Do you think I have a chance re; store cards

[youshouldnthavetoask]

I got my first store card when I was 18, at university and earning £6 per hour, working 12 hours a week.
Over the years, my bad impulse control, youth and low income meant that I wracked up so much interest. Littlewoods just kept giving me more and more credit. At one point my minimum payment was £500! My mum had to bail me out more than once.
Now I'm older and slowly becoming better with money (although impulse control is still poor) I feel slightly annoyed that these companies were able to lend me so much and that no one ever questioned my eligibility.
I've seen companies which offer to look at these store cards in terms of offering you credit limits you weren't eligible for but I wondered if anyone had any personal experience of getting compensation.
I am not saying that I wasn't too blame but to be fair I was just an 18 year old, living on my own in an unfurnished house. I had never been offered 1000 of free credit before. I feel they should have asked more questions as a lender.

OP This ou sound extremely entitled. Coming from someone who grew up with parents on benefits in a council flat who also got into lots of debt at 18. Most of it I just didn’t pay and it got written off after 6 years.

I still have debt now, but I manage it, I pay things every month and my credit rating isn’t bad. I don’t have mortgage like you, I’m still a council tenant. I work, receive UC but I don’t feel entitled like you do. The debt I got into was my own stupid fault. Nobody forced me. I learnt from it.

That’s kind of how life works. Yes back then it was much easier to get into debt but that’s just how it was. Even now I regularly turn down credit limit increases.

You sound like you are blaming everyone and everything for your living situation. I don’t particularly like where my life has ended up but I have nobody to blame but myself.

@Paq please see the point I made about having to withdraw from my funded masters course (allowing me to become a fully fledged 'professional') due to the shittiness of mortgages and UC.

This. Take some responsibility OP

I am talking solely about your attitude around your debt.
I have been in huge debt, lied to DH about it, almost destroyed my marriage and could have lost us everything.
That is on ME, nobody else.

Oh be quiet OP. We didn’t have much money growing up and I had a credit card at 18 but I was careful, I knew it wasn’t free money and I knew my parents wouldn’t be able to afford to bail me out unlike yours were able to. Drip feeding the sad life story has no relevance to the fact that you wanted free money then and you want free money now. You just want other more responsible people to bail you out.

And working in the public sector isn’t an example of altruism.

That's one avenue closed. But there may be others. I don't know your circumstances. Happy to join you in your pity or to try to give you hope that things could be better, whatever works for you.

5am is the bleakest time of the day when you are down. I'm sure you are doing the very best for your DC. I hope you have good friends and family who can give you love and support.

I have to agree you are sounding a little entitled. You aren't owed the perfect life you think you would have had if you hadn't got in debt. When I eventually got my debts down to £12,800 I approached my creditors and asked them what the lowest amount was they would accept in full and final settlement. Most of them knocked thousands of pounds off the debt and I ended up paying £6,400 to clear the lot. If you haven't already done so speak to a debt charity as well like Stepchange.

I agree with you OP, lots of PPI, overdraft claims being advertised, latest one being claiming back for having a diesel car 🤷🏼‍♀️

I know you mentioned the Martin Lewis forum - any joy?

Oh op. This thread won’t help you

Try a money advice forum for legal stuff like this, advice comes without judgement.

The Citizen’s Advice bureau might be helpful. There’s a scheme run by energy companies; various grants for vulnerable families.

Look just send the letter if you want. Why do you need mumsnet to agree or disagree?

Everything is still a choice op; you’ve chosen to do the degree you do; work where you work; spend what you’ve spent.

Unless you are literally applying for the mortgage now, or your funded masters wouldn’t cover the mortgage payments, there’s no reason you can’t be a student with a mortgage? I was one? But if you are in a council house and trying to buy somewhere BUT this is your opportunity to become a professional why don’t you put off the house for a couple of years, get your masters and a better job and then buy a house on your higher salary?

By the way, your letter will go nowhere. You're not going to get compensated. You're wasting your time. They don't compensation people for making poor choices. Far better to just own it as a mistake and talk to a debt charity. I've already told you how I got out of debt. I still had to save up to do it but it wasn't impossible. With the help of a debt charity you will have more disposable cash and more chance of getting out of debt. Or just waste you're time getting nowhere with entitled letters blaming everyone else for your own poor choices...x

Not according to your op

I disagree with most. Credit card companies sole aim is to profit from people being in debt. They actively encourage more debt by making unrequested credit limit increases.

It’s easy to put all the blame on the OP, would you say the same to an alcoholic with a bottle of wine in front of them, or an obese person surrounded by chocolate bars? Buying things produces a dopamine hit and can become an addiction, used to suppress feelings of depression etc.

Companies should have to lend responsibly and that means not lending more than is affordable. OP it’s definitely worth a try, the more people who do the more likely they will change their lending practices to make it more fair to customers, and prevent more people spiralling into debt.

This isn't helping me today. Leaving now

Oh please. Enablist? Much?

We might all like to ask back for the interest we have paid on store/credit cards, but that isn't how it works. For goodness sake, just give it a rest - instead of expending so much energy on this maybe work on your impulse control.

There's been lots of advice that would help you, but it's just not what you want to hear.

Ok
Nothing is your fault at all, you really deserve to get all the interest you paid back.
Was that more helpful?

@TomatoFrog I’m with you. This post is something else!

I've worked in debt management for 10 years and am now studying economics.

These companies acted in a way the government of the time wanted them to. Prop up the whole economy on easy money.

Reduce bankruptcy discharge from 6 years to 12 months in order for the debt cycle to repeat again quickly.

Spend more than you can afford.

Yes you had choices, but you were a pawn in a game where you were set up to fail.

I don't think you will be compensated. But I don't blame you either for being angry about the situation.

Would you say this to a woman in a refuge fleeing domestic abuse? It was their choice? What a foul attitude.

The other side of irresponsible lending ( as you seem to perceive it) is irresponsible spending. You knew what you earned yet made a decision that it would be OK to put 5/6 of your monthly income into servicing a debt.

Why should you be compensated for not being able to control your spending?