What are my options to get rid of HFC bank personal loan

My husband borrowed 18000 on 15/8/2006. this was to be repaid in 84 months ( 7 years). Amount each month repayable 446.91. The apr is 22.8%. the interest to be paid back is 17,813.5. so total amount repayable is 37, 540.44. E1726.85 for payment protection. we have repaid the principal amount 18000 in this 3 years . nd hv to pay the atrocious interest for next four years. We are unable to get mortgages bcoz of loan frm HFC...My husband was in dire need of money nd didn't know wht he was getting into. last month we were told to pay 15000 to settle the loan. we are at our wits end. Can anyone please tell us about the options available to us? can nything be arranged with th HFC to reduce this interest..what is the way out..

What does the contract say about early repayment ?

If I reading it correctly you are still paying 22% on a loan that is repaid ?

yes the interest of 22.8 %. 18000 was borrowed . but total to be repaid was 37540.44. The 18000 has been repaid but have to pay interest for next 4 years. So we are repaying more than double of what we borrowed. we are at our wits end as we cannot get a mortgage bcoz of this . and its a now or never kind of situation for us as house prices are falling nd it can rise again nytime. it mentions some rule of 78 for early repayment...i just fail to understand that is it legally allowed to charge such interest ...i mean we r paying back more than double of what we borrowed.. can we approach anyone about this.

You signed up to pay 22.8% interest is my understanding so you agreed to pay this amount. What do you mean you have paid back the loan, you mean you have made capital and interest payments? 84 X 446.91 = 37540.44. This 446. 91 is probably interest and capital so you still owe some capital. If you've paid 3 years that's 36 months X 446.91 = 16088. Can you type out rule 78 so we might try and understand it.

well i calculated the amount we have repaid till now from the bank statements..The amount repaid till now is 17576. 224 will be paid next week. so total paid by end of this month will be 17800 out of the 18000 borrowed. So by early next month, the 18000 will be repaid?
What I would really like to know is :
1) is there a possibility that if we talk to the bank they will reduce the interest so that we don't hv to pay extra 17, 800 something as interest. My husband has had a paycut of about 400 euros per month. Will HFC do something on humanatarian grounds :-(
2) Are there any banks that will give a consolidated mortgage which will include repaying this loan interest?
3) Or is there actually nothing that we can do and just end up paying the monsterous interest for the next four years?

Not to be rude inasoup but I think you need to learn a little about loans and interest before taking out a mortgage! If you are finding this loan difficult to manage you will find a mortgage even more so.

As Bronte pointed out you have NOT repaid the €18000 borrowed. You have repaid some of the €18000 and some of the interest. The remainder is still outstanding. The same would apply to a mortgage, just because I have paid in say €10000 this year does not mean I have paid €10000 off the capital balance. A sizeable proportion of that payment is interest. In short, by next month you will NOT have repaid the €18000. You need to disabuse yourself of that notion right now.

1) You can always ask but I suspect the bank will not reduce the interest charge. You appear to still be able to afford the repayments and have been making them so there is no reason for the bank to be generous to you.
2) If you were looking to consolidate this debt into a mortgage debt you would have to have a reasonably low LTV (loan to value) ratio for the property, in other words not on a 92% mortgage. I am assuming if you are looking for a mortgage you probably are buying a house for the first time? So you don't currently own a property to use as collateral on such a mortgage. Northern Rock in the UK a few years back did mortgages like this - look at what happened there! Furthermore you would also have to check if there are any break-out penalties from the loan which may add to the cost of repaying early.
3) The interest is as monstrous now as when you agreed to it originally. It was your choice. When you are making a contract it is understood and assumed that you are capable of understanding the terms of that contract. You can't simply decide that it is now unfair because it is inconvenient to you.

As an aside, are you really and truly in a proper position to buy a property? You don't seem to understand the concept of interest and how it accrues. If you were to take out a mortgage, even with todays low rates you end up repaying half the amount of the mortgage again just in interest charges. There is a cost to borrowing - it has to be paid, elsewise why would anyone ever lend money?

Thanx for all the replies. Yeah m not too familiar with loans and I knew i would sound funny but just needed somebody to explain to me. My husband took this loan before we got married and I really don't understand too much financial jargon. I've saved about 9000 euros as banks don't give full 100 % mortgage and will be saving more. It was just this HFC loan that bothers me and m really thankful for clearing my misconception.

inasoup said:

Thanx for all the replies. Yeah m not too familiar with loans and I knew i would sound funny but just needed somebody to explain to me. My husband took this loan before we got married and I really don't understand too much financial jargon. I've saved about 9000 euros as banks don't give full 100 % mortgage and will be saving more. It was just this HFC loan that bothers me and m really thankful for clearing my misconception.

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You really should pay that money towards the loan (if it allows early payments.)

The money is costing you 22% and will only be earning a few %.

It doesn't sound funny - it is eminently sensible to ask. Always better to ask than to persist in ignorance. I'd agree with jhegarty, investigate if you can overpay on the HFC loan without penalty. Check the terms or ring them and ask. The sooner you rid yourselves of that burden the better off you will be and the better you will feel. There is no race, you do not have to buy a property on any timescale, put yourself first in the position where you feel both confident and capable of securing a mortgage and repaying it.

Can I suggest that you have a look at the IFSRA site? It goes through the basics of financial products and transactions that you may encounter and will give you a starting point for reading up on loans, etc.

Best of luck.