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Mama_2

SOrry it was an unregulated loan I had, not regulated as stated above.

CCCS_Amanda

rippedoffandmad wrote: »

my husband is in full time employment as a class 1 driver and normally earns £2'200 every 4 weeks. but 4 weeks ago he came home with a severe headache and blurred vision after 4 days he woke up blind in one eye and we all went into panic mode he has been seen and scanned and tested and thankfully its just an inflamed optic nerve...however not being with his present employer for a full 12mths he s not entitled to sick pay.thus we have scraped theough paying this months rent and direct debits and have extended our overdraft by £450 to cover £4.94 left day b4 payday. work have paid him £545... we have no credit cards and maxed overdraft and no savings and it looks like we have no way of meeting our rent next month let alone the rest of outgoings including our new energy bill of £560 for last qtr.
we normally pay by dd but they were hiking our mthly payment to £220. and so i cancelled it and was paying by card a payment every mth. also we ow a months council tax of 172.56 due immeadiately. we normally cope with our financial situation with no bank charges but now i am at the very bottom of a deep hole and need some guidance. ps i do not work as i have fibromyalgia and recieve incapacity benefit of £200 a fortnight. please helpful advice only

Hi rippedoffandmad,

Ok – I am going to make an assumption and you will have to correct me if I am wrong. I am assuming that your husband is receiving Statutory Sick Pay even though he is not entitled to company sick pay.

The first thing that I would advise you to do is to contact your local authority regarding housing benefit and council tax benefit. These benefits can be backdated, but not for long, so you need to contact them as soon as possible. Hopefully then you will be able to keep up to date with your rent and council tax.

Secondly, you could have a benefit check done to see if there are any other benefits that you are entitled to. Specially if you have children then you could be entitled to Income support.

And third, you will need to really prioritise who gets the limited moneyyou do have. The first ones to get paid should always be your priority bills (Gas, Electric, travel, food, TV Licence, etc. Any unsecured credit should just get a token payment of say £1 until your circumstances change. You can either write to them or call them and explain what has happened. They may not like it but your husband has not made a choice to be ill.

If you would like some more advice you can contact our helpline on 0800 138 1111. We would also be able to help you with a benefit check.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
CCCS_Amanda

CCCS_Amanda

Jolly2009 wrote: »

Hello,

Could you please advise whether or not dla mobility and care is taken into consideration for a budget? I am currently trying to set up a dmp for my mum.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Jolly2009,

We usually include DLA in with your income. As DLA is designed to give financial support to people who need help looking after themselves, we would then offset the DLA on the budget with any special health requirements.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
CCCS_Amanda

CCCS_Amanda

barge wrote: »

Lloyds TSB rang Collections Centre rang yesterday to speak to my husband about his o/s credit card bill that was due for payment on 20/2/09. I advised them that he was unavailable I am his wife and have authority on his account and they can deal with me. They said no they must speak to him. I said not a lot of chance works varying hours. I also enquire if they were the Collections Centre he said I am unable to divulge that. I then advised him that we have just entered into a Debt Management Plan with the CCCS and they will hear from them very soon. I said they would then need to communicate via the CCCS. He said he will still need to speak to my husband and will call again. I told him not to bother as we will not deal with the call and have a right to request that they withdraw our number from thier records. I have today checked my Lloyds TSB account snd they have just taken £295.00 out of our joint account and paid my husband credit card bill. Are they allowed to do this? What can I do about it please if anything? We have opended a new Bank account but didn't have sufficient time to have our monthly salaries paid in or direct debitd taken out. I was getting it all sorted next week.

Hi barge,
When debtors owe money, including overdrafts, to the same bank where they have their income paid into there is a risk of the bank taking money without their consent.

A bank can use their “right of offset” to take money from one account to pay a debt on a different account with the same company. This includes credit cards.

Once they have the money you are limited to what you can do to get the funds back. You can try asking them for the money back because it will cause severe financial hardship (ie. if they take the money saying that you will be unable to pay your ‘priority bills’).

Lloyds are likely to continue to carry on taking money to cover the debt so I would strongly suggest you move your bank account as soon as possible.

If you have funds going into the account before you are able to change it you can think about exercising the "First Right of Appropriation". This is where the account holder has the right to earmark funds paid into the account for specific purposes (ie. Rent, food, gas, electric, travel…). I have attached a template letter to help you if need be.

Example letter – first right of appropriation

From:
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Date:

CCCS Client No:

To:
Creditor’s Name:
Account/Agreement No:

Dear Sir/Madam
Account Number: First Right of Appropriation
A payment of £(amount) will be paid into the above account on this date (date). The account is currently overdrawn; however I need the money to meet my living expenses, utilities and rent payments over the next week.
I am writing to give notice that I intend to use my ‘first right of appropriation’ to earmark the £(amount) for this purpose and will withdraw the sum of £(amount) on this date (date) in order to do so.
I will contact you separately to make arrangements to repay my accounts which remain with you.

Yours faithfully
(Signature)
(Print name)

I hope this helps.

Regards,
CCCS_Amanda

CCCS_Amanda

jennie65 wrote: »

i entered my details on the cccs debt remedy and it advised bankruptcy, which i already thought would be the case, my only concern is that I work and get tax credits and housing benefit, so will need a bank account and it seems as if that is going to be difficult to get. I am only having to go bankrupt as for the third year running I have recieived a payrise from my employer and tax credits and housing benefit have deducted double what my pay rise amounted to:mad: . I managed the first year, the second I had to start using my credit card to buy gorceries and now I dont see myself getting through another year. Ive done my share of wallowing and now i need to do something about it, but how difficult is it really to get an account

Hi jennie65,

It definitely is not impossible to open a bank account when you have been declared bankrupt. Each individual bank has their own ‘rules’ about who they will offer an account to. The link that I have attached will give you more information on accounts.

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/bank_accounts.pdf

I hope this helps.

Regards,
CCCS_Amanda

CCCS_Amanda

CornishMaid wrote: »

We had our LMB in Feb regarding our £37000 unsecured debts - had previously been just about managing by juggling debts - getting cash advances and doing transfers from credit cards and not paying the mortgage. Anyway we have finally got our priorities straight and have reached an agreement with mortgage compnay and as of today are up to date with mortgage for the first time in 2 years ! (arrears will be capitalised as long as we maintain monthly payments) :j

The point is that I am trying to do a self-administered DMP for the unsecured loans and credit cards. Some creditors have been fine with the budget I sent but others have requested that they will not accept reduced payments unless I go through a third party such as the CCCS. I have tried this but it is difficult as I cannot provide the extensive breakdown of finance that the CCCS require (due to complicated employment situation of husband) - subsequently my offers of payment would be much less through the CCCS than they would be from the self-administered plan.

Can anyone advise me whether creditors have the legal right to insist that you negotiate through a third party?

Hi CornishMaid,

It is quite common for some creditors to make life difficult if you do not do things in line with their collection policy.

I would advise you to just continue to stand your ground and pay what you have offered them on a monthly basis. If they are unhappy with the way that you are paying, they will probably issue you with a Default Notice and pass your debt to a collection agency. This will just give you another opportunity to negotiate and hopefully the new collector will accept your offer of payment.

I know that it is difficult when you are doing everything that you can but just try to be firm.

Regards,
CCCS_Amanda

minder125921

hi my husband has recently had an op on his knee, its an ongoing problem that isn't going to get better. this means that his earnings will drop considerably and i have been inverstigating the 'benefits' available to see if we can get any help.
my question is about the housing benefit, we have applied for it, but council says we cant have it because we used to own the house we live in. we sold it and rented it back in sept 2007, when i became disabled and had to stop working. they say this is government legislation? any ideas or advice would be most grateful for.

CCCS_Amanda

Kittenkirst wrote: »

Hi there, I've been a forum member for ages but thought its time asked for some advice; Im now getting my debt under control (at at 4k with bdget to clear this by Sept) the only issue is my boyfriend has a CCard with Halifax with 10.5k on it; its accruing interest oof £250 a month and at present he can only clear 300 a month; once my debt is gone we will be able to clear approx 650 a month which is ace but is there any way the bank will reduce the interest rate.

The debt is due to his very messy divorce and selling of house; i believe he had an IVA in 2005 and this is the only debt he now has. I don't think he will be able to get a lower rate card; can i balance transfer to a zero rate in my name when the original account is in his name? as we could then clear down it a lot quicker?

I know a lot of other people are in much much worse situations but it makes me very panicky and i would just like some advice if possible?

Thanks xx

Hi kittenkirst,

Well done in taking control of the debts.

The only thing that you can do is to ask his current card company if there is anyway that they can reduce the rate of interest. As you can imagine they are quite reluctant to do this.

If you want to open a card in your name and transfer the debt to your new card then you would have to ask the finance company concerned if they will do this. We would advise you to be careful when taking out a debt for someone else as the liability for the debt will rest solely with you until it is paid.

Regards,
CCCS_Amanda

CCCS_Amanda

Kandipandi wrote: »

Hi
I have been paying Asset Rocoveries for some time now and they have sent me many forms as they are reviewing my file and want an updated income and expediture sheet.

They have requested that I send copies of my payslips, mortgage statement and bank statements etc.

I am not comfortable to send these and I dont want them to see my bank statements am obliged to send them - can they not get this information from my credit file?

Also, this debt was accrued with my ex husband, do i have to give my current husband's details to them?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Kandipandi,

Usually when a collector wants a review they want you to supply them with a copy of your budget so that they can see where your money goes on a monthly basis. You are not required to give them proof of your income and expenditure. If you do not want to do this, just explain that you are uncomfortable providing pay slips etc. but will provide a revised budget.

You also do not have to provide them with any information about your current husband.

Regards,
CCCS_Amanda

CCCS_Amanda

julcan wrote: »

Am Starting A Dmp With Yourselves This Month However Barclays Have Rejected Reduced Payments Their Reasoning Is Debt Transfer(!) Can You Explain I Am Worried That This Will Be A Nightmare To Sort Out As Barclays Are The Most Unhelpful People To Deal With I Know The Payments From Cccs Will Still Be Sent However This Really Worries Me That They Are Refusing?

Also One Of The Catalouges That Have Agreed To A Dmp Payment Have Sent Me A Credit Agreement Dated 07 That I Did Not Sign Asking For It To Be Signed And Returned To Them -any Advice

Many Thanks
Julcan

Hi julcan,

The first few months of a DMP are always the hardest.

Barclays have probably passed the debt to a collector. The new collector should contact you shortly and they will want you to make an offer of payment. Just pass this information on to us and we will re-send your proposal.

You do not have to sign the new credit agreement from your catalogue - you can ignore the request.

If you have any further requests or need some more clarification you can ring client support (the number will be on your paperwork).

Regards,
CCCS_Amanda