easy loans

John Player

anyone know where you can just get easy loans not depending on your credit history. like a place like dial a loan or something like that, thats alwalys advertised on english tv,


cheers,
luke

eth0_

There's One Direct and Premier direct (iirc?). They both are 'phone-a-loan' companies. But they'll all do credit checks on you, Premier is owned by BOI sure.

As for those companies in the UK that give you a loan regardless of your credit history, if you look at the small print on the ad you'll see you have to be a home owner, because these loans are secured on your house, if you fail to pay they can repossess your house.

Victor

I suggest you avoid them like the plague. If you really, really need the money for say a kidney transplant, talk to your bank, credit union or MABS first.

John Player

provient lady is coming round tomorrow so fingers crossed. weird thing is she lives just 4 doors down from me.

eth0_

Originally posted by John Player
provient lady is coming round tomorrow so fingers crossed. weird thing is she lives just 4 doors down from me.

Eh who on earth are Provient? Never heard of them! Be VERY Careful what you sign, she should let you keep the contract to read over before you sign, make sure you're not signing over the rights to your house if you don't pay the loan back, it's amazing the things people will sign for without even reading the terms and conditions..

dahamsta

I'm guessing it was supposed to be Provident. Scottish Provident perhaps? This would suggest not.

eth0's right John Player, tread carefully.

adam

RainyDay

These places will fleece with VERY high interest rates (up to 192% for some Irish money-lenders), so avoid them like the plague. It may seem like a short-term answer, but it is really just another step downwards in the cycle of increasing debt.

John Player

heya, just went into the credit union and explained the situation to them, and they are giving me the money. provident give loans at 30% bit much hehe


thanks for the advice ppl
luke

sceptre

Nice one. All hail the Credit Union.


(except the Canadian credit unions, boo to them)

shoegirl

About Provident. See the articles below and the links before you deal with these weasels...

http://www.church-poverty.org.uk/dticonsultation.htm

"Fulcrum’s research focussed on Provident Financial plc, Britain’s largest doorstep lender, specialising in loans to the less well off, and those on benefits. Provident recently entered the FTSE 100, as the 96th largest company in the UK. Provident’s current average loan is £486 repayable over 45 weeks. Total charges on such a loan average £255. This gives rise to an APR of 185%. "

This company feeds on people with money problems and is basically a money lender. If you find yourself going to such a lender then you either already have debt issues or will have as a result of usurious lenders like these.

Having come from a horrific debt problem as a result of an abusive relationship I can tell you that the worst thing you can do when money is tight is to borrow. This is because you end up paying an ever increasing level of interest and pretty soon you are no longer just paying for the goods or services, but interest alone.

Be particuarly wary of borrowing using your home as security, this is a particularly pernicious form of lending that may risk you losing your home.

Credit Unions are a good source of assistance. Everybody will tell you how wonderful banks are when you have money problems, my experience was that they are very bad at dealing with the situation and do not seem to have consistent training on dealing with consumer debt. Don't ignore letters but be aware that at least one large debt collector in Dublin has had several succesful actions taken against them for excessively intimidating letters, and that letters sent by a certain bank follow a similar pattern. Talk to MABS asap. They are not out to profit from your problems.

Sleipnir

Banks love people to be in debt.
That's why they increase my credit card limit as soon as they see that I'm paying off more then I'm spending on it.

Now, BOI's mortgage offerings have gotten "Even Better"
You get your 92% mortgage plus they will also give you an unsecured loan and an overdraft at the same time! How's that for interest earned by the bank!

They are also planning on offering overdraft to people at the cash machine. No more need to apply, you can get into debt far more easily than you could before!

I saw an ad on T.V. for credit in Sony Centre shops which I think was at the staggering rate of 23%. Can anyone confirm that?

shoegirl

I read in the paper this week that 60% of Bank of Ireland's customers are considered "pre-approved", which means that they are considered to be "prime borrowers" for lending purposes.

What is particularly pernicious about the ATM overdraft is that normally borrowing has a) a cool off period and b) should be agreed in writing. In the last year my BOI overdraft which spiralled out of control during a period of unemployment and practically being destitute, I have been charged more than €300 on an overdraft of between €1600 and €600. The most pernicious thing about BOI's lending policy is that they are very quick to withdraw the overdraft which immediately lands you into extra fees for "unauthorised" lending even if you do clear the difference between the agreed level and the actual level. This is on top of interest and other charges. So far this has cost me more than 26% interest rates and this is at a time when I have reduced the level to about €600 (plus about another €80 in charges). It will take me about another six months to clear by which time I estimate I will have paid about €450 on the entire amount, which is more than a 33% interest rate over two years.

The irony of the whole thing is that when I initially visited my bank in order to sort the problem out, the only response they could give me was to give me a form to fill out for another loan. Which of course was immediately rejected. At the time I owed BOI about €7300 between a car loan, VISA card and current account overdraft. Within a year I had paid off €6000. However there is still a balance of less than €1800, but by the time it is cleared the cost of borrowing over 18 months will have been about €1000, or €500 more than an 18 month loan from the same bank over the same period. So Bank of Ireland not only have taken more from me than I can afford - they also have taken more from me than their "prime" customers.

Ignoring the intimidating letters I have received, phone calls from "nice" call centre people, huge pressure in managing my finances, I'm extremely angry that I have given more in profits to BOI this year that I have in nearly 13 years with that bank, at a time when I could least afford it. That doesn't even count that every time I want to make even the smallest query (for example outstanding balance) I have to make about 4 different phone calls as everybody gives me a different number to ring.

I'd advise anybody considering borrowing from BOI to refuse any "pre-approved" offers and ask for EVERYTHING in writing.
And if you are having difficulty with any credit from this bank, don't even bother with your branch or lending department, they haven't a clue, try to talk directly to "Customer Lending" which is BOI's euphemism for their collections department. They seem to have an understanding of what happens and the complexity of consumer debt, and that if somebody is out of work they aren't suddently going to be able to pay out more.

Also I would add that the bank never at any point seemed to understand that I couldn't just make up €3000 of missed payments overnight. Nobody suggested changing payment schedules to me, and no agreements were reached. Once I started paying something into the accounts, they just left me alone, and bizarrely, after clearing the backlog on my VISA, that cleared that up as far as they were concerned. Funny that.

Our man in Havana

Originally posted by shoegirl
I read in the paper this week that 60% of Bank of Ireland's customers are considered "pre-approved", which means that they are considered to be "prime borrowers" for lending purposes.

What is particularly pernicious about the ATM overdraft is that normally borrowing has a) a cool off period and b) should be agreed in writing. In the last year my BOI overdraft which spiralled out of control during a period of unemployment and practically being destitute, I have been charged more than €300 on an overdraft of between €1600 and €600. The most pernicious thing about BOI's lending policy is that they are very quick to withdraw the overdraft which immediately lands you into extra fees for "unauthorised" lending even if you do clear the difference between the agreed level and the actual level. This is on top of interest and other charges. So far this has cost me more than 26% interest rates and this is at a time when I have reduced the level to about €600 (plus about another €80 in charges). It will take me about another six months to clear by which time I estimate I will have paid about €450 on the entire amount, which is more than a 33% interest rate over two years.

The irony of the whole thing is that when I initially visited my bank in order to sort the problem out, the only response they could give me was to give me a form to fill out for another loan. Which of course was immediately rejected. At the time I owed BOI about €7300 between a car loan, VISA card and current account overdraft. Within a year I had paid off €6000. However there is still a balance of less than €1800, but by the time it is cleared the cost of borrowing over 18 months will have been about €1000, or €500 more than an 18 month loan from the same bank over the same period. So Bank of Ireland not only have taken more from me than I can afford - they also have taken more from me than their "prime" customers.

Ignoring the intimidating letters I have received, phone calls from "nice" call centre people, huge pressure in managing my finances, I'm extremely angry that I have given more in profits to BOI this year that I have in nearly 13 years with that bank, at a time when I could least afford it. That doesn't even count that every time I want to make even the smallest query (for example outstanding balance) I have to make about 4 different phone calls as everybody gives me a different number to ring.

I'd advise anybody considering borrowing from BOI to refuse any "pre-approved" offers and ask for EVERYTHING in writing.
And if you are having difficulty with any credit from this bank, don't even bother with your branch or lending department, they haven't a clue, try to talk directly to "Customer Lending" which is BOI's euphemism for their collections department. They seem to have an understanding of what happens and the complexity of consumer debt, and that if somebody is out of work they aren't suddently going to be able to pay out more.

Also I would add that the bank never at any point seemed to understand that I couldn't just make up €3000 of missed payments overnight. Nobody suggested changing payment schedules to me, and no agreements were reached. Once I started paying something into the accounts, they just left me alone, and bizarrely, after clearing the backlog on my VISA, that cleared that up as far as they were concerned. Funny that.

I agree with uou on everything you said. They are very quick to extend overdrafts which you never asked for and they allow you to go deep into the red and then pull the plug.

For example I lodge a cheque for €500 today and they credit your account instantly and allow you to withdraw the €500 from the ATM. 3 days later the cheque bounces and you are immediately in the Red for €500. You are then hassled and hasssled about unauthourised overdrafts etc.

Surely their fault for allowing the €500 out before it clears. AFAIK They are they only bank that will immediately allow you to draw against lodged cheques. AIB etc wait a period of 3 to 5 working days before access to funds is allowed.

BOI have a lot to answer for.

spongebob

Originally posted by shoegirl
What is particularly pernicious about the ATM overdraft is that normally borrowing has a) a cool off period and b) should be agreed in writing.

Great Article Shoegirl. Could I add a snippet.

I got burnt by the difference between Authorised and Unauthorised Overdrafts while living in the UK years ago and the bastards then started to automatically send out letters from their computer and charging £20 a pop for them on top of the penal interest etc. It was sorted in the end but I took a hit for 30% of the proceeds while the bank waived the rest, painful .

Now I only have a deposit account along with a Credit card I clear every month. There is a lot to be said for living within ones means because if you go over the top it is very hard to pull back in again.

About twice a year the thing reaches €0 on the 20th of the month, that my warning to be careful.

M

Fry

Two q's

The Overdraft : The gf has a e400 overdraft from boi. She's been taken from it for as long I can remember, ie. When she applied for it she took the whole e400 and the following week she got her wages - 400 + 400 again. Dont they charge you something like e12 a year for this overdraft ? She never pays back for this, and her fees are low.


Car Loan : I took out a e6000 car loan from boi. I went in to pay it off early in Feb and had to pay the full years interest !!! That boll*x. At least from the Credit Union, your interest reduces everyweek and you can pay off early without this bull.

shoegirl

For Fry....

1. As far as I know there is some requirement for BOI overdrafts that you have to be in credit for a certain length of time. As long as it continually is paid up by virtue of wages going into it, it minimises interest. For a long time I used the overdraft, and was about 50/50 in credit/debit so never really paid much in interest. The interest and charges only started to kick in when I was being charged charges for an unusuable account, plus interest and unauthorised overdraft charges.

As far as I remember from when I was in the UK most banks allow you "grace", usually up to £50, even without an overdraft, where they won't actually charge you. However if you go above this amount then they hike the charges a lot. With HSBC its £50, no idea what it is for other banks.

2. As for your carloan, if it was a fixed rate carloan then the interest is charged in advance. That is unfortunately the norm if its fixed rate. With a variable rate loan the interest is charged quarterly at the going rate so depending on whether it goes up or down you could pay off earlier or later without topping up or missing payments.

If you look at the articles I posted above there are some interesting stats on borrowing. One of the things it points out is that ability to pay in the past isn't the most accurate predictor of future abilities and it doesn't take into account circumstances beyond your control (apparently huge levels of poverty are caused by relationship breakdown, for example). Also things can change very dramatically overnight, as they did for me.

3. With regard to lodging cheques, interesting points there.

Actually AIB will also allow you to draw on a cheque that day but it depends on your account type. Same with BOI. Years ago I discovered that my student account allowed me access to funds the same day while my cash account didn't.

4. By the way how does everyone feel about AIB's "charge for everything" policy? I was horrified at the fact that post office banking charges are just the same as if you walked into a bank. Yet they don't offer the same range of services - you cannot even lodge a cheque! I have been using my old cashsave account since I ran into difficulties and find the charges hurt a lot. I agree with charges for current accounts but its not very fair to charge for cash only accounts with more limited services.

The real danger here is that if a bank is charging they may require deposits to be committed in advance, which may result in people being refused banking services. In the UK they had to bring in basic bank accounts to deal with this problem and even now many UK highstreet banks will refuse an account without offering a basic bank account even though they are legally required to offer one.

eth0_

Originally posted by shoegirl


Actually AIB will also allow you to draw on a cheque that day but it depends on your account type.

4. By the way how does everyone feel about AIB's "charge for everything" policy?

They won't let you draw on a sterling cheque the same day, alas, which makes up the bulk of my cheque lodgements.

Their charging policy really p1sses me off. It's outrageous what they charge, especially as I have a 'back up' account along with my AIB current account, for sticking cash in so I don't spend it, or to cover loan repayments and bills, and I still get charged I think 8 euro the last statement I got just for moving money in and out of that account via internet banking.

Also, until recently I wasn't charged a fee for lodging cheques....but the past few weeks I have...bit dodgy?

spongebob

Originally posted by shoegirl
For Fry....
2. As for your carloan, if it was a fixed rate carloan then the interest is charged in advance. That is unfortunately the norm if its fixed rate.

3. Actually AIB will also allow you to draw on a cheque that day but it depends on your account type. Same with BOI. Years ago I discovered that my student account allowed me access to funds the same day while my cash account didn't.

4. I have been using my old cashsave account since I ran into difficulties and find the charges hurt a lot.

Correct, get variable rate loans if you can pay early.

Correct, they give 'use of funds 'or some such phrase and it is not an overdraft eve though the cheque has not cleared yet.

Jeez, they charge me €10 a Q but I only do 5 withdrawals and 5 so's a month or something. I rarely go near them. They charge nothing for varying an so and I can use Online to do a lot of it manually instead of SO, ESB for example.

M

sunbeam

I just rang and checked: with a BOI overdraft you have to be in credit for 28 days per year.

The customer services rep said the year ran from the date the overdraft was applied to the account which apparently is also it's 'review' date.

sceptre

Originally posted by shoegirl
1. As far as I know there is some requirement for BOI overdrafts that you have to be in credit for a certain length of time.

28 days a year as sunbeam said and if I remember my Inter Cert commerce classes (1990 and earlier), it's a legal requirement for all overdrafts rather than just something BOI made up.

shoegirl

Guys you are right on the 28 day rule on overdrafts but think of it this way - if you pay your salary into the account it means that for 12 days per year you are not overdrawn.

Then add at least two days per month (this for a huge spender!) before overdrawing - and you get 36 days per year. So its actually quite conservative. I'm fairly sure that until I ran into financial difficulties I was in the black at least 50% of the time if not more.

As for bank charges and AIB's huge rates: on my cashsave account they seem to charge for everything. Is anybody aware of a bank offering more reasonable charges for a cash-only account?

jd

Originally posted by shoegirl
Guys you are right on the 28 day rule on overdrafts but think of it this way - if you pay your salary into the account it means that for 12 days per year you are not overdrawn.

BOI will pre qualify you for an overdraft facility greater than your monthly salary (it may be just in my case , for various reasons I had substantial sums of money lodged to my account in the last year)

Victor

Originally posted by Muck
Correct, they give 'use of funds 'or some such phrase and it is not an overdraft eve though the cheque has not cleared yet.

And charge you for the use of it.

spongebob

Originally posted by Victor
And charge you for the use of it.

??????? Wha?

Victor

Originally posted by Muck
??????? Wha?

If you withdraw the money before it clears from the other account, you get charged interest.

jd

Originally posted by Victor
If you withdraw the money before it clears from the other account, you get charged interest.

yeah be careful-interest is only applied evry few months..
I got caught on it..(transferred money that was in my acc according to banking365)
jd

spongebob

Ahh , OK

At what rate do AIB charge this and remember it is a deposit a/c

M

Our man in Havana

AFAIK AIB wont let you draw money against a cheque until it clears. They are quite anal about it.
They even apply this rule to cheques from the government (Revenue refunds cheques and Social welfare cheques) and no amount of complaining will make them budge.

shoegirl

Oh well, just received a letter from my friends in Legal & Trade in Dubin (Ireland's "premiere" debt collection agency.) They are threatening to sue me if I don't pay off the remainder of my €683 overdraft within 72 hours! (Ok, think about the logic, somebody gets into trouble with repayments and the response is to demand the full amount?) This is their usual intimidatory tactics. Actually they used to put down 48 hours but they were taken to court a few times on it.

Actually this actually isn't the worst thing that could happen as it effectively freezes interest rates and bank charges for me. (Bizarre I know). Which means that I will actually end up saving €150 in bank charges. By the way at least €300 if not €450 of this amount is interest and bank charges from the last 2 years. Thanks Bank of Ireland! Anyway they agreed that I could pay it off over 6 months at the rate of €115 per month but here's the catch: they won't let me create a standing order!

Now I tell the nice lady on the phone that they are already collecting on my AIB mastercard for the last year and a bit by standing order but she gives me a lecture on how the payments can go "missing." So I ask her why I was offered a standing order payment and why this has been allowed for me before? She doesn't know. (One thing I've discovered from anybody who anwers the phone in financial services is that they never know anything.) So I advise the lady (who of course being in Dublin, isn't going to understand that not everybody has a car or works within 2 miles of the nearest bank) that I don't get the opportunity to visit a bank very often, not more than about once every 3 or 4 months in fact. No joy.

But at least I have a proper arrangement and can at least save on the outrageous level of interest and bank charges. :f33r:

Our man in Havana

Originally posted by shoegirl
Oh well, just received a letter from my friends in Legal & Trade in Dubin (Ireland's "premiere" debt collection agency.) They are threatening to sue me if I don't pay off the remainder of my €683 overdraft within 72 hours! (Ok, think about the logic, somebody gets into trouble with repayments and the response is to demand the full amount?) This is their usual intimidatory tactics. Actually they used to put down 48 hours but they were taken to court a few times on it.

Actually this actually isn't the worst thing that could happen as it effectively freezes interest rates and bank charges for me. (Bizarre I know). Which means that I will actually end up saving €150 in bank charges. By the way at least €300 if not €450 of this amount is interest and bank charges from the last 2 years. Thanks Bank of Ireland! Anyway they agreed that I could pay it off over 6 months at the rate of €115 per month but here's the catch: they won't let me create a standing order!

Now I tell the nice lady on the phone that they are already collecting on my AIB mastercard for the last year and a bit by standing order but she gives me a lecture on how the payments can go "missing." So I ask her why I was offered a standing order payment and why this has been allowed for me before? She doesn't know. (One thing I've discovered from anybody who anwers the phone in financial services is that they never know anything.) So I advise the lady (who of course being in Dublin, isn't going to understand that not everybody has a car or works within 2 miles of the nearest bank) that I don't get the opportunity to visit a bank very often, not more than about once every 3 or 4 months in fact. No joy.

But at least I have a proper arrangement and can at least save on the outrageous level of interest and bank charges. :f33r:

Legal & Trade dont seem to have a lot of teeth. They will send out afew threatening missives about someone will call around to collect and that you may know them. Scare tactics is their game.
Actually they cant do much, ie create a bad credit rating. They just cant. All they do is send out 3 or 4 letters and then it is up to the creditor.

Legal & Trade are used by vodafone €ircon etc. No one really takes much notice of them.:f33r:

sunbeam

Originally posted by shoegirl
sSo I advise the lady (who of course being in Dublin, isn't going to understand that not everybody has a car or works within 2 miles of the nearest bank) that I don't get the opportunity to visit a bank very often, not more than about once every 3 or 4 months in fact. No joy.

Hmm yes, a few years ago I had great difficulty explaining the concept of a 'term address' versus a 'permanent home address' to a Dublin BOI official at a non college branch. :rolleyes:

I've no advice for you shoegirl but I hope all works out well for you. I'm temporarily living off my overdraft as a penniless thesis writer and your posts have served as a warning to me!