The first Help to Buy mortgages were given in April 2013, so they are getting to the five-year point when the government's 20% share stops being "free". If you have used the Help to Buy scheme, find out what your options are at five years. And if you are thinking of buying your first home with Help to Buy, read this article so you know what happens in five years time! How Help to Buy … [Read more...]
Getting out of debt
Practical articles about the different debt options, which might work for you and different ways of dealing with creditors
Car finance – what happens in an IVA?
Cars on finance can be a difficult problem if you are thinking of an IVA or already in one. And with more than a million cars a year in the UK being bought on finance, this is an increasingly common situation. It can make a big difference if you are leasing a new Range Rover or if you have a 5 year old small hatchback on HP! You will need to talk to your IVA firm about your particular … [Read more...]
Overdrafts – a hard type of debt to clear
Do you think you will never be able to get free from your overdraft? You aren't alone. Overdrafts can be the hardest sort of debt to pay off. Even authorised overdrafts aren't cheap (once you stop being a student) and unauthorised overdrafts are very expensive. Overdrafts are very common. The FCA (who regulates the banks) says: 37% of people use an arranged overdraft each year; 25% … [Read more...]
Vanquis increases minimum payments & delays ROP refunds
Vanquis has now admitted that the timetable for making the Repayment Option Plan (ROP) refunds, ordered by the FCA in February, has slipped. And Vanquis credit card holders are getting texts and letters saying their minimum monthly payments will be increasing as the calculation is being changed. This is happening in July 2018 for some customers. These two facts are not connected, but the … [Read more...]
How fast can I improve my credit score for a mortgage?
Here are some questions I have seen recently about how long it takes to improve your credit score to get a mortgage: I was foolish with credit cards for years but now I am determined to buy a house - how long will this take? My credit score is dreadful. My new partner has a good credit record and we want to get a mortgage. I have a poor credit rating but I have now inherited a deposit. … [Read more...]
Get a detailed list of your payday loans
To ask for a refund from a payday lender, it helps if you know the details of your loans - what you borrowed, what interest and other charges were added and what you repaid, with dates. If you don't have this information from your emails and bank statements, the first step is to tell the lender you are making an affordability complaint and ask for your loan information. See How to complain … [Read more...]
How to get a payday loan refund (with template letters)
Did payday loans make your finances more difficult or impossible? Those loans may have been "unaffordable" and you should not have been given them. You may be able to claim a refund of the interest you paid. It's easy to ask for a refund using the free template letters here. You can use these letters with any payday lender. They work if your loans were repaid on time, or late, or you still owe … [Read more...]
Help for mortgage prisoners who need a cheaper mortgage?
With mortgage rates so low, 2018 should be a great time if you want to remortgage or move house. But the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published research showing there are 800,000 people in the UK who could benefit if they switch to a cheaper mortgage. Most of these are people whose fixed rate has ended but who have stayed on their lender's variable rate for more than six months. And … [Read more...]
How to complain if you have got a guarantor loan
If you have been given a personal loan by a guarantor lender you can ask for interest to be removed from this loan if: you can't afford the repayments without hardship or borrowing more money, AND Amigo or any other lender would have realised this before they gave you the loan if they had checked properly. Amigo and the other guarantor lenders should have made sure a loan … [Read more...]
Top 0% credit card balance transfer deals in June 2018
In June 2018, you may be able to get a 0% balance transfer deal lasting three years if you pay a fee. Or you can get a 27-month deal with no fee to pay! These are the table-topping deals. If you don't have a very good credit rating you probably won't get one of them. It's annoying but if you desperately need to move some credit card balances to 0% you may well not be able to get one. But if … [Read more...]
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