Struggling with debt? Ask a debt adviser a question

Salvaticus · 22 February 2017 at 12:33PM

Hi, I had been living in a mainland European country for around 5 years and accrued a large amount of debt.

I moved back 3 years ago and started sorting out all the UK debt I had. Very proud to say that I've paid all my UK debt off, family, friends first, then bank loans, overdrafts, credit cards and finally payday loans (with the help of PayPlan!).

My question is this...

I have around £30,000 of debt left in EU - the main chunk of it being with a bank. I haven't heard from them, nor paid anything for the past 3 years.

Is there some form of ruling whereby the bank, or collection agencies can track me down and force me to pay?

Can they sell the debt on to a UK debt collection agency and have it affect my credit score?

Is there a time-limit on this debt? i.e. after a certain period of time, it's not longer valid?

Any advice or input would be really useful to hear - thanks in advance

JRL2017 · 22 February 2017 at 12:48PM

Hi,
In a real mess with unsecured debt.

Key info:
Have a joint mortgage with wife with £340k outstanding house value £600k.
Have unsecured sent of £120k
Our monthly outgoings exceed our income by £1800. Income is £5800.

My preferred solution would be to get a further advance on the mortgage of £120k to pay off all unsecured debt. This would leave us with a monthly excess of £1000 using the Cambridge BS standard variable rate, or £600 using their stressed rate of 6.24%

My questions are:
How likely is it that I would be able to secure the extra lending against our property or would any application be rejected out of hand. In my current state I would clearly not pass an affordability test but after clearing the debts I would.

Secondly, if that option fails what are my other options? I assume a DMP? If I entered a DMP how would that affect my ongoing mortgage obligations.

Additional notes - approximately half the debt is in my wife's name so presumably we'd need to do two DMPs?

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

Rm.fils · 22 February 2017 at 2:11PM

Hi, I need some advice on credit cards. I curretly have two, one is on 0% for 21 months and the other has just finished its 0% period and now the monthly repayments have shot up. On the card that has finished its 0% I have just under £4k debt and on the other I have £1000 credit left.
I have looked at other 0% balance transfer cards but it lookks like I'll only get around £1200 limit.
Should I move £1k from the expensive card (and lower the limit by £1k) on to my 0% and focus on paying this off quickly or apply for the new card?
I want to address this without harming my credit score

dotdotdot911 · 23 February 2017 at 12:21AM

Hi,

This is my first time posting, so I hope I'm doing this right. Thank you in advance for your help.

To cut a long story short, my girlfriend was a victim of domestic abuse around five years ago. The person she was with took out a lot of loans, mobile phone contracts etc in her name.

This person has since left the country, and debt collection letters are arriving almost on a monthly basis for a plethora of hitherto unknown debts in my girlfriend's name.

The domestic abuse and fraud was never reported to the police, and my girlfriend has no contact with her estranged husband.

Now, my girlfriend has accepted that these debts need to be paid, and is setting up monthly payment plans with these companies. However, we're now at the point where we're terrified at every letter arriving on our doorstep in case it is yet another demand for payment from another long forgotten debt.

We're wanting to apply for a mortgage, so we need to know if there are any other companies owed money in my partners name. Is there a way we find out categorically which companies are owed money? As soon as we've paid one debt another arrives.

Any help, advise would be immensely appreciated.

Many thanks.

Former_StepChange_Linsi · 23 February 2017 at 11:00AM

Hi there

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.

I’m sorry to hear about what’s happened. Dealing with debt can be stressful so I’m really glad you decided to get in touch.

We’ll be able to give advice about the best way to deal with this debt but if you need any additional support you can always speak to your GP or contact an organisation such as the Samaritans or Mind.

A settle offer can be made at any point. However, I can’t say whether or not an offer will be accepted as this is down to the creditor and they’ll look at offers on a case by case basis. It’s also worth bearing in mind that making an offer to one and not all of your creditors may be seen as preferential treatment.

For us to be able to give more advice about this and the best way to deal with your debts I'd recommend giving us a call. Here are our contact details.

We’ll help you create a budget to give us a better understanding of your situation before being able to provide tailored debt advice. Just to let you know our help and support is also free and confidential.

I hope this helps and we look forward to speaking to you soon.

Linsi

Vita_Brevis wrote: »

Hello, this is my first post here.

I received a court summons last week, in respect of a Nationwide credit card debt from 6 years ago (almost, but not quite statute barred, sadly). The debt has been sold to a collection agency, so it is they who are taking me to court, not Nationwide. I do not dispute the debt - I was ill, buried my head in the sand and basically did a runner from my creditors. Not proud, but what's done is done - however, the original debt of £1300 is now just over £2000 after the addition of interest and fees.

My question is this - if I offer full and final settlement of the original debt amount of £1300, how likely is it to be accepted? I don't have that money spare, but could borrow it from family if needs be. Or is it too late now it's gone to court? The stress is making me ill again, and I just really want the whole thing resolved - especially as acknowledging this debt will no doubt open the floodgates to all my other creditors taking similar action.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Former_StepChange_Linsi · 23 February 2017 at 11:09AM

Good morning

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your post.

As a UK debt advice charity we can’t give advice about what action the creditor could take in the country the debt originates from. For advice about this, you’d need to speak with an advice organisation in that country.

The creditor could sell the debt to or employ a debt collection agency in the UK to recover the outstanding balance. This would be an unsecured debt and the collection agency would have to follow the collections process here in the UK. You can find more information about this process on our website.

The creditor could also look to enforce the debt through the county court in the UK and apply for a county court judgement (CCJ). There’s more information about CCJs here on our website. If you received a CCJ this would be recorded on your credit file and the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for six years from the date of the judgement.

A UK debt collection agency could update the credit reference agencies in the UK, but I’m not sure if the original creditor would be able to do this directly. For more advice about this I’d recommend speaking to one of the credit reference agencies in the UK: Noddle, Experian or Clear Score.

The Limitation Act 1980 states how long a creditor has to begin court action in England and Wales for an unpaid debt, which is normally between 3 to 12 years depending on the type of debt.

As your debt doesn’t originate from the UK I’m not sure if this limitation period would still apply. This would be something you’d need to ask an advice organisation in the country the debt originates from.

I’m sorry I couldn’t answer all your questions but I hope you find this information helpful.

Linsi

Salvaticus wrote: »

Hi, I had been living in a mainland European country for around 5 years and accrued a large amount of debt.

I moved back 3 years ago and started sorting out all the UK debt I had. Very proud to say that I've paid all my UK debt off, family, friends first, then bank loans, overdrafts, credit cards and finally payday loans (with the help of PayPlan!).

My question is this...

I have around £30,000 of debt left in EU - the main chunk of it being with a bank. I haven't heard from them, nor paid anything for the past 3 years.

Is there some form of ruling whereby the bank, or collection agencies can track me down and force me to pay?

Can they sell the debt on to a UK debt collection agency and have it affect my credit score?

Is there a time-limit on this debt? i.e. after a certain period of time, it's not longer valid?

Any advice or input would be really useful to hear - thanks in advance

Former_StepChange_Linsi · 23 February 2017 at 1:12PM

Good afternoon,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.

Each bank or building society has their own criteria when deciding who to lend money to, so I really can’t say whether or not you’ll be able to remortgage with Cambridge Building Society.

If this is something you’d like to consider you can speak to the building society directly. You may also want to speak to our Financial Solutions Team; in some situations they may be able to give further advice about using equity to refinance your debts.

There are other ways to manage debt without using additional credit such as a DMP. If suitable, this is something you and your partner can do together and have a joint DMP.

Mortgages are always considered as priority bills so these payments would always be included in the budget and prioritised before any payments to unsecured debts in a DMP.

While a DMP can be a great solution to help manage debts, it’s not the only way. For more advice about which debt solution will be best for you and your partner I’d recommend using our online Debt Remedy tool.

The tool will help you to create a budget and you’ll then be able to access your free tailored debt advice online. Here’s the link to our Debt Remedy tool.

I hope this helps.

Linsi

JRL2017 wrote: »

Hi,
In a real mess with unsecured debt.

Key info:
Have a joint mortgage with wife with £340k outstanding house value £600k.
Have unsecured sent of £120k
Our monthly outgoings exceed our income by £1800. Income is £5800.

My preferred solution would be to get a further advance on the mortgage of £120k to pay off all unsecured debt. This would leave us with a monthly excess of £1000 using the Cambridge BS standard variable rate, or £600 using their stressed rate of 6.24%

My questions are:
How likely is it that I would be able to secure the extra lending against our property or would any application be rejected out of hand. In my current state I would clearly not pass an affordability test but after clearing the debts I would.

Secondly, if that option fails what are my other options? I assume a DMP? If I entered a DMP how would that affect my ongoing mortgage obligations.

Additional notes - approximately half the debt is in my wife's name so presumably we'd need to do two DMPs?

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

Former_StepChange_Linsi · 23 February 2017 at 1:17PM

Good afternoon,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for your post.

I can’t say which will be the better option for you, as it’s really down to your preference.

What I can say is that moving part of the balance from one credit card to your interest free credit card would reduce the amount of interest you’ll be repaying. If the balance increases on your interest free card the monthly payments will also increase. So it’s best to make sure this payment will still be affordable to ensure you keep the interest free period.

You could apply for a new interest free credit card, however it’s worth bearing in mind that applying for multiple lines of credit can have a negative effect on your credit rating.

There’s more information about balance transfer credit cards on the MSE website. There’s also a really useful article about trying to reduce interest without applying for a new credit card, which you may want to have a look before making a decision.

I hope this helps.

Linsi

Rm.fils wrote: »

Hi, I need some advice on credit cards. I curretly have two, one is on 0% for 21 months and the other has just finished its 0% period and now the monthly repayments have shot up. On the card that has finished its 0% I have just under £4k debt and on the other I have £1000 credit left.
I have looked at other 0% balance transfer cards but it lookks like I'll only get around £1200 limit.
Should I move £1k from the expensive card (and lower the limit by £1k) on to my 0% and focus on paying this off quickly or apply for the new card?
I want to address this without harming my credit score

Former_StepChange_Linsi · 23 February 2017 at 1:29PM

Hi there,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the forum.

I’m really sorry to hear about what’s happened to your girlfriend. This can’t have been easy for either of you, but you’ve done the right thing to seek advice.

Checking your girlfriend’s credit report would be a good place to start. Just to set your expectations though, creditors aren’t obliged to update the credit reference agencies, so there’s really no way to categorically find out which companies are owed money.

I’d recommend getting a credit report from all three credit reference agencies as creditors can update one but not all of the agencies. Here are the links for each credit reference agency: Noddle (Call Credit), Clear Score (Equifax) and Experian.

If you’re struggling to repay these debts or if you’d just like a bit more advice about the best way to deal with them, please visit our website or use our Debt Remedy tool.

The tool is anonymous and free to use, you can create a budget and then access your tailored advice online.

Should either yourself or your girlfriend need any additional support dealing with the effects of domestic abuse you can speak to your GP or an organisation such as the Samaritans or the National Domestic Violence Helpline.

As the debts may have been taken out fraudulently, your girlfriend may also want to contact Action Fraud for further advice.

I hope this helps.

Linsi

dotdotdot911 wrote: »

Hi,

This is my first time posting, so I hope I'm doing this right. Thank you in advance for your help.

To cut a long story short, my girlfriend was a victim of domestic abuse around five years ago. The person she was with took out a lot of loans, mobile phone contracts etc in her name.

This person has since left the country, and debt collection letters are arriving almost on a monthly basis for a plethora of hitherto unknown debts in my girlfriend's name.

The domestic abuse and fraud was never reported to the police, and my girlfriend has no contact with her estranged husband.

Now, my girlfriend has accepted that these debts need to be paid, and is setting up monthly payment plans with these companies. However, we're now at the point where we're terrified at every letter arriving on our doorstep in case it is yet another demand for payment from another long forgotten debt.

We're wanting to apply for a mortgage, so we need to know if there are any other companies owed money in my partners name. Is there a way we find out categorically which companies are owed money? As soon as we've paid one debt another arrives.

Any help, advise would be immensely appreciated.

Many thanks.

Vita_Brevis · 23 February 2017 at 2:48PM

Thanks for replying. I did speak to the CAB about my financial problems a couple of years ago in an attempt to resolve everything, and they said they couldn't help me because my partner is self-employed. They referred me to a different organisation, the name of which escapes me now - but all the forms they sent me were for self-employed people with business-related debts. My husband has no debt issues, all the problems are mine and none of the forms were relevant to me. So even when I sought advice, I hit a brick wall.

Will the fact that my partner is self-employed be a barrier to Step Change helping me? It's all so long ago now that I can't even remember who I owe money to, let alone the amounts involved. Nationwide just happen to have been the first company to catch up with me.

Struggling with debt? Ask a debt adviser a question

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