Amigo loans

A question about : Amigo loans

Firstly, I am NOT considering using this company...
I'm just wondering if anyone actually has?
I've just seen the advert again, and I cannot understand how anyone, who reads this forum anyway,would use them?
Or more to the point, who would be the amigo? The one who actually ends up paying the loan when you don't?!
Anyone got any thoughts?

Best answers:

• They do guarantor loans. They know their customers won't pay back so they need someone who will.
  If anyone asks you to be a guarantor, either tell them no or give them the money yourself.
• Yes I know what they do!! That's kind of why I'm posting... Guess I think does anyone,seriously,use them?????
  I could do an advert saying " need a loan? No problem, I will charge you Ј100, then I will get your mate to lend you the money, quite frankly, at that point I don't care if you pay it back or not!"
• Wonga and others are getting spanked for their collection techniques on those in poverty. So, perfect answer - have two people to legally chase instead!
  Guarantors get suckered into thinking it will be OK - if the advert said 'All you need is a friend who will pay back the money when you screw it up' I think there might be less takers.
  But yes, there are people who will use it.
• Yes, there would be plenty of people willing to use them. Sadly lots of people, for lots of reasons, are crap when it comes to understanding or dealing with money!
• One person on here wanted a payday loan for Ј100 to fund a first birthday party. A child who wouldn't know what day it was if you wrote it in chocolate sauce, would have been perfectly happy with three balloons and a large cardboard box, and would end up sitting happily in his own poo regardless of the expense.... and she 'needed' Ј100 for his birthday.
  As long as there are people who justify such things, then there are likely to be people who will end up needing guarantor loans, with friends/family daft enough to help them, in good faith.
  Jesus wept.
• Love it.... I've made mistakes in the past,as all of us have, but this site is invaluable with its advice, yet time & time again people come along with the same dilemma of guarantor loans, everyone on here screams "NO, DONT TOUCH" then amigo loans are blasted all over the tv..
  Some people will actually think, " we'll if it's on tv it must be legit and ok"
  Aaagagghhhhhh
• I had a loan when they was FLM loans.
  I had Ј2K, my mum was my guarantor and i paid it back after lessthan a year (was a 3yr loan). it cost me about Ј700 in interest sowasn't that bad.
  I understand people here saying that you shouldn't be a guarantorfor random people, but mine was my mum, if she asked me to be herguarantor then I would to, same for my brother and same for probably1 of my friends and my girlfriend, anyone else, no.
  I don't buy the whole lend it yourself argumnt, my mumcouldn't afford to, if she took it out for me from her bank, then mycredit score would never have been better.
  After I paid them back I could get 0% credit card to pay off my19% one, which saved me quite a bit
• sorry space bar not working properly. Having to punch it to work!!!
• Guarantor loans, the last refuge of the financially baffled shyster....
  The stories on here make me shudder, how people can rip of their own family and friends is beyond all belief...but the do, and plenty of them.
• I wouldn't stand as guarantor for anyone. I'd sell my car to give my family the money if they needed it, but I wouldn't stand as guarantor.
  By the time the lender comes after the guarantor, the loan is usually well into non-payment, and you face a huge bill or default. I won't hand over the hard-won control of my credit report to anyone!
  One of my best mates borrowed money from me in dribs and drabs over the years. When she got an insurance payout, she bragged to me that 'everything' was paid off in full - she had no debt. I sat there looking at my empty hand as she crowed....
  I'd stopped lending her money some three years previously when she told me she needed me to use my credit card for something online, and then admitted she wouldn't be able to pay me for three months. I asked about her paying the interest, and she got stroppy. Apparently, I was expected to lend her money at 16.9% cost to myself. I refused. After the next refusal (Could you lend us Ј200 till payday? When's payday? Don't know, we're not working this month, waiting till we get back from the camping trip) she didn't ask again. However, she also never repaid me. This was one of my very best friends. I will never trust her with money again.
• I know this is almost a year late but I would just like to say a Guarantor doesn't always have to pay a penny. Everyone here is saying the friend will always end up paying it back!
  My Grandad was my Mum's guarantor for our flat as I was growing up. He NEVER had to pay a penny towards it. I was looking at getting an Amigo loan as I can't get one from the bank as I don't earn enough a month. I want it to pay off my Christmas debt (and others from needing new work clothes when I took up a new job and had nothing suitable and my very small child suddenly becoming very tall for her age in 2 week and needing new clothes) as I can easily afford the Ј48 a month Amigo Loans have said over 3 years than the Ј200 a month over the next 3 months. So in Theory I can imagine that Amigo Loans would be better for me and it would be VERY unlikely someone who became my Guarantor would ever touch it.
  I'm not definitely doing it btw, I am still considering all my options but I don't think people should dismiss the Guarantor aspect when it is really just a safety net and anyone with a brain would never apply if they definitely cannot afford it.
• They were estimated numbers and I wanted a bit extra as want to pay towards to our large winter gas bill and other bits as feel guilty my OH pays so much (including my college course) and I just clean up the flat (badly) around my job.
  I think when using the calculators I picked Ј1250 so thats roughly Ј500 on top IF I didn't pay back early which I would as planning on getting a better job once pass my course and the school I work at are supporting me fully.
  It's a shame Natwest think I can't pay back really, considering I'd have no other debts just them. My OH is looking at getting a loan to help me and pay off his small debts. Which just makes me feel more guilty :S
• You and your OH both have debts that you "need a loan" to pay off, and you wonder why NatWest wont grant a loan to you?
• We all know it is a stupid idea, but then we also think swapping Ј1,250 of our money for Ј600 of someone else's is pretty stupid as well.
  I for one have no idea how that mind of yours is working to think this is a good plan.
  History shows us on here the first sign of a financial disaster about to unfold, is when we read the phrase, "I can easily afford the repayments"
  Please reconsider this plan, we're on your side really.