Credit Union wn't let me take money out of my shares

Since Christmas I'm really struggling with money due to everything coming in at the one time.

I have two months mortgages arrears and haven't taxed my car since September as I just don't have the money.

I do have a job I work in a council. I am a single mother of two girls and get nothing from ex (not for this thread). I pay for everything. I fixed my mortgage about 2 years ago so it's €1,396pm and I have a loan in CU. The outstanding amount is €31,983.11. I pay €200 ever two weeks off this loan and that is paid via the payroll in my work so they get their money every week even before I get paid.

I have €7,621.69 in my shares. I aksed the CU if I could take out €200 so I have some moeny for shopping and petrol for me and my two children for the next two weeks. I drive them in and out to school which totals 24 miles a day between dropping them and collecting them.

As I have a loan they said it would have to go to credit committee. I phoned today and they told me that they have refused to let me have the €200 out of my shares. I know when you apply for a loan that you can apply for 5 times the amount that's in your shares. I had more in it and the loan was bigger to start with but I've been paying it for two years now. If you multiply my shares by 5 it's more than what my loan is so I should be allowed to take €200 out?

Has anyone had this with their credit union?

borrowing ratio's dont exist thats a myth that most people believe . there are however guidlines that individual CU follow but each CU is different. your shares are collateral for your loan your ratio is almost 4.5 to 1 which is extremely generous. i cant personally see why you were refused €200 unless they see it as the thin end of the wedge and therefore dont want to be seen to be setting a precedent . I was chairman of my local CU which is community based but each CU is run by the board which is who you must appeal to. Have you gone in and explained to them your changing circumstances and maybe re-negotiate your loan re-payments even ask if you can pay them the interest only until you get back on your feet.CU are alot more flexible and remind them of the CU ethos . GOOD LUCK

Hi lizanne

From this thread, it appears that the practice varies hugely from Credit Union to Credit Union.

However, there is a law that they can't reduce the amount of shares below a certain amount - I think it's 25% of the loan. Obviously, individual Credit Unions can set this higher.

You should go to the AGM and kick up a fuss against these antiquated, anti-consumer practices.

brendan unfortuneatly most CU 'year end' ends in September therefore they most likely would already have had their AGM. but your right about kicking up a fuss at it. our CU had a membership of over 3500 and you need a quorum of at least 1% to start the AGM meeting, some years we'd be lucky to have that . Unfortuneatly people only go to AGM's to give out! She should for now go in and speak to some one ASAP....

Your shares are collateral and unfortunately they will not let you reduce the amount until the loan reduces.
One option would be to roll up any loans into one large loan from a bank at a better rate than CU and clear the CU loan to access your funds.
Second option is to meet the CU manager and park your repayments on the CU loan for a year rather than try to get at the shares in the account.

Seeing that you're 2 years into the loan, could you renegotiate the loan to pay off a smaller amount per fortnight? If you have to withdraw €200 to cover basic needs, it sounds like yu could do with a but of 'breathing space', even €20 a week.

Combined with the mortgage payment that's a lot of debt for one person to carry. Maybe that's why the credit union are saying no. They don't want you to sink further into debt. Maybe you need to look at all your finances to see where you can make savings, I recommend you to do the money makeover section.

Thanks for your responses. I have already done the money makeover and I ahve made lots of cuts already. I'm seperated and I bought my house two years ago. I have a good job and when I took out my mortgage and I had it all worked out what I could afford. Believe me I didn't buy anything over and aboce my needs. It's just a semi-detached three-bedroomed house that needs work but it was the cheapest at the time and all i could afford. I completely understand that the CUs have their rules. I was paying more off the loan in the beginning. It's down from 41,000 to 31,000. CU have been very good with letting me re-negotiate the terms. I really don't want to reduce it again. My wages have been cut like everyone elses I know but being on my own I feel it more than a two parent family. My ex pays 100e per week for our children to be minded and he says he can't afford any more. I'm struggling this week as I had to pay car insurance and I was getting red letter from the stupid TV license people so i paid that. I have two months mortgages arrears due to the fact that my car had to be fixed and christmas. I don't go out, I don't buy anything other than groceries and necessities. I'm just really anoyed this time as I always pay on time and I'm not looking for an increase in my loan. I just need €200 this week to help me out. Now I'll have to take it out of the mortgage account which means that I won't have the full amount for my mortgage this month again and I have no extra money to pay the arrears. It's a viscious. I'm so sick of being honest and getting kicked in the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language for it by bloody financial institutions. Sorry for the rant. I'll just have to make my €45 that's in my wallet magically last for the next two weeks. I've cancelled everything that is not a necessity and I've reduced as much as I can. All I wanted was some help for this week.

If you were paying off more of the credit union loan in the beginning, do you mean more than the agreed amount or just more than you are paying now? If you were paying more than the agreed amount, you would be ahead of the repayment schedule and there should be no issue with missing a repayment or two.

IMHO from a credit rating perspective, it is probably better to pay the full mortgage repayment and miss the credit union payment even if you fall behind with your credit union repayments.

I realyl hope you sort out your situation and I agree that missing a credit union repayment is better than the mortgage. I also think that your username seems more like your actual name and maybe you should consider changing username to something more confidential for these types of discussion

Just wondering if since you've been saving in the credit union have you received or taken out any dividends . As far as I know, if the CU pays dividends you are allowed take them straight out regardless of loan etc. It would be great if you hadnt taken them out yet as that amount is yours to take out whenever & it might be equal to what you need this week.

Just a thought..hope it helps

I wouldn't fancy your chances with one of the CU tellers.

Are you getting any SW benefits? is there no way you could spread the cost of the loan over a longer period ie 5yrs? I feel for you, things are tight for everyone at the moment, hope you get on ok, would you ever think of paying for things monthly like car insurance and tv licence? I do it that way, I add up all the expenses for the month ie bins, tv lic, sky, home ins, mortgage then I divide it by 4 and what ever the amount it is I have that taken out of my account every week before I see it, it works well for me but everyone is different. best of luck

I took out the loan in 2007 to help purchase my home. It was 41,000. My place of work have a facility to pay into my CU via my Salary so I don't have to worry about having to physically go into the CU and pay the loan every two weeks. When I get paid the money for the CU is already deducted by payroll so I can't miss a payment. I could cancel this but I don't want to. My initial payments were much higher but when things started to go bad with pay cuts I renegotiated payments so I haven't paid off more than was required but I'm not in arrears either. They have basically said they won't let me take money out or top up the loan until I have half of it paid off. i don't want to top up the loan. I just want my money out of my shares. I may put up another post on Money Matters again but i've cut everything. I was collecting some stamps for the TV licence but I didn't have the full amount. I had to put €64 to it. I don't think they let you pay it monthly by DD. My car insurance will be monthly but I had to pay €109 down payment to get it. I was going to cancel my health insurance but my eldest daughter is type 1 diabetic and I'd be afraid that I'd cancel it and she'd need it. I don't receive any social welface as I work 5 days a week so I get nothing. Your damned if you do work and rewarded if you don't!!! What a stupid government.

I will change the username. I'll probably have to recreate myself. I wonder would that work in the CU too?? Recreate myself and wipe out the loan!!

oh I know what you mean! stupid government indeed, and yes they do allow you to make monthly dd payments on tv licence cos I do it that way, did you look into SW? are you sure there is nothing you are entitled to? could you ask your ex to help out a bit more? I know he is paying the child care and he prob has his own bills etc but maybe he might help out with the 200 you need.

I had a 'chat' with him last night and he said he hasn't the money either. He can still afford to go out at the weekend and smoke and when the kids are with him they normally come home with new clothes. It just ended up in an argument.

Thanks everyone for you comments. I'll figure something out.

Girl, I feel your pain and the more i read, the more i wish i could actually sit with you for a coffee and a chat. You need help, you are far too messed up. pLS stop and think of your girls, they need a mother at home for them. They are your priority not CU.
Your mortgage should not be in arreas, thats your main priority.
Pls do yourself a favour contact the mortgage lender and explain the situation and ask them for 3 or 6 months break. contact CU and re-schedulle the payments on a 3 month basis, allow yourself to pay all the samll debts out there, get back on your feet and do not take up any more loans. Contact MABS, they are great to help people on your situation, i am speaking from my own experience...take the time nd call MABS, you really need help. Good luck my friend and dont lose hope, best days will come!

Could you try the community welfare officer. I know they have some kind of discretionary cash and they generally have a kind heart. Not sure if the fact you are employed precludes you from receiving anything. Is there anyone you can borrow the 200 Euro from?

I've just looked at your money makeover thread and I can see now why the credit union don't want to give you any of your shares. Your mortgage and credit union loan are what are eating most of your salary and it's a good salary. I think you should go to MABS to discuss what to do, with all the experience they have they should be able to give you some pointers. If you ex actually giving you any maintenance or is the 100 going to his mother for the childcare. Does he have a good job and can he pay you more, would a court order him to pay you more?

Even thought he posters above said it was better to pay the mortgage rather than the credit union, I'm not so sure. If you fail on the mortgage payments is a bank more willing to negotiate? Someone with experience on dealing with EBS may help you on this or maybe MABS because that interest rate you're paying is quite high.

would be entitled to fis? you have 2 kids so if you earn under 590 a wk you should qualify, i think the amount for 2 kids is 590, not sure check it out on SW website

I'm not entitle to fis. I earn just slightly over the amount. I emailed the CU this morning and I basically explained to them exactly what I spent my wages on last week and what I needed the money for. I can account for every penny of what I spend and none of it is on going out, clothes, cigarettes or alcohol. I went to EBS at lunch time to take €50 out of my mortgage account for petrol and to keep us in milk and bread supplies for the week. While I was in there they called me and said that the manager had read my email and had approved the withdrawl and I could come and get it. I'm extremely relieved and it will help immensely. Would have helped if they had let me talk to him on tuesday instead of telling me that there was no one else I could speak with. Thank you for all your posts.