Dad Ditched his Doorstep Loan to Get Out of Debt and Started Saving with Local Credit Union

Friday 26 January 2024

With debt piling up, Chris Dawkins needed to improve his financial position, so he turned to his local credit union, Bridgend Lifesavers. Since joining, Chris has received the necessary support to get him into a more stable financial position and he reflects on the valued service provided by Bridgend Lifesavers.

Chris Dawkins, a 43-year-old from Bridgend, South Wales, faced mounting debts in the years that followed the breakdown of his marriage.

The father-of-two, who works in customer service, turned to a doorstep lender when he needed some extra cash.  Despite doorstep lenders being regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and required to follow certain rules, Chris was not happy with how he was sold his loan.

“The agents were working on commission, and they were just concerned about getting you that loan,” he explains. “They really didn’t care about whether or not you could afford it, so it felt like they weren’t really being sold fairly.”

With debt piling up, Chris needed to improve his financial position, so he turned to his local credit union, Bridgend Lifesavers.

Soon after joining the credit union, Chris had some problems with his car, which he needed to transport his children around and to travel to his company’s head office.

Chris applied to borrow money from the credit union and received two loans, each of £250, which helped pay for the car repairs.

“I’m really glad I don’t have to use the doorstep lender anymore,” says Chris, who is now repaying £44 a month towards his credit union loan. He is also putting £10 a month into a savings account, which is a common feature of credit union loans.

By repaying the loan, Chris is also building up his credit history and improving his credit score. This is helping him to get into a more stable financial position and offers the potential to access more affordable forms of credit if he needs to borrow in the future.

Source – Nerd Wallet