Paying for my Skillstrain course

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Its unbelievable that a few months ago I liked Skillstrain. Firstly I had a problem paying for my course, so I rang Skillstrain, they said they couldn't help and to ring your finance company. So I did, they refused to speak to me though because I was not the account holder even though I was the one doing the course. The finance part was in my dads name as I'm not yet 18. So they spoke to my dad and told them that they couldn't help and he should try carry on paying. They never offered to reduce payments or help in any way. So months went on struggling to pay this course, we were afraid to stop paying them, in case they took my dad to court. But my dad reached the end of his tether with them and said to them that he's going to stop the payments because he simply can't afford it. They just turned around and said 'well, you will be blacklisted then' they never mentioned anything about court which was weird... And then, suddenly I thought, 'wait, dad, you're ALREADY blacklisted aren't you? You've been blacklisted since November 2006' and he was. He still is blacklisted. I can remember when I went to get my laptop with him from PC World in Jan this year, they wouldn't let him pay for it monthly, he had to pay it straight off BECAUSE he was blacklisted. So how can a finance company offer a loan to pay for a course to a blacklisted person? Its not allowed? I just find it really strange that they didn't say, 'If you do not keep up the payments, then we will have to take you to court' I think that they knew my dad was already blacklisted and that they gave him the credit anyway! Which is wrong and thats why they don't want this going through court. Another thing I find strange is that SkillsTrain and CDF (the finance company) are on the same street in Luton. Maybe its a coincidence but now when I think about it, this has been dodgy from the start. My dad wrote to them a few weeks ago too explaining his financial state, did they reply? What do you think? NO.

 

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Do you have a problem with the course? Or is it simply paying for it that is the problem?

 

If I remember rightly when Pinkfluff started the course she was given out of date or inadequate material and it put her off.

 

the finance company is clydesdales isn't it ?

i've had to phone them before to enquire about changing courses and they basically said u can change courses but you'll still be paying even if the course is less because you've signed the contract.

so now you've stopped paying, i take it your not doing the course anymore and will there be repercussions ?

grim

 

No, you have read my thread completely differently to what i've typed.

 

That problem is sorted now. They gave me updated material. But what i'm getting at is, can you give a person a loan when they are blacklisted? :S

 

blacklisted just means you're a risk, it doesn't mean they wont give you a loan just means most peple will turn you down.

grim

 

Ok. Just to get this straight (it's hard to read your original post because it's in one, long paragraph):

Your Dad was originally blacklisted, I assume by a finance company (I have to guess what this means because I'm in the U.S. and they probably call it something else here). I guess this means that due to some past financial problem, he's unable to get a loan or if he can, it is under very restricted circumstances.

Because you are under 18, he had to take out the loan to pay for your Skillstrain course (even though he was blacklisted to begin with).

He had some difficulty in maintaining the loan payments and contacted the loan company to see if arrangements could be made to help out. This wasn't successful so he finally just stopped making payments (so far, none of this has to do with Skillstrain as far as I can see).

The finance company threatened to blacklist your Dad if he didn't continue to make payments, with no mention of taking him to court or any other legal or financial consequence.

In the U.S., usually a finance company will try to work with a person if they are undergoing financial hardship and will reduce payments or develop some other plan to make sure they get paid back at least some of the money they're owed. Of course some financial institutions are merely legalized loan sharking and will gouge as much out of you as they can and skrew the consequences.

Not sure what you're asking at this point. If the question is "are we up a creek without a paddle?", I'd have to say "yes". My suggestion would be to keep paying at least a little bit to the finance company to show that you have a good faith intention on not abandoning your commitment to pay back the money. If you are still training with Skillstrain, you might as well keep on going and try to get as much out of the coursework as you can unless they've stopped your classes over this. Should it all go to court, you at least will have some proof that you were trying to fulfill your commitment and doing the best you can as opposed to just stopping all together.

 

If your dad can't afford to pay YOUR debt (which is in his name)... why don't you give money to your dad so that he can pay for YOUR debt?

 

Of course; it`s just that the interest rate charged will be Excessively Ginormous (as opposed to the usual "massive" these companies charge!!) in order to cover the risk.

 

Where do you get this "blacklisted" term from? There is no such thing as being "blacklisted".

Finance companies use a credit score from Equifax or Experian to make a decision on lending you money. Each company has a different criteria!


However, things change for instance there is a huge credit crunch going on at the moment due to greed and the idiotic need to get a "foot on the ladder" in property at any cost. Lenders are now very cautious about who they lend too! What I'm saying is that when you or your dad took out a loan for the course the credit score was acceptable AT THAT TIME. Fast forward to now and your credit score maybe determined as too low in the current financial climate! Hence the application to pay by credit by the finance company has been declined! Has sod all to do with that term you used - "blacklisted" what a myth!

 

Oh and when you miss payments on credit your Credit Score is adjusted accordingly and your ability to pay in the eyes of a lender drops too. Order your dads credit report and you'll see 01234 etc that indicate missed payments on credit. It's that profile in the eyes of a lender that determines whether you get credit or not.

Your dad most likely received a default notice but didn't attend court - if that is the case then he'll have a CCJ against his name! That still doesn't mean "Blacklisted" as they're tossers out there that'll lend to him at 99% APR +

 

Actually, just to be clear on this, there is no such thing as blacklisting. Credit agencies dont hold a blacklist, and they dont make any judgements about the information in a credit report. All they do is collate the data, and present it to those querying your credit. Those companies asking for the report will have their own criteria for deciding whether to give you credit or not. Its why my own bank wouldnt give me a new account and an overdraft, but a different one will.

So in reality, your dad has Shite credit, which most companies look at and say 'no thank you'. Thats it.

And there are always people willing to lend to high-riskers (for a high interest rate of course).

Edit: Oops, Drum beat me to it.

 

I guess this explains why I've never heard of a financial institution "blacklisting" someone before.

 

Glad you clarified it though Fergal! Was hoping you would post as you know your stuff on these financial myths!

 

As said there is no such thing as blacklisting I know this as I am at the bottom end of the scale for credit.

There are 3 credit reference agencies who collect data about your spending habits, if you have credit card and pay it back either straight away or monthly you get points (for some reason it looks better to them if you pay back monthly instead of one go).

The points on your credit record show wether you have missed a few payments, defaulted or been on time and succesfully paid back whatever credit you have had.

I got my credit report from cheky my file.com a few months back, on it it actually looks quite good untill you get to the bit where it says for lenders to be wary as I have a ccj and it shows how much it is for and how long I have had it.

As people have said it is up to the lender who will use a credit scoring basis, some are more lax than others, some wont lend full stop, some will charge at a higher rate but if you have credit like mine you will not get it at a normal rate.

So unfortunatley no one has done anything wrong in accepting the finance for your dad.

 

Also don't forget that past credit score searches/requests from past credit applications - whether succesful or failed - are also recored on your credit (or dredit) file! Too many searches in a short space of time can have an adverse affect on your score. A lot of people have only realised this AFTER they've been applying online for a lot credit cards etc - the application process is so much simple making it too easy to mess up your credit file with application searches!