Help a student

smltl

I'm currently in my final year at university, and find myself with a heap of debt. I owe £2000 on credit cards and £100 on store cards aswell as about £4000 on overdrafts. I am at uni everyday and then work part-time at evenings so that I can pay my rent and bills. I do get a student loan for the year, but as most people who recieve this will know, it does not stretch that far. I currently have to pay £60 per month of my credit and store cards which i cannot really afford. I have just spent the last hour reading the "Sticky: A couple of debt help tips" thread which mentions two things. The first being that you can offer your creditor a full and final settlement which would be a percentage of what you owe them, and the second being if your creditor cannot produce a signed copy of a credit agreement, the debt is void.

The first question i would like to know is, how to go about offering a final settlement, and what state you have to be in to have any chance of them agreeing to it.

The second question is, I have a copy of the signed credit agreement form, from when I opened my store card 5 years ago, but if I wrote to them and they couldn't produce it would the debt be cleared (cheeky I know, but you know you would).

Any advice that anybody could offer me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Willsnarf1983

firstly being a student doesn't automatically mean being in debt and i am guessing that u have had a fairly extravagent life...why not look at the root of the problem and try sort ur expenses out so they come under the income....this may mean one less night out in a week or what ever u do but u may as wel catch it now than later.

if u want to complete a statement of Affairs that show every expense..inc stuff like petrol, presents, mags, food etc etc...everything basically and then ur average monthly income...this way the mser's on here will be able to help u cut back in places.

smltl wrote:

The second question is, I have a copy of the signed credit agreement form, from when I opened my store card 5 years ago, but if I wrote to them and they couldn't produce it would the debt be cleared (cheeky I know, but you know you would).

Thanks in advance

right some people will slate me some won't. There is no way that i wud rip a company off if a) i knew i had used the service and b) even had proof like u have so thats a vast sweeping statement...


I wish you luck and prob not what u expected as a first post in reply but other people will be here as well

Cheers

Will

skintchick

Post your ins and outs and we'll advise on where you can find some extra money to pay all this off. Best to face up to it and learn the lesson, really.

If you want inspiration - look at Ms-London!

louise1234_2

smltl wrote:

The first question i would like to know is, how to go about offering a final settlement, and what state you have to be in to have any chance of them agreeing to it.

Very unlikely they will accept one for you - you have income - student loan & part-time job, and since you are studying, you would be hopefully getting a better job in the near future. Where would you get the money from to offer a settlement?

smltl wrote:

The second question is, I have a copy of the signed credit agreement form, from when I opened my store card 5 years ago, but if I wrote to them and they couldn't produce it would the debt be cleared (cheeky I know, but you know you would).

I suspect any decent financial organisation offering credit cards keeps all their paperwork secure. In the unlikely event they can't find their copy, the debt is not legally enforcable, but they could still continue asking you for the money I suspect.

ms_london

skintchick wrote:

Post your ins and outs and we'll advise on where you can find some extra money to pay all this off. Best to face up to it and learn the lesson, really.

If you want inspiration - look at Ms-London!

You guyyyyyyss!!! My head will be so big soon that I wont be able to fit out of the door :rotfl: !!!

As Will said just because you are a student, doesnt mean you automatically have to have debt. Saying that, if you are in your final year, your debt is smaller than what most come out of Uni with.

What are your plans after Uni?? Working? Going travelling? Do you want to pay your debts off as soon as you can??

Store cards? How have these improved your getting a degree? :0) - see, it seems that these have been extravagant purchases, also with a high APR - perhaps the first items that need to be paid off.

As others have said, list your incomings & outgoings. Could you do a few more hours at your part time job? Go out a bit less?? Trying to pay your debt off doesnt just mean getting out of paying it, but you have to sacrifice your lifestyle to a certain extent & want to pay the debt off - you know it makes sense, however tough it is.

Ms_London

black-saturn

All I can say is I wish I knew about this board when I was getting out of debt. I worked out most of the things for myself though. Pay off your highest debt first (or the one with the most interest added) but still pay off the minimum payments of the others. When that debt is paid off cut the card up and cancel the card. Then move on to paying up the next one.

I also wish I had this board for praise. All I got when I paid my debt off was people slating me for ever getting in it in the first place. I got out of a £4,000 debt in 1 and a half years. Doesn't seem like much to some people but considering I'm a lone parent on £150 per week it was quite an achievement. Also half of them debt wasn't spent by me but by ex who bought a stuff online with my credit card and never paid me for it.

smltl

Thanks for all your replies

black-saturn

You could hit the thanks buttons

southernscouser

black-saturn wrote:

All I can say is I wish I knew about this board when I was getting out of debt. I worked out most of the things for myself though. Pay off your highest debt first (or the one with the most interest added) but still pay off the minimum payments of the others. When that debt is paid off cut the card up and cancel the card. Then move on to paying up the next one.

I also wish I had this board for praise. All I got when I paid my debt off was people slating me for ever getting in it in the first place. I got out of a £4,000 debt in 1 and a half years. Doesn't seem like much to some people but considering I'm a lone parent on £150 per week it was quite an achievement. Also half of them debt wasn't spent by me but by ex who bought a stuff online with my credit card and never paid me for it.

A big belated :T Black Saturn. Well done. :beer:

black-saturn

southernscouser wrote:

A big belated :T Black Saturn. Well done. :beer:

Thankyou soooooo much