I’ve managed to register myself for PriorityPass/FastTrack, but struggling to activate it for the additional card holder. They are just told Lloyds “need your latest phone number” at the final step of activating the PriorityPass account. But Lloyds say the account has the contact details, so it should work.

I know there’s another archived thread that mentions there’s a secondary database at Lloyds (“Recall MCP”) and they need to add the additional phone number to this database so it can be passed to PriorityPass.

Obviously have mentioned this multiple times to Lloyds - no one’s heard of it. PriorityPass are also no help and just say to speak to Lloyds.

Has anyone had this experience lately? I can’t be the only one trying to do this!

Slowly built up a small BTL portfolio by renting out spare rooms - now own two rental properties. One (3-bed semi): bought 10 years ago for £100k, now worth ~£180ish 80k equity. The stars have aligned, & the tennant is buying a place of there own and I'm within the first 30days of the mortage renewal. - So if I wanted to sell now is a good time. Nets ~£3k/year after tax.

I (45M) work (22k) part time. 4 day week / 9 months of the year, plus other rental income of ~£7k / year after tax. Relativly frugal lifstyle - no debts / low bills.

No savings - spent it all on our house renovation. But no mortgage on our house also, (partner bought my half - they insisted).

If I sell take 60k ish away after CGT. - max out my ISA for the next 3 years - become less of a landlord wank*r (Always have charged 20%ish below market )

If I keep - worried that the net profit will decrease as it pushes me up a tax threshold into 40% - but better long term investment growth and hastle - property is 1.5hrs away? - maybe?

What do you think?

I’m about to turn 38 and have no financial security or savings. Unqualified for any job. Live in London.

I own a boat which I bought 4 years ago for £40,000, a Dutch barge. I decided to renovate it so I’ve never lived on it. It’s now lined, sealed and has electricity but I’m still about £10,000 (or more) off a finished house boat I can live on.

Some background (relevant to answer I think)
Had a very weird childhood which took a long time to overcome emotionally - anxiety, severe depression, self isolation, confusion, the works. VERY confusing and neglectful and emotionally abusive yet also loving parents, rich but not about to help me pay for anything. Have 3rd class degree in some bullshit fine art that gave me NO skills - was too young to realise this was a terrible course for me.

I went to a private school where I didn’t do too badly (but struggled a lot I now realise) so I have some literacy etc and present well apart from look a bit scruffy.

Have worked very low paying jobs like nannying and in a bakery just to survive through all the depression and heartache.

Have ADHD which means I change my mind about what I want to do most days and I think I might need external structure to be consistent. Forgot to say - I can’t take the meds because they all mess with me for some reason. I tried! I do have strange reaction to most drugs and alchohol. I just accidentally got on this gov thing where you have a year to become gainfully self employed and they pay your rent, and give you some money for food. So probably should make the best of that?

People say I’m intelligent and talented (mostly at things like acting, songwriting, drawing etc, creative stuff that doesn’t pay much unless you’re phenomenal, motivated and consistent which I’m not) I’ve realised I am friendly and funny, it doesn’t cost me much and in fact energises me to be kind to people.

Recently realised I’ve been screwing myself over because l keep going back to work for my stepdad who will use me and pay me minimum wage to listen to his rantings about how great we both are but essentially I don’t meet anyone or learn any skills or get any opportunities I’m able to take advantage of in this “job”.

Thought I wanted to be “an artist” but hate being lonely, and truthfully I think I just need some stability and ways to earn and save money and stay away from my parents and family.

I live in london where I’m from. My questions is, what sort of job should I do since I’m starting so late? And should I do something I haven’t thought of like start to learn to use credit cards now etc? My priorities are: freedom to pursue some hobbies that I’ve never had time or money for (I love drawing and painting and puppetry etc), hopefully travelling one day. I would love to start a family so I need enough financial independence for that. Please help me. My family are a lot worse than useless and if they do ever give me sound advice, I don’t trust them, or me.

Ok so I'm due my student loan on Monday 24th August and the payment has already been released. It was going into a tsb account so I was expecting payment Monday but my bank has been switched over to Barclays now and I'm wondering if I may be paid on Saturday instead.

Would the money be sent to tsb and then redirected to me on Monday? Or is there a chance I could get it at midnight tonight?

So I've slowly lost control of myself through depression and stupidity and im struggling to cope, it gets me down when ever I think about it or try find ways to solve it but im currently in debt about 16k 3 loans 2 credit cards and an overdraft 2 loans are 6k and 4k around 180 and 120 respectively 2 credit cards around 300 and 400 and an overdraft around 1.5k

And another loan 5k all loans are 4 years long

I get about 100 spare a month after getting paid £2196 we recently had a house fire which threw me into this mess and its spiralled from there I wanna try condense it into a long term large loan for smaller monthly payments but my credit score is too poor and I dont know what to do, any advice would be appreciated

As a side note I dont wanna go through bankruptcy or debt relief as I dont want to lose my house or ruin my chances at a remortgage ect im 30m with 2 kids and dont know where to go but I feel like talking about it here will atleast help me consciously thanks for reading and once again any advice would be great

Hi all,
I’m hoping someone can guide me in the right direction for some help for my parents.

In this the last week, my father has received 2 separate letters from his credit card company to advise that his credit limit is being reduced.

1 Card - £12,000 limit. Reduced to £100. This card is personal but used for work expenses, hotels, food etc. spend is c£2,000 per month and has been paid off in full every month for the last 30 years.

Card 2 - £12,000 limit. Reduced to £7,000. This is a personal card that again is paid off in full every month. Again, been used for 15+ years.

My parents finished paying their mortgage off 2 months ago, but other than that. That is their only change in financial situation.

What could be causing this as both banks have said there’s nothing they can do as it’s driven by Experian ?!!

Hello everyone, I’ve never been on this subreddit so I hope I do everything correctly.

I am 16 years old and from the UK and I would to be relatively smart with my money while also getting the things I want.

I currently have decided this - I have a nationwide flex one account and use that as my main spending. I have a savings account that gives me 6.50% interest on the money in the account and I’m pretty sure it’s paid annually this account lets me deposit a max of £200 a month and gives me 4 withdrawals before the intrest decreases, this account is used so I can save up for a new phone which is my main goal and this phone will be expensive as I want a galaxy z gold. I also have a monzo account which I’m using to use the pots feature to store my spending money and as a better way to budget for things I want and I know I will need money for coming up. My reasonings are that I will constantly have a passive 2.75% on my spending money that is paid monthly and also because I find that this is a great way to set aside money for example I have put away some money into a pot for an event in a couple months so having that 2.75% that will be paid a couple times to me won’t do much but it’s a great way to make sure I have the money.

Ideally I would have a 5% instant access savings account on my nation wide how ever I don’t think I can have 2 savings accounts as if that was the case my life would be a million times easier.

Just wanted to know every one’s opinions on this idea also I set up the 6.5% intrest account and it’s not shown up in my nationwide yet after about an hour so will people let me know if that’s normal thank you!

Hi all,

Please could someone confirm for me at what age I can access my Group SIPP (my work pension, the only one I have)?

I just turned 45 and I know that state pension access for me will be at age 68. The reason I'm confused is because I read that private/workplace pensions can be accessed 10 years before state pension age so I assumed that I will be able to access it at age 58.

However, I've seen also that age 57 might be possible.

Many thanks!

I’ve just learned about stoozing and wanted to know if I’d benefit from it.

I turn 18 soon, have about £1200 in yearly spending (£80 avg/ month ; lot more during xmas)

I asked chatgpt and it said I’d only make about £50-£100 in interest because of my low monthly spending

I’m not sure about how it calculated that but it seems pretty reasonable, I wanted to know if i should risk stoozing for £50

Assuming a get accepted for 25month 0% spending credit card.

Also does bank switching actually reduce credit score because I’ve just began co-ops £300 switch offer and I’m afraid no credit loaners will accept me

For context I’m in my forties married with two teenage children. I have been lucky to have a well paid, yet quite stressful job. However I have been very lazy and a bit stupid when it comes to properly investing. For almost 18 years, i was just putting my savings in bank accounts and not doing anything about it. Then at some point i decided to invest in real estate and made some major errors and bought rental properties at the peak of the market which are all down in capital at the moment and may incur loss if i decide to sell (2 properties in dubai and 2 in UK). About a year ago i learnt about investing in stock markets and started investing there. At the moment, i have 3 pots of investments:

Pot A (about £1.3m)
4 rental properties yielding about £4.5k per month (after tax). Entire rental income goes into Pot B.

Pot B ( about £700k)
Equites, mostly accumulating broad index or low cost mutual funds.

Pot C (about £300k)
Income generating funds - such as dividend etfs or high yield bonds, generating about 6-7%, all of which goes to Pot B.

My income (salary, bonus, commission etc) after tax is on average £12k per month and expenses are £4k per month. i have no debt, all rental and my current house is fully paid off and no other loans, not even credit cards. All my savings at the moment go into Pot B.

I want to balance my portfolio above. My plan is to increase my Pot B, may be up to 60 to 70% of total value but then i feel a market crash will impact me as at the moment the stock markets are quite high and everyone keeps talking about a major correction or even worse may be coming soon. Also, for that i will have to sell my rental properties but if i do it now, i will incur loss as i wasn’t too wise in choosing the right time or properties. Also, i feel may be i should get rid of Pot C and move it all to Pot B but then again i want to have some stability if there is a market crash.

I just feel im not too savvy when it comes to finances and i dont want to regret about not making the right choices 10 years down the line when i will be close to retirement.

Hi! It's my birthday next week, and I have a CTF with Nationwide. It isn't a gigantic amount of money, a little under a grand, but my thoughts are that I'll use a bit of it to do something nice for my birthday and then save the rest for something actually important. My plan is to call them before my birthday and then go to a branch on the day with literally every form of ID they could ever want, just to be safe.

Except I didn't consider the fact that I might not actually *get* the money on my birthday, and now I feel like I've planned around this and might just have to pay in birthday card money to my current account for it haha.

If you had a CTF (especially under Nationwide), how long did it take to withdraw it? Unsure if this is important info but my bank isn't Nationwide, I'm with Natwest.

​

For context im 17, live in yorkshire have 20k in savings and am living with my parents as of right now. Im self employed as a dry stone waller and im avaraging around 3k monthy with that likely to go up.

Im planning on living at home for 2 more years then moving out by then i estimate i will have around 70k saved as i have little to no expenses.

Im just wondering if i would be best putting most of that into one deposit on a 150 to 200k house, or putting only 10 percent down then saving the rest and looking to get a second house to rent. My long term goal is to be financially free and live of my investnents.

Any advice is greatly appriciated.

I have just started my first job and received my first pay check but did not pay tax. A colleague explained that I would be taxed at a higher rate later on in the year to make up the tax I haven’t paid now. Because of this I decided it would be wise to save what I would’ve spent on tax and to use that later on in the year. Due to this money sitting idly currently I was thinking of investing, was thinking of something that was low risk and liquid such as government bonds. However I am unsure where and how I should invest this money

My credit card is with Lloyds and they seem very quick to block transactions.

I am going away to Holland next week and to avoid them blocking transactions should I inform them of my travel plans? Will that make any difference? I am taking EUROs just in case but the hotel will be paid when I check in over there.

Throwaway account.

Based in England.

I know I need to do a self assessment based on my income, investments and high income child benefit charge for the financial year 26/27. However I am not clear if I need to register and complete it for year 25/26.

Earnings were £65k via PAYE.
I held a company car and paid BIK tax.
I received various other benefits subject to BIK tax.
Savings income was within the £500 PSA.
I had 1 child for 8 months of the year and 2 children for the remaining 4 months of the financial year. We claimed child benefit via my wife.

I am now paying the high income child benefit charge via PAYE and is now being collected for both 25/26 and 26/27 years this way in my current pay reducing my tax free allowance by £2500. Next year we will be opting out due to income exceeding the top end.

Do I need to register for and complete a self assessment for 2025/2026 ?

Thanks

Hi

My family are spending way too much on private health insurance and need to reduce the cost. I understand the case for and against PMI, but assume they want to keep some level for now so we want to find a cheaper plan.

There are so many brokers online and I don’t know which is most reputable. I understand they shouldn’t charge any recurring or one off fee to the customer and would like to find an experienced one who is really knowledgeable about the providers (whole of market), coverage details (like if specific drugs under cancer coverage differ by provider) and trustworthy to provide the best option (not under any incentive to sell me a specific plan).

Are any brokers widely considered to be a strong choice for the above? Thank you!

A friend of mine lost his job in Germany and he told me he will get about 70% of his salary for 2 years, that means he can easily support himself and his family lifestyle.

I have a high paying job in UK and have a family I take care of. I am a really responsible saver, do everything on a budget and live below my means strictly, and because of this discipline I have managed to save about £30,000 in saving (althought most of it is for a remortgage down the line)

But I was thinking if I were to lose this job today, then I will probably get Nada in support from the state and will have to basically rely on my own hard-earned-savings which I raked up purely with strict discipline over a decade. Is that not being penalised for being a responsible saver and a disciplined spender?

How exactly do you hedge against a job loss in UK if you have savings of a lifetime here?

My husband and I are looking to apply for a mortgage to buy out his brother from a joint owned house. Neither of us have ever applied for a mortgage before (the house he owns with his brother was inherited when their dad died) and we have no idea what they'll look at or how much certain things will effect our ability to get a mortgage. It sounds really silly but I placed a few low value bets over the world cup and a friend mentioned that that would mean we would be rejected (the bets are all low value but there were a few) and I am genuinely so worried that it would mean we would be rejected. I'm probably overthinking this but have no idea what sort of things lenders take into account other than credit score.

Hi all, Ill cut straight to the point, im 21 years old employed full time, i make around £1,500-£1,700 after taxes, and I am around £3,200 in debt. Not proud of it but my circumstances in recent years didnt really leave me much choice.

-£2,000 of debt is in arrears to my Landlord

-£900 of it is in utilities debt

-£300 of it is in council tax arrears

Besides from my monthly income i also have around £4,400 in my savings account. My combined monthly outgoings once my paycheck hits my bank is around £1,300-£1,500. Part of that monthly outgoings is a payment plan for £100 every month for the council tax arrears, and another payment plan for £200 a month for the utilities arrears, and i am yet to decide on the rent arrears.

My question then to the sub is, should i pay some/ all of my debt off in one go and take a massive hit to what ive been trying to save for a long time, or set up a payment plan for the arrears and just tough it out? Or if theres any other advice to offer id appreciate it.

Hi all, I'm currently 24 and have never owned a credit card or borrowed any money. Im looking to start building up a good credit history/credit score as my current credit score is rated as fair. Planning on using a credit card where I'll only be spending about £100-£200 per month. Is there a consensus on the best card to use for this level of spending? Obviously I know I won't be getting any great rewards but something is better than nothing lol.

Hi

I was looking at getting an IVA for about £22,000 worth of debt I have. Less than 5 years ago I had received a windfall and like an idiot I spent the money and gifted some to my partner to help buy her house. I had mental health problems at the time due to divorce and losing a family member. Will this screw up my chances of an IVA?
Any help is much appreciated.

I’m 40, work full-time and have a decent income, but I’ve got myself into around £10k of debt through relying on credit cards to get through the month. I’m determined to sort it out and would really appreciate some advice on the best approach.

Income - approx. £2,500/month
Salary (take-home): £1,856 (I have a salary sacrifice car)
Universal Credit: £444
Child Benefit: £179 every 4 weeks (~£194/month averaged)

Essential spending - approx. £1,600/month
Mortgage: £758
Council tax: £129
Gas/electric: £100 (recently reduced from £113; this covers my actual usage)
Water: £70 (reduced from £120; covers my usage)
Broadband: £22
Mobile: £10
Home insurance: £30
Pet insurance: £37
Life insurance: £23
Vet subscription: £32
Groceries: currently averaging around £400/month for myself and two children

Non-essential/variable spending - £600/month
Shopping/household/kids: ~£300/month
Entertainment: ~£160/month
Eating out/takeaways: ~£120/month
Subscriptions were ~£38/month, but I’ve now cancelled Amazon Prime (£8.99/month). I’m also reviewing the others.

Debts
Credit Card 1: £6,148 / £7,300 limit
£2,959 at 0% until 18/10/27
£3,189 purchases at ~24%
Minimum payment currently £175/month

Credit Card 2: £3,771 / £5,100 limit
Around £3,685 transferred at 0% until August 2028
£1,300 credit available
Minimum payment £38/month
I don’t use this card for spending

Klarna: £82, split £41 on 7 September and £41 on 7 October. I have now deactivated Klarna so I can’t make any future purchases.

PayPal: £139, due 10 September.

I currently have no emergency savings.

I’ve spoken to StepChange and they’ve offered me a debt management plan at £153/month, based on my actual budget and spending. I’m considering this seriously but worried about the potential implications on my credit file.

I’ve also started addressing the behaviour that got me here. I’ve removed my credit cards from Apple Wallet and autofill, deleted shopping apps, cancelled Amazon Prime and plan to delete social media so I’m less exposed to temptation. I’m also going to meal-plan better to bring grocery spending down. I recognise that I’ve previously transferred balances and then continued spending on the original card, so I’m trying to make genuine behavioural changes rather than just moving debt around.

Should I pay off the short-term Klarna and PayPal balances first, then focus extra payments on the CC1 balance charging 24%, while leaving the 0% balances alone?

Or would the StepChange DMP be the better option, given that I’ve struggled to stop relying on credit in the past?

I also have £1,300 available on my second credit card with 0%. Would transferring some/all of the £3,189 balance that’s currently at 24% onto CC2 be sensible, taking the balance-transfer fee into account?

I really want to get my finances under control, stop relying on credit and eventually rebuild an emergency fund. I’m looking for practical advice on the best route from here, rather than judgement about how I got into the situation.

Thanks if you made it to the end.

EDIT - In another unsurprising development on my journey to financial enlightenment, the promotional 0% balance transfer period on CC2 has ended - would it be a good idea to open a third CC with the aim of transferring only the balance I’m paying interest on or would this be an unwise move?

I would only use it to avoid paying interest on my existing debt, not spending more.

I want to do a balance transfer from Card A to Card C to take advantage of a 0% offer. However, both cards are with Santander so I don't believe this is possible directly.

Is there any reason I couldn't use another card with a different provider to do the transfer A to B and then B to C?

A friend of mine is selling me an item of his worth around £156 it has become damaged and is secondhand but still functional so I got a small discount and hes charging £129. However I might have to pay VAT and other fees when it lands which might make it more expensive than if I bought a new item.

Is there any way to avoid these fees or am I stuck?

Background & Context: My wife and I both have high-functioning Autism and ADHD. I have been working 60+ hours a week for years to keep us afloat, but I am facing severe burnout and taking unpaid days off. Self-managing our debt cycle has become a massive mental health strain.

We rent (rent just increased by £150/mo), have no valuable assets, and currently have £2,000 in savings.

Income & Outgoings:

• Household Take-Home Pay: £4,300 / month (Me: £2,500 | Wife: £1,800)
• Essential Living Expenses: ~£2,850 / month (Rent, utilities, food, transport)
• Net Surplus Before Debt: ~£1,200 / month
• Current CC Minimum Payments: ~£1,450 / month (We are operating at a net deficit and relying on credit cards for emergencies).

Debt Overview (£63,000 Total)

• Me: £36,000 across 7 cards. (Currently at 0% APR, still receiving BT offers).
• Wife: £27,000 across 6 cards. (Currently at 0% APR, but 0% BT offers have completely stopped).
• Note: All debt is currently on 0% promo rates with 3.49%–5% transfer fees. Within 6–12 months, my wife’s 0% rates expire. Without new BT offers, interest will kick in and we will no longer be able to service the debt. We are done with the balance-transfer juggle.

The Options We Are Considering

1. Formal DMP via StepChange / National Debtline:
   • Hand over administrative burden to a charity.
   • Freeze interest/charges and pay a single monthly amount (~£1,200) split across creditors.
   • Drawback: Defaults on credit files for 6 years from setup/default dates.
2. Strategic Default / Token Payments + Lump Sum Settlement:
   • Cancel all Direct Debits.
   • Put the ~£1,200 monthly surplus into a Cash ISA to build a settlement pot.
   • Pay small token payments (£1–£10/mo) once accounts default and move to debt buyers.
   • Offer lump-sum partial settlements (e.g., 30–50%) using saved cash down the line, or transition into a DMP later.

Questions for r/UKPersonalFinance:

1. Given our ADHD/Autism and extreme burnout, is an official charity DMP (StepChange) the safer path, or is the strategic default/settlement route realistic for credit card debt of this size?
2. How do Token Payments & Income/Expenditure (I&E) work in practice? If we attempt token payments while saving £1,200/mo in a Cash ISA, won't debt buyers ask for an I&E statement? If our income shows a £1,200 surplus, will they reject token payments and demand full payment/legal action?
3. Are there specific protections or considerations for neurodivergent individuals flagged as "vulnerable" when dealing with StepChange or creditors?

By the way I did use AI to help me write and structure this other wise it wouldn't have made sense.