Re: debt in uk
 

Well if they were to leave it up to each and every individual to make the decision for themselves, ie Stop the crap junk mail coming through the door offering their products and receiving phone calls EVERY day offering their services then maybe most ppl wouldn't have problems with debt.

I know this is quite different but, i`m waiting on my PR Visa at the moment, not because DIMIA sent me an application to fill in and Apply, because i got the application myself and sent it in. ( my decision) BUT! lets say i had never thought of moving to Australia and they sent me a letter stating "we have a permanent residence Visa for you sitting waiting for you to take it" NOW! this would i believe have most ppl thinking about taking them up on their offer, ( even though they had never thought about it)

To me this is what you get from all these companies, sooner or later ppl will take them up on their offer, thus putting them into debt that they probably dont want. Why do they do it? to make money and rip us off.

I have personally had offers over the phone, taken all my details and then giving me the run down of their offers and the end result was a credit card through the door with £2500 limit that i didnt want. you can call that good sales techniques or a stupid ME. it wont happen gain though.


As i said, GOOD LUCK TO ALL.

Re: debt in uk
 

I don't buy it sorry. I get loads of junk mail and I just throw it in the bin unopened.

Re: debt in uk
 

And you know its junk mail by looking a the envelope? :rolleyes: I just wonder if thats why all the Junk comes in envelopes with no way of knowing whats inside until you open it. then again maybe yours has "Junk Mail" on the envelope?

Sorry, i dont buy that!

Re: debt in uk
 

I can tell it a mile off but maybe thats just me.

Re: debt in uk
 

Well, i have to agree, thats possible

maybe i will have the same insight after a good nights sleep ;)

Re: debt in uk
 

No it's not just you :) I can't understand how anyone could blame enticing junk mail for 'getting' them into debt. I had a credit card with a £12K limit when I was working part-time and they always sent me cheques to spend - did I do it? Hell no - can't afford it, don't do it. No-one forces you to sign - use common sense.

Re: debt in uk
 

No, it's definitely not just you :)

I can also tell junk mail a mile away - even if it's not clear from the envelope that it's junk mail it becomes pretty bleeding obvious when you scan the contents!

Always makes me laugh when you hear the excuses some people make for getting into debt. No-one forces anyone to take out a credit card or loan - the line "....the banks MADE me do it, by making their junk mail so enticing...." is a really good one. :rolleyes:

It amazes me that there must be an awful lot of mugs out there who are regularly stung though - banks would have stopped doing it years ago if it wasn't worth their while.

Re: debt in uk
 

Well i would just like to congratulate those people who have never been in debt, owned a credit card or made any sort of mistake financially.

Not everyone can have the same luck as you. people find themselves in debt for all sorts of reasons, a sick child who's parents cannot sustain the same level of work hours, a split in marriage, or even just one unexpected very large bill that spills you over the edge and looking for a financial get out. Most of the people who take up extra loans and credit see it as a short term thing that they will clear up soon. The devastating thing is when their financial bad luck runs for a lengthy time and they find themselves in a terrible situation over a number of years. worrying about finances is something everybody does. but to have to do it continuously for a lot of years must wear you down. Omitting the people that knowingly get themselves into debt because they are skipping ship, i have every sympathy for people who find themselves in trouble.
Maybe it is because they are too trusting with whoever is telling them to take out that loan/credit card, but after having had a sleepless number of nights worrying about how you will pay your mortgage that month, the offer of some quick financial help is too much to turn down. Yes it is mad to get yourself into more debt if you are struggling to pay your bills in the first place. but what should they do, hand the keys over to their house without a fight?
I think that a lot of people generalise without having any experience of the absolute horror that is financial hell.

Re: debt in uk
 

I think you'll find that we were just referring to the 'blame' culture.

Re: debt in uk
 

I haven't bothered with this thread before - seen it all, the wind-ups and put-downs in previous ones - but all I can say is yes, get yourselves into debt, run away from it and come out to Oz. That culture is well and truly entrenched here!

We had the Sheriff around today to take posession by order of the Supreme Court of one of our 6 villas, the developer having defaulted on $3.1M. He had a pile of defaults several inches thick - it's all the rage to pile up debt and jack out on it!

(If anyone's concerned, BTW, we have been guaranteed continuing tenancy until our house is finished!)

The level of fraud, financial incompetence and ignorance is breathtaking. It is regularly put around that Australians are far more financially savvy than the Brits. Rubbish: they are far more cunning, but when the chips are down are over their heads. They have managed to build this reputation on the crest of a booming property market - and now that it's well and truly bust in much of Oz, they are falling like flies!

Re: debt in uk
 

Its odd that the same arguments have resurfaced time and time again.

RMJ yes I'm sure that you do know someone who defaulted and has had no come back, have they tried to return to live in the UK?

The point isn't that they will hunt you down and KGB style bundle you in the back of a lada and whisk you off to the airport it is that it black balls you instantly!

As i said, i know some one in the business and they have a massive data base of info on defaulters! He has even shown me how simple it is with just a click of a mouse it is to place someone on, AND take someone off a debtors list!

I have already stated a dozen times in this thread that i dont have an opinion either way. I'm not conceited enough to think that i should judge someone else! I have been in enough trouble with the law over the years not to judge anyone.

SG please if i rile you so much put me on ignore. I replied to a comment and you based your mild vitriol at me, I'm not being argumentative here, just offering a different perspective.

Yes we do suffer a little from rip off Britain here but again, without sounding sanctimonious it is because the banks et al will not suffer loss too many times and you would be shocked how many times they are knocked! As a result they make us all pay!

Its the same principal with car insurance, with over a million uninsured drivers on the roads the insurance companies, and thats the critical word here, COMPANIES, make up for the losses through higher premiums for everyone else.

I am just saying that if someone comes to you for advice then to encourage them to take the unlawful route opens you up for a whole world of danger. If they are foolish and take that route and are caught it allows the possibility of them blaming you. If you give someone legal advice and they still screw up, its their bloody look out!

Re: debt in uk
 

I certainly dont feel it neccessary to put you on ignore, why would i if you are only offering a different perspective.

It must be so reassuring that you know someone who can "at the click of a mouse" remove or add someone to the debtors list, i wonder if this guy has authority to show you this!

Maybe if the banks/CC Companies stop shoving their "services" down our throats by "junk mail" and constant phone calls they would have ONLY the customers who have made the decision to seek financial help rather than having most of their customers who have had it offered on a plate ie Dear Mr !!!!!!! you have been approved for a loan in principal for £ ????? k
at 177% APR just call us on???????? WTF is this tryin to do? make us suffer a little? NO, rip us off big time!


Where have i encouraged someone to take the unlawful route, and why would i be in danger? why on earth would someone blame me for something that i didnt give advice on? all i said was GOOD LUCK TO ALL, WHATEVER THEY DECIDE TO DO!

I have so much sympathy for all these banks/CC Companies who decide to rip us off and on occassions FAIL and he table is turned on them! NOT!

Since you have stated your opinion on this a dozen times on here, maybe you should read between the lines, just offering a different perspective

Re: debt in uk
 

No he doesn't, but since neither you nor anyone else has the ability to know who i am I'm not that bothered, and it has to be said that it is also highly illegal to do what the banks do!

Who would have thought it, the banks acting outside of the law!?

I wasn't referring to you with the second point, stop taking things to heart! Its not a personal attack against you or all things Glesga!

I was simply making a point and didnt want to post yet another post!

Maybe i should have!

Re: debt in uk
 

I can see all points of views on this subject, and all have made very valid points, but regarding the post on 'banks/insurance companies having to put charges/premiums because of the losses/uninsured motorists that occur every year'...maybe if they spent less on junk mail, then they may not have to drop all these on the paying consumer...!?

[COLOR=Blue]Quote from The Guardian.....

"Lloyds TSB last year sent more than 92m pieces of direct mail. That is almost 1.8m letters a week, detailing offers of credit cards, insurance and loans, landing on the nation's doormats from one bank alone. A spokesman for the bank sheepishly said the mail simply reflected the size of the bank and the volume of products it offered. "It is never sent to customers who explicitly say they don't want it," he said.
In the past two decades the volumes have grown fourfold."

Re: debt in uk
 

We all have the power to ignore -- don't rip yourself off.