High interst rate on arrears for secured loan

Silveirinha

Hello,
My ex husband and I took out a secured loans with Prestige (then GE money) 15 years ago. My ex shortly left me after that when I was on MAT leaave. As I was on MAT leave I quickly found my self in arrears. My EX never contributed a penny. For the last 6 years I have made every monthly payment plus a bit extra to bring down my arrears. However when i got a statement it said I still owe 34K (original amount) and that I was being charged intererst on the arrears (2k) . My monthly paymetns are £420 ( including extra for arrears) however my interest is nearly £300 a month. My loan is due to expire in 2021 yet I still owe nealry the whole amount. Is this allowed? is there anything I can do? Due to recieving no maintainence from ex money is very tight to see a solicitor.Thanks

Gaz83

The issue with these loans is that they usually can have moderately high interest rates over such a long time, so any time that people find themselves in arrears they can quickly build up.

What was the interest rate and how long was the loan taken out for? What was the contractual payment?

Silveirinha

The interest rate is 12.11% . It was taken for 15 years and the contractual payments were £324 to begin with and are now £347. However I have been paying £420 to try and clear the arrears. This loan is due to expire in 2021 and I still owe 30K. I'm at a loss really

[Deleted User]

You need to ask for a statement.

The key is going to be in the arrears you built up and how many payments were missed. It looks like there were quite a few.

Silveirinha

So looking at last years statement for 10 months I have paid £4200 and £3030 was on interest, so hardly making a dent in the loan. Just seems a bit unfair. Especially when I have kept to arrangement for the last 6 years at least and even though it's a joint loan I have been the only one paying it back since day one.

[Deleted User]

That figures sounds correct, given you will owe 30k.

You may not think it's fair, but it's the terms you agreed to.

Silveirinha

Yep I sure did. 5 days after giving birth to my second to try and save my marriage. But I didn't sign upto my ex walking out and shirking his responsibities and leaving me with 2 dependents and a massive loan.

[Deleted User]

I don't doubt you.

But unfortunately the loan agreement doesn't make allowances for domestic changes. It's based only on capital, rate and term.

DCFC79

Maybe seek advice from Stepchange.

Willing2Learn

Why does your ex-husband not pay for the support and maintenance for his two children?

DCFC79

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Why does your ex-husband not pay for the support and maintenance for his two children?

If you haven't chased him for this OP you really should do.