Please help with Payplan - cant sleep with worry:

mcajshaw

Hi everyone.

My name is Jonathan and I am 25. I have serious financial problems as a result of compulsive gambling. 2 weeks ago I phoned Payplan and hope to be on debt management plan soon. The problem is this coming payday I have more coming out than going in, and that is because I have about £1000 going out in payday loans. I just do not know what to do. My Lloyds account is overdrawn of its limit and is incurring a £15 charge every single day and I cannot afford to pay into it. I dont know what to do about the payday loans, I phoned 3 of the 4 today and they werent interested in DMPS and I have just moved out and don't want them making phone calls to my Mum and Dads house all the time and so on. I just do not know what to do. I get paid £1300 and including payday loans, rent and so on £1700 is due out. I have to meet a loan payment with Halifax as if I dont make the 3rd payment Payplan cant help me so that is another £272.

Payplan wont be able to speak with me until Monday when I should be assigned a case officer. Do I ring Lloyds and Halifax and tell them I am with payplan and hope they stop me being charged every day. What do I do with the payday loans as they don't want to know. God I could cry! Please help.

GeorgeUK

Hi Jonathan

As you will see from my signature, you're not the only gambler on the board - there are a few of us here and there is a support thread here.

You have taken the most important step in asking for assistance and hopefully we'll be able to work out your options. The most important part though is that you don't gamble again - the money is gon so please forget about it.

Can you post up a statement of affairs (SOA). This should allow us to see your income, expenditure and debts so that we can prioritise the payments and hopefully set your mind at ease. The first thing i think you should do is to try to open a basic account with a bank you don't owe money to. This should stop them taking money from your account without your permission so you can allocate payments to your creditors.

Can i ask, are you in Scotland or England - some differences in some regulations so we can see what would be the best advice.

mcajshaw

Hi George - sorry to hear you have been bitten by the beast too. I cannot learn from it, and have lost approx £10,000 in two years. I had a phone appointment with Payplan when we went through my statement of affairs which they sent me. I am supposed to be appointed a full-time case officer on Monday. I earn approximately £1300.00 a month at the moment.

This month the following is due out of my bank accounts:
Rent £300.00
Halifax Loan £272.00
Poundstillpayday Payday Loan £453.00
Paydayexpress Payday Loan £350.00
Quickquid Payday Loan £240.00
Wonga Payday Loan £137.00

(almost £1700 going out and that is before any petrol, food, other bills etc). And that is BEFORE I make any first payment to Payplan.

Payplan say I must pay the 3rd payment to Halifax before they can deal with them. I obviously have to pay this rent, and I have charges mounting up for every single day my Lloyds TSB account is currently overdrawn (over its £2500 threshold of overdraft).

If Payplan could look after the Payday loans too I might have chance but I am not sure it is going to happen.

If you could assist me with advice or help George in any way I would most appreciate it. Jon.

GeorgeUK

If you can use the SOA calculator linked above, it will help - hopefully give you something to concentrate on over the weekend.

Are you in Scotland? Might be able to get the interest and charges stopped easier if you are. How do you pay the payday loans? Is it a direct debit - do they have your card details?

Sue-UU

Hi Jonathan and a warm welcome to the Forum! Congratulations on making this very big and wise step at coming on the board and telling everyone about it so you can move on with the help given.

Please click on the SOA link George (a great guy to help you) has given you and list everything so that we can possibly help you more that you're being helped already. How about searching for another job to try to raise the shortfall and help with all the worrying you're doing.

Is going back to your parents an option? What sort of accommodation are you in now and how much does it cost (all in) to live there? Do your parents know about your problems? The more you can talk about it to them or good friends, the better you'll feel. So long as you're wanting to beat the addiction there are plenty of lads here that have done so already and are thrilled with their new lives/selves.

One other suggestion for now Jon. If you feel you could cry then please, give into it and release yourself of all that pent-up emotion, fear and worry, but just remember that worrying about it all so much really won't help you. Whenever you get worried take really deep breaths and keep on doing so as that alone has an amazing affect on us all at times of real worry. At the same time as you're breathing deeply, cast your mind back to some beautiful memories you have stored away and keep re-living them, anything to keep you mind free of the money problems.

Remember one thing Jon, you're so very young and once you can get enough to pay back your debts, and have done so, you'll still have plenty of life left ahead of you and that some day in the future this will all be a nasty, distant memory.

Keep looking ahead to a good future Jon and though it doesn't feel like it now - it WILL come soon enough! All the very best.

Sue

10past6

mcajshaw wrote: »

God I could cry! Please help.

Hi Jonathan :hello:

Welcome to the forum, we’re all here to help, take a deep breath and take it step by step.

This is what I would do right now to elevate the stress / pressure you’re under.

CANCEL ALL STANDING ORDERS / DIRECT DEBIT you have with any creditors, do that today (Saturday)

Fill in the relevant details in the following letter, and send it off to the credit companies you are due to pay, including a postal order of £1.00 attached to each letter:

Creditors Name
Creditors Address

Your Address

Date

Dear Sir/Madam

Re:− Account / Reference Number XXXXXXX

I would like to inform you that I am having difficulties raising the monthly repayment of £XXX due to over commitment within my finances.

I am seeking help from [ENTER DEBT CHARITY NAME] and intend to shortly produce a statement of affairs / repayment plan.

Please find enclosed a postal order to the value of £1.00 as a token payment whilst my fianc!s are being assessed.

While I seek advice, can I ask you to suspend enforcement action on this account for at least 28 days, and also charges and interest?

From the information I’ve witnessed, I am aware that you have a good reputation for going beyond the Banking Codes minimum requirements to deal sympathetically with individuals in trouble.

Can you also send me any policy documents / information leaflets etc you produce for someone in my circumstances?

Yours faithfully

(type your name don't sign)

Now, do it today if possible, or on Monday, but do it as a matter of urgency, open a new bank account, PayPlan will ask you to do this, make sure the new bank account has no connections with any of your finances, for example, if you have a current account with Nat West, and a loan with Lloyds, don’t open a current account with Lloyds.

Once that new account is up and running, you can set your PRIORITY debts to come out of it / community charge / rent / mortgage etc., etc.,

Try and comply with the above at your earliest opportunity, you will feel less pressurised once you can get your finances into some kind of order, and taken the advice from PayPlan on Monday.

Good luck, and continue to post, we're all in the same boat

10past6

mcajshaw wrote: »

Do I ring Lloyds and Halifax and tell them I am with payplan and hope they stop me being charged every day

I’ve deliberately created a separate reply so you have time to digest my post above.

No, DON’T UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PHONE ANY CREDITOR, the people you speak to will be in a call centre, they have no authority to act on your account, or, to put your mind at ease, eventually, your debt will spin round within various departments in each financial organization, eventually, you’re debt will be so dizzy due to all the spinning around chances are it’ll be sold on to a DCA :rotfl: :rotfl:

mcajshaw wrote: »

What do I do with the payday loans as they don't want to know

If you don’t have the funds, you don’t have the funds, its called tuff.

Many creditors state they won’t accept a payment plan, or refuse to negotiate to a reduced payment, ha, fools, what you don’t have they, can’t take!!
You need to think of your debts in a different light, yes, you’ve got into a mess, but it’s no good at this stage making yourself ill, and allowing the creditors to add to that stress.

Each creditor wants there slice of the cake, it’s so sad, but sometime they have to settle for crumbs whether they like it or not, if you don’t have what they want, it’s not open to negotiation on there par.

This is what you need to keep in the forefront of your mind, there are laws in place to protect you, the consumer, and sometimes creditors need a little reminder of that legislation.

Many, many members on this forum have been in your position, myself included, it’s only with research, advice / guidance and the loyalty of the members of this site that I’ve become knowledgeable in my rights.

It’s only by using legislation laid down to protect us the consumer, that I’ve successfully sent the nasty creditors who’ve tried to stress / pressure me /make my life difficult, that I’ve successfully sent them back under the slab they came out of

halight

Hi mate,

Try to look to the furcher mate. Im 28 and got into debt in y arly 20s. Like you at one point i had a lot more going out than coming in. Abd a very big overdraft with lloyds that was over it limit. I started a debt mangment plan 5 years ago and its taken a long time but the end is in sight iv only got ten months left now. Iv also been able to get some savings behind me.
Lokk to the furcher mate. not the past brfore you know it all your debt will be under control you will be makeing payments to them evry month on time and you will have money in your poctet again!!!!!!
When you have got your debt under controll and you have sortedd your self out a bit if you can try and put some money away into savings even if its only £2 a week it will soon add up and you will start to feel better about yourself and about whats happend.
Good luck mate and all the best

mcajshaw

Thanks for the replies. I am currently at work at the moment but I will complete George’s S.O.A later when I am at home and get a few more minutes to myself. I am due to be assigned a permanent case officer on Monday with Payplan. I decided to phone Payplan a short while ago during my lunch hour. The lady said it would not be a bad idea to phone Lloyds TBS (my account is over the overdraft limit) and let them know I was now with Payplan and to give them my client reference number.

Whether it was the correct thing to do or not, I did phone Lloyds and got talking to a very sympathetic lady who took my details and will relay them to the department required and to my local branch in Bedfordshire. I felt better for it (at least it felt like it was not so much of a secret – even if only to one creditor). I am beyond my allowed overdraft limit with Lloyds so at least they are now aware. Still not sure what to do about the payday loans though.

I managed to open a basic cash card bank account with Barclays last week. I was offered the chance to have a ‘Connect’ card with it, but decided not to as I do not want any opportunity to gamble with a card online. However I do have one concern with the Barclays cash card account. I am getting conflicting answers about whether I can make standing orders from the account. I am sure the website says that I can, but when I was on the phone the lady thought I could only do direct-debits. Obviously I will need a standing order facility for my rent and payment to Payplan and so on.

Could anyone answer this for me or give me any further advice? Keep the replies coming!

Jon.

mcajshaw

Did I do the wrong thing talking to Lloyds do you think? Any advice on my situation please?

petrafyde

Hi Jon,

I just want to say that I admire the way you're facing up to this and dealing with it. I can't speak about your Lloyds question because I'm new myself, all I've seen other posters say is that it's best to keep all contact down to letters (there are templates all over this site) to help you. I'm sure someone will come along soon though and help. Good luck