Is StepChange the best option?

Little_Miss_Sunshine · 8 October 2016 at 3:01PM

DrWatson1 wrote: »

I owe a similar amount of money to you (around £30k) and I'm also with Stepchange.

Overall I've found them pretty good. It does what it say's on the tin, and I've certainly no complaints.

However, I take a different view to paying my debts back. Over the last two years, I've tried to pay as little as possible to my creditors, and save whatever spare money I have. I now have around 6k saved up, which not only gives me some security if I need some money urgently, but I'm also now in a position to start offering F&F settlements.

I owe up to £8k to some of my creditors, and for two years they have been getting £5 per month. The way I see it, I have a far better chance of them accepting a lowish F&F settlement if I'm paying them £5 than if they are getting £100 a month.

In my experience, paying your debts off quickly isn't about paying them as much as you can each month. It's about adopting an approach that gives you flexibility and the greatest amount of leverage in any potential future negotiation.

That is exactly our approach. We're self managed.

blisteringblue · 9 October 2016 at 11:16AM

Self managed if you want to call the shots. Looking like I'm going to have to find 2k in Jan Feb as been a bit rubbish collecting my annual mortgage payment (capital reduces annually) so we are not going without, but my creditors will. They will moan and call, but who cares. I've long since stopped worrying about my creditors, they get what I am prepared to pay.

TimeToDoIt · 9 October 2016 at 9:57PM

Keep on going. Step change are wonderful.

sash_berry · 10 October 2016 at 10:00AM

DrWatson1 wrote: »

I owe a similar amount of money to you (around £30k) and I'm also with Stepchange.

Overall I've found them pretty good. It does what it say's on the tin, and I've certainly no complaints.

However, I take a different view to paying my debts back. Over the last two years, I've tried to pay as little as possible to my creditors, and save whatever spare money I have. I now have around 6k saved up, which not only gives me some security if I need some money urgently, but I'm also now in a position to start offering F&F settlements.

I owe up to £8k to some of my creditors, and for two years they have been getting £5 per month. The way I see it, I have a far better chance of them accepting a lowish F&F settlement if I'm paying them £5 than if they are getting £100 a month.

In my experience, paying your debts off quickly isn't about paying them as much as you can each month. It's about adopting an approach that gives you flexibility and the greatest amount of leverage in any potential future negotiation.

Thank you for your reply. My partner says that he better pays it slowly without interest rather than throwing big chunk of money in 2 years to pay it off. Also banks are open to the negotiations later...

At some point I agree and understand it but want to be debt free so much

Thank you and good luck

DrWatson1 · 10 October 2016 at 10:32AM

sash_berry wrote: »

Thank you for your reply. My partner says that he better pays it slowly without interest rather than throwing big chunk of money in 2 years to pay it off. Also banks are open to the negotiations later...

At some point I agree and understand it but want to be debt free so much

Thank you and good luck

No worries, and thanks

The way I see it, if you make up some reason (hours cut, redundancy, going back to education, etc) why you have to cut payments to £50 pm (start by saying it's temporary, say 6 months, then string it out), you can save the £400 a month and in 2 years, you'll have £10k. This is more than enough to start offering F&F settlements with a reasonable chance of success.

So, you could be debt free in 2 years using this method. Obviously, the key is being disciplined enough to save the extra money - if you don't feel confident you can do that, then it's probably better to stay on your current repayment.

Good luck

sourcrates · 10 October 2016 at 12:26PM

DrWatson1 wrote: »

So, you could be debt free in 2 years using this method. Obviously, the key is being disciplined enough to save the extra money - if you don't feel confident you can do that, then it's probably better to stay on your current repayment.

Good luck

This is a good route to take, in fact its a method i`ve pushed quite a bit in the past on these forums.

You can save yourself a whole load of money doing it this way.

Making small payments encourages the lender to offload the debts quicker, once the debt collectors get a hold of them, the discount options can vary, but i have seen between 40-60% offered regularly, some even let you pay this reduced amount over time.

So i wish you good luck with it all Herr Doctor !!

NewcastlePaul · 10 October 2016 at 1:25PM

Will never be able to praise Stepchange enough

sash_berry · 10 October 2016 at 5:01PM

NewcastlePaul wrote: »

Will never be able to praise Stepchange enough

NewcastlePaul,

Wow, just Wow!
Well done!!! x

Is StepChange the best option?

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