Minicredit want in excess of £950 for a £400 loan.

[zrob2012]

I am a 19 year old student who has got into so much debt it's unbelievable.

With an ambition to go into the IT profession, but with no available funds to afford tuition, equipment, etc.

I resorted to taking out multiple loans from multiple companies...the latest of which was from Minicredit.

 

I was not eligible for a student loan as I am attending college, not university.

Either way, I think payday loans were definitely the wrong choice...what was I thinking???

 

I received a letter today from Minicredit demanding that I pay in excess of £950 (i think the amount was £962.50).

I borrowed £400 from them about 4 months ago, on a 30 day pay back basis.

At the time I was receiving very low income...and I knew it would be hard to pay back.

But at the time I did not stop to think for a moment as to just HOW this was going to work out.

 

I also owe money to TxtLoan, Wonga, QuickQuid, and I daren't think how many more.

I was desperate to get onto this course, for which I needed certain equipment.

I also needed to fund transport to and from college daily as its an 18 mile trek each way.

On top of that we have the tuition fees, which are not damn cheap, followed by exam fees.

 

I had to fund this myself, no parental back-up (which is fair enough...I am 19!), and no job.

Jobs are impossible to come by...in my little remote town in devon, there are little to no vacancies.

Payday loans were the worst idea possible...WHAT WAS I THINKING?

At the time, though, it was a choice of finding necessary funds...or not getting onto the course basically.

If I didn't get onto the course, it would be another year before I could apply again.

 

Bear in mind, this is a specialist course...I have clear plans laid out for what I want in life.

So I couldn't settle for just "any" course. Anyway, I may be a whiz on computers...but I am rubbish at budgeting.

This has been proven simply by the fact I got myself into this situation...and now cannot get out of it!

 

At time of posting this I have less than £5 in the bank!

I earn a standard income of £68.85 a week!

But I have expenses even now, that I am still paying for.

Let's put it this way...I get around £250 a month...by the end of the month I have less than £5.

I am not particularly buying anything either...that's me paying for expenses.

Expenses that I am not yet in debt for, if you get me.

Minicredit want in excess of £950.

Wonga (haven't heard from them in a while).

TxtLoan are demanding like £350.

QuickQuid are demanding around £650.

 

Bear in mind I borrowed £400 from Wonga, £400 from Minicredit, and £100 from TxtLoan, and £400 from QuickQuid.

In total I borrowed around £1300 to £1500 (give or take a few hundred pounds...not going into exact amounts here).

 

Anyway, the amount of debt i am in, including interest, amounts to an excess of £3000.

And the worst bit is, they go up by hundreds of pounds a month.

I am probably nearing 6 months overdue with my most overdue debt.

What I'm trying to say is...over the course of 6 months...I have pretty much screwed my life up.

Can you imagine it? 6 months ago, my credit rating was superb! Bills paid on time...a perfect citizen i was.

Now, as soon as income stopped, and expenses started as I stepped out into the real world...look at the dramatic change!

 

Minicredit are threatening court action.

So are QuickQuid, and TxtLoan.

And what worries me about Wonga...is I haven't heard from them in like 3 months???

 

I don't know what to do.

If this goes to court, they cannot order me to pay money I do not have.

Yes! They can issue a court order to seize my assets!

I have a few valuables...a mac computer (I use that for graphics...part of my tuition).

I am happy to sell everything I own...except for the mac (as I need that).

But the worry is...even if I do sell everything I own....the total value will only meet half of my debt!

 

WHAT CAN I DO????????????

[azzadle]

Sounds very much like me, little place in devon, exactly 18 miles to college when I went, same situation, same companies.. are you me from 5 years ago?

 

On a serious note, try and negotiate some sort of reasonable payments with them on a pro-rata basis. According to people that appear to be reliable on here, the general rule is that you should offer to repay the loan + 1 month's interest as standard as these are actually only 30 or 31 day contracts. What you need to do is this:

 

- Work out your total dispensable income per month

- Work out your total debts individually, add a months interest to each and total them too.

- Pro-rata (IIRC) is worked out as dispensable income / total debt * individual debt.

 

Lets say you have £50 a month spare, a total debt of £2,000 and your first debt is for £300. 50/2000*300 = £7.50. Offer that creditor £7.50 until you can afford more. They can't force money out of you that you haven't got, and if you've made reasonable attempts to offer affordable repayments then what else can you do?!

 

If things are so bad you only have £5 a month spare can you not get a temporary job of any kind? I know it's tough out there, but even bar work for 1 day a week will help you dramatically.

 

Edit - I know dx and a few other from the site team are asking questions about the loam + 1 month rule currently and it's an ongoign discussion, I only quote this as if I remember rightly certain cases went to court and with all the excess fees/fines whatever not being justified, that was the remaining balance.

Edited February 11, 2012 by azzadle

[asmilecostsnothing]

Does College have a finance welfare type person you can talk to? make use if it does for the support, could you try and find some oldies to teach them some basic computer tricks some may be happy to pay and glad of your company especially if lonely - a little notice in your local supermarket or newsagents could go a long way

 

19 is the best age to learn about debt and your young so you can turn this around, make sensible choices now and it shouldn't ruin your life

 

Best of luck