Owe money to someone who I feel unsafe with

Nnnaaa

Hi everyone,

I currently owe a ''friend'' £10,000 which i am paying £475 a month to repay, this will take around 22 months. I really do not want to keep in contact with this person, and i feel unsafe around them. I want to move this debt elsewhere and was wondering if anyone had any options.

I cannot pay this debt any faster unfortunately, paying off my wedding as well as normal living costs also. Does anyone have any ideas? ideally if there was an option where i could increase my cashflow and pay less per month, (i'd be happy to pay a bit more in the longer term but not a ridicolous amount ofc).

[Deleted User]

Usual methods of refinancing debt include loans or credit cards.

National_Debtline

Hi there and welcome to MSE,


Situations like this can be difficult and it may be worth speaking to one of the free debt charities about your options. You could try and speak to the Money Advice Service about potential refinancing options as well, but please be mindful this could mean repaying a lot more overall (interest on top of interest).


Ultimately, anyone who lends money without a consumer credit license (be it a friend, or 'the guy from the pub') is lending illegally and if you have concerns for your safety then you may want to speak to the confidential Illegal Money Lending Team. You have done nothing wrong as the borrower, so please don't worry.


For people who live in England

• call 0300 555 2222
• text a report including the lender's details to 07860 022 116
• send an email to [EMAIL="reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk"]reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

For people who live in Wales

• call 0300 123 3311
• text a report including the lender's details to 07772 608 931
• send an email to [EMAIL="imlu@cardiff.gov.uk"]imlu@cardiff.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

Laura
@natdebtline

On-the-coast

While i agree with the advice above, and please do take advice and take care of yourself OP, I’ve never heard of a law in England that makes it illegal to lend money to a friend (or family)... ND - please can you point me at the legislation. I’m pretty sure I’ve lent money to family in the past.... Thanks.

sourcrates

On-the-coast wrote: »

While i agree with the advice above, and please do take advice and take care of yourself OP, I’ve never heard of a law in England that makes it illegal to lend money to a friend (or family)... ND - please can you point me at the legislation. I’m pretty sure I’ve lent money to family in the past.... Thanks.

You can only legally lend money and charge interest if you have a consumer credit licence.

Obviously people do it all the time, but would have no recourse to use the courts should things go pear shaped.

-taff

Why do you have to be around them? Set up a standing order for the amount each month and cancel when you've paid it off.
There's no need to meet in person at all.

tetley

There's a lot more backstory to this that needs explaining

mustang1

-taff wrote: »

Why do you have to be around them? Set up a standing order for the amount each month and cancel when you've paid it off.
There's no need to meet in person at all.

Ditto. Please don't make cash payments (unless this person is giving you a receipt for each payment you have made). Ideally following the above advice.