Livelend Loan - Repay Early or Not?

LondonZ17

Hi everyone,
I hope you're all well. 

Been a regular visitor here over the years as I've been in debt almost non-stop since 2005, and have two successful DMPs behind me. The debt has always been caused by me living way beyond my means (not expensive holidays or anything, just always spending that bit more than I earned, on takeaways, clothes, hairdressers, etc). I am now cured of this trait, and more excited watching my savings grow than indulging my whims, but am still burdened by £8K of debt from before. 

I am targeting it, and most of it is on 0% except for £4K to Livelend. I am wondering if I should pay as much of it off as possible with my savings, as it would take huge chunk off the interest. But because of the current crisis, I'm wondering how stable Livelend is (it's a newish loan provider owned by Chetwood Financial). Is there a chance it will close down because of the crisis? I've seen so many surprising things, like the collapse of the payday loan companies, that you never know. I'm not talking about scamming them - I'm still keeping up with my repayments. But I would prefer to keep my savings in these scary times, just in case my employers cut down on my income, etc. On the other hand, well aware that £3K of savings used to pay off the debt would straight away save £800 in interest approx.

Thank you for any advice you have,

All the best

B

EimearF

If they collapse you will still have to pay the debt will be sold. But personally I would hold the savings until the economy improves, once things improve you can clear it in one go if you want to then as long as you keep enough for an emergency fund. 
Another option is to see if you can 'balance transfer' the loan via a money transfer credit card to shift the loan to interest free. Check MSE credit club if you are eligible for any as you could save a lot. 

LondonZ17

Thank you, Eimear, very sensible advice. I've used all the balance transfers I could so am stuck with this for the moment. But I'll just be patient and see how it goes. Even if I pay it off at the end of the year, I should save at least £600. 

monetxchange

I'd keep hold of it too. You never know what's going to happen with the economy this year!

Not to seem rude, but are you sure you'll be okay re debt going forward? It's amazing you've got clear nearly, but notice you've had two DMPs. Did you run up debt again after the first one? I always advocate doing an SOA every few months to have a look at how you're going budget wise 😃

[Deleted User]

Maybe go half'ers - you never know whats round the corner.
I had good conduct on my credit card and thought I was doing the right thing keeping up minimum payments rather then go though the help available of persistent debt, thought I was getting back on track after they suggested a payment holiday just for a month, until today, a message came though, unbeknownst to me I bet where the holiday was had they decided to crop my credit limit made it very suspiciously close to what's been borrowed, now saying charges will apply if I go over the limit, can't be doing with it, no interest in attempting to shift debt around and I can hardly borrow further thankfully so I'm going to be retracting what I reckoned I could do so hopeful previously, it would be really foolish to be handing over quite big payments to then be hit with £12 charges a pop.  
Yeah I see another payday loan company went down the toilet a few days ago on March 27th (really surprised at which one it was and my heart kind of went out, lord there must only be about three main players now) my only tip or clue that they were heading for trouble was they seemed to have changed and got loads of new people in last year, though looking into it more (being nosey) it seems they first indicated trouble back in 2018 so it took a while I suppose.

LondonZ17

Thanks for the advice.
Yes, Monetxchange, I used to be useless with money and went into debt again after my two DMPs. I'm totally cured of my overspending though. I have cut down on everything and doing a quick calculation, reckon I wasted £30K over 20 years on having hair coloured in salons and buying overpriced skincare. I've taken advantage of the lockdown to experiment with cheaper products and they're just as good. At one point, I used to buy very expensive clothes & handbags, too (jeans at over £100, I was just completely brainwashed by advertisers). So that's probably another £20K. And takeaways - last year I used to eat Wasabi three or four times a week instead of taking my own food to work. Fattening and so expensive!
 I could have had a massive deposit if I'd saved all of that instead. My budget is tight now, a few treats but everything else to savings & debt. It's become a hobby, I want to save £10K net of debt before I feel secure.

LondonZ17

Deleted User said:

Maybe go half'ers - you never know whats round the corner.
I had good conduct on my credit card and thought I was doing the right thing keeping up minimum payments rather then go though the help available of persistent debt, thought I was getting back on track after they suggested a payment holiday just for a month, until today, a message came though, unbeknownst to me I bet where the holiday was had they decided to crop my credit limit made it very suspiciously close to what's been borrowed, now saying charges will apply if I go over the limit, can't be doing with it, no interest in attempting to shift debt around and I can hardly borrow further thankfully so I'm going to be retracting what I reckoned I could do so hopeful previously, it would be really foolish to be handing over quite big payments to then be hit with ¬£12 charges a pop.  

That's really bad, I'd forgotten they could cut the credit limit! It makes no sense to pay more if we're not assured of being able to borrow it back in case of emergency. 
I'll keep hold of hard cash until it's all sorted. Good luck with your situation!
Yes, payday loan companies are going bust all over the place. I used to use them and they were so expensive, ¬£30 interest for ¬£100 borrowed. Unbelievable!