What can I do if I can’t pay back my payday loan on time?

The commonest problem people have when taking out a payday loan is they are unable to get the loan paid back on time.

When you take out a payday loan, you have a short time to pay back the lender, usually two weeks or less. For most of us, this money will come from our next paycheck. However, what should we do if we need most of this money from that paycheck for other things? This is when we have trouble paying back to the loan on time.

What happens then? In this difficult situation, your options are to take out another payday loan to cover this first payday loan or have to pay late fees and your bank may charge you non-sufficient fees (NSF) as well if you covered your first loan with a post-dated check that bounced.

How can I prevent this stressful situation?

While it may be a difficult situation if you can’t pay back your loan by the due date, you must contact your lender immediately, to see if you can work out an alternative payment plan. Speak to the customer service representative and tell them your situation. Remember, you were given a contact phone number or an email address when you were first offered a loan.

If it will take you weeks or longer to repay the loan, work out another payment plan with your lender – perhaps, you could pay off your loan in instalments. If it will take you several days after the due date to be able to repay the loan, you can ask your lender if you can just get an extension on your due date. Whichever situation you are in, it Is likely that your lender will charge you more interest or an extra fee because they had to accommodate you. However, this is likely to be less than the late fees your lender and your bank will charge you for not paying back the loan on time if you do not talk to your lender at all.

Try to work something out with your lender if you can’t repay your loan on time. It shows good will and may save you a bit of money. So, go and look for that contact phone number or email address that you were given when you were first offered a loan from your lender and take it from them.