Is there any suprise the poor sod killed himself

[Zak33]

when he owed so much to the credit card companies?

I of course, refer to the case this week of a lady who is trying to get the Credit Card companies to pull the reigns in a bit....cos her hubby topped himself when he owed so much...

I am normally a great believer in the public looking out for themselves....after all, I SELL THINGS, including credit.....and I try to make dough out of it...its my job.

BUT...when someone wants to borrow money, the credit scoring system ALSO detects how much other stuff is owed by the person and the Finance house, normally wont even look at lending more dough if he/she already owes lots of money with no sufficient income to fund it.
.
In this case it seems that the credit card companies only searched to see if the bloke had ever defaulted....and he hadn't...he always paid....always..

...
...
the...
...
...
minimum.....and hence accumulated more and more interest.....

This guys had 19 credit cards and owed over £72000 on them and had got that far by simply applying for more and more cards.....

and he got them ....paid the minimum required......and carried on.

It got to him, the poor bloke and he ended it all
-------------------------------------------
I have got my credit card statement in front of me.....when I first applied to Goldfish I had a £2k limit....every time I rang them to ask summit, or make an early payement, or confim going abroad etc....they increased the limit...its a lot higher now. I dont want it....but its a "temptaton" that clearly pays for the credit card companies.

This month, with my Rally Car build, it is at its highest ever...

£1740 owed.

As always I shall pay it all....I have never incurred any interest. BUT if I DID wanna pay the minimum...what would it be?

I owe £1740...and all they want this month is...
....

...
..


£55

Now, on the presumption that is just the interest..and no capital..which it is...

54 divided by 1740 and then times by 100 to get a percentage....3.16%

thats every month guys....

12 months in a year....3.16x12months....= 37.92 percent per year.

Now lets take the £72000 HE owed......

£27,302 interst per year if you JUST pay the minimum.

Now It is at THIS point I tell you.....they really are taking the wee wee.

The UK needs a slap upside the head in its borrowing patterns....

[Allen]

It's true, and I know all too well about it too.

Though saying that I have no sympathy for him... he got off easy. He left his wife and kids with an awful amount of debt! I struggled to pay mine off (Ok, it wasn't £72k, but it was well over £10k!) and now feel quite proud that I have. I could've taken the easy option out, but I didn't. Still, my credit rating is completely borked now... I'd be lucky if I could get a new mobile phone contract, let alone a mortgage!

They need to teach these sorts of perils to kids in school. I got myself into £3k's worth of debt straight after my 18th b'day. I can only blame myself for it all though. Still not brilliant with money now!

[Rave]

I've never had a credit card, and I don't intend to apply for one, although I get about three letters a week offering them. There's a better option than suicide if you do get into debt though, it's called bankruptcy.

Rich :¬)

[Auran]

Only reason I have one (well two actually through the same company) is for online purchases and emergencies, online on one card and emergencies on the other.

Got way more limit on them than I need and have asked to get them dropped back down, but they never seem to get round to doing it. Unlike if you tell them that you've lost your bill and want a new one, its there within days !!

[Elmo]

I have 1 credit card, and i only got it so i could get a credit rating. I've had it for almost a year and not spent a penny on it. I dont need to. It has a £300 limit, and my overdraft is £1500 interest free. I've only ever gone £500 into that. So i've never needed the card.

[Knoxville]

I've been tempted to get one, but i've decided im just gonna set up an overdraft, its much safer

[DeludedGuy]

I want a credit card, very badly, but Barclays wont give me one, even though I have £1400 in my account, which is why I iz taking my chedder some place elz, yoknowwamsayin.

[Skeps]

I want a credit card, very badly, but Barclays wont give me one, even though I have £1400 in my account, which is why I iz taking my chedder some place elz, yoknowwamsayin.

If you do decide to get a credit card, you can get a lot better deals than Barclaycard, they suck IMO. EGG are quite good, or where when I got mine. If you do get one, shop around as there's loads of good deals to be had ( if you can call a credit card good anyway )

[DeludedGuy]

Thanks, I'll make sure I have a good look around, I dont want to be ripped off too bad.

[G4Z]

i have £300 on my barcklay card, just been paying as much as I havea month 20 or 30 quid, no idea how much i even owe them now seeing as I never changed the address, its a hassle and once ive paid it im cutting it up!

[HarryOatcake]

Why don't you apply for a Halifax Visa
9 months free credit on transfers and purchases interest free.
Just think 9 months to pay off your £300.00p. with no charge.

i have £300 on my barcklay card, just been paying as much as I havea month 20 or 30 quid, no idea how much i even owe them now seeing as I never changed the address, its a hassle and once ive paid it im cutting it up!

[Stewart]

Can someone point out the problem here? He asked for credit, they gave it to him. If he never kept asking, then they wouldn't have given it to him.

If he's £72.000 in debt, then it’s off his own doing. Why am I suppose to feel sorry for the bloke (apart from the fact that he killed himself, of course), but why over the debt? He purposely, and knowingly, borrowed that amount, or borrowed more than he could pay back, and ended up owing that amount.

If someone smokes 200 fags a day, knowing what a ciggy can do to you, then fair play to the bloke. If, 5 years down the line, he gets lung cancer, and kills himself, is it then a tragedy?

Credit is not a trap, if you don't ask for it, it’s not given, and when it is given, only greed and a lack of common sense can lead to spiralling debt problems.

Yes it’s a shame the blokes topped himself, but if he had 19 credit cards, he knowingly accepted 19 credit cards. If he was £72.000 in debt, then he got himself into that debt.

Nobody held a gun to his head and forced him to take out a single penny of that money, nor a single credit card, and all interest rates, fees, etc, would have been clearly spelled out for him, in the contracts he signed.

He killed himself because he knew he was at fault, not the evil credit card companies, who (shock! horror!) had given him credit cards. This story is no different to the various fat Americans, who apparently have cheese burgers for brains, as they are now suing McDonalds for serving them fast food.

Did a McDonald’s bloke knock their door and try to sell them food? No.

Did a McDonald’s ninja sneak into their house in the middle of the night, and force feed them burgers? No.

They walked into McDonalds and said "GIVE ME LOADS AND LOADS OF BIG FAT JUICY BURGERS PLEASE, MR MCDONALDS MAN!"

How can they then sue McDonald’s for giving them the burgers?

His wife seems to have the same attitude, in this case. Why is she trying to get the credit card companies to 'pull the reigns in a bit'? Why not try to get naive people to stop thinking credit is some sort of magic free money, instead?

Surly, in this case, it’s better to address the lack of common sense shown on behalf of her husband, than to try and make out the credit card companies are at fault, for giving him credit when he asked for it?

If we keep going down the road we are, soon this country will be like America, where every stupid person is suing some company or other, for doing exactly what they asked of them.

Anyway, just my thoughts.

Oh, and good cheer to all men.

[DR]

I have a couple of credit cards - I have started using one a fair bit recently - good 500 a month on it - try to put everything on it for the protection. But it AUTO takes al the money at the end of each month.

The moral is - Everything I owe people I can always pay, I always pay them off quickly, but in return I expect to be paid what I am owed quickly.

As you all know HEXUS is my buisness and thus pays all my bills etc - however, I do find it hard when companies we work with mess us around and don't pay on time - take Crucial, they owed thousands and didn't pay for 6 months. This sort of thing can kill a company.

The moral of this? Well it is down to the indivdual to restrain themselves, however the big companies also try and pay as late as possible.

It is all about cash flow - make sure your out goings are lower than your incomings.

Betting Shops are not resposible for gamblers - are they?

[unrealrocks]

I think the whole credit card debt thing is stupid ... I'm with others "make sure your out goings are lower than your incomings"

I didnt know you lived off Hexus David ... how?

[DR]

By living, breathing, and working my butt off on it

We get a heap of visitors - trouble is it is not a cheap game to be playing.... still the rewards are good:

- Travelling (Even though I moan!)
- Working from home
- Credibility
- Latest toys
- Flexible hours
- Free drinks

Also I have the best team I work with; both on the site and the forums!

Without doubt it does feel like we make a difference - with what you guys say on here and help with your purchases.

[Zak33]

Can someone point out the problem here? He asked for credit, they gave it to him. If he never kept asking, then they wouldn't have given it to him.

If he's £72.000 in debt, then it’s off his own doing.

No man...thats not what I mean......

I agree with you on most counts....most of the time....

BUT this is a two edged sword.

The Credit Card companies are actually gonna lose on this one

They aint gonna get this dough....its a write off. His missus aint never gonna catch up with it and to be honest most courts are gonna wipe the floor with the card companies...

So they lose.

The poor bloke who topped himself should NOT have been allowed to get that many cards. He DID do it to himself....but WHY LET HIM AT ALL....

no other industry deliberately changes your account details....

If British Gas rang me and said "would you like a pipe, to get more gas to your house?" Id probably say No its fine as it is....but if the heating system was about to be trebled in size I might need one....thanks for asking.

If McDonalds DID come tomy house and leave a nice juicy burger outside every day, hot and delicious....I might be tempted everynow and then to just have it and pay for it month end.

But I DO NOT think it is acceptable for credit card companies to simply let you have another credit card with a bigger limit than their SISTER COMPANY has recently allowed the punter,and which he has already maxed out.

He should have been rejected. Simple.

Whether he was foolish to use it all is a moot point. The Credit card company should simply have said "No your income is insufficient for this, forget it"

It is similar with Mortgages....very very similar. I know people who have borrowed 110% of the value of the house they are buying....

so not only no deposit BUT money to spend on it afterwards....

to some of you it will sound ideal, but to others it will sound in their ears like it does in mine.......late 1980's anyone?

You can, if you pay high enough interest rates, get 5 times a couples COMBINED income.....as a mortgage....

go figure that....

why dont we let the general public dig themselves into a really deep hole?