My name is Steven and this is my story about the time I decided to use logbook loans from a well known lender on the high street. I’m not really sure what possessed my to use this product in the first place, I suppose I just felt that my cash problems had got so bad and not being very financially astute I just took the first option that came along.
It all started when I ran out of money due to being laid off at work, I knew I had another job which was starting in a few weeks with a friend so I figured that I’d have no troubles in getting things all squared up. I wasn’t thinking clearly due to having other personal issues going on at the time or I would have looked in the consequences of my actions more thoroughly.
Its easy to skim over the details of a loan agreement when you aren’t totally focused on what you are doing, and these lender make it sound like they hold the keys to your financial freedom. They like to tell you the positives but skim over what could happen if you fall behind on your log book loan payments.
Anyway, this all happened a couple of years ago. I’ve lost my job, but I start working for a friend in a few weeks and I need to get my hands on some cash to pay 2 months rent and living expenses until the money starts coming in again. So I went to see the log book lender in my car and was relieved when they said I could have the money the same day. At the time I didn’t realise how easy it is to get handed a log book loan and didn’t question the fact that they were barely giving me half the market value of my vehicle. For my £1500 car I got £800 and they took my log book as a guarantee against the possibility that I might not pay back.
My only fear when taking out the loan was that I wouldn’t get the job that had been organised and I wouldn’t have the funds to make the repayments, but that never materialised and I paid the debt off on time. My original £800 loan had cost a total of £1500 when I cleared the debt due to the high interest rates but at this point the lender decided that I had missed two payments even though I had proof that this wasn’t true. With no amount of phone calls could I convince them that they had their facts wrong and to this day I don’t know if they truly believed their own story.
Regardless, when I was at work one day the log book loans company set round the bailiffs to repossess my vehicle without giving me any prior warning. After going to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau its has been confirmed that the lender acted illegally but that I’ll have to take them to court if I want to court which would cost a fortune. With my shortage of funds this just isn’t an option so I’m basically stuck in a no-win situation.
The thing is that my story didn’t turn out as bad as many others who have used car title loans for the simple fact that my car wasn’t worth too much money in the first place. Thanks to the fact that I have a steady job I got back on my feet without too much problem but that doesn’t make it much easier to handle.
I hope my story convinces you to stay clear of log book loans no matter how desperately you think you need the cash, its for your own financial good.
