Struggling with debt? Ask a debt adviser a question

Storm905 · 26 April 2017 at 8:36AM

Hi

This is my first post and so I am not sure if writing in right bit. My partner has debts with HMRC (self employed) and they are now looking back to 2010. He has to provide a tax return for 2010/11. He was employed and paying PAYE for some of the time and was on job seekers for some of the time. His accountant and the HMRC want proof of the job seekers. How does he get this please as we have tried ringing to no avail and don't know which email address to ask?

Thanks

Samielou92 · 26 April 2017 at 8:17PM

Hi can anyone on this thread give me some advice on setting up an IVA.

Circumstances-
I am 24 year old, with a daughter and live in a rented property.
I currently have around 23k worth of debt (credit card x2, personal loan, purchase from bensons for beds, and a cataloge, overdrafts x 2)
I am paying around £500 a month out on debt i have never missed a payment yet however i have been off work sick on reduced pay and have maxed everything out.
I am not struggling to find the money and having to borrow off family to make payments. Increasing my debt for when i return to work to about 25k.

I am looking into setting up an IVA plan to help reduce my debt. I dont want to go BC and like the idea it only affects credit for 6 years.

I was wondering can i still have a bank account. And will i be able to keep my car ( i am still paying for this through a loan someone got on my behalf) and would i still be able to apply for car insurance.

My annual salary is £21909 however i work regular bank taking me to around £33000 a year be4 tax n ni. I want to include my bank into my actual wage as i know they wil if i dont declare at begning only let me keep 10% of my over time however this is regular so would this be possible to include it as my annual income.

Any help and support is welcome.

I am going out of my mind.

Thankyou

Former_StepChange_Richard · 27 April 2017 at 9:26AM

Zeldazog wrote: »

Hi Linsi

Many thanks for your quick response.

Thanks for those helpful links, I'm generally okay, my main stress (aside from financial worries of course) is when my son has a bad episode, and aside from being a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on, there's not a lot anybody else can do for me, as they cannot solve his problems, but it's useful to have those links. I didn't know about Young Minds.

Just to clarify, the business is not in trouble, and apart from the credit card debt attached to the business current account, has no debt. Given the added complication of being sole trader, would you still advocate talking to them first, as it's all my personal debt that is the issue.

I think the other option suggested was where I contact creditors, offering a minimum payment (£1 a month) and asking that they suspend interest? I am not sure, and I am less clear as to what's involved with that; the consequences - I presume this would also seriously adverse the credit file (which isn't brilliant, because of using so much of my available credit) when payments start to fall behind?

Again, thank you so much.

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply.

I would suggest calling and speaking with a Debt Advisor to discuss your situaiton. Now that you have used our Debt Remedy tool we can look at your budget together and this will help us to give you the best advice. We can also ensure that the budget is accurate and the website has suggested the right options for you. All our contact details are here.

Just to mention, it's very likely that paying a £1 payment to your debts will have an affect on your credit file. If you pay your creditors less than the minimum contractual payments then it is likely they will issue a default notice. This would be noted on your credit file for six years.

I hope this helps and we look forward to hearing from you.

Richard.

Former_StepChange_Richard · 27 April 2017 at 9:51AM

Storm905 wrote: »

Hi

This is my first post and so I am not sure if writing in right bit. My partner has debts with HMRC (self employed) and they are now looking back to 2010. He has to provide a tax return for 2010/11. He was employed and paying PAYE for some of the time and was on job seekers for some of the time. His accountant and the HMRC want proof of the job seekers. How does he get this please as we have tried ringing to no avail and don't know which email address to ask?

Thanks

Hi there,

Welcome to the forum. We can help with this so not to worry.

I would suggest contacting your local Job Center or going there in person. They should be able to provide you with confirmation that you need.

An alternative may to contact the bank that the JSA was paid into? They should be able to provide a record of the account from that time.

I hope this helps.

Richard.

Former_StepChange_Richard · 27 April 2017 at 10:29AM

Samielou92 wrote: »

Hi can anyone on this thread give me some advice on setting up an IVA.

Circumstances-
I am 24 year old, with a daughter and live in a rented property.
I currently have around 23k worth of debt (credit card x2, personal loan, purchase from bensons for beds, and a cataloge, overdrafts x 2)
I am paying around £500 a month out on debt i have never missed a payment yet however i have been off work sick on reduced pay and have maxed everything out.
I am not struggling to find the money and having to borrow off family to make payments. Increasing my debt for when i return to work to about 25k.

I am looking into setting up an IVA plan to help reduce my debt. I dont want to go BC and like the idea it only affects credit for 6 years.

I was wondering can i still have a bank account. And will i be able to keep my car ( i am still paying for this through a loan someone got on my behalf) and would i still be able to apply for car insurance.

My annual salary is £21909 however i work regular bank taking me to around £33000 a year be4 tax n ni. I want to include my bank into my actual wage as i know they wil if i dont declare at begning only let me keep 10% of my over time however this is regular so would this be possible to include it as my annual income.

Any help and support is welcome.

I am going out of my mind.

Thankyou

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch.

Without seeing a budget for you I can't say whether an IVA is a good idea or not for you. You can build a budget with us so that we can advise you by using our Debt Remedy tool on our website here.

An IVA does not prevent you from having a bank account, however, if you have any debts with your bank they may close your account as a result of the IVA. You can apply to set up an account elsewhere as normal but applications for Current Accounts or those with overdraft facilities may be rejected. You should be able to open a basic account with any other bank though.

You can apply for car insurance whilst on an IVA.

Your car may be affected by the IVA depending its value. As an IVA is a form of insolvency, it can affect assests that you own. As you have been making payments to someone else, this arrangement may affect your creditors agreeing to an IVA proprosal and payments that you would make if its approved.

If you were to apply for an IVA you would need to declare all the income that you are currently earning. Depending on how much additional income you recieve above your basic wage, this will influence how the proposal is drawn up and what you are expected to pay. We'll be able to look into this for you once you have created your budget with us through the Debt Remedy tool.

I hope this helps and we look forward to hearing from you.

Richard

Ladyanna89 · 27 April 2017 at 10:42AM

Ok, so I need a little bit of help. I struggled for years and avoided my credit card debt. I'm now starting to get back on my feet and would like to start paying it off. The card defaulted over a year ago and the debt is now owned by Robinson Way. RW have sent me a letter to say that I owe over £7k when in fact, my CC limit was £5k. I know that this is charges however I want to know if there is a way which I can wipe them from the debt and agree a monthly payment for the £5k only? I'm keen to phone them today to sort out a plan but I don't want to end up paying more than I need to. Any help would be much appreciated?? Thanks xx

StepChange_Allen · 28 April 2017 at 10:03AM

Ladyanna89 wrote: »

Ok, so I need a little bit of help. I struggled for years and avoided my credit card debt. I'm now starting to get back on my feet and would like to start paying it off. The card defaulted over a year ago and the debt is now owned by Robinson Way. RW have sent me a letter to say that I owe over £7k when in fact, my CC limit was £5k. I know that this is charges however I want to know if there is a way which I can wipe them from the debt and agree a monthly payment for the £5k only? I'm keen to phone them today to sort out a plan but I don't want to end up paying more than I need to. Any help would be much appreciated?? Thanks xx

Hi Anna

Thanks for posting.

You can try asking for some of the charges to be refunded as there's nothing to lose, but unless any of the charges were unfair or not detailed in your credit agreement I'd say it's unlikely they'll be removed.

Credit cards do have interest rates on them like you mention so it's not uncommon for someone to borrow a certain amount but end up with a significantly higher debt in the end. The £5,000 limit you refer to is a limit on your borrowing, not on the size of what the balance can escalate to if payments aren't made.

If you'd like any help with dealing with this and any other debt you may have, you can register with us free of charge for impartial advice. Details of how to get started can be found on our website: www.stepchange.org - you can either call our Helpline or use our online Debt Remedy tool.

I hope this helps.

Allen

Katie-Jane · 29 April 2017 at 10:47PM

Hi,

Nothing major, just after a bit of advice.
My husband and I are fairly newly married and we are now desperate to pay off our debts and start saving for a mortgage.
I currently have £9k on a personal loan with a 3.6% interest rate. I also have an interest free credit card with a limit of £8000, but a balance transfer fee of 3%. I also have £1500 in a Help To Buy ISA.

I really want to pay off my loan as quickly as possible so I can properly start saving. A few people have told me to transfer my loan onto an interest free credit card. I am nervous about having such a large about of money on a credit card.

Is this the right thing to do? It would cost me £240 to transfer the £8000 to my credit card, which seems a lot but I'm paying over £500 interest on my loan anyway. Also do I use my Help To Buy ISA savings to pay a chunk of the loan off or leave it in the ISA?

Does any of this really make much difference in the grand scheme of things?! I'm just really keen to pay as much off my debts each month as possible.

Thanks in advance,

Katie

emylou · 29 April 2017 at 10:51PM

Hi,

I have recently been on the Step Change website and spoken to a advisor on the phone for some next steps however due to them not being open from now until Tuesday I presume I wondered if this would be a quicker method of communication.
Long story short, OH has 3 CC's with total debt of 14k. We can currently afford the minimum payments on them and I have looked into Snowballing so we pay the highest interest card off first. However, we are due our 2nd baby in less than 7 weeks & my maternity leave pay will be reduced to half & then basically 1/4 of what it is now. I have put some money into savings to "live on" but this was before I knew about OH's debt. So the debt remedy tool currently says we are ok but when I input my maternity pay instead of current wages it advised we take out a DMP. OH is not keen on this as he says we won't be able to get any credit or remortgage for 6years. What are the pros & cons to a DMP? Also, if we go on a DMP whilst I am on maternity leave once I return to work can we come off it or are we on it until all the debt is paid? (We also might get some money contributions from the family members who ran up the debt with my OH but I am not holding my breath about those!) Will our credit be affected for a specific time span if we go on a DMP like an IVA? We were just about to look at our mortgage rate as the fixed rate is due to end in July & if we could get a lower monthly mortgage fee that would be helpful right now but should we do that if we may have to have a DMP or would it be better to do that now anyway? I have taken the cards from him so he is not tempted to spend any more & have told him we need to be more careful with our money but not sure how much he is taking in as he is worrying about his Dad who has been in hospital for 7 months and doesn't seem to be getting much better which could cause further cost implications for us as he is the next of kin and his Dad may need to go into a care or nursing home. Anyway, I am not sure if/when that will happen at the moment so trying to focus on our current issues. Hope this makes sense.
Thanks for reading!

Emylou

OHmeOHmy · 30 April 2017 at 1:53AM

Hopefully I can receive some advice, first time on the forums so please be gentle.
My sister has been taken in to hospital with psychotic depression, she has been ill for some time, but always been very secretive and independent. Since she has been in hospital, I have been trying to look after her money etc. It has come to light that she has not paid her council tax for many years and it Is now with sheriff officers (Scotland). They also have rent arrears and she has a mobile phone debt too. Luckily no credit cards etc.
She lives in a council house and is on ESA, but because her young son stays with her and he works full time on a low income, they are not entitled to any housing benefit, although I have now managed to get a slight reduction in their council tax for this year. I would like advice on how to deal with the sheriff officers, how do I go about arranging to pay a small amount back, as it is they have nothing spare.
Thank you for reading and I hope this make sense to someone out there.
Yours hoping for a miracle!

Struggling with debt? Ask a debt adviser a question

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free