Advice please

happy135

Hi

We went to the CAB two years ago and they wrote to all our creditors offering a repayment offer. Most of the debts were passed to debt companies and we are now paying them different amoounts each month. What i want to know is how long do we continue to pay these debts the minimum payment (one debt is 14k we are paying 10 pounds per month). Will we be taken to court if they keep writing for pay increases and the CAB keep writing to them saying our financial circumstances havent changed. Any advice from anyone would be great thanks.
Also im thinking of putting the kids into ch ildcare and getting a full time job, but say i earn an extra £800 a month on what i am earning now, will alll that money have to go to my creditors?

Any advice would be a help thanks

GeorgeUK

Hi happy - do you own your own house?

The way the DMP works is that you work out a budget which you can live off and anything left over from that you distribute to your creditors - each getting a % of the funds available depending on the debt owed.

If they were to take you to court, it would normally be for a CCJ. The judge would look at your income and expenditure and work out from that how much you could afford to pay to your creditors. As this is basically what you are doing now then there is not much point in them doing this.

If however you own your own house, they may try issuing a charging order which would basicall secure the debt to your property. This would mean that when you sold your house, they would then be able to get their money.

If you were to get a fulltime job, you would need to adjust the budget so that all extra costs like trave and childcare were taken in account, then anything left over from your budget would again be equally distributed to you creditors.

Have you tried requesting copies of the customer credit agreements (CCA) from the DCA's yet?

happy135

Thanks for this . yes we do own our house, and we have no intention of selling it. will these debt companies be asking for their £1 to £10 per month in 10 years time or do they get written off after a while?
We did think abut selling our house and paying off the debts, but we wouldnt have been able to buy another. I thought unless your debts were secured they would have nothing to do with the house?

RAS

Happy

Unfortunately for debts over £10000 a number of DCAs are going for forthwith judgements on CCJS, then charging orders which means the debt is secured on the house. They cannot generally force sale of the house, as long as you keep up the payments, but will take the cash when you sell.

No these debts will not be come written off, althoug the DCAs might eventually accept full and final settlements on the debt.

You need to think through the financial implications of working full-time in terms of child care costs etc, and what extra benefits (WTC) you might get, or might even lose.

The DCAs will expect to see the money that is left over going to pay off your debts, but that is to your advantage, as much as theirs. Have a look at Jacks threads for inspiration.

isgman

They, your creditors, can ask a court to place a charging order on your property, if the court do this, it, in reality turns your unsecured debt into a secured debt, so do not, if requested, sign a voluntary agreement to a charging order. It the court can see that you are making regular payment to the maximum amount you can afford, and you have several creditors, the court may not want to give one creditor an advantage in letting them have a charging order, when the rest of your creditors have unsecured amounts.
I have just been to Court to fight my case and the Judge did not give them a charging order against me, and would not increase the payments I am making, as it is the Maximum I can afford. Hope this helps. Good Luck

happy135

Thanks for the advice. Im so worried now, could just cry

GeorgeUK

It is very rare for forced sales to occur so even with a charging order (which no-one has yet tried to get and which you could try to block) you should not worry yourself. It's like waiting for the sky to fall on your head - until it happens there is nothing you can do about it.

You are already getting advice from CAB who are dealing with your DMP so you are on the right track already and are trying to sort out the debt.

It may help to post up a statement of affairs (SOA). There may be some areas we can advise savings to be made on from your expenditure. Have you been getting statements from CAB (or is another company dealing with the DMP) so you know how much you are paying to each creditor and how much is left to pay?
https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html