best way to deal with gambling debt?

@joydivider

HI pal, that is really really useful advice, thanks very much.

Is

If it is the case that if I can't pay anything towards the debts in the first year after 12 months do they then get written off? That was my thinking behind bankruptcy instead of a payment plan because I know realistically I won't have an income for the next 6 months at the very least.

If I get a job after a year has expired what happens then (if you know)? thanks so much again

thanks @forum-admin the members on here are amazing.

I would really like a debt to say these are the options, and these are the repercussions (if that makes sense). I know that I need to work on myself and the addiction, but part of me feels like it would be foolish of me not to try and address the debt, especially since I will most likely not earn any money for the next 6 months and I know how stressful my parents find it when legal letters come and there are knocks at the door

Hi, can I ask about stepchange I really want to speak to them, I have credit cards and 2 x unsecured loans but I am frightened they will send bailiffs to my house.  I just want one payment and no more worry.

thanks

You have absolutely nothing to lose with the complaints and a whole lot to gain as it appears to me a lot of the loans you took out would have been unaffordable to you or lent to you irresponsibility. This is not hearsay as I have gone through it and received a lot of money back by just sending a simple complaint via email to the creditor, this includes a loan my wife guaranteed for me that I gambled away, I was paying back £316 a month. I have had the £6900 balance wiped off and £4700 refunded because I already paid over the capital. Just to be clear, I am a decent earner and in a professional job.

List ALL of your creditors on a spread and how much you owe. (Doesn't matter if you've defaulted or CCJ or anything like that, include the ones you've paid off too dating back 6yrs). Remember you don't have to do this at once, you can do one complaint a day.

Their complaint procedure will be on their website and usually, its an email or a contact box on their website.

If you go to debtcamel, you will see a template to use, fill it out and send. I repeat, that website is literally a life saver, not only for me but many people including many gambling addicts, you will see for yourself when you visit. It's absolutely fee.

If you require any other info, post here

Stepchange are fantastic..Godsend. They dealt with my 25+ creditors in 2018. I remember clearly those days it was unusual for me not to receive a letter from a creditor in a day, Stepchange sorted everything. I am still with them paying £257 a months towards my £21k debt. All my other debts are from other sources that cannot go on a DMP. A DMP will have an affect of your credit file. Speak to them and they will guide you accordingly. 

@frogman

you are a legend this has been so helpful. 

I earnt gross about £55k a year and was able to borrow a lot, but it was at the stage where my loan repayments were almost exceeding my net income (and that's even before paying rent/transport etc).

am I right in thinking I can get all the information on the loans I took out from my credit file? Honestly there has been that many I wouldn't know where to start. I genuinely think if I emailed every unsecured lender there is I will have taken out loans with about 90% of them.

The template includes a request for a DSAR along with your complaint and that will give you all the info regarding previous borrowings, those that you don't even remember. I was earning about the same, got caught up borrowing from A to pay B, borrowing from C numerous times in a short space of time, all to gamble. You will find everything you need on that website

@frogman

boss mate nice one. it's  asubject access request isn't it bascically. I'm going to try and get out of bed and into my chair tomorow and get cracking on this. This is one small comfort of not having a job in that I just need to try and use this time to work on this as much as possible.

It's definitely worth doing. I did all of mine during lockdown, I was surprised at how much I had paid in interest and even more surprised it was even possible to get interests refunded. The combination of the refunds, the extra work I am doing and the willpower to stop gambling is changing my life. I am also having the gamcare counselling but because I am working round the clock, I have missed some sessions. Next for me is to start going to GA. I obviously have Gamcare bookmarked on my laptop, the posts from people here has really got me going

Posted by: Frogman

It's definitely worth doing. I did all of mine during lockdown, I was surprised at how much I had paid in interest and even more surprised it was even possible to get interests refunded. The combination of the refunds, the extra work I am doing and the willpower to stop gambling is changing my life. 

Hey Frogman

Can you give your opinion on my situation below? I’ve never thought about complaining til reading this thread, but maybe i’m just an idiot ? and don’t actually have any right to complain

4th May 2018 - I noticed after signing into my Next account i’d been given £3,750 credit for the store. I’d never really used Next before, obviously started using it. Couldn’t afford the repayments. No info was given or asked for for them to give me this credit. They eventually reduced my limit to less than what i’d already spent, putting me immediatly in debt and unable to use the card at all 

31st May 2018 - Following from this store credit it got me wanting to have money available to me. A disaster waiting to happen, i was given £400 based on my part time bank job (no steady salary, income varied every month, work not gauranteed!) i took home £800 on a good month, while living and paying bills alone

27th June 2018 - I applied for another credit card, and was given £1,000 to my surprise. I still only had a part time bank job, but was starting a new job in July. I probably gave them a figure estimation from what I thought i’d get with my new job (regardless i still only took home £1400 sometimes less). Couldn’t afford repayments

I also have another credit card which is the only one i still have access too and am actively using and paying into to help rebuild my credit score. this would have been taken out at a similar time with £750 limit. I struggled with these minimum payments initially too until i decided to get my act together.

I know i’m an idiot for taking all of these out, but it was a lesson i’ve now learnt from. Surely with correct checks etc I should not have been given 4 credits within the space of 2 months?? On my, at the time, low income from a part time job? 

sorry this was so long!!

d x

My experience is that repeated borrowing should always raise a flag to the creditor, especially in a very short space of time, so at Loan 3, they should have been looking closely if you were managing your finances properly.

Most of the complaints I sent in that were within a short space like yours, I have had refunds of interests paid, these were short-terms loans and not credit cards though, and I talking about at least 6 of them, I don't know if I am allowed to say names but please go to debtcamel and you are very likely to see someone with a similar problem with the same lender.

The creditor is legally responsible for ensuring that sufficient checks have been carried out, that they are proportional, and that the credit facility is affordable. It really doesn't matter if you earn £1000 and say for example £2000 in the application just so you get the loan, they should be checking.

I had an interest refund of £3015 on a loan of £5000 I took out in 2015, it was paid off in 2017 (Total of £7530) but I got the refund a few months ago. At the time I took out the loan, I hadn't defaulted on any credit arrangement but had maxed everything (due to gambling). When I complained, I detailed my outgoings,I  also showed gambling transactions on my statement which meant I couldnt afford the monthly repayment. They didn't check my statement when I took out the loan, they agreed it wasn't affordable and refunded me.

Every case in different. If you believe the credit facility wasn't affordable, it probably isn't to be honest. You'll know the ones that are and the ones that aren't yourself. If you were gambling a lot and borrowing to gambling, 9 out of 10, its unaffordable, this obvously depends on amount, income and other personal stuff.

Thanks Frogman - I’m going to look into some of this tomorrow. I have just sent an email to the Next complaints email address with the help of debtcamel.

Looking back on my account statements - they gave me £1000 in Dec 2016. Increased to £1500 in October 2017 and then £3,750 in November 2017! i was completely unaware of this! No one once checked in on me and my finances. That £3,750 was nearly 5 months worth of wages for me at the time! 

How long generally did you have to wait to hear back from the creditors??

8 weeks is what they have to investigate and issue you with a final response, upholding your complaint and giving you refund figures or rejecting your complaint, they will tell you why either way, if you are not satisfied, you refer it to FOS, that's the one that could go on for months. The thing is that you have nothing to lose by complaining

hi @frogman I'm up and about to get cracking on this. The problem I have is that when I was in the height of taking out payday loans I had a different bank account, so it is very difficult for me to find out what went in from who and when.

I still have the same email address though, but again not necessarily the emails from the companies I have had loans from so will struggle for exact dates.

I'm just trying to work out what is the best thing for me to do, because I doubt I will be able to give full accuracy with regards to amounts I have borrowed and reasons why they shouldn't have loaned me the money.

Am I best just writing a sort of generic email saying 'I have had one or more loans that I couldnt afford and shouldn't have been given by a responsible lender' and hope for the best? 

Thanks again

Posted by: Peter86

hi @frogman I'm up and about to get cracking on this. The problem I have is that when I was in the height of taking out payday loans I had a different bank account, so it is very difficult for me to find out what went in from who and when.

I still have the same email address though, but again not necessarily the emails from the companies I have had loans from so will struggle for exact dates.

I'm just trying to work out what is the best thing for me to do, because I doubt I will be able to give full accuracy with regards to amounts I have borrowed and reasons why they shouldn't have loaned me the money.

Am I best just writing a sort of generic email saying 'I have had one or more loans that I couldnt afford and shouldn't have been given by a responsible lender' and hope for the best? 

Thanks again

Hey Peter, not sure if this will help as my situations a bit different from yours but i’ve been able to backtrack info/dates using Credit Monitor app (now MoneySuperMarket), it shows all my current, closed and defaulted accounts etc. 

As well as this just searching back using keywords through my emails, and then logging into accounts aswell for old statements etc. 

Good luck 🙂