For well over five years now I have been unable to get
or receive credit from what I would call reputable
Companies, I was forced two years ago to purchase a car
( which I needed for employment purposes ) from a garage
offering credit to those like myself with bad credit
history. A car which on the forecourt cost just under
£3000, but when I had finished paying for it, it had
cost me over £7000 over 26 months.
A deposit of just under £1000 didn't even
come off the base line figure and the interest I don't
even want to work out. So why in our country do we allow
those whom have made mistakes to be persecuted and
victimised well after their initial errors, and worst
still we are placing them in a scenario that could well
lead them back to where they came from, bad credit.
Meanwhile the so called legitimate financial
institutions can sit back and continue to cream off the
top, happy in their own little world of prejudice backed
by the credit reference agencies.
I am now 27 years old earning more than I
have ever earned in my lifetime, living with a partner
and unable to get a mortgage because of my bad history.
Living in a household that earns well in excess of
£37,000 per annum, paying £600 per month rent as well as
standard utility bills, unable to buy ourselves a home,
because of a 21 year old's mistakes. I can't even get a
credit card, not even the so called Capital One,
designed for people like me, unless I put up front £50,
for a £500 credit limit, I alone earned in excess of
£24,000 last year and I feel that I am still being
wrongfully punished for my mistakes although I've paid
my debts in full.
I would like someone to explain to me why
a bankrupted business man can start a new business
having not cleared his/hers debts, and yet I am still
being punished. Is this really fair and just, I think
not.
Reply from Ed
I have
long agreed with your overall sentiments, 'angel' or
not. The responsibility of credit is a two way thing and
lenders are slowly understanding that a credit record
with a court judgment 2 - 6 years back can have little
relevance to a current credit application. There is
still a long way to go before 'main lenders' will change
their scoring standards, but new lenders are moving in
to take up this vast area: not much use to yourself over
the past few years, I know. Knowing how to apply for
credit and attempting to 'clean up' your credit record
would have made a difference.
You have had years of grief and the lenders have done
nothing to help rehabilitate you or those who have
genuinely suffered from the lending culture... for this,
they should be reproached. Some lenders have taken on
the commitment to support areas of help. In an
article
I explain the reason for responsibility..:
"...as a borrower, you should not undertake a
commitment that you know you cannot afford. This does
not mean that you have to know that you will always be
able to pay what is due: you do not know what is round
the ‘corner of life’ and if it turns out that you cannot
make the repayment the lender has a responsibility to
act in a human (and not business-like) way..."
As to a bankrupt, there is a price to pay for 'not
clearing debts': six years on a credit record, no
finance over £250 allowed, no directorships, personal
embarrassment etc. I know many bankrupts laugh at the
system, but the government is attempting to single out
those that abuse the bankruptcy laws as an aid to cheat
everyone. However, as I stated in a previous
article..:
"...should an entrepreneur who started a business, a
sound and well run business, but lost control of the
company’s survivability through bad luck - ‘just a few
more sales’, ‘a bit more backing from the bank’ etc. -
be allowed to try again once all matters have been
explained to, and sanctioned by the trustee? This option
gets my vote..."
The UK's economy is built on the entrepreneur's stomach
for risk taking: 'mall company becomes large employer',
unfortunately, some small businesses (say, creditors of
the entrepreneur) are closed down when the risk doesn't
work out.
Finally, I think you have an extremely good grasp of
credit and debt, in America you would be considered as a
potential successful entrepreneur: odd that! |
