Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

jules40

Hi all,
have hit the brick wall and realised i need to give my head a shake re my mounting debts, i am up to date with all payments but despite getting new job am really struggling and have been living off credit cards arghhh, have been on cccs website and they recommend dmp and to pay £510 a month to pay off my credit cards and loans will take me almost 7 years, massive debts of £42,000 (doesnt include mortgage) , my question is my mortgage is due to come out of 2 year fixed rate in june this year, obviously no-one will give me a new mortgage coz of debts so will my mortgage just revert to standard one? and will having a dmp cause me problems with my mortgage?

pedrothewheel

Hi, I seem to be in a catch 22 nightmare, I've done our Debt remedy online with CCCS, the advice has told us to make token payments which we have been doing, but my creditors have said that we need to make the payment through CCCS before they will stop proceedings, but I have no option to do this through CCCS, is there no other way of joining up through CCCS, and paying my debts through them... Is there a reason why I am not able to do a debt payment plan with them.

VanillaDelia

pedrothewheel wrote: »

Hi, I seem to be in a catch 22 nightmare, I've done our Debt remedy online with CCCS, the advice has told us to make token payments which we have been doing, but my creditors have said that we need to make the payment through CCCS before they will stop proceedings, but I have no option to do this through CCCS, is there no other way of joining up through CCCS, and paying my debts through them... Is there a reason why I am not able to do a debt payment plan with them.

Hi what is your total debt and what is your monthly left over that CCCS has worked out on the remedy to pay debts. Did they also give an option of Bankruptcy

sandeevie

Hi Wendy
I just have a question I need answering I set up a repayment plan with cabot to clear a debt with Vanquis but it is for a debt of £899.23 but I am sure my card was £200 limit I know it was nowhere near this amount so while reading some correspondanceon here it occured to me this must be for intrest and fines can I claim these back so they are removed from what I am paying back? if so how would I do this? any help you can give would be great
Thanks
Sandee:mad:

JABBA

Can anyone tell me if you can evoke PPI if you have been fired from your job?

CCCS_Sue

hunnybee wrote: »

My husband and I are going to apply for a DMP very soon as we have hit crisis point. Basically we are now at the point of only just making minimum payments each month but we are having to use credit cards to pay for basics such as petrol and food etc. I have heard of people being declined for DMP due to recent use on their credit cards so I'm not sure what to do.

Should we contact creditors and ask for payment holidays? I don't want to just default on a payment, but we are not going to be able to manage without them and make the minimum payment. Also we have just had some massive energy bills come in too which makes things even more stressful!

What would our best options be? I have tried to ask HSBC for a payment holiday from my loan just to get myself sorted, which to be honest a few months break from that could make a huge difference and maybe even prevent us having to do a DMP, but they basically said they don't do that (nothing like being helpful!)

The second question is that my husband has just applied for a new job which offers more money. The downside is that it does not have a company car option and he already has one with his job. We do not want to get into debt by buying a new car so if he is successful he would have my car and I would take on a lease car at work, which of course is going to affect our finances. Would it be better to wait to do this before a taking on a DMP?

I would really appreciate any help or advice!

Many thanks

Hi hunnybee and thank you for your email

I think the quicker you deal with your situation the better.

If you are already using credit cards for living and buying things like food and petrol every month then there is obviously a cash flow problem and you need to deal with it now before it gets worse.
Sit down together and do a budget showing all your income and expenditure.
Priorities such as rent/mortgage/utility bills/council tax food etc need to be paid first and kept up to date. Especially those massive energy bills!
Credits cards/loans/catalogues etc are non priorities and any surplus left after paying your priorities can be used to pay these. If you find there is a shortfall to make the minimum payments to each creditor then you need to make an appointment to speak to a counsellor who will advice on options to deal with your situation.

A DMP is not always the best option and is not always suitable for everyone.

If you would like to make an appointment the free helpline is 0800138 1111. Lines are open from 08.00 until 20.00 Monday to Friday.

Regards

CCCS_Sue

Ayaant

MSE_Wendy wrote: »

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has several counsellors answering questions in our forum. There are three ways to contact them:

1 - To ask them a question please post it below and someone will post a reply here.

2 - If you would prefer to ask a question in private you can send a private message to CCCS Private Messages, and one of the Counsellors (Matthew, Sarah, Alan, Sue or Amanda) will get back you.

3 - CCCS's Debt Remedy is an online tool where you can chat to a counsellor anonymously and ask questions as you work through a budget plan.

Hello there!

I have had a running dispute with RBS over a loan they mis-sold to me. Went to FOS and have only now received their decision, which is in my favour. RBS have been instructed to recalculate the loan amount, pay me £400 for inconviniencing me- GOOD NEWs. Bad news is that whilst my complaint was being looked at by FOS, RBS and their debt collector continued to pursue me for the amount that I complained about. They recently told me they were in the process of issuing a CCJ against me, despite me paying them an arranged amount monthly to reduce the loan. It all does not appear to be legally sound to me, and therefore am looking at legal defence against RBS, and perhaps challenge RBS that the loan is not enforceble. Seen loads of ads recently claiming that loans taken out before 2006, particularly is mis-sold can be wiped out. Any truth in that? Ideas p'se from you wise lot on this forum.

Ayaant

Hello there!

I have had a running dispute with RBS over a loan they mis-sold to me. Went to FOS and have only now received their decision, which is in my favour. RBS have been instructed to recalculate the loan amount, pay me £400 for inconviniencing me- GOOD NEWs. Bad news is that whilst my complaint was being looked at by FOS, RBS and their debt collector continued to pursue me for the amount that I complained about. They recently told me they were in the process of issuing a CCJ against me, despite me paying them an arranged amount monthly to reduce the loan. It all does not appear to be legally sound to me, and therefore am looking at legal defence against RBS, and perhaps challenge RBS that the loan is not enforceble. Seen loads of ads recently claiming that loans taken out before 2006, particularly is mis-sold can be wiped out. Any truth in that? Ideas p'se from you wise lot on this forum.

CCCS_Sue

WeeTel wrote: »

hi i am from northern ireland, i have been reading several posts on this forum, i am like everyone else, in debt and trying to reduce it.
i have thought about contacting some DMP, like payplan, in fact i had an initial contact with them last night, got a welcome email today and was going to ring them this evening, the problem is 1, i am not sure if they can help me as i am from northern ireland and 2, is this DMP likely to further affect my adverse credit rating.
i am in approx £45k worth of debt to cards & Secured loans etc,
i have a £32k mortgage.
i have a house worth minimum £100k
i earn around £15k per year after tax, and to be honest i have been tackling the debts as i can, but am now looking for the long term fix as i have just had my 1st child, i will be looking in the future to purchase a house with my partner and daughter, and therefore am unsure if a debt management plan will affect me worse than repaying the debt as i have been for the last year.
can anyone please advise me wether i am beter to continue to struggle and pay debts as well as live, to keep the already dodgy credit rating i have or am i better to surrender to to DMP.. any advise would be welcome.

Hi Weetel and thank you for your message

I note from your message that you were going to ring Payplan last night.
Have they answered your queries already?

To answer your question regarding whether you should go on a DMP this would entirely depend on your situation.
It certainly is not a good idea to struggle on trying to juggle your finances as things will only get worse.

Its difficult to give you detailed advice without knowing your full financial situation but I am sure that all your questions will be answered when you have your appointment with Payplan

If you need any further advice from ourselves, please do not hesitate to contact us
Regards
CCCS_Sue

CCCS_Amanda

pedrothewheel wrote: »

Hi, I seem to be in a catch 22 nightmare, I've done our Debt remedy online with CCCS, the advice has told us to make token payments which we have been doing, but my creditors have said that we need to make the payment through CCCS before they will stop proceedings, but I have no option to do this through CCCS, is there no other way of joining up through CCCS, and paying my debts through them... Is there a reason why I am not able to do a debt payment plan with them.

Hi pedrothewheel,

Token payments are typically £1 per month and the intention behind them is not to make a dent in the debts but make a gesture of goodwill to your creditors. The token payment basically says to your creditors that you have no available income for them at them moment, but have the intention to pay them when circumstances change.

A Debt Management Plan is a payment plan to pay your creditors in full over a reasonable period of time. With token payments you will not be clearing the debts.

If your creditors are unhappy with your token payment then there is not a lot that you can do about that. In the end they can not do anything other than a County Court Judgement (CCJ). If you have provided them with a budget, as long as your budget is reasonable, then they will be able to see that there is no real benefit to court action. With a CCJ you would offer your token payment and as long as you pay the judgement then nothing else can happen to you. You will only pay what you can afford.

Without knowing all of your financial circumstances I can’t really tell you exactly why a Debt Management Plan was not an option for you. If you want to speak to someone you can always come through for an appointment and the counsellor will be able to advise you in more detail of your options. Our helpline number is 0800 1381111 and is open from 8am.

I hope this helps.

Regards
CCCS_Amanda