Secured loan to pay off debts?

BronzedAdonis

Hi all,
Discovered yesterday my wife has ran up credit card bills of £31000.

She only earns £8000 so is struggling with payments etc.

Thinking of getting a secured loan to consolodate everything and have an end to it.

Other option is I transfer to mine at 0% and keep switching. But I think this could get complicated and I don't trust her not to spend on her cards once they are no longer maxed.

Currently I pay all the household bills mortgage etc so we aren't in real trouble. However this does mean I am going to have to cut back a bit to help her sort it out.

What are your thoughts on secured loans? Was thinking of getting one over ten years and cancelling the cards.

[Deleted User]

Generally bad news, as you can end up losing the house. Especially if one of you can't stop spending.

Candyapple

Is your wife also on the mortgage? If yes, then that means you will be both be financially linked so any late payments/defaults she will get for this £31k debt will also affect your credit history too which means no being able to get any 0% deals.

You need to speak to a debt charity about your options and how they will affect you both:
https://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/Debtadvice.aspx

If you are paying all the bills and mortgage, what has your wife spent the money on? £31k is not small change. Is there anything she can sell to put towards the debt?

I would also advise you to check your credit reports because if she only earns £8k and has debts of £31k, she may also have taken out cards/loans in your name behind your back.

The free versions to check your credit files are below:
Experian: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/creditclub
Call Credit: https://www.noddle.co.uk
Equifax: https://www.clearscore.com

oldagetraveller

However did she achieve card limits high enough to build up a debt of £31000 when earning only £8000 (presumably/annum)?

jonesMUFCforever

.............And what was it spent on?

damoC

Very bad idea, especially as you say you can't trust her to not spend on them again. Look at a DMP and follow @candyapple's advice.

DCFC79

Not a good idea, follow the advice that's been posted.

BronzedAdonis

There's nothing else in my name. She's not missed any payments. Luckily I've found out before it got to that.

Thanks for the advice, I'm not going to get a secured loan. Going to get it onto zero % and pay £500 a month off it.

Candyapple

BronzedAdonis wrote: »

There's nothing else in my name. She's not missed any payments. Luckily I've found out before it got to that.

Thanks for the advice, I'm not going to get a secured loan. Going to get it onto zero % and pay £500 a month off it.

Do you earn a high enough salary to be able to put £31k on 0% cards?

You didn't answer the question about what the money was spent on - how do you know the same thing won't happen again? There are numerous threads over on the DFW board where partners have run up hidden debt and came clean to their partners - only to run up similar, if not higher, amounts of debt later down the line because the underlying cause of spending wasn't dealt with.