Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_James · 21 November 2012 at 10:44AM

red_apple wrote: »

Thanks James
that would be good if i can pm you the info you need it may take me a couple of weeks to do this as i need to find out the info, like how much i spend on disabled stuff and now is quite busy

I am having to look at middle schools for my autisic son( 3 this week ) and also my daughter is in the middle of getting statemented for her difficultys at school so lots of meeting and paper chassing going on with that and if that was not enough today my brother has been taking into hospital and as i am his next of kin it meens for stuff for me to do in term of arrange his care

It would be great to get this sorted though as it dose worry me .is that ok to wait a few weeks if its not let me know Thanks very much for your kindness :T

Hello,

Given that this is causing you a lot of worry it may be better to get it sorted as soon as possible as I'm confident that you'll feel better after speaking to us. However I appreciate that it can be hard to get figures together when you are busy, so just get in touch when you can.

You don't need to PM all your details, just your reference number then I'll ask a friendly client support team member to call you back (they're all very friendly, so this won't be hard to do).

Cheers

James

StepChange_James · 21 November 2012 at 11:13AM

john10001 wrote: »

I have a lot of debts but don't want to do an IVA. I am managing to pay the minimum amount on most of my cards each month and interest on my overdrafts. There are one or two cards I have to use for payment of the odd service but it doesn't add to any debt, it just either remains static on those cards or reduces more slowly. I sometimes struggle to do the seven card trick and also pay for necessities like food & drink and also fuel to get to work and keep paying those debts off.

Things have gotten a little worse with a certain bank earlier in the year having cut off my overdraft which left me in dire straits. As a result I had to reduce the amount I had been paying on that to just barely more than what they charge in interest. They have been making demands for £500 and also full payment which is over £1200 which I simply don't have as I don't even earn that much each month and especially after other outgoings I have little to no disposable income.

This bank has ignored all my complaints, letters and replies to them on coming to an agreement on repayment and has never replied to me within the eight weeks required in law on complaints and disputes. They seem to be operating a letter factory and I am not actually sure if the different people and locations their letters are coming from are actually real people or just made up names for their template demands.

They have failed to come up with or suggest any repayment solutions and have completely ignored what I have suggested in the past which would be a similar monthly repayment to a credit card I have which is for a similar amount of debt and ironically with the same bank who use the trading name of a retailer on that credit card.

I have made a further complaint and response to their latest template letter I have received in which they are stating that if I fail to reply to the letter they will "formally demand repayment" as well as the following: 1) Withdraw banking facilities (already withdrawn afaik!) 2) The enforecement of any security given either by me or a third party (what does that mean?) and 3) Passing of my details to a credit reference agency.

I have replied to the letter and set the record straight on their numerous faults and failure to respond to my complaints and replies or even note their contents but don't know what good it will do given they cut the overdraft anyway despite knowing my situation. I believe they will completely ignore that reply as well and follow through on doing that regardless of me having replied and trying to reach agreement with them.

I am unsure what threat 2) means so if you know please let me know. I don't want anything placed on my credit file given that they have failed to prove there has ever been a minimum required monthly payment amount on my overdraft as it was a student account and has never had such an agreement in place on the account. In addition I have only ever made small payments to the account of upto £50 every four weeks max for several years. This bank has only recently at the end of 2011 started making these demands and claims "out of the blue" after the bank in question has found itself as a corporation in difficulties. The fact that I have only ever made those small payment amounts for several years which was never questioned implies otherwise. They have also failed to provide any proof of their claims.

What are my options now and what do their latest threats above mean as I am sure they will follow through with them as they have previously ignored their own statements as well as my replies and just gone ahead anyway.

In order to just get rid of this problem bank which is causing me a great deal of stress, worry and ill health, would it be possible to make a full and final settlement offer for a reduced amount (provided nothing negative is place on my credit file) or is this something that is simply not done directly with such organisations but usually only with DCA's?

Thanks for any advice and suggestions,

John

Hi John,

Thanks for posting.

Firstly, if you’ve made complaints to your bank and you’re either unhappy with their response or they haven’t responded at all, then you can escalate the complaint to the financial ombudsman. Here’s the link about how to do that: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm.

The letter that mentions the “enforcement of any security given either by me or a third party” will more than likely be a standard template letter which they send to people in various situations with different types of debts. Security refers to something this debt is secured against, like a mortgage is secured on a house.

I’ve never heard of a student overdraft that is secured against anything, so I can’t see how this point could apply to your situation. Which makes it a confusing thing for them to have included in your letter.

It is possible to agree full and final settlements with the original creditor, though it is probably easier to negotiate with debt collection companies. I’d also say that it might be hard to come to an agreement where you can settle the debt for less that the full balance without some negative information being registered on your credit rating.

If you’d like to discuss thing in more detail it might be useful for you to call our helpline on 0800 138 1111 (they’re open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 3pm on Saturdays).

Alternatively you could go through our online advice tool, Debt Remedy(http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp), which can help you to plan out your finances and talk you through options available to sort out your overdraft and any other debts you might have.

Hope this helps.

James

lilpunkkitty · 21 November 2012 at 12:02PM

Hi not sure if this is in the right place or not,
I am currently on an administration order and pay a certain amount off each month to my creditors, one company keeps hassling me and sent me a letter saying I ow them £1, so I paid the £1 and kept the reciept, after they receieved the £1, they turned around and said they made an error and that it was £1000 i owed them, can they turn around and demand the rest of the money after my account has been settled?

StepChange_James · 21 November 2012 at 12:43PM

lilpunkkitty wrote: »

Hi not sure if this is in the right place or not,
I am currently on an administration order and pay a certain amount off each month to my creditors, one company keeps hassling me and sent me a letter saying I ow them £1, so I paid the £1 and kept the reciept, after they receieved the £1, they turned around and said they made an error and that it was £1000 i owed them, can they turn around and demand the rest of the money after my account has been settled?

Hello,

You are in the right place. I've not spoken to someone doing an administration order for a while so I'm really glad you've posted (which probably makes me a bit of a loser).

Your creditors definitely shouldn't be contacting you if they've been told your're on an admin order. I'd suggest speaking to the court you're dealing with and ask them to contact this company.

As for them saying you owe £1, then you paying them that, it would depend what paperwork you received from them. If they just made a mistake on one letter and then rectified it, I would think the debt will still exist.

Do you know if a "composition order" was granted when you took out the admin order? If so then your debts should be written off three years after the order was granted. If your not sure then the court should be able to give you an answer.

All the best.

James

red_apple_3 · 21 November 2012 at 2:16PM

StepChange_James wrote: »

Hello,

Given that this is causing you a lot of worry it may be better to get it sorted as soon as possible as I'm confident that you'll feel better after speaking to us. However I appreciate that it can be hard to get figures together when you are busy, so just get in touch when you can.

You don't need to PM all your details, just your reference number then I'll ask a friendly client support team member to call you back (they're all very friendly, so this won't be hard to do).

Cheers

Thank you James

i know you are right the sooner i do it the better i will feel i might give them a ring tomorrow if i do what should i say about the cash i have saved and will they want proff of the dla awards and how long they have been awarded from and will they want backdated payments from then

The sort of things i have to pay for the kids disabiltys is dr clinics ,trips out,( as they have no social skill so have no friends so i have to entertain them by taken them out). DR appioments my daughter has to attened a clinic once a week and that 10 miles each way .clubs things like pictures ,farms special groups, ect. also extra traveling cost my petrol bill is 70 and thats not including 20 for my oh petrol per week we live in village my kids go to differnt school in diferent towns because of their disabiltys and its a round trip 35 mile twice aday and thats with out going anywhere else like there clubs. it dosnt help that my car is an old automatic and likes the taste of petrol

Is that going to be to much to put on my buget i know it very high but there is no way i can cut it down unless i home school the kids, and it is why they get the dla to pay for the cost of the extra things they need but i know my debtor wont be happy with what i pay out on petrol i can send recipt if needed

Im sorry for all the questions just worried im going to get in trouble for not declaring it in the first place why do i get myself in these situation
thankyou

lilpunkkitty · 21 November 2012 at 3:02PM

StepChange_James wrote: »

Hello,

As for them saying you owe £1, then you paying them that, it would depend what paperwork you received from them. If they just made a mistake on one letter and then rectified it, I would think the debt will still exist.

StepChange_James wrote: »

Well basically what happened the company was sending me letters for a few months not stating an amount just stating I had a debt, then I had a letterstting I owed them £1, so I rang them, they confirmed it, told me where I needed to send the postal order for £1 to, then I got a reciept back from then, then about 1 week to a week and a half later they sent me a letter stating they infct had put an incorrect amount in the letter:(

Gazzman140 · 21 November 2012 at 4:12PM

StepChange_James wrote: »

Hi Gazzman,

How long a debt is legally enforceable for varies depending on the type of debt. For unsecured debts it is six years from the date of last payment or acknowledgement of the debt (such as a letter).

The timescale is 12 years for secured debts that are left over following a shortfall from the sale of a property.

The other thing to bear in mind is that the limitations act doesn't apply for debts where a county court judgment is in place (providing the judgment wasn't obtained after the limitation period).

Sorry the answer isn't straight forward but hopefully this will give you an idea of where you stand.

Regards

James

I have just re-read the back of your letter, it also says that interest has been accrued on this loan of over £15k and this will become payable once the capital has been paid.
They also say I set up a direct debit June 2012 - which I did not.
This is getting out of control for me. Would bankruptcy be an option?
Thank you.

john10001 · 22 November 2012 at 1:32AM

HSBCtrapped wrote: »

Please can you help me I was forced to take out a managed loan with HSBC on the 10/07/2007 due to a split with a violent ex and me taking on all the debt just to get out of it.

The loan amount was for £23.500.00 and 13.3% variable. Amount owing on 1/09/2012 is still £13.326.00. The loan is over 12 years so I have 7 more years of paying £316 a month. I can't see how this can be fair , they will have had over double what I owed from me by the end.
I really don't know what to do and find it all upsetting. Is this interest rate allowed?

Please help

That doesn't seem fair at all. I would take your ex to court for half the amount.

StepChange_James · 22 November 2012 at 10:45AM

red_apple wrote: »

StepChange_James wrote: »

Hello,

Given that this is causing you a lot of worry it may be better to get it sorted as soon as possible as I'm confident that you'll feel better after speaking to us. However I appreciate that it can be hard to get figures together when you are busy, so just get in touch when you can.

You don't need to PM all your details, just your reference number then I'll ask a friendly client support team member to call you back (they're all very friendly, so this won't be hard to do).

Cheers

Thank you James

i know you are right the sooner i do it the better i will feel i might give them a ring tomorrow if i do what should i say about the cash i have saved and will they want proff of the dla awards and how long they have been awarded from and will they want backdated payments from then

The sort of things i have to pay for the kids disabiltys is dr clinics ,trips out,( as they have no social skill so have no friends so i have to entertain them by taken them out). DR appioments my daughter has to attened a clinic once a week and that 10 miles each way .clubs things like pictures ,farms special groups, ect. also extra traveling cost my petrol bill is 70 and thats not including 20 for my oh petrol per week we live in village my kids go to differnt school in diferent towns because of their disabiltys and its a round trip 35 mile twice aday and thats with out going anywhere else like there clubs. it dosnt help that my car is an old automatic and likes the taste of petrol

Is that going to be to much to put on my buget i know it very high but there is no way i can cut it down unless i home school the kids, and it is why they get the dla to pay for the cost of the extra things they need but i know my debtor wont be happy with what i pay out on petrol i can send recipt if needed

Im sorry for all the questions just worried im going to get in trouble for not declaring it in the first place why do i get myself in these situation
thankyou

Hi,

All those costs seem reasonable, and you are right when you say that DLA is given to cover these sorts of expenses.

Creditors tend to be understanding of this too, bear in mind that they wouldn't want to be accused of discriminating against the disabled.

I hope this makes you feel a bit better and perhaps might give you the confidence to get in touch.

Cheers

James

StepChange_James · 22 November 2012 at 10:51AM

Gazzman140 wrote: »

I have just re-read the back of your letter, it also says that interest has been accrued on this loan of over £15k and this will become payable once the capital has been paid.
They also say I set up a direct debit June 2012 - which I did not.
This is getting out of control for me. Would bankruptcy be an option?
Thank you.

Hi Gazzman,

I assume this letter is from your creditor, as we don't send out that sort of thing. I'd suggest getting in touch with us for in depth debt advice, then we can look at your full financial situation and give you advice about all the different options including bankruptcy.

Without knowing more it would be hard to say if bankruptcy would suit you. Generally I would only recommend it if it was unlikely that you were going to be able to clear a debt in a reasonable timescale and weren't likely to lose any significant assets (such as a house). If this matches your situation then it could be a good way to get a fresh start with your finances.

If you would like to get some advice from us the first thing to do is visit our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp) to help you find a solution to your debt problem quickly.

Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a financial statement with information on your household, employment, income, expenditure and debts. From this the service will automatically determine your options.

To help you fill in the form, it’s best to gather together information about:
• Your income
• Your expenditure
• The creditors you owe money to

You’ll receive a downloadable advice booklet providing a tailored solution for you based on your current circumstances and advice on ways you may be able to improve your situation.

If you’re not confident with computers or would like to speak to an advisor then you’re welcome to ring our Helpline on 0800 138 1111 (free including from mobiles). We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 3pm.

If you phone us it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor for immediate advice. Alternatively, we will arrange for an appointment to be booked at a time convenient for you.

All the best.

James

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