Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

elfieb

Hello, desperately seeking some advice!!!!!

To cut a long story short, I am around £8k in debt across 4 credit cards. Im pretty certain I would qualify for a DRO, as I am unemployed at the moment, living with parents, with no assets.

My main source of worry is, I lied on a number of credit card applications. I know it was insanely stupid of me, but at the time it was a question of robbing Peter to pay Paul. I stated that I was employed when infact Im not.

What are the chances of the credit card companies taking me to court for fraud should I file for a DRO?

Also my parents are unaware of my debt, and I would prefer it to stay that way. Would they be notified of the debt relief order as I live at the same address?

Many Thanks

Flowers

Hello,

Really want get out of debt. I have lost my job, but been going for interviews and hope to start one very soon.

I have very little coming in and owe money on 3 overdrafts and 3 credit cards. I been juggling for about 3 years since I was a student, but now cant keep up with the different payment dates.

I have a bad credit rating, is there a way can combine these debts and only make a monthly payment of about £150?

Acc 1 1,500
Acc 2 2,000
Acc 3 500

CC1 2,000
CC2 1,000
CC3 200

I live at home with parents, I have worked that my monthly outgongs are £450 a month.

Any advice pls?

Thanks

CCCS_Sarah

spinningsheep wrote: »

Hi, I have just spoken with the CCCS and have been given a reference number and a call back on the 7th April, which is fine, but in the meantime, how can I pay my creditors? I have spoken to a couple of them who have quite matter of factly stated they will not accept a token payment from me at all. I feel better now that I have started on the road to finally address my debt problem, but what do I do in the meantime? One of my creditors, real personal finance, have said that although I am only 1 month in arrears (march) they will start collection proceedings which will include charged visits to my house. I have told them that they will be wasting their time as I am not discussing my account with anyone on the doorstep but they took no notice! Help, im really stressed out again!

Hi Spinningsheep

The best thing to do at the moment would be to let your creditors know you have the appointment booked, and explain you will be in touch after you have spoken with the counsellor in April. I would suggest you pay your creditors an amount you can afford this month, so there is a record you have made a payments, even if it is less than the creditors want.

Even the creditors that say they do not want a payment will usually accept the money if you send it to them. Usually creditors will give you a little bit of time to get advice and not bother you while you are waiting for an appointment, so it is disappointing that some have continued to chase you. I would make sure they know you are a client of ours and try to give them your CCCS reference number as proof. If they are still chasing you for payments I would suggest you ignore them until after your appointment.

Hope this helps.


CCCS

CCCS_Sarah

jon25new wrote: »

Hello

I am looking for advise of 2 bits of information.

I have recently found out I have a CCJ logged against me by Capital One since 03/07/06. I went to my local court today and they have provided evidence that this Judgement debt was paid on the same day. How do I go about getting the CCJ removed. (Yes I understand its nearly 3 yrs late)

Also I have a default for another amount on my file from Capital one for £997 but when calling them they tell me the debt has been passed to Bryan Carter but the only information I can find about them is they ceased trading at the begining of March. How do I get this all cleared - any help and advice would be great?

Thanks

Hi,

A CCJ would normally stay on your credit file for 6 years from the date it was added. If you paid the debt off within 28 of the date of the judgment then it should not have been entered onto your credit file. I know you say it was paid off on the same day, but I’m not sure if this was the same day the judgment was made or the judgment was entered onto your credit file.

If the CCJ has been entered onto your credit file incorrectly, because the debt was cleared within 28 days, then I would suggest showing Capital One the evidence you got from the court and asking them to update your credit file. If Capital One will not do this then you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, who’s details you can find here: http://www.ico.gov.uk/.

If your default notice relates to an outstanding debt then it would be best to speak to Bryan Carter to come to an arrangement with it, or whoever has taken over the debts owned by Bryan Carter if they are no longer trading.

Hope this helps.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

baggilou wrote: »

I have signed up to CCCS and have application for Barclays Bank Account.

I get paid next week and hoped to start the plan on the 1st of May. From what I read on here could I start the plan on 1st April and then send the letters with payments this month?

That means I would be all ready to go with bigger and better payments next month and for a change this month may have enough money to live off??

I am not sure that I can do this and obviously I need to make sure that the important DD's for water, council tax, mortgage go out of my current bank account with Lloyds before I send them their letter.

Is this something that I can legitimately do and do I have a process of calculating what sort of minimum payment I should make to show them that I am willing to get to the end of this?

Thanks, Lou

Hi Lou,

Please could you clarify what stage of our advice process you are currently going through? Have you used our online Debt Remedy service or booked in for a telephone counselling appointment? Have you received advice about what your best option will be with your creditors? With the answers to these questions it will be easier to answer your query.

If you have not yet received advice about how much to pay your creditors, then I would suggest making a token payments of an amount you feel you can afford as a temporary measure while you wait to get advice on your best long term strategy.

Regards

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

financefreak wrote: »

Hi Sarah

First time posting so not sure idf this will work but here goes!

We have started a DMP last month with Payplan. We have a total debt of 40k and are paying 296 per month. My creditors are all still levying interest and charges on my accounts so the token payment Payplan is making is a tiny drop in the ocean and my debt is still growing. I have asked them about it and they said that after a few months the creditors would be more likely to freeze the charges and interest.
So
a) Do I call the creditors and ask for this or do I rely on Payplan?
b) How long would they be likely to do this for?
c) How do I get debt free? I can just see this plan stretching ahead into the future with us never being able to clear the total debt.

Many thanks

financefreak

Hello FinanceFreak,

Obviously we don’t have a lot of information about how Payplan work, as we are a separate organisation, but Payplan should contact your creditors to request the interest and charges stop. Then it would be up to your creditors to decide if they are willing to do that.

I’m not sure how Payplan would operate, but generally DMPs are set up on the basis that they will clear your debts. If you divide £40,000 by £296 you will find out that it will take about 135 payments to clear your debts at the current rate, which would be about eleven and a bit years providing interest and charges are stopped. You can reduce this timescale by increasing your monthly payments, but this needs to only be done when you can afford higher payments.

If you are not sure about the DMP you could contact Payplan to discuss your concerns or otherwise we could offer you advice. You can get advice from us by either using our web based advice programme called debt remedy or by speaking to a debt counsellor on the phone.

Debt Remedy would assist you in completing a financial statement and you would be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your situation. Click here to go directly to Debt Remedy.

If you would prefer to talk to a debt counsellor about your situation, you can book a telephone based appointment by calling our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. It would be helpful that when you call you have details ready regarding your income, expenditure and creditors, as this can help speed up the referral process. If you have this information ready it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor if one is available, otherwise we will arrange a time that is convenient for you to be called back for an appointment.

Regards,
CCCS

manicmarcus

Hi

I recently decided things were just too much financially and contacted the CCCS. I have an appointment coming up in the next few weeks.

My wife and I are both self employed and we have been working out or income / outgoings and debts in preperation for the appointment. After all business and living expenses are taken into account, we reckon we have about £700 a month left to share amongst our creditors. They total around £50,000 secondary debt. That all seems pretty straightforward you may say, which is true. But the problem is, there is also about £12000 of priority debt in addition to the £50,000. This boils down to council tax, tax and VAT.

The council tax isnt really an issue as i believe, as long as i keep up with the monthly payments on the current year, i will be able to pay £50 a month off of the arrears. Currently, I have an arrangement in place to pay the taxman £200 a month off of the accumulated arrears for tax. The most worrying is the VAT. This is about a years worth of VAT returns which I havent filed (probably about £4,500 owed) as i didnt have the money at the time to pay them. So far, the VATman has not chased me for the debt, apart from sending final reminders, but i am worried that if I have a conversation with them, they will want £500 a month to clear it in a year, or that they will take me to court or distrain. If they want £500 a month, it leaves precious little for anyone else. I have budgetted to ensure that all future liabilities for tax and VAT are paid when due, but am worried about this backlog affecting our ability to take out a DMP. Can you advise?

Thanks

CCCS_Sue

oneday wrote: »

Hi,

I am in a debt management plan and all has been well for sometime now, This morning i received a letter from A&L telling me they were applying for a charging order on my property. I called My DMP manager and he then contacted A&L, the order is to go ahead unless i can give them an extra £125 a month, well this is not possible.

I am now worried sick, will i have to go to court, do i lose my house, will officials appear at my door to serve me papers. I am so worried i feel sick. I have not missed any of my payments since entering into the plan so this has come as a complete shock!!

Can anyone give me any advice or info.

I live in scotland so reading other posts on here i pressume it will change from a charging order to a IO but is this better or worse

Lynne

Hi Lynne and thank you for your email

I have contacted my colleague in Scotland concerning your query and she has sent the following information:-

An Inhibition Order is quite different to a charging order, the main difference is that it cannot force the home to be sold BUT if the house is sold through your choice, the creditor who has a IO will get their share of the equity, assuming there is any, BUT they will get paid only after the secured borrowings have been satisfied.
The IO lasts for 5 years, but if the debt has not been cleared in that time frame then it can be renewed.
The IO usually means that a decree will also be sought by the creditor IF they haven't already got one .

Regards
CCCS_Sue

oneday_3

CCCS_Sue wrote: »

Hi Lynne and thank you for your email

I have contacted my colleague in Scotland concerning your query and she has sent the following information:-

An Inhibition Order is quite different to a charging order, the main difference is that it cannot force the home to be sold BUT if the house is sold through your choice, the creditor who has a IO will get their share of the equity, assuming there is any, BUT they will get paid only after the secured borrowings have been satisfied.
The IO lasts for 5 years, but if the debt has not been cleared in that time frame then it can be renewed.
The IO usually means that a decree will also be sought by the creditor IF they haven't already got one .

Regards
CCCS_Sue

thanks Sue, can you tell me what is meant by a decree

Lynne

CCCS_Sue

oneday wrote: »

thanks Sue, can you tell me what is meant by a decree

Lynne

Hi Lynne

A decree is a formal court order which requires you to pay a sum of money to a creditor according to the terms of the decree (i.e. with time to pay by instalments granted by the sheriff, or within 14 days in full).
Once the decree has been granted you will receive an extract of decree confirming this.
If you adhere to the terms of the decree then no further action will be taken.
If a decree has been or becomes granted then further diligence to ensure the debt is paid is always possible, for example, wage/bank arrestment, attachment, exceptional attachment & even bankruptcy
Once a creditor has a decree against an individual for a debt this means that the debt can no longer be said to expire under the rules of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. This means the creditor usually has up to 20 years to enforce repayment of the debt.

Hope this helps


Regards
CCCS_Sue