Payday loans

Lil10

Hi, is there a way to stop payday loans being accepted ? My partner has had a lot of issues in the past and due to this I have control of our finances. His mental health has took a turn for the worst and he has resorted to a lot of payday loans. He’s digging himself into a further worse state and also making things difficult for us financially. The interest alone is scary. Once they are paid off they are advertising further loans 😩 he is not in the right frame of mind to care about what he is doing. 

elsien

Does he have capacity around his finances at this point in time? Are there any professionals involved with support with his mental health that you and he together could discuss this with? 

What is he using the loans for? Would he consent to you contacting the loan companies around his vulnerability, and pointing out the irresponsible lending guidance?

Lil10

Thank you for your reply.
yes he has capacity around his finances. He has a mental health nurse with very little contact and all other professionals he stopped seeing.

He has been using the loans for alcohol / drugs and who knows what else. He is in a very vulnerable state without me seeing the extent of it as I had no idea he has access to this type of money. 

I think he would give consent, I didn’t know this was a thing? 

He’s receiving the support he needs now but I really wish this wasn’t an option for him. We have a family to support and he works so hard to do this but when he is in a bad way like this it’s as if he doesn’t even realise what he is doing.

sparks_2023

If he is willing then getting a deliberate default on his credit file will stop payday loan lending.

enthusiasticsaver

I am not sure if there is a way of stopping payday loans being accepted  if he actually applies for them but you could try ringing the companies to see if they will blacklist him or at least alert them to how vulnerable he is but be prepared for them not to be particularly helpful. 

I would not pay them personally and disassociate yourself from him financially as far as possible. Let them default and threaten them with irresponsible lending practices. 

kimwp

Surely best if he calls them to tell them about his mh situation?

elsien

Fact Sheet - Payday loan debt | Payday loan help | National Debtline | National Debtline

It will depend on his willingness to cut off the source of his finance, which he may not want to do if it's going to leave him without that source of money.
But he can write a letter of consent for you to deal with the loan companies on his behalf. So letting them know he's having a crisis, that the loans aren't affordable and that you may need to go to the FoS if they don't take that into account.  Then he can ask for a breathing space and you can get some proper advice. 

Lil10

He has already defaulted and this has not stopped the numerous loans he has managed to take out.

I will give it a go contacting them. Thank you all this has been very helpful.

We have a mortgage together so unfortunately we are financially linked and I can see when soft searches are also being made on my account 

sourcrates

Unfortunatly you cannot discuss another persons details with a loan company, as it would break GDPR legislation, and I doubt he would be in the right frame of mind to consent to you speaking to them anyway.

The sort of company that offers these short term loans as they are now called, won`t do anything anyway, not until applications start to be refused, because of non payment presumably, eventually leading to defaults, once that happens the train will come to an abrupt halt, but not before the debt increases.

Once that happens the borrowing problem sort of takes care of itself, however he needs to be getting some kind of help for his addictions, probably easier said than done.