I’ve used payday loans and got myself in a hole before in fact I still have outstanding payday loans from over 2 years back now.
I got to the point where all my monthly wages were being sucked up by payday loans and even then I couldn’t afford it often having to arrange for the amount to be lowered on months I struggled and so that meant even more interest and money for these companies.
I signed up to a DMP shortly afterwards with stepchange and to be fair they was extremely helpful even helping me come up with a budget so I actually had some money to myself at the end of the month. I ended up fucking up eventually though after a couple of months of payments I started gambling again and missed payments and eventually stepchange had to stop the DMP. I’m an idiot I could have had it all paid off by now but after my DMP ended I just ignored these companies and have been doing so for over a year now. I’ve had threatening letters, emails and my phone often gets a bunch of missed calls but so far nothing has come of it. Since the loans are spread across many loan companies they are only smallish amounts and most won’t want to go to court over it so they will pester. I’m living with my folks with barely anything of value so there isn’t a whole lot they can do and since most of the interest has reached its cap they can’t charge me anymore so now they are emailing me with pay now and we will knock 50% off but these are companies that have bought my debt and clearly just want to settle so they can make a slight profit.
Im not going to paint myself as a Saint and blame them entirely for lending to me as at the time I wasn’t in a good place and with my gambling addiction in full flow I was willing to do or say anything to be accepted for a loan.
I even told companies when signing up that I had no existing loans and they borrowed to me without a second thought which I know is wrong of me but at the same time I know they can bring up your credit file when you apply so they should have seen the information doesn’t add up that I was giving them. I would say they lent to me irresponsible but as I wasn’t 100% transparent either I don’t have a leg to stand on.
The best advice I can give you is sign up to stepchange set up a DMP and work out what you can afford to pay and then stick to your budget. If you can get anything back from irresponsible lending then do so.
I understand this post doesn’t present me in a good light but its the truth and this is where my addiction lead me. For those who are thinking of taking out a small loan to gamble with then I’d honestly tell you not to bother…it starts with one and then you take out a few more and before you know it your buried by these high interest loans. If it’s got to that point where you are borrowing to gamble then you need to put blocks in place and give up gambling because it really isn’t worth the stress it brings and the destruction it will do to your life for many years to come.
