not sure ive done the right thing

riquelme

hi everyone,

please can someone advise.

had a gambling problem 5 years ago, came clean told the wife and we sorted it. 5 years later the problem is back and im18,000 worse off.

result big trouble, wife doesnt know, been looking for solutions

1.IVA + BANKRUPTCY - not a chance, this will out everything and also wreck marriage + kids
2. consolidation loan - possible this will take approx 7 years at around £300 a month - this is a squeeze for me as it will wreck any plans of moving and tough questions may be asked of me as to how i owe this money


3. financial debt advise - just rang these and to be fair they put my mind at ease, they told me to set a new bank account andf stop paying cards and overdraft fees. they would do the rest i.e talk to bank and loan company and credit card firms and offer them xxx amount. the woman was lovely and sympathetic as i was at my wits end and a bit emotional

does anyone have any experience of these type of firms or any other advice

please nothing judgemental im beating myself up about this big time and yes Gamblers anon is on the cards but this is mnore of a pressing concern at the moment

thanks for any advice received

**Amy**

Hi

Im not going to comment on your relationship etc. as obviously i dont know you, so dont worry.

You are trying to sort it out, which is a good think.

Please phone CCCS (http://www.cccs.co.uk/) as they are a charity and will do exactly what that other company told you they would do (regarding your credators) but they do not charge a fee.

It might be worth phoning the National Debtline as well (http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/).

I wouldnt suggest consolidation as this is just more credit, over a longer period of time, with more interest.

I hope you get it sorted out.

x

Merlot

Firstly welcome to the board, we are not here to be be judgemental, but to help. Can you confirm to me at this moment in time, you have stopped the gambling. If you are still gambling, its going to get worse, and you are not going to win your money back, and Gamblers anon is a high priority.

Where did you get your debt advice from, please only use one of the debt charities, like CCCS, Payplan or National Debt Line, they will not charge you.

If you can post an SOA (a full list of incomings and outgoings), it would help us to help you.

I know you said you can't tell the wife, but I think you are going to find this difficult to keep from her, £18,000 is a sum of debt you can't hide for long.

Merlot.x.

riquelme

the people i spoke to were 'financial helpline.co.uk'
and i felt much better after speaking to them, it showed me a way forward that at 1st appealed, what they are saying is basically stop paying all of my debts and set up a new bank account and set up standard orders for essentials (insurance etc etc) finacial helpline will then act on my behalf and talk to all the people i owe money to and offer xx a month (and they take a cut too)
they said that after a while my debt would be passed on from the bank and the new creditors will accept lower amount. they promised that no one will come and bang on my door and my wife need not find out at this early stage although i may want to talk to her about it in time

Merlot

NO NO NO, do not use financial helpline, they will charge you. You must phone the CCCS, Payplan or National debtline today. Promise me you will phone them and not use Financial Helpline, they will charge you.

You may not get people at the door, but you are going to get phone calls from creditors despite who you use, you miss a payment and you'll get a phone call, you need to know the facts, and there is no guarantee that your creditors will accept a lower payment or freeze interest, if thats what FH told you, they are misleading you. if you really don't want your wife to find out, you need to change your phone number and go ex directory.

rayday2

The CCCS, or Payplan will do exactly the same but not take a cut out so you will pay your debt off quicker. I understand you feel much better now but in the long term you could feel a bit bitter knowing that there are services out there who do it for free with the same level of service.

I even do my own but felt relief after speaking to a company, it was when they sent the paperwork through and I went through it that I decided to go it alone.

I am not too sure about them sorting bank accounts an utility bills etc that is a lot of power you are giving to a company there I would much rather sort all that out myself.

I think you need to review not telling your wife too as you will be damaging her credit history which she may find hurtful that you didn't tell her before it happened.

Also you need to be aware that depending on your creditors it is still possible to end up with CCJs (not always but it is something you have to be realistic about)

**Amy**

Please, please, please listen to Merlot.

The debt charities (CCCS, National Debtline, Payplan) wont charge you for exactly the same service as the company you spoke to.

There is no point paying for it, if you can get the same advice and help for free.

x

riquelme

ok, i rang cccs up and they were agian very helpful (i didnt start crying this time!)

i have an appointment to speak to someone in 3 weeks (this seems too far away)

tommorrow i am going to set up an new bank account and transfer my pay into my new account

i will contact my union/ car insurance / gas/ untilities etc etc and give them my new bank account details.

i have been told by CCCS to go into my old bank and cancel any loans or standing orders that i cannot afford to pay.

i was told to expect phone calls and some nasty letters but reassured that they shouldnt speak to my wife about this.

if they do contact me i should offer them what i can afford and tell them that CCCS are supporting me through this period


im a bit concerned by ccj's though and also about it affecting my wifes credit history - although we were also assured that it wouldnt affect our ability to get a re-mortgage when we come to move house.

still a bit confused

Merlot

May I ask who said it wouldn't affect your ability to get a mortgage when you move home?

We are heading towards a recession and sub prime leading is at an all time low, anyone who is experiencing debt problems may have some problems getting a remortgage, I am not saying its going to be impossible, just harder as the missed payments from your loans etc when you stop the direct debits will show up on your credit report.

Is your mortgage currently on a fixed rate, if so when does it end? You need to pop up an SOA with the current mortgage payments and take a look at the mortgage calculator to see what your payments would be if you had to go onto a Standard variable rate, you need to be aware of the potential new mortgage payments if you cannot get a remortgage, how much is your home worth and how much is your mortgage, we have mortgage advisors on this board, and they could tell you the chance of remortgaging.

I'm not trying to frighten you, but give you the full picture, it would be wrong of me to say, everything is gonna be ok today and then you come back next week and say you can't pay your mortgage because of the higher rate.

Merlot.x.

GeorgeUK

Going on a Debt Management Plan (DMP) will have an adverse on your credit score. This will also impact on anyone else that has an account linked to you - joint account, mortgage etc.

CCCS and payplan are FREE debt charities that can set up a DMP for you. They will write to your creditors to try to get the interest and charges stopped and be able toadvise you on what your options are.

If you post up a SOA, we may be able to see any areas where savings can be made. Do you deal with most of the bills etc or does your wife?
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

As to their claim that you will not get people calling you, that is not quite true - but once you signed with them it would be too late. Creditors will possibly agree to the DMP, but will try to get you to pay as much as possible - some people 8 or 9 calls a day from creditors. You can request that they only contact you by letter but it can sometimes take a while.

cantcope

Welcome to the boards and well done for contacting cccs.

I'd like to repeat what Merlot asked earlier. have you stopped gambling? If you haven't i'm afraid it will only get worse. While you're waiting for your appointment with CCCS why not go along to a GA meeting?

Good luck, and try to post an SOA