Am I alone

[coco]

I am alone in thinking that creditors should take some of the responsiblity for debt. My debts started with a credit card (limit of 1K) which then every time i reached that limit it would increase and then ended up at £9000 limit, I then took out another credit card to pay that one then another finally opted for a loan to consoliate whilst i still had my orginal credit cards and then aventually ended up with to the max iwth all of them again. Surly they should have seen the amount of debt that i had yet they still contiued to offer me more. I ended up with 64000 debt i have now been in an IVA for 6 months and still struggling. i know i am responsible for my debt but feel that creditors should also act more responsibly to the consumers. I feel that alot more people will be facing an IVA or Bankcrupcy and they creditors are starting to feel the pinch. During my IVA meeting i had alot of problems with northern rock, I have learnt a very hard lesson and will never own a credit card or loan again when my 5 years have been completed, i will save to get what i need. I just wish people would think about living now and paying later. My 2 children are now suffering because of me. I canno even afford to pay his footy subs what kind of mother i am.

[:(!]

[kezza]

You are not alone in thinking that way, unfortunately credit is far too easy to obtain. More stringent measures should be taken.

Everytime i swapped credit card to get a 0% interest rate i was silly enough not to cancel the old one! This should be a stipulation of taking out a new credit card.

[MAY2006]

Coco
First of all you are a good mother who is taking steps that will in 5 years time lead to a better quality of life without the stress of debt for your kids.
I do agree that it is far far to easy to obtain credit. In May 04 when I was really really starting to struggle with my debt and had a total of 6 credit cards with a combined credit limit of £58k on them. Although I wasn't up to the limit all of them I had 0% balance transfers on 4 of them and so did'nt use them I applied for an Egg Mastercard, I already had an Egg Loan of £10k and an Egg Visa of with a limit of £7500 I was up to £7200 on it. I applied online and the application went through instantly and I received a card with a limit of £5500 immediatly.

All my other loans and commitments would have been registered electronically but even though I was completely overstretched I still got the card probably because I had an excellent credit rating having never missed a payment in 25 years of borrowing. Lenders should take into account what you owe and your ability to pay that now, not what you have done previously as peoples circumstances can and do change.

I agree with you on never having a loan and credit card again. I like my electron card or cash

[jamesfalla]

Coco

I am constantly asked who is to blame for debt? I agree that the banks must take their share of the blame. Afterall, if they spent more time doing better in depth checks regarding the people they lend money to, I believe that fewer people would build up debts that they can not afford to repay.

I have spoken to a number of people in the banking industry and the frustrating thing is they take exactly the opposite view. They say that they do have the necessary checks in place and they only lend to those who can affor to repay. They then seem to be able to justify their generally negative attitute to helping people who do fall into difficulty.

Perhaps what we need is more responsive lending from banks and also better education about finances for our younger people. If our kids were given "financial education" as well as sex education in our schools, perhaps that would help stop them getting into difficulties later in life. Lets face it, the banks seem to take the attitude that they are just going to keep on lending to whoever is willing to borrow.

James Falla

Expert in IVA, Bankruptcy and informal Debt Management solutions, with extensive experience of solving personal debt problems over the past 10 years. I am regularly featured on BBC News, Finance Programs and Radio.

Visit my blog at: http://jamesfalla.blogs.iva.co.uk

[Dominic]

i certainly believe that the credit industry should be more regulated than it is now and yes the young should be taught financial management in the school curriculum.

Add to this paying people decent salaries and a return to proper maintanence grants for those wishing to train and study to get on will help. Hey I can dream can't I........

[MAY2006]

I agree that 'financial education' should be taught in school. A friend of mine who works in a bank told me that their policy is once they are 18 and in work they can have a full bank account, credit card, loan its silly.
I told my 16 year old son a few weeks ago about the IVA, he knew that our financial position had changed as I lost my job and took one with a much lower salary, but he did'nt know the full extent.
I see the same traits in him (scatter cash or scatter credit in my case) as I have and want him to be aware that you should only buy what you can afford when you can afford it.

[Skippy]

I know I didn't have to apply for the credit, but I think the banks should make it harder to get credit. I received a letter from Lloyds TSB last week telling me I am guaranteed a credit card with £1000 limit with them. They obviously haven't checked too closely otherwise they would have seen I'm in an IVA!

Yes, I am responsible for my debts, but the banks and lending companies are equally responsible.

The only credit I will have in the future is a car loan - I never want another credit card or loan!

Three down, fifty seven to go until freedom!

[MAY2006]

I have had loan offer from Tesco, Egg, GE Capital all of whom I owed money to.
Then you get the Friends Provident, Ocean Finance, Shopacheck sharks who know you are in debt and offer loans etc at rip off rates.

[DebtDummy]

Coco, you are very loving mother. Do not allow your indebtness make you feel as though you are a lousy mother. Focus on what's important. You are taking steps to improve your financial situation instead burying your head in the soil pretending it will all magically disappear.

Imagine the positive atmosphere in the home there will be when this situation is all sorted. :)Children are like sponges when it comes to their parent's emotional states. Good moods and good laughs lie ahead!

Now, back straight, chin up, smile and open arms real wide! Then embrace children and kiss em!:)

All I have left is my humour.

[Dominic]

your family are more important than money and DD is right put your family first once its sorted you can devote yourself to them and not the leeches that the banks have become.

How much actual real money is there left in the economy anyway?