£112k in Debt and £50k in Savings Gone

jas_s

I am posting on behalf of friend who is has amassed a debt of £112k (unsecured loans) to three high street banks and one credit card and lost £50k of his savings.
The money obtained from borrowing and his savings has been used to fund online gambling His total monthly payments are in the region of £1800 and his take home pay is approx. £2200.

The loans and gambling were in a period between October and November 2016. He is currently update to date with the loans payments. However is amassing interest on his bank account overdraft and credit cards. This has meant he is unable to pay his rent, running his car (for work), day to day living expenses.

Therefore any advice would be appreciated.
Thank You

Pixie5740

Your friend needs to contact one of the debt charities; CAP UK, National Debtline or Step change for advice. Your friend needs to learn how to prioritise his bills, for example rent is a priority bill and has to be paid before any unsecured debts.

Your friend should apply for a basic bank account and start having all his income paid into it immediately. He should also take steps to tackle his gambling problem such as attending GA meetings and banning himself from bookies and online game sites.

Money_Rollercoaster

I think there is very little chance that your friend will be able to survive with this level of indebtedness for very long at all. As suggested, immediate support would seem to be necessary in respect of the gambling ( http://www.gamcare.org.uk/ is one source of support, for example) and options for dealing with the debt.


As a friend, you can probably only exert so much influence, but your friend needs to understand that there are pitfalls for the unwary looking to manage their debts. The debt charities are the best source of advice and offer free support ... on the other hand there are many unscrupulous operators who will purport to be offering help but will try and make a buck on the back of your friend's situation.


Good luck getting them help. Obviously, it would be better for people here to help your friend directly, rather than you playing piggy in the middle (no offence) - do you think he might be persuaded to join the forum?

sourcrates

jas_s wrote: »

The loans and gambling were in a period between October and November 2016. He is currently update to date with the loans payments. However is amassing interest on his bank account overdraft and credit cards. This has meant he is unable to pay his rent, running his car (for work), day to day living expenses.

Therefore any advice would be appreciated.
Thank You

Declare bankruptcy !!

Three year IPA.

Getting help for his addictions would be the first hurdle to cross.

System

Your friend is bankrupt, its that simple. At that level of debt with an income of £2200 and not owning his own property there is no other option. The only thing he has any control over is whether he chooses to bank or someone does it for him after years of being hounded for money.

DCFC79

Cant really anything else to whats been said except your friend has to want to help himself out of the predicament.

Ben8282

I am curious as to how, with a monthly income of £2200, your friend managed to obtain unsecured loans totalling £112,000 from three high street banks over a period of 2 months. Are you sure that you have got the figures correct? Even with the very best credit history this doesn't sound quite right. Can you let us know the amount, term, APR and monthly repayment of each of these loans?

daytona0

Ben8282 wrote: »

I am curious as to how, with a monthly income of £2200, your friend managed to obtain unsecured loans totalling £112,000 from three high street banks over a period of 2 months. Are you sure that you have got the figures correct? Even with the very best credit history this doesn't sound quite right. Can you let us know the amount, term, APR and monthly repayment of each of these loans?

Aye, I was about to post the same until I saw your post!

Interesting to profile this gambler though! There were 50k in savings, there were £112k in loans, 3 banks and a credit card. The time frame is 2 months...

What triggered this? Has the friend been gambling for years and lied with the "2 months" bit? Did they one day suddenly put a £5 on Newcastle to win against Derby County and, a month later, have a £100k bet on Newcastle to beat Reading? How do you go from £0 to £162k in 2 months?! That's question 1 right there...

Whatever the trigger, I strongly suspect that, with any time frame your friend tells you, the majority of it consisted of them spewing away their 50k in savings. I think that would be the trigger to taking out loans. Possibly to keep up with the illusion that they still the savings...

If you apply for credit within a very short space of time then credit checks don't always pick it up. Maybe your friend used this to their advantage? IDK

Suffice to say that your friend needs to tackle their gambling demons FIRST AND FOREMOST! Anyone who does not have experience of gambling will not understand how important that part is....

MEM62

It will become a cycle if the gambling problem is not addressed. That needs just a much priority as his financial situation. As already advised, GA need to be approached along with a debt counselling charity.