CCCS - help

jackie_w

My sis has finally gone to CCCS they have said she has to make token payments to her creditors at the moment, and they will contact her again on the 14th October. He husband has also gone to the CCCS as well (they are both separated). My sis isnt behind with any of her payments, however, her husband is behind on some of the joint debts they have (it was agreed when they separated that he would pay these every month himself, rather than give her maintenance money for their daughter).

So CCCS have said they are obviously both liable for the joint debt. They have advised my sis that she has to open a bank account with a bank that she doesnt owe any money too, and one that isnt linked to one that she owes money too. Between the both of them, they currently owe money to Abbey, Clydesdale Bank, RBS, Northern Rock, Barclays and Nationwide. She doesnt know who to open a normal current account with. She was going to use an old Alliance & Leicester bank account, but, because they are linked with Abbey she cant. Ive suggested she opens a bank account with either HSBC or First Direct. Do you think this will be okay, or is there another account she should get. Will she be able to open a basic bank account with them, or will they decline her because obviously her credit rating will be shop to pieces because her ex has defaulted on some of the joint loan payments.

The man at the CCCS said when she gets the paper work through, she has to list everyone that she owes money too. However, she said she wasnt going to list her Next Directory becasue she doesnt owe that much on that, and wants to keep it for clothes for her and her daughter :mad: :mad: . Ive told her she shouldnt do this, but, she wont listen.

Also, man at CCCS told her that she will need to list maintenance money from her ex (apparently CSA website has stated she should be entitled to £60 per week), and she will need to make sure she gets this from her ex, however, when she told her ex this, he apparently said to her "so your trying to tell me the money I thought I was saving im not, because ive got to give you £60 per week", so, I dont think she will actually get the maintenance money from him, therefore, will she really need to declare this?

I thought the CCCS would contact all her creditors for her, but, she said they dont do that, and only give her advice.

Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Jackie

Miss_Piggy_2

All sounds very confusing and a bit like chinese whispers (ie things get changed down the line).

If you enter into a debt remedy with the CCCS they provide you with a form to photocopy and send to your creditors. They then contact the creditors when you provide them with the relevant details.

Yes, she will need to open a basic bank account. I opened mine with the Natwest. Called a Step account and was simple to open. Not sure if they are affiliated with any of your sisters creditors? Also the Co-operative do simple bank accounts.

With regards to the CSA payments, yes I would imagine your sisters creditors would want your sister to pursue her ex for this money. If he isn't paying to the joint debt either then he's having a laugh.

With regards to the Next Directory - I'm afraid she is being ridiculous. If she is entering into a DMp then she has to disclose ALL her debts. And I'm not going to even GO into why she can afford Next clothes if she is seriously in debt. I shop in Primark, Tesco and Asda for my family.

Sorry if any of that sounded harsh - certainly wasn't meant to be. Hope she manages to sort things out.

Miss P
xx

HHH_2

You sister needs to be totally honest with CCCS otherwise her DMP will fail and she will be in a worse situation. Quite honestly next clothing is rather expensive and while she is sorting her debts there are plenty of places to shop for clothes at a fraction of the price, asda, primark etc. The situation with her ex seems rather complicated and she needs to talk to CCCS about this again being totally honest. She should contact her creditors ( in writing ) with a token payment even £1 and telling then she is with CCCS and giving her CCCS number. until her dmp is up and running she will get letters and phone calls threatening all sorts but this uaually stops once the payments from CCCS start.As for bank accounts try Coop cashminder there is no overdraft or cheque book but you get a visa electron which is accepted just about everywhere.it's a great bank account for those of us on dmp because you can only spend what you've got!

jackie_w

Thanks guys for your replies, I really appreciate it.

I didnt think of the co-op, are they linked to anyone? If not, I will defo tell her about them, can she open an account online?

I have said to her about Primark, Asda & Matalan for clothes, but, she wont listen:mad: :mad: . She makes me mad sometimes, shes got to have the best of everything, and im afraid thats why she has got into such a mess.

Her present current account is with Clydesdale, and she cant keep that account because, she has a £1000 overdraft which she uses every month, and she was hinting about me giving her a loan of the £1000 to pay it off. I have said to my husband that she was hinting about it, but, he said hes not prepared to help her because she doesnt seem to be helping herself, prime example Next Directory, also, we have helped her out in the past, and she still hasnt learned.

She is worried about getting her house taken off her, even though, the man at CCCS said as long as she kept paying her mortgage every month, it would be okay.

With regards to her ex paying maintenance, one of the loans that he has which is in his own name, is for a taxi, Im assuming that becasue he has contacted CCCS, he will need to include this loan into the figures, if he does this, Im not sure whether the loan company will take the car from him, therefore, he might end up losing his job, and wont be able to pay her any maintenance anyway.

I know this is all like he said she said, I have told my sister about this site, but, again, its like talking to a brick wall.
I explained to her about pigsback, Quidco, freebies board etc, but, she said she cant be bothered with all that. Ive even said if the worse came to the worse, she might need to get a part time job, but she said shes not doing that because she wont see her daughter as much. She wont even get a job at the weekend, even for a couple of months to tide her over. You might think this is a bit harsh of me saying these things, but, quite a few years ago, I was in alot of debt, and these are the things I did to help me get out of it.

Its her debt. but, Im worried sick about her, im just waiting on her actually asking me and my husband for money but, as I said, my husband wont help her out, and I will end up being the bad one with my mum.

MargB

As harsh as it sounds, I think your husband is right in not wanting to lend her any money to pay off some of her debts. I suspect you wouldn't see it again either !!!

For what its worth I think you are being an incredibly wonderful supportive sister. You have offered her all the support you can, in terms of hints and tips and directions to take in order to get her on the right road. But if she chooses not to take them, then that is her decision and one that she will have to live with. Unfortunately, she won't learn by having other people pay off her debts for her. I suspect she may just run up more debts.

As to being in your mums bad books, point out that when you had issues with debts, you and your husband knuckled down and sorted them out. Although things are better now, money isn't flush and you have to still watch every penny, otherwise you'd end up slipping back.

Hope I haven't caused any offence. I just think you are doing all you can to advise her, and she's lucky to have this advice and support from you.

shinyhead

You might want to point out to your sis that she could lose her house even though the mortgage is up to date. You might want to read the following thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1172777

CCCS sometimes don't seem to fully explain the possible consequences as they're concerned that this might tip some people 'over the edge'. If they find out about her next account then as HHH says her DMP could fail if they get to know about it.

jackie_w

Thanks Shiny,

Im not going to show her that post (hope you dont mind), im just going to try to convince her that she has to disclose the Next directory to CCCS.

I dont know if it will make any difference, there is absolutely no equity in her property at all, infact, with todays financial climate, she probably has negitive equity. She is mortgaged up to the max for her property.

Jackie

lauzjp

your sis could buy at a next outlet shop if she really insists, or just put money aside for the infamous next sales... or even buy them 'as new' on ebay! we buy many really 'good' brand clothes from charity shops and ebay - many look like they've never been worn, a few have still even had tags on.

if she doesn't declare her next account, her other creditors as well as cccs could quite easily find out about it by doing a credit check on her. then there will be trouble, all round..

unfortunately I know from experience that if you think you can manage just this one little debt - be it a catalogue, loan, whatever - it just spirals all over again. you'll be a star if you can talk her out of her beloved next account.


as for the bank accounts - most banks do have basic bank accounts now, so she should be able to find one. I need to get another one now after the hbos / lloyds thing :rolleyes:

HHH_2

as far as I know co op bank only has smile not links to anyone else. I think you can do smile on line but if she doenst get accepted forthat she should go into co op for a cashminder account. wish you were my sister!

jackie_w

Hi,

My sis has just contacted me to advise that the Co-op is linked to the Halifax, is this correct? if so, can she still open an account with them because, she has her mortgage with them, although, she plans to keep her mortgage payments up to date.

Jackie

ajaney

Hi,

As others have said, she will need to declare evrything for the DMP to work. Otherwise, she might as well not bother.

I think your husband is right - don't lend her any more money. If you really want to help, you could take a bag of shopping round once a week or something like that but don't put cash in her hand.

Print out all the responses on this thread & give them to her. It seems she is not realising the full extent of her situation. Until she is prepared to do that, there's little you can do.

I am sure there are plenty who would wish you were their sister with all you are trying to do!