in debt and cant see any way out of it

myth3_16

Hi All,

I've been an avid reader of these forums for a while now and now I think it has come time for me to post.

I have a big amount of debt (nearly £31k). It was amounted due to an over expensive ex girlfriend and also I was young and had loans and Credit Cards.

I have gone with GP (gregory Penningtons) to try and sort this debt out.

I am in a DMP with them as I only have one creditor for all of my debt.

The thing is I pay £300 a month to them but dont seem to be seeing anything coming down as my creditor (halifax) does not seem to be freezing interest. On my credit card the interest per month is being added at over £200 a month so the amount that is being distributed to them is not relieving the amount on it at all.

I want to know if there is anything else I can do to eleviate the stress. I am currently off work with stress and depression and find it hard each month paying all the bills.

My other half goes to work full time as well and we can only just manage. We are due to get married in october but we still need to find £5k to pay this off.

I have tried searching for another job but have been told that I am too qualified to do jobs in my field of expertise.

Can anybody out there offer any advice to me, can I call the CCCS and discuss matters with them to see if they can bring my payments down as I know that GP charge a fee every month.

Any help or advice would be appriciated.

Regards,

Brett

poorandindenial

Hi Brett

Sorry to hear that you are going through the mill at the moment.

Definitely do call CCCS and see if they will take over the DMP, they may have a better chance of negotiating to get the interest frozen (although still not a guarantee) and also, as you rightly point out, won't charge you for the service so more of the money goes towards the debt.

Are you getting any benefits that are due to you while you are off work if you are off without full pay? If you want to post details of what incomes and outgoings you have each month we can try and help you to find areas to cut back on which might ease the stress a bit and let you lift your head above the water.

There is a Statement of Affairs calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com that can help you do this. Alternatively have a look at other people's and see what comments they have got about where they can cut back (you have probably seen this already)

All the best with sorting this all out, my final word is just to stress that your health (including mental health) is more important than the money so please make that your priority, although the two may well be linked. I don't know what field you are in but have you thought of taking your skills to another field? You may be surprised how marketable you are and how transferable your skills are (although this obviously depends on what you do)

mazlass

Hi Brett, i would phone CCCS, they are a great help, and as you say, will save you some money. I have suffered with depression over my debts. Try not to let it get you down (easier said than done i know).

There are lots of great people on here that wil be able to advice you what to do.

Good luck.

myth3_16

Here is my SOA for your perusal.

[FONT=courier new][B]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/B][/FONT]
 
[FONT=courier new][B]Monthly Income Details[/B][/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Monthly income after tax................ 780[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Partners monthly income after tax....... 1120[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Benefits................................ 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Other income............................ 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new][B]Total monthly income.................... 1900[/B][/FONT]
 
[FONT=courier new][B]Monthly Expense Details[/B][/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Mortgage................................ 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Secured loan repayments................. 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Rent.................................... 495[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Management charge (leasehold property).. 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Council tax............................. 162[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Electricity............................. 30[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Gas..................................... 30[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Oil..................................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Water rates............................. 100[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Telephone (land line)................... 15[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Mobile phone............................ 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]TV Licence.............................. 13[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Internet Services....................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Groceries etc. ......................... 120[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Clothing................................ 10[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Petrol/diesel........................... 160[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Road tax................................ 76[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Car Insurance........................... 99[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Car parking............................. 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Other travel............................ 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Childcare/nursery....................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Other child related expenses............ 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 21[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Buildings insurance..................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Contents insurance...................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Life assurance ......................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Other insurance......................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Haircuts................................ 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Entertainment........................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Holiday................................. 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Emergency fund.......................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new][B]Total monthly expenses.................. 1382[/B][/FONT]
 
[FONT=courier new][B]Assets[/B][/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Cash.................................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]House value (Gross)..................... 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Shares and bonds........................ 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Car(s).................................. 3500[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Other assets............................ 0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new][B]Total Assets............................ 3500[/B][/FONT]
 
[FONT=courier new][B]No Secured Debt[/B][/FONT]
 
[FONT=courier new][B]Unsecured Debts[/B][/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Halifax........................5000......121.......6.9[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Halifax........................3500......139.......7.9[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Halifax........................11500.....100.......19.9[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Halifax........................6250......109.......5.9[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new][B]Total unsecured debts..........26250.....469.......-  [/B][/FONT]
 
[FONT=courier new][B]Monthly Budget Summary[/B][/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Total monthly income.................... 1,900[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,382[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Available for debt repayments........... 518[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 469[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new][B]Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 49[/B][/FONT]
 
[FONT=courier new][B]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/B][/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Total assets (things you own)........... 3,500[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Total Secured debt...................... -0[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new]Total Unsecured debt.................... -26,250[/FONT]
[FONT=courier new][B]Net Assets.............................. -22,750[/B][/FONT]
 
[FONT=courier new][I]Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com. [/I][/FONT]
[FONT=courier new][I]Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/I][/FONT]

There is currently one car as I am the only one who can drive and it is vital that we have the car to get to work etc. We are only two adults with no children and we are getting married in october.

helzinky

Hi Brett,
This is my first post and like you I am at my wits end with Gregory penningtons. We have been on a DMP with gregs for 2 years, our original agreement with them was meant to end may this year, but we discovered just before christmas they seemed to have extended by 2 years may 2012. As you can imagine we were devastated, so we have spent the last few weeks doing our own number crunching. We have been paying them £595 a month for the last 2 years if we continue to do this for another 2 years we would have payed £28'560 our original debt was for £19'000. my advice to you is ditch Gregory Pennington as soon as. And as we have done check with your creditors whats been payed and if interest has been reduced, we have discovered many discrepencies from speeking to our creditors.

girlypink

Brett, i would agree with Mazlass. Call CCCS or do their online form for a better idea if you (like me) would prefer not to speak to someone over the phone. I am starting a DMP with them in February and they have been very helpful. They dont charge you anything so everything you pay will go to your creditors.
Should you need any more help, feel free to PM me or check out these forums, there is one titled Ask CCCS a question and they will help you im sure.
Good Luck

Tixy

Hi helzinky

This is actually a really old thread, Brett posted this back in August 2008.

But on to your problems with GP - I would suggest you either move to one of the free DMP providers, so that all your money goes towards debt repayments (saving you the fees GP are charging) or you could consider doing a self managed DMP, whereby you start repaying your debts directly but pay a little extra to each debt as you won't have the fee to pay.

This is the list of recommend free advisors http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2077631

mrs-unsure

hi this is my first time posting on a forum but i am unsure as to whether there is a better way to pay off my debts. I am currently with gregory pennington who i pay £22.50 to each week i owe 3 companies in total and i recently received a statement saying they pay £5 to two different companies i owe and £40.05 to another company each month and they are charging me a month £29.50 management fee and £10.45 ISP (income safeguard plan) to me it seems alot in charges? and i would rather that money be going to the people i owe.

Please someone reply as i am really unsure what to do.
thanks

gonzo127

Mrs-unsure contact CCCS and talk to them, they should hopefully be able to take over you DMP and so will save you a lot in charges and other fees

mrs-unsure

am i allowed to cancel gregory pennington i am worried that they will not allow me too.

Tixy

Hello Mrs Unsure

Well on here we recommend using one of the free DMP providers, that way all the money you pay to the provider goes towards your debts. You would probably still pay the same amount but each creditor would get a bit extra each month. (With regards to the ISP you wouldn't have that through the free provider but if you felt it necessary in your situation you could look to buy this independantly (and possibly cheaper)).

These are the recommended providers - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2077631

Another alternative is to do a self managed DMP yourself. In this you would effectively take over from gregory pennington and make the payments direct to your creditors yourself. That said this option doesn't suit everyone as then the creditors may hassle you and people sometimes find it harder to keep organised enough to do this.

I'd suggest your first option would be to talk to CCCS. They will talk you through your options and then you can decide if you would like to move over to them (you won't be committing to anything just by talking to them, and most people find them really helpful and pleasant to deal with).