need advice about my debt..

D

doodoo

Guest
Hey, heard about these forums and thought I'd post about my situation to try to get some advice from people who may be or have been in a similar situation..

Ok, well I'm a student and about 2years ago I stupidly bought a laptop (2grand) from pcworld to help me with my studies. I foolishly got roped into taking out their "interest free for 3months" plan and didn't pay a penny up front..

I accepted the contract which I've since lost and havn't paid a penny to said company. As i've been changing accommodation due to semesterisation in uni i havn't recieved any letters or phone calls asking for the money.

I realise the extent of what I have done and sometimes I can't sleep at night thinking about it. I'm ashamed that I've let it come this far. What I have done is not far removed from stealing.

I've been putting this issue to the back of my mind for 2years now, but as I'll soon be getting a full time job for a years placement, I'd like to put this issue to rest and try to repay as much of it as possible..

I've also got a few other loans that i've delayed repayments on which need dealing with asap.. (credit card maxed to 1000 for past year)


but I've a few questions before i make the phone calls :

around how much would i owe the debt collectors if i contact them?

are there any financial institutions that could give me advice or could help me with the repayments?

i don't plan on buying a house for at least another 5 years, but how will this effect my credit rating?

I'd imagine the interest is continually growing. Would any financial instituation give me a loan with a reasonable interest rate so i could pay off the lump sum and then pay the instituation back instead?

Anyway, thanks for listening and if anybody has any advice whatsoever, i'd be happy to hear..
 
Are you sure it's with the debt collectors? If not I would go to PC world and find a manager and explain the situation to them. Most people are reasonable and you'll generally find that people will actually be happy that you owned up and are prepared to pay the debt and they may come to some arrangement. A lot of the times the situation appears worse than it is. If it is passed on to debt collectors then that's a different story. I would get a loan off a bank to clear it off (whether you tell the bank what's it's really for is up to you....). If you're not sleeping thinking about it then it's not worth leaving it outstanding.

I think you need to cut up your credit card also!

Good luck.
 
Hi,

IMHO before contacting any of your creditors you should get advice from MABS who should be able advise you on the best course of action.

I wouldn't recommend contacting PC World through one of their shops until you have received further advice.
 
Your debt would not be with pc world but with whatever finance company they use. i think they use hfc bank at the moment.

Although it would have been interest free, you would have had to set up a direct debit and paid a monthly installment, with the remainder to be paid at end of the interest free period. if you had decided not to pay off the reminder after the interest free period, the "loan" would have reverted to the regular hire purchase type arrange over 36 months or so! so check past bank statements to see if they are still sending instructions for the money! You could be racking up a lot of unpaid direct debit payments! I'm assuming that you dont use the bank now that you did at the time, otherwise you'd know a)who the finance company are and b) whether they are still looking for money! HFC bank are a member of the irish credit bureau so this might be an option for you to find out what your credit rating is at the moment and obviously another route to find out who you should be contacting about the outstanding debt (as i say, i cant imagine pc world will be able to make any decision on this as, if you remember when applying, they had to send off your application to see if you were a safe risk, before issuing you with the finance!)

As per sueellen, have a chat to mabs first to see what they suggest on your current income. Otherwise a credit union may be of assistance. See this thread
 
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