How can I make £1000 quickly?

[QuestionableMouse]

Not a begging thread! Even if people offered money I wouldn't take it!

My car caught fire driving home from work last night. The engine is fucked and it'll never run again. I'll get probably £3-400 scrap value for it so that's a start. Realistically looking at about £1000 for a new car - I can't get to work without one (genuinely - the closest public transport stops miles away and due to the condition of the lanes it's not safe to walk the rest of the way!)

I'm sorting some stuff out to go on vinted which might get me another £50 or so. And some models/pocket dragons that will get about the same.

A loan or a credit card isn't an option - I'm already struggling monthly without adding another payment!

Apparently F doesn't exist any more.

Regardless, it would be prudent for OP to check that her insurer would cover the car after an engine bay fire prior to attempting any self-funded repair.

@AnneValentine you've never lived paycheck to paycheck and it shows. That's not how bills work. She has three weeks so would have one week to raise the bills if their due date didn't fall in that time.

Could you give up your flat and stay with your mum for a few months?

I'm always amazed at people citing ironing, gardening,cleaning, dog walking, babysitting as ways to make a quick buck.
As pps have said it can take ages to establish a business or reputation. ....and that's if OP is any good at them anyway! I wouldn't know where to start tackling someone's garden (not to mention OP won't have a vehicle to get there or any equipment!)
The only thing I think people might (depending on demographic of area) pay for without previous reputation is present wrapping but you'd have to wrap a lot of presents to make £1k profit!!

I don't have a definite answer yet (because the garage was shust last night!) but the mechanic has popped in to take a quick look and he thinks the turbo* failed which made something else fail that caught fire.

Sorry for the shit explanation - I'm not very mechanically minded, the reception on the phone was terrible and I'm suffering with a UTI so just generally feel rubbish!

The man at the insurance had a very strong accent and we were both struggling to understand each other so I'm not sure if properly understood what I was saying! Will ring back on Monday and hopefully get some better answers.

Something definitely went bang in the engine, a load of black smoke shot out and when I got it off the road I could see the flames through the gille.

I have a feeling the insurance will blame poor maintenance but it was only in for a MOT and full service last week!

And for though of you worrying, I'm not struggling in the sense I can't pay my bills or the cupboards are bare - it's just tight enough that I'm not comfortable adding another payment on if I can help it.

The lady who owns the house doesn't drive due to ill health unfortunately!

This sounds like a fault at the garage I’d be speaking to them ASAP.
sound alike when a car has no oil the engine goes were there any signs on the dash

Oh lovely, I'm so sorry! It's utterly shit isn't it? Hope you're okay and not too shaken!

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Scrap the car and buy a moped/125cc bike with the scrap money. Much cheaper to buy and run than a car

@QuestionableMouse I’m ok kinda sore and upset today feel like it’s my fault- I hit him but I wasn’t expecting him to stop dead on a motorway slip. Scary. Same for you with a car on fire and hope the insurance pays, especially as it had just been mot etc

She can cover her bills, she gets paid a wage, she just doesn’t have £1K spare. The bank switch suggestion is just to get another £200 closer to the £1K target.

Anyway, as with all suggestions offered on t’internet anyones free to take or leave them and should always do their own research to see if it suits.

Cheaper to run? Absolutely.

Cheaper to buy? Not necessarily. Especially if you get a decent quality bike/moped that has an MOT and doesn't need a bunch of work doing to it. Especially when you add on £2-300 extra for the CBT (which I would absolutely recommend if you've never ridden a bike before even if your license technically allows it) and the protective gear.

I know you said no credit cards or loans because you are struggling - but could you try getting a credit card which has an offer of 0% interest for a number of months, on purchases? Minimum payment is only 1% usually - and then do all the things people have suggested to find the money to pay it off quickly?

It's what we did when we got an unexpected bill of over £1000 to repair our car. The card we took out was 0% interest for 17 months on both all purchases within that time, and on balance transfers which were made within 3 months of opening the card account

Your insurance should still pay something. There will likely be an exclusion for 'wear and tear' or mechanical failure, but resulting damage should be covered. E.g. if it was the turbo that has failed due to it's age, they would deduct the cost of this part, but anything damaged due to the resulting fire should be picked up.

I'm not in the UK but in Ireland there's an exceptional needs payment that anyone can apply for even if they're not on benefits, do you have anything similar in the UK?

Edited to add.
Just looked it up and found this.

Get help with essential costs

Your local council might help you pay for things like:

• your energy and water bills
• food
• essential items - for example, clothes or an oven

This help is known as 'welfare assistance' or the ‘Household Support Fund’. Each council runs their own scheme. You’ll need to check if you can get support and what type of support you can get.
Ask your local council if they run a welfare assistance or Household Support Fund scheme. You can find out how to contact your local council on GOV.UK.
You don’t have to be getting benefits to get help from your local council. If you do get benefits, they won’t be affected if you start getting money from a welfare assistance or Household Support Fund scheme.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/cost-of-living/get-help-with-the-cost-of-living/#:~:text=Ask%20your%20local%20council%20if%20they%20run%20a%20welfare%20assistance,help%20from%20your%20local%20council.

Sigh. If she has a £1250 that she can transfer into an account to get cash award then she has money for a car. Sure the bills still need paying but she has longer to find the money. Unless they’re due imminently. Which brings has back to she doesn’t have a spare £1250 lying around.

@AnneValentine to get the bonus, £1250 just needs to be paid into the bank. As PP said, you can even take some out and transfer it back in to get that amount.

All bills are due imminently, usually monthly. She can't just buy a car with her monthly wages and also pay the bills. If she could, it would be spare and the thread would not be necessary. You are not making any sense.

For example, i move banks fairly often (to the point I don't think I'm eligible for any incentives now) and I meet that. Criteria by my wages being paid in. Those wages then cover my bills, my spending and my saving.

No. You aren’t. I will use an example to illustrate.

My car breaks. I need a new one within a week.

I have £1500 in the bank for bills.

One of two things is true.

1. all those bills come out within the next week hence I cannot use that money for the car. Or to get a cash back for from NatWest. Because bills are due. And if I start moving that money around I’m not going to be able to pay the bills.

2. the bills aren’t due in the next week in which case I have longer than a week to find the money that I need. I have until the bills are due.

Also consider that whilst those bills are due there is always a grace period which would allow me even longer to source the funds. Something much easier to do if I have the car.

Whilst I understand what you're saying, the money for those bills will not be replaced before the next set is due. They are due out at the same ratio they are paid in.

Yes you have longer than a week to find it... but where are you going to find it? The problem remains.

You wouldn't be able to do it unless you had the money spare, didn't pay the bills or were paid at a more regular frequency than you paid out. None of which are true in this case.

Also with example one, you would get the cash back because the money is in the bank waiting to be taken by the bills due in a week.

Nothing happens if you don't pay your utility bills for a few months, especially if you communicate with the suppliers. This is my line of work.

The pressure people think is on them to pay before the red letter comes is a common nonsense. It is literally illegal for the utility companies to hassle you for money you don't have.