For those of you who have taken out a payday loan you will have done so because you were in a tight financial position and needed some assistance with your cashflow over the coming weeks and months. We get it, it can be hard sometimes to get through financially until your employer next pays you. What happens though if you are struggling to pay back your existing payday loan?

There could be any number of reasons why you are now struggling to make the agreed repayment terms with your payday loan lender. For some people they may have lost the job that allowed them to take out the loan in the first place (and with which they were expecting to pay back the short-term loan with the next set of wages). For others it may be that there just isn’t as much cash to go around as expected due to unforeseen bills, higher grocery costs etc. If you have a choice between paying your rent and getting food on the table, or paying back a payday loan you’ll always be likely to go for the first two.

If you have taken out a payday loan but are now worried that you might not be able to pay it back come the next set date to make a repayment, what should you do?

The first thing to do is to work out exactly what is happening and what should constitute struggling to make a payment. Only take the next steps in dealing with the issue if you think that you are definitely going to miss your next payment, if you have already missed a payment, of if you believe there is no chance that you are able to repay the entire loan over the agreed period of repayment. All lenders will be sympathetic and must provide you with guidance and links for personal debt helplines.

The next step is to approach your payday loan lender if you feel there is no way you can make the next payment, or you might struggle to pay the full amount. The modern breed of payday loan lenders are responsible in how they award applications with payday loans in the first place, and will be very thorough in how they approach each case on its individual merits. The sooner you can let the lender know your situation, the sooner they can help you sort the problems out.

In most cases there are ways in which a payday loan company can help you should you be struggling to make payments under the agreed terms. In some cases it could be that all interest is frozen for a set period of time, or that a payment holiday is instituted, both with a view to give you enough time to get back on your feet. Alternatively they might help you to put together a repackaging of the loan, with repayments starting a little further down the line, and on hold for now. There are always options, especially when dealing with responsible payday loan direct lenders.