Full and final settlement help thread

zeroms2024

fatbelly said:

zeroms2024 said:

Good afternoon all,

I'm new here, 45 year old in debt, and worried... if anyone could give me some advice I would be really grateful.

I am currently on a DMP with Stepchange (2 years in) after a horrific divorce, losing my home, my children and taking on alot of debt in the process, some marital and some fighting my ex wife for shared custody of my children, which I now have. The debts are around 5 years old and are all defaulted.

I have 3 creditors with Moorcroft.
MBNA 13k
Santander 6.5k
Lloyds Link 900

I also have 1 creditor with Capital Resolve 
Sainsburys 14k

The total just shy of £35k, I am currently paying £91 per month towards all of these, with a debt free date of 2055.

My partner has offered to help and has £11k that they could potentially share, where do I start please? I really can't talk to them on the phone as I end up breaking down, mentally this has ruined me.

Thanks in advance

A 30-year dmp is too long unless there really is no other strategy. I wonder if stepchange set this up before you lost the house and whether they should review it.

Do you own property now?

Have you done cca requests on these? I think that's where I'd start but you can't do them on overdraft debts or if there is already a ccj.

Theyt did set it up before I lost the house, yes. 

It was mid way through the sale of the property, where I took very little equity, the equity I did get paid some more solicitors fees.

I've not done CCA on them, how would I go about that? are there templates for this?

Only one is an overdraft, the others are 2 credit cards and a loan.

Thank you!

zeroms2024

and sorry, no, I do not own a property now, my partner does and I pay rent to her directly.

fatbelly

Well there's no downside on doing cca requests on the relevant debts, and if they can't supply, then the debt is unenforceable until they do.

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/sample-letters/information-about-your-agreement-under-consumer-credit-act/

But with 35k of debt and £91 available I think you should be looking at insolvency. If that £91 was actually <£75 then you could be looking at a DRO, which is basically a 'get out of jail free' card.

Stepchange don't do them , for political reasons, so you would have to discuss this starting with Money Wellness or Citizens Advice

sourcrates

I agree, with currently £91 available for debt repayments, that could easily be reduced, with more careful budgeting, to below £75 to get under the disposable income limit in a DRO.

Search "debt relief order" and take in as much information as you can, see if that might not be a more suitable option for you.

zeroms2024

Thanks, I guess a DRO is insolvency? it sounds silly but is there another way? I'd really like to try and stay solvent if I can. As this will affect my employment.

I'm not working in finance, but I am a company director (non shareholder).

I could afford a little more towards my debt, probably around £150 a month, if that would help? I just want a way out, it's keeping me awake at night and affects my day to day, most days. Thanks again

fatbelly

With a DRO, it's all over in a year. People come off the register then go back on.

Anyway, do the cca's and see what comes back

zeroms2024

Thanks so much again, I have prepped the letter and will send these off today..... and breathe!

ManyWays

Moorcroft typically collect debts on behalf of the lender, so it is likely that they will be able to produce the CCA agreement. 

I, too, think a DRO is likely to be your best option. 

fatbelly

Did you notice that you need to include £1? It's a bit of a faff but if you are going to lean on this section for unenforceability, then you need to comply with the legislation in the same way that the other side does.

Postal order is best, uncrossed and not made payable to anyone. Half the time they send it back and you can use it again.

Even if the cca does come back and the postal order doesn't, what have you lost? Probably less than £2. Another poster reported last week that her largest debt was now unenforceable

zeroms2024

Thanks, I've sent it all off today along with blank postal orders for £1 each, I have sent 3 envelopes, 2 of these to Moorcroft and one to Capital Resolve. 

I'm not sure a DRO will be possible, as I do have another 55-60 ish a month I could add to the DMP, my review in the middle of the year I was right on the limit of each item in my SOA, my child maitenance has gone down slightly now that I have the kids more, which is why I can afford a bit more (on paper), around £150 a month. That said, now I have them more often, it seems my disposable income has reduced! lol