Personal Loan query

JustPassinThru

I lost my job some time ago and my loan repayments fell behind a bit - but I cleared my loan, overdraft and credit card when I got some money from an inheritance - and left myself completely broke while living on social welfare. Finally I have found a new job - am in my first few weeks and have really struggled to manage the initial month where you don't get paid but also don't get social welfare. Yesterday my car broke down, and as I live 40 minutes from work on no bus route I need to sort it out quickly!!

Initially I thought that I would apply for a decent car loan of 10k as I wouldn't even notice the payments gone from my salary cos I was used to living on less than 200 a week. Then I was decided that maybe I would start small - get a loan for 2k and buy an old car that would do me for a while and keep my repayments small while also working towards building up my poor credit rating again.

I saw no issue with this as I could afford to repay a 2k loan even if I wasn't working in the morning. Apparently my bank has a big issue with this - they never even asked for any details, just said that I had to be working for 6mths before they would even consider giving me a loan. I applied through AIB online so there was nowhere that I could explain the situation to them - it was just a standard form.

I am not a member of the Credit Union and I only bank with AIB. For the length of time that I wasn't working I only used my account to pay direct debits and there was never anything extra in it. Anyway - do I have any real options asto where I go now - what can I do, I dont want to apply everywhere for a loan as this will be seen by anyone who does a credit check - I also don't want to go to one of the more suspect, high interest lenders as I really wanted a small loan that would count in some way towards repairing my credit.

Apologies for the long post - I suppose I just don't know where to turn now...I was looking forward to being a fully functioning member of society again - having money in my bank account and things to pay and stuff like that and now I just feel depressed that I cannot borrow such a small amount!!


(Note: I know that everyone is a fully functioning member of society regardless of what you have, earn, own, owe etc - just that sometimes when you aren't working and living on social welfare you feel outside of all of that because you don't get to do things that you used to and that most people take for granted - like use a bank card...its strange having all of your money on you at all times!!)

matt70iu

Understand what you mean... just because you go through a rough patch, the banks make you pay for it 20 times over by not granting you any sort of credit for lord knows how long.

I was in a similar situation myself and got back on my feet. I would suggest opening an account with your credit union and saving for a while and then apply for a loan from them. Although many credit unions (including mine) do have the ability to check your credit report, they tend to be a lot more understanding than the banks. They gave me a loan no problem despite having defaulted on 2 loans with banks when I was unemployed.

They called me in for a meeting and once I explained what happened, they were happy to lend me the 3000e that I needed.

Hope you manage to sort something!

Matt

Jet Black

You could possibly go into the bank and appeal the loan. Tell them why you need it. Its a longshot but worth a try. You were probably just auto declined once the system seen your working less than 6 months. The only other thing I can think of is if you could possibly borrow the money from a relative.

I can imagine, if my car broke down it would take 2 hours to get work by bus and i'd be 4 hours late.