Okay, in debt, sick of being in debt, all advice greatly appreciated

greenmantle

Congratulations kolin - i can relate to a lot of this, having been burdened with HSBC debt for over ten years after college, and never seeming to see the way out.

After finally getting back in credit with them, I checked my credit file first on Experian (and then perhaps Equifax too), to see what state it was in, before applying for a (not 0% - actually I haven't used it yet) new credit card, to 'test' my rating. So I'd advise that to start with, if you haven't done it already. If you've been making your payments on time, you'll be surprised how fine it could be - I crashed through my HSBC overdraft so often, I was braced for the worst, but that was never reported as a problem to the CRA.

Re: the extra cash - 24.5% interest is hideous (have you asked them to lower it? sometimes HSBC can make surprising concessions...) - throw the money at that, I'd say.

kolin_2

This is how I know it's working... Had my car alternator die on my car, £165 (not originally budgetted for), it cost me to get it fixed, but i've got it spare, and will still not be over my overdraft come payday. (only just though!)

just shows hard work way back down the line does pay off.

kolin_2

6 month updatish.

probably the happiest for a long time with my Graduate Loan, in december it dropped below the 10,000 mark. and not its at 9,500ish. and at 367/month, i can now see the numbers falling more rapidly!

nothing major changed,
1)have an increase in wage of 40/month, before the taxman get hits hands on it
2)not out of my overdraft faciliuty, but maybe that was wishful thinking.
3)have applied for Missold PPI on my northern rock loan (which i believe was). I don't care if they dont give me the money back, i'll just be happy with reduced payments on that. on the other hand.....
4)Debit interest has dropped to around 10-11 / month.

so still squeezing finances where possible!

kolin_2

6 week month has been a killer, but i'm amazed that i've managed to buy christmas presents, and still have enough to see me to the end of jan!

kolin_2

on another note as well, when my HSBC loan gets paid off (originally £22,600ish) i get back 25% of the interest i paid on it.... this could be around £800

Verbatim

kolin wrote: »

on another note as well, when my HSBC loan gets paid off (originally £22,600ish) i get back 25% of the interest i paid on it.... this could be around £800

Wow that will be great. Will you be debt free at that point? You'll have a good sum to start your savings pot or perhaps you have ideas for it?

getmefree

just a quick question about PPI (sorry if this is the wrong place but Kolin's post prompted me to ask...)

I have had loans with banks before (HSBC/Nationwide/Egg) that have been passed onto debt collection agencies as part of my DMP...would I be able to claim PPI back despite the debts no longer being with the banks who originally sold my loan? And how do i know/find out if PPI was included?

Thanks

elfen

You're doing so well kolin, it's great to see. Did you decide where to put the extra money? (hoping it was the credit card)
getmefree, you need to go onto the PPI forum and use the PPI reclaiming letter template. Put in where you were living at the time, the account numbers if you have them, and go from there. If there is money owed, it'll be offset against the debt (taken off) first, then any extra owning will come to you. I did this on my Halifax c/c and saw it the debt drop by £300.

kolin_2

nope i hadn't really thought about what i was going to do with the money yet...
i think the total interest on the loan i've got is £3700 (the total interest with HSBC's loan protection, i'm not sure if i get this back, but i'll try, is £4700)

so i'm possibly looking at around £925.

as my credit card account has been closed (i.e. i cannot use it. it is getting paid off slowly but surely as i am anyway.)
The interest on my credit card /month is around £95ish, the minimum payment is around £120, i pay £130-£160 /month.

We shall see what state my credit card is when the loan is paid off. Incidentally, i also believe my northern rock loan (£152.67/month) is due to be paid off at the same time or shortly after my graduate loan.

I may use 60% of the money to pay credit card, and put the other 40% in an isa.

what feels fantastic now is that every 3 months, the total I owe to HSBC drops by £1000! (£367/month) so i reckon by december 2011, it'll be paid, and i'll be 25% on my way to being debt free!

25% : HSBC Loan
25% : Northern Rock
25% : Credit Card
25% : Overdraft.

kolin_2

update :

HSBC Loan now : £8490
Credit Card now : £4800
Northern Rock now : £3100
Overdraft still : £1500

Positives, again, its absolutely fantastic to see my graduate loan coming down so fast, seeing it drop by £367 a month is still something unique, and uplifting!

I have recovered my PPI on my northern rock loan (quite easily surprisingly!) which gets me back £860, and reduces the payments / month to £128 (for 2 years) from £152

its all good