Credit Union Loan-HELP

Sashy

Could someone please give me advice on the following.
I have a loan out with a certain credit union where I owe approx 25k, this was for college fees and car loans. When I was working I was paying €160 per week if not some weeks I was paying more. I had also been paying insurance on the loan but never got covered as my job was contract.
To cut a long story short, I have been unemployed over the last year, struggling to repay this loan, in the end I come to an agreement to pay them €50 euros per week, €44 of this is ineterst only. I am living in rented accomadation away from my family and with household bills and other loans I am struggling to repay €25 (my parents are paying the other €25, which I am so grateful for and so lucky to have), this has been ongoing for months and the promise has been kept. The reason my parents agreed to help me out was my that my Dad signed guarantor and he hasnt been well so we didnt want him dealing with any hassle.
Now they have got back to me telling me that this is not enough and even suggested that I move back home to live with my parents, this I cannot do as there is no room for me there, anymore. I have been living away from home over 7 years.
I am getting really worried now as I cannot afford to repay anymore,I have even been in a worse situation since the social welfare and rent allowance got reduced but I have only just about mamage these repayments. I am constantly looking for work, have hit a brick wall like most people.
I am seeminly going to get another call from them anyday now, I am terrified that they will start causing my Dad hassle as its the last thing that he needs especially at this time.
In respect to the credit union I am dealing with, they do know that my Dad isnt well and they have been dealing with me okay up until now.
I just cannot do anymore, what do I do? I cannot possibly ask my parents to help me out anymore as they have already been doing enough, I feel really bad over this as it is.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Even if there is anything that I can do to protect my Dad, Thanks

MagicMarker

You need to speak to Mabs who can give you some good advice.

You say there's no room at home with your parents, I'd say if there is even a couch for you to sleep on then you should do that! If you're drawing the dole that's 800 per month, if you live at home you can give at least half of that to the credit union and a few hundred to your parents.

johnnyjb

Sashy wrote: »

Could someone please give me advice on the following.
I have a loan out with a certain credit union where I owe approx 25k, this was for college fees and car loans. When I was working I was paying €160 per week if not some weeks I was paying more. I had also been paying insurance on the loan but never got covered as my job was contract.
To cut a long story short, I have been unemployed over the last year, struggling to repay this loan in the end, I come to an agreement to pay them €50 euros per week, €44 of this is ineterst only. I am living in rented accomadation away from my family and with household bills and other loans I am struggling to repay €25 (my parents are paying the other €25, which I am so grateful for and so lucky to have), this has been ongoing and the promise has been kept. The reason my parents agreed to help me out was my that my Dad signed guarantor and he hasnt been well so we didnt want him dealing with any hassle.
Now they have got back to me telling me that this is not enough and even suggested that I move back home to live with my parents, this I cannot do as there is no room for me there, anymore. I have been living away from home over 7 years.
I am getting really worried now as I cannot afford to repay anymore,I have even been in a worse situation since the social welfare and rent allowance got reduced but I have only just about mamage these repayments. I am constantly looking for work, have hit a brick wall like most people.
I am seeminly going to get another call from them anyday now, I am terrified that they start causing my Dad hassle as its the last thing that he needs especially at this time.
In respect to the credit union I am dealing with, they do know that my Dad isnt well and they have been dealing with me okay up until now.
I just cannot do anymore, what do I do?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I never owed them that much so my story might not count. i owed 7k and was the agreement was for 50 boom times, i used put in 80 a week though. Got let go started giving 20 and after a year they called me for meeting and few weeks later brought agreement to 30.If i was you i would go up and explain it again so they understand they can take 30 or so a week or not get any of it.

They never acted irrational with me so it might work. Good Luck

Sashy

Majic marker, I have already contacted Mabs and they put them in at 20 per week, so when i went in and sat with them I managed 25 per week and my parents agreed the rest.

As for moving home that is not an option, my parents live 2 hours away, whatever hope I have of getting work is where I am now. And would they really expect you to live on a couch?? I am 27 years of age, there are 4 bedrooms and 5 people in the house!
Can this realistically be expected??
If i could give them more I would, but I just cant. I do have other loans aswell who also have to be looked after. Obviously this one is priority.

cmlw85

Hi

Are you still paying the insurance? PPC (Payment Protection Cover) is it?

If its PPC you'd be best cancelling it if your not able to claim this should have been explained to you at the time.

If your still paying it - best to cancel it as that is increasing the amount you have to pay each month.

When cancelling it (if not done so already) don't be afraid to ask for a full refund of the PPC as it sounds like you were mislead when you took out the cover - as if you were not working, self-employed or in a contracted job for less than i tink its 12months or 2 years or something - you can't claim.

Double check you t&c's for that.

Any questions i'll be happy to try help.

Oh and as previously advised definately go see MABS, they could really help as they'll go through different options for you.

MagicMarker

MagicMarker wrote: »

If you're drawing the dole that's 800 per month, if you live at home you can give at least half of that to the credit union and a few hundred to your parents.

Which leaves him with €100 a month to live on, get about for job interviews etc, in all fairness no adult can get by on €100/month in Ireland.

MagicMarker

RoverJames wrote: »

Which leaves him with €100 a month to live on, get about for job interviews etc, in all fairness no adult can get by on €100/month in Ireland.

Living with parents? With no bills or utilities or food to buy? I could quite easily live on €100. Then again, I don't drink or smoke and would be willing to live like a hermit if necessary.

Sashy

Roverjames I agree with you and I dont drink very often at all! How could a person live on €100 euro a month especially with other loans, such as phone, internet (used to apply for jobs etc) not to mention any other costs. A person has to be realistic here too.

Thanks cpml (sorry if I havnt your got your name right), I had PPI with them approx 3 years before I got the contract position so I had always been paying the PPI, when I got the contract position I wasnt told any different. The contract position was 18 months, with a possible extension to 3 years, which after the 18 months it was only extended by 3 extra months. I got the PPI cancelled but I didnt get back what I had already paid. And it was quite a bit too.

Thanks for your response majic marker, but moving home is not an option, its totally out of the question, even in boom times it was impossible to get work there, at least where I am now I have started to see an improvement as regards interviews etc this year.
I am sure my parents dont want me living on their couch for years either, because that is exactly what would happen with how the work situation is there. In no terms I am being smart here with you, I have already explained why it is not an option. If it were a case where I knew it would only temporary I would have no problem doing this, but I know for a fact it wont be temporary, as I have already spent years looking for work in that area. Fair play to you willing to live in a hermit, but would you be prepared to do it for years and let you life slowly slip by until you finsihed paying them?? I am not in this positistion just like most of the country by choice. At the time getting loans for college fees was the right thing to do, but not anymore it seems!

I respect anyone that does have to make the move by moving home, and I would if it were viable but its not. And not a thing to do with being proud or anything else either!!

SoupyNorman

Hey Sashy,

First off, I commend you for taking the positive step of seeking advice on your predicament. When people fall into the type of position you’re in they either bury the head in the sand or tackle it headon. I would plead with you not to get too stressed out, this is only money (important I know) but not when it becomes detrimental to your health.

In terms of the hassle from the Credit Union, you have NOTHING to worry about. You’re paying money back on a regular basis; they are trying to squeeze you for a few extra pence which is an utter disgrace. In the current climate, once you show a concerted effort in honouring your repayments then you’ll be a long way down on any ‘lists’.

I will say, 25k is a pretty hefty loan so there is blame to accept here on your behalf for seeking out so much, the CU are also to blame for loaning you so much. I know how it works though…top-up loan after top-up loan until you realize ..oh dear I owe 25k :-S

Whats done is done so lets figure it out.

I don’t believe that you should have to move home, if it’s the case that you’re just about keeping your head above water then you’ll be fine…I would imagine that you have areas of expenditure you can cut. I think you should post your monthly budget up here (All incomings and outgoings) so to offer some more informed advice if you want. If you’re worried about your dad being ‘hassled’ then I suggest you goto a local solicitor, a friend of mine was in a hell of a lot more financial bother then yourself recently, he went to the local solicitor who struck back at the wolves coming to the door and made the lenders restructure repayments and he waived his solicitors fee. Or go speak to the CU, and tell them not to dare contact anybody but yourself regarding this loan, you are paying x a week and tell them they are lucky to be getting it.

Sashy

Thanks for your message Supernorman, and thanks for taking the time to write your message. I am very very worried about it, and it has indeed even gotten to my health. Its not something that I cant and wont ignore and I am trying my upmost best with it.
25k is a lot of money, it was about 12k on car loans, over 10k on college fees and the rest was I am sure spent irrationally, holidays etc, of course my own fault and I kick myself over it every day, even the college fees now! I have learned my lesson in that respect very well, I dont think I will ever forget this lesson thats if I get out of it!!!

The thing that really concerns me is them contacting my Dad as he is guarantor, this is the main thing that I dont want, thats why my loan is first priority every week. He really hasnt been well over the last year and this would really not help things. Can i demand that they dont contact him?
What should I say to the CU when I am talking to them again, what if they say that they are not accepting this anymore??

toopybinoo

I was in same situation with credit union.

I owe them 26k for deposit on house etc, I was made redundant with no means of paying them, i was paying 180 p.w, and they then agreed to 50, which i then realised i couldnt keep to.

I had approx 3.5k in my shares, so i transferred that over to the loan, which then made the loan a bad debt, but its not as bad as it sounds, it was made a bad debt but i still couldn't pay it. after this, i didnt pay anything for a few months because when its a bad debt theres no pressure. However I did want to make some payments so I went to MABS, and with my other bills, they decided that all i could afford to pay credit union was 10 euros per week, which i have stuck too.

I know a bad debt sounds bad, but it was my only option, it has not, however appeared as a bad debt on my credit history.

So there are options out there if you cant afford anything, however, i would only use it as a last resort, because i will never get another loan from credit union until 5 years AFTER the debt is CLEARED.

Best of luck!

Sashy

Thanks toopybinoo, what exactly does a bad debt mean?

I know at this stage I probobly wont ever get another loan off them again. What are the procedures of going into bad debt?

toopybinoo

Basically when they make you a 'bad debt', they are just basically writing you off there books that they wont be paid. I think its just so your loan goes on there p&l and they have no expected income off you for that year, and its reviewed every year. Thats the way it was explained to me when i did it. Like i said, it hasnt appeared on my credit history but i dont know if thats a clerical error or not. If you cant pay it just go into them and enquire about this.

It took two minutes for me, i just had to sign a sheet stating that i was transferring my shares over to my loan, i will be on there books as a bad debt, my account will be closed and i wont be considered for another loan until five years from the date my loan is cleared in full.

That was a year ago, i have being paying forty a month for the past few months but have had no correspondance for them since i went through that procedure.

So maybe this might be the way to go for you?

Best of luck with it, and let me know the outcome!

Sashy

Sounds interesting, I would imagine though they wouldnt be too happy with me doing it, what happens with the interest then?
I wonder though could I do that seeing as my Dad signed guarantor?

Where could I find out more information on this before I proceed?

Thanks again

matt70iu

Hi Sashy

I was in a similar situation to you with BOI, I sent them in paperwork and details of income and expenditure to prove I couldn't afford to pay them due to loosing my job. They excepted this, froze the interest, and said to pay them what I can afford.

I have since found employment again and am giving them about 400e a month off a total debt of about 25k. I think you'll find most creditors, especially the credit union, very reasonable when it comes to circumstances. I hope you get sorted.....