings is a dirty word !

Individuals need to really understand the cost of finance and the benefit of a savings culture combined with impact of compound interest (both for debtors and savers alike)

Also regular savings accounts 6% !

If your saving for mortgage the govt incentives with help top buy isa too !

Plenty of great opportunities out there just need to find them, commit to them and be financial astute.