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"Please, Mr. Nationwide, can I have lots of money?"

15:50 / 28.11.03

Oh, dear. I really wouldn't ask for such help here unless absolutely desperate, but:

I need, oh, about four and a half grand.

... In order to... er, go on holiday. To Thailand. Six weeks in a scenically-situated Thai hospital bed from late January.

And the general consensus from banks regarding requests for them to provide economical support for such a jolly outing seems to be something along the lines of, "**** off." 'Tis something to do with having pretty much no credit rating (no good, no bad)...

So (the presumably necessary information): age 20, fairly blank credit report, but earning easily enough to pay off £4,500 in less than a year.

Does anyone know what my best options would be in trying to obtain the money? I need to have it sorted pretty quickly, though I only need the money itself for the end of January. Anything that might help is vastly appreciated...

pointless and uncalled for

09:55 / 29.11.03

Sorry to have to tell you this but basically you're stuffed, unless you can get a countersignatory on the loan, prefferably from your parents.

At the age of twenty you are considered amongst those least likely to pay of loan properly and that puts you at high risk. A blank credit history indictes that you have no experience of having a loan and this pushed the risk assessment higher, after all if no one else has been willing to lend you a small amount what would possess them to lend you a large sum.

Credit rating has to be built and the younger you are the longer it takes. It seems a bit harsh, particularly if you yourself know how the repayments will go and so on but it's a matter of trust and you have yet to give them a reason to trust you. After all, would you give £4,500 to someone who came up to you in the street and asked for it?

Your only real option is to get someone with a good relationship with a bank to agree to countersign the loan. If you can't then you may have to accept that it's going to be a couple of years before your lounge on the scenic shores of Thailand.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

11:00 / 29.11.03

I'm not sure, I think your problem might be the lack of a credit history. I know that when I applied for something a few years back (can't remember what now, it wasn't a loan so this may not apply to your situation), there was massive delays in getting it okayed because I had no credit history and had always paid bills and credit cards on time and was a very good person. It seems ironically that if you've been naughty at least once that does you better than if you've always been a good little capitalist wage-slave.

09:02 / 01.12.03

... Eep. Thank'ee...

... I'm guessing, then, that if a broker tells me they can't get me that amount of money, but can manage three grand, I should start signing forms pretty quickly before they change their minds.

Hopefully I should be OK now; after long phone calls, I should have a £3,000 loan, and my bank've agreed another £350 on my overdraft, so... I just need a thousand or so, which it seems I'll be able to borrow/scrape together (though definitely not from parents, even though they'd probably be able and happy to lend nearly the full amount for any other purpose)...

(Now, does anyone know the best way to go about acquiring low-credit credit cards, preferably with introductory rates?)

09:36 / 01.12.03

I don't know how much good it will do you in the short term but you can take steps to generate a credit history, without any financial ris to yourself. I know because I read about it in *cue severe personal shame*, Alvin Hall's "Your Money or Your Life" - the book of the TV series. In case you haven't seen it, AH is this amazingly annoying American dude who's paid to be patronising to Brits about their finances, inna reality TV stylee. The programme has that kind of "appallingly watchable" quality about it. Can't remember the details, but I photocopied some bits out of it, so I might be able to do a synopis for you it you like.

It is actually worth flicking through the book or getting it out the library, just to see the cover. It's quite incredible. The smuggest, most slappable face ever, pointing right at you.

11:20 / 01.12.03

Thank you. But... I assume there isn't anything in there on how to build a credit history in under a week? If there is, then yayletmeknowletmeknowletmeknow, but otherwise I think I'd be pushing it a bit for time.

And on a related note, is there any good advice I should really bear in mind regarding the question: "How does one go about telling w*rk about intending to take six weeks of sick leave without giving any details whatsoever about exactly what for (or, due to the implications and, "Er, why not in England?" factor, where)?