# Advice re:credit union loan



## blinkbelle (4 Apr 2006)

Hi, hope im posting in the proper place. Im new!

My partner and I have applied for a 12,000 loan out of the credit union.  The account is in my name about 1000 savings, had 2other small loans about 600 left on at the moment.  I dont work but I get roughly 1100 per month social welfare etc.  My partner works and is on 23000 a yr plus commission.  We have just bought a house and want to do it up a bit.  So the nice lady took all this down and said the meeting is on monday so we will know next tuesday.  I cant help wonder though will it be approved.  

Anyone else deal with the credit union? Im kinda worrying because I dont have that much savings.  

Can anyone tell me if credit union do those icb checks? my friend has told me they dont.


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## ClubMan (4 Apr 2006)

Some _CUs _are part of the _ICB _system nowadays and more are planning to join.

Can you realistically afford the additional debts on top of what you already owe? Have you drawn up a realistic income/expenditure budget to show that you can (or can't)?


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## blinkbelle (4 Apr 2006)

hi clubman, 

Well we have sat down and worked out what we would be able to afford to pay back about €300 pm.  We also have another savings account in aib with 2000 in it. We are good savers, and dont splurge on nice things eg cars, hoildays.  We have been renting for five years before buying this house so instead of rent it will be our mortgage.


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## ClubMan (4 Apr 2006)

Why no use the €2000 on deposit to reduce your borrowing requirements? In general it does not make sense to borrow while maintaining savings (with the exception of one's mortgage and possible an emergency cash fund).


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## wexford (5 Apr 2006)

no. leave your 2000 where it is - or move it to an account where it will earn more interest for you. many credit unions will not let you touch your savings if your loan is higher than your savings (not all cu's, but most of them). you are on a tight budget. If anything happens and you need money quickly, you will have access to the 2000 - instead of taking out another loan on top of mortgage repayments (interest rate hikes coming) and remember that CU's charge high interest. 

you'll get the CU loan - best of luck!


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## Murt10 (5 Apr 2006)

blinkbelle said:
			
		

> I dont work but I get roughly 1100 per month social welfare etc. My partner works and is on 23000 a yr plus commission. We have just bought a house.




As your circumstances have now changed are you sure that you are still entitled to this amount of SW. Could be a problem affording to repay such a loan if your entitlements were to drop.


Murt


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## blinkbelle (12 Apr 2006)

Hi.

Well the credit union have there meetings on monday nights.  They rang my partner yesterday morning.  They told him the loan wanst approved or unapproved yet.  he told him that they needed more information and said they would ring this morning.
Im just wondering what other information could they want bank statments?

Anyone else have a loan from credit union took a while to get?

Thanks for the previous replies, We are keeping the 2,000 in case we need it for a emergency.  We have sat down and talked about how much we need to borrow, and I have checked my SW benefits and they wont be dropping for a couple of years at least until my youngest goes to school.  Which by then we will have the loan paid off.

Blinkbelle


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## lff12 (18 Apr 2006)

Most credit unions are still outside the ICB.

I can tell you two stories which should warm the cockles of your heart.

Credit Unions generally are a lot more helpful when it comes to loans than most banks.  A family member of mine has a horrific credit record, with years of defaults and for him, arrears are normal and expected (he seems to have subscribed to the George Hook school of business practice over the years).  He should be retired, but because of years of unwise borrowing he he still works in a minimum wage job because his mortgage isn't paid off (and again a few months behind payments usually).  He owed a five figure sum to a former supplier (and unfortunately he was a sole trader and so had unlimited liability) and was unable to borrow to pay it off at the rate the supplier had agreed.  No bank would touch him.  He went  eventually to the Credit Union and discussed it with the credit committee and they agreed to give him enough to clear his arrears and pay off his supplier.  Even though it will cost him a bit more in interest, he is now in a position to be able to make ends meet every month and now is up to date on all payments.  While the well-intentioned willl warm people in debt not to borrow, they won't warn you about the usurious rates of interest and surcharges the banks will levy on you if you don't have a loan agreement which in some cases may be the lesser of two evils.
The happy ending was that the guy got the loan and his former supplier dropped the pending court action.  And he still has his house.

In a second case, a friend who was unemployed rather unwisely drove her elderly Dad's car whilst uninsured and caused a pretty bad accident.  She was convicted for dangerous driving, banned for a year and fined €1,000 which obviously she was unable to pay.  She did however have a chat with the credit committee and they arranged a loan for her.  She paid it off, eventually made a good recovery and eventually went back to work.

Now while a lot of people would find both of these people morally unsavoury as both created the situations in which they found themselves, the credit unions were wiling to be practical.


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## Kiddo (18 Apr 2006)

lff12 said:
			
		

> Most credit unions are still outside the ICB.
> 
> I can tell you two stories which should warm the cockles of your heart.
> 
> ...


 
I was always of the impression that this was the whole ethos of the credit union..to lend to those the banks wouldn't lend to and to keep the most vunerable away from money lenders.


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