To be irritated by people on C4 news taking out payday loans

[SilverSixpence]

I am at people taking out loans to buy brand new fridge freezers and playstations from Bright House instead of buying secondhand/doing without if they can't afford it. 8 year olds are old enough to understand they cant have the latest thing if their parents can't afford it. If your kids are influenced by ads just turn them off! Isn't this basic common sense?

Once upon a time councils and the government provided grants and crisis loans that could be used for buying furniture, fridges, carpets and so on. Money would be deducted from benefits until it was paid off. It was supposed to be spent on essentials only, and originally you did have to confirm this with a receipt from an approved supplier.

These schemes don't exist any more so companies like Brighthouse have sprung up to fill the gap.

I have brought DS up to be completely averse to credit, I hope he doesn't get lured when he is older. I cannot see why financial education isn't on the school curriculum, as part of citizenship for instance, or an extension of PHSE.

I don't think people know how lucky they are if their parents can help them out of a hole. As I said my mum doesn't usually but she loved my dog so gave me the money. But usually we just have to get by
And tbf we don't have flash stuff either and I have used and donated back to our furniture bank

Our bank is extremely inflexible if we need an overdraft

Some people get caught in it though because the fridge freezer breaks (to use one of the items from your OP) and even a secondhand one is £50+ which is quite a bit of money when you're on a limited income. Fridge freezer is pretty much an essential and there's Brighthouse or Perfect Homes or whatever other companies there are, offering a brand new fridge freezer for £8 a week or whatever. £8 is a hell of a lot more affordable than £50 and you need the fridge freezer ASAP. Of course in reality it costs much more than £8 once you've paid off the credit and ultimately much more than the £50 a second hand one would have cost but that's how these companies work - they offer 'low weekly payments' to people who don't have the option of shopping around for the best deal. They've always been around, it's just they're more blatant about it now.

I agree they should be more heavily regulated and the amount of surcharges and interest they can charge should be capped, they should also have limits on how much can be bought at any one time.

How dare poor people want stuff?

Omg angels, that's terrible

Using credit to buy a fridge/fix your car/pay a vet is one thing. Using credit to buy your kid a games console is pretty dam stupid.

So - if you had no money, and you had no access to overdrafts or credit cards, what do you do?

They serve a purpose. They aren't for "poor" people but for people with bad credit history. "Poor" people often end up using them because a low income and poor credit are often synonymous but by no means always and you can generate a good salary and have low credit. Bad credit - higher risk - high APR.

I agree Mandy it should be a core skill. I test DD (13) on what a good APR is and point out bad ones to her when we're out shopping but many people just don't understand basic finance and help can be hard to access.

You used to easily be able to rent electrical appliances off your local appliance shop
Both my gran and my mil still rent their tvs off a local firm

formerbabe, people want to make their kids happy and kids are in the main quite adept at pester power. Add either of those two things to a low-income household and using credit to buy your kid a games console probably looks less 'stupid' and more just what you have to do.

There are some horrible judgmental, non-empathetic comments on this thread.

just to say moneys tight some months car out no where cost £600 this month could have cried,

all our appliances washer, over, drier have been 2nd hand as was some items 2nd hand furniture

sofa was freecycle but had to pay £60 man with van pick up.
dining table £10 ebay
oven £30 mate as was moving house
dryer sofa projet they do deliver picked up in car
kids beds miles away ebay needed car.

lots of poor people dont have cars which restricts the bargains they can pick up.

i met someone who worked at bright house said was depressing,

back i day mates mum used to borrow off woman on estate she may have been provident but surly wongas better than loan sharks.

people who buy of catalougue or briht house i think know they pay more but small weekly installments as benefits paid weekly suit them and they find it managable.

many lost money over farepack and some use park.

as for xmas im not judgy pants as when you have kids there ca be so much pressure and their kids may live on rough estate, not go holiday, daytrips not hve much throughout year so they just want to make xmas special.

I used to work in fashion and reguarly people who took out cards.but end of day they 18 they adults they enter into credit agreements and lenders must accept level of risk with any credit.

Gordylovesheep it is of course not there verbatim but it certainly is in spirit. The OP has made a post about people using bright house to buy consoles etc at stupid interest rates only to be met with sarcastic comments about the poor "learning their place". Which rather implies an endorsement of bright house as a company whose function is to improve the lot of the poor.

That's an excellent explanation of the predicament people can face that turn them to these companies Pinholes

oh that's a big stretch for a 'mensachampion' to be honest - that's not how it reads to most people but then we probably aren't that bright

mandy but that assumes only people on benefits use payday loan companies, and they don't. Yes, the lower your income the more tempting and alluring easy credit it but that applies to conventional lenders as well as the less scrupulous ones.

The shopping voucher story is terrible but I do become concerned on threads like this at the clamours for wonga and the like to be 'shut down' when they target an audience who cannot access credit conventionally, and there are all sorts of reasons why this might be the case. The fact is I imagine most of us have been in a position where we need emergency funds - if you don't have savings, don't have access to overdrafts or credit cards, then you need to think about your options. The alternative seems to be 'no one with bad credit should be permitted any form of borrowing' which may be the answer but seems rather extreme. It should really be down to people to make choices.

I really do not understand how the concept of 'if you cannot afford it don't buy it' is so difficult to grasp?

I know it must be total fucking shit to have to say to your child, 'no you cannot have that playstation for Christmas, we do not have the money'. But as the guy after the report said, by giving in to them and sending the message that anything they want is in fact available exactly when they want it, you are just setting them up for the same debt ridden life as yourself.

Well if my my washing broke, i have no choice but to go to brighthouse, my credit is shot im unemployed at the moment , the launderette cost £5 a load, what do you think i should do? i wouldn't buy the kids a game console from there but i can see why people do, its depressing not being able to give your kids a present im lucky mine are teenagers and understand they are only getting a stocking for xmas how wouls you explain that to a child that believed santa would bring them something?

They push the non-essentials though. Every week this months we've had a Brighthouse or whoever leaflet through the door with the local free paper. Every leaflet has had some gubbins about Christmas and full colour pictures of happy children playing with the latest consoles, happy families watching huge TVs on brand new sofas, iPods, iPads, laptops and countless other gadgets. The words "affordable" and "low repayments" are prominent, repeated often, and are in bold lettering. The APR information is on the back page in tiny, hard to read writing.

I've had two unsolicited phone calls just this week from doorstep lending companies. I don't know how they got my details but both offered me a shopping card with a £1000 limit and a £1200 cash loan on top of that "you can have both tomorrow afternoon ready for shopping at the weekend". Their opening gambit was several questions about whether or not I was ready for Christmas and had I bought anything nice or was I finding my budget restrictive and did I have kids and did they like gadgets and how about something nice for myself and blah blah. Even when I (falsely) said I don't work I was told its not a problem. When I refused and asked them not to contact me again I was asked if I could provide the name/contact details of someone who would be interested.

They're parasites. Pure and simple.

Mister, I do, in a way. Not regarding toys but other things that really are essential. I need a car to work, for example - live rurally and to get to work would involve a walk to the train station, a train to Birmingham and then another train doubling back on myself! Then a bus!

I realise this was about Christmas but if I wrote my car off I'd need another, no questions asked. I would be ok as have fully comp insurance but if (say) I could only afford third party then I'd be done for!

see aprs bad example with montly short term loan hence why its looks crazy.

to borrow each £100 with wonga is £12.50
santander charge £35 for every unpaid direct debit.
£30 interest on hubbys monthly overdraft.

I dont know anyone who rents a telly used to be granada and shops wen i was little but bright house been around fewl fb groups years,

The crisis loans on social were scrapped last 2years bright house been around lot loger usually town centre so easy get to as lots places out town need a car .

we had helish month half without a drier.
the old one was 99p off ebay brought in spring lasted 4months,.

but then it was going into winter i put wanted in netmums and local fb groups but nothing as few people wanted a drier.

Even in big city there were very few places that sold 2nd hand appliances and would need a car.
eventually we got graded one in sofa project for £100 then 2days with new drier washer broke we do 3loads a day.
we brough washer off ebay £60 year ago was good make so risked repair man £60 but cant live without a washer.

its more felebible borrow cash off payday shop around than buy of littlewoods or bright house.

we boy 90%family clothes 2nd hand fb groups, carboots, ebay, charity shops.

Most 2year olds xmas pressies 2nd hand but older 2more demanding. got eldests bike 2nd hand, hubby a free bike.

we have had no holiday this year.

latest free tv table , we shop around ultilities so we careful but life often throws financial curveballs.

not everyone who uses payday loans is thick, poverty or on benefits families in affluent areas feeling the squeeze, living costs going up faster than wages.

I do understand that companies like Brighthouse and the payday loan companies are arseholes who do take advantage of people who are vulnerable.

But at the same time surely people have to take a bit of personal responsibility, rather than blaming all their debt problems on the meeja making them buy all sorts non-essentials.

I really do not understand how the concept of 'if you cannot afford it don't buy it' is so difficult to grasp?

It shouldn't be but its one of these areas where people who perceive themselves as socialists or liberals have gone too far and basically imbued some less well off people with the idea that money shouldn't be a barrier to anything because everyone should be equal or whatever. So rather than condemn companies that exploit the financial incompetence of the less well off they defend them as giving access to things that "by rights" poor people should be able to have. Never mind that those same poor people could afford the same stuff and more if they were better financially educated.

Just for balance though there are also plenty of companies that exploit the financial incompetence of the well-off, London is the centre of the world for that sort of company.

And there not quite the worst interest rates.

Last time my banks computers went down so nobody could use cards and I didn't have cash on me one of my kids did so paid for the parking £1.70 he charged me £20 less than 2 hours later on repayment citing interest and emergency fees as justification

Pinholes, I get loads of texts as well from payday loan companies - not sure why.

You're right but then don't banks and credit cards advertise and try to tempt people? Not sure if one is better or worse than the other.

Teenage, yes it is that sort of thing I was thinking of. When I bought my first property I was broke and couldn't afford a washer, cooker or fridge, I dare say I spent more on laundrette fees, microwave meals and trips to the supermarket daily than those items would've cost over the year- BUT I didn't have the money, eventually I got a credit card and was much better equipped home wise!

I hate those payday loan companies. I think they are vampires. I think people are crazy to use them but I think the companies are even worse.