Personal Loan HELP!

-taff

Getting yourselves into debt at the beginning of marriage seems a strange idea to me.

fatbelly

Szokalsd wrote: »

Hi,

I am getting married in April and like many couples need to take out a loan to cover the costs. I have a good credit rating in the high 900’s with Experian. I used your credit matcher on the credit club and it said I had a 95% chance of getting a loan with cahoot/Santander.
I applied for the loan and they have accepted but they are giving me it at 13.9% APR. 10.9% over what was advertised.
As you can imagine that is off the cards. So what I want to know is, would it be advisable/not advisable to contact my bank (First Direct)and see what they can offer me? Or is 2 hard pulls in such a short space of time be a bad play?

Any help would be appreciated please!

Danny

You don't say how much you want to borrow.

First Direct have competitive representative aprs on loans over 7k and, as an existing customer, if you apply online, and it's also approved online, your loan will be transferred into your first direct 1st Account immediately.

I have recently tried to save a few tenths of a percent (and get their special deal) by using AA. 6 weeks on I am still trying to jump through their hoops with no guarantee of success. I probably should have used my bank

BrassicWoman

Szokalsd wrote: »

Go look at the average cost of a UK wedding and you might understand why most couples have to get a loan.
And also you are exactly the reason why I don’t post on forums.
You’re passive aggressive reply isn’t for here so please refrain from posting. I am looking for help not hinderence.

Danny

Danny,

has it ever crossed your mind that you may be wrong? If your spouse to be wants the dream wedding, and you want to give it to him/her, and you can afford it, then by all means do it.

But suggesting that it's normal to get into huge debt to do it? "Everybody does it" type thing? That's not all that true. Lots and lots of people either save, don't get married, or have small weddings.

People are not being passive aggressive They are suggesting this may not be the best start to a life of partnership, if you/ your partner expects it to begin with things you cannot afford.

middleclassbutpoor

Hi Danny,

At the end of the day it is your wedding but using the average cost as a guidance doesn't mean you have to pay the average cost, there will be people who are spending an absolute fortune over and above this and there will be people paying an absolute lot less also.

I seem to recall when I was doing this just over 10 years ago, the average was 14-15k for a wedding. I can now see that they are saying it's a lot more than this so understand things have gone up since I did this. It's not for me or anyone else to advise you on how you should do your day but this is a money saving website and therefore it kind of goes with the territory that you will get some advice to be cost conscious.

When we got married, we gave ourselves 10 weeks to plan it from booking the venue, we focused the day on the people who were going to be there and kept it very simple. We spent from memory about 6k so half the average at that time. The parents in law paid for the dress and food. My parents paid towards some of the other costs so it cost us personally around £3k in the end. We asked for holiday vouchers to pay for our honeymoon and we took a pragmatic approach to things like we didn't really need a wedding car but spent money on the photographer.

It honestly was the best day of my life, alongside the birth of my children. Its really not fun being in debt full stop and whilst it may seem manageable at the moment and whilst you are doing this for yourself, just ensure that you understand what the longer term impact will be on having this cost hanging over your heads for a period of time after the excitement has died down.

Hope your day is a great one and that you get yourself sorted.

BorisThomson

Szokalsd wrote: »

Go look at the average cost of a UK wedding and you might understand why most couples have to get a loan.
And also you are exactly the reason why I don’t post on forums.
You’re passive aggressive reply isn’t for here so please refrain from posting. I am looking for help not hinderence.

Danny

In most cities, the cost of getting married in a registry office is less than £100 including giving notice.

If you want to really go to town, the cost at Chelsea Town Hall is £300.

The cost is what you make it, averages mean nothing.

JReacher1

Ignore most of these people.

How much are you planning on borrowing? If you want a lower apr you may be better off borrowing a bit more than you need e.g first direct offer around 3.3% if you borrow £7k or more.

ViolaLass

You're borrowing because you want something you can't curently afford. What other people do is irrelevant.

Own it.

enthusiasticsaver

Szokalsd wrote: »

Go look at the average cost of a UK wedding and you might understand why most couples have to get a loan.
And also you are exactly the reason why I don’t post on forums.
You’re passive aggressive reply isn’t for here so please refrain from posting. I am looking for help not hinderence.

Danny

The answer to your question is no one knows if your bank will give you a better rate as it depends on how they credit score you, whether they have plenty of money available to lend out at the time you apply and their lending criteria re what you are borrowing for and how much and the amount. It is inadvisable to keep applying more than twice in a six month period as it leaves a footprint on your credit record.

The reason many of us have said it is inadvisable to go into debt for a wedding is because ideally it should be one you are able to afford, regardless of the average cost of one. Saving up for one is what most people do and as this is a money saving website then this is the most economical way of paying for it. Using other peoples money is expensive. This may not be the answer you want but I think having seen many people on the DFW forum bitterly regretting going into debt to pay for a wedding clearly outside their budget I would not feel comfortable not suggesting you scale down your plans to fit within your budget. Whether you choose to take this advice is of course up to you.

I do know someone who went into debt for a wedding by taking out a loan for five years and ended up divorcing after two so still paying for a wedding when the marriage was finished.

Superscrooge

Szokalsd wrote: »

Yeah the 0% card is something I’ve thought of. Looks like I might have to go down that route.

I’m guessing that my bank will likely offer a similar APR as Santander?

Thanks for the help!

Danny

Danny,

My experience is that banks and other credit providers can give wildly different offers.

It would be worth making a 2nd application to your own bank or another lender. But if you don't get a better offer than you got from Santander, I would leave it a few months before applying for further credit.

Best of luck with the wedding!

poppy10_2

Szokalsd wrote: »

Go look at the average cost of a UK wedding and you might understand why most couples have to get a loan.

Most of those figures you read in the press about the average cost of a UK wedding are completely false inflated numbers. If you read the stories invariable the 'survey' is sponsored by a wedding planing service, wedding venue or some other company with a vested interest in making people think they should spend as much as possible.