Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Sarah

spinningsheep wrote: »

Just had my appointment 5 mins ago with CCCS and I am so happy now, they have worked out I have enough surplus to make a resonable offer to my creditors and based on them freezing all interest, I can be debt free in 5 years and 5 months!! All I need to do now is work out the pro rata payments, hopefully i can do this on my own, if not I will go on a DMP with CCCS themselves. cheers CCCS!

Hi Spinning Sheep,

I'm glad you are happy about your appointment. You will receive a booklet following your appointment with details of everything discussed, including a formula to work out how to work out the pro-rata amounts for each creditor - but here it is anyway: [total monthly surplus] ÷ [total amount of debt outstanding] x [total amount of indivudal debt] = pro-rata monthly payment amount.

I hope that isn't too confusing, but it will all be covered in your paperwork, and obviously you can give us a call if you get stuck.

Regards

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

spoll wrote: »

Hi,

My Dad has a DMP setup by the CCCS and his fisrt payment was due by April 1st - he paid it in to the post office @ 4.30pm on April 1st but it's not showing up on his online account; my question is did he leave it too late for it to be distributed this month?

Thanks,

Steve

Hi Steve,

If you're dad made his first payment on the first then we will be able to process it this month. The payments are actually made to the creditors later in the month, so it might not show up online just yet.

Regards

Sarah

Batman2_2

Hi...
I requested a copy of a CCA from a company called Moorcroft and although they sent the document it does not look familiar and I suspect it they have copied my signiture on to some standard details they have.

I am also suspicous because they returned my £1 cheque that I enclosed as the statatory fee. Why would they not cash this?

Qu...Is there any provision in the CC act or other legistration that I could refer to that would allow me to visit there premises to have sight of the original document.

Thanks in advance.

icecube2009

I have just started out with my DMP, filled in my letter to return to CCCS & about to send the initial letters to my creditors, informing them that I am setting up a DMP (all 9 of them!!) with £1 postal oders, should I sent these by recorded delivery or just regular post?
Thanks

massivedebts

icecube2009 wrote: »

I have just started out with my DMP, filled in my letter to return to CCCS & about to send the initial letters to my creditors, informing them that I am setting up a DMP (all 9 of them!!) with £1 postal oders, should I sent these by recorded delivery or just regular post?
Thanks

Hi Ice,
Hope no-one minds me replying, I sent all mine by normal post, but I wish I'd sent recorded so that I could guarentee delivery as I still haven't heard from a couple of creditors so I'm assuming that they got it, the others did! . Depends how flush you are!:rotfl:
MD xx

debtfreeian

I'm up to my ears and looking for a solution. DMP looks like an option.

One of the issues I have is I work for a bank and two of the overdrafts I have are with them. If I moved these debts to another company that I have available credit with, will this affect the DMP. I really don't want work to know my position, or for this to also affect my job.

debtfreenewbie

We are looking to go br in august but just have two quick ones.

My are currently sending £1.00 token payments but having problems with two creditors who are charging us late fees.My husband says we should give these the payments they want but Im not sure. Dont we need to treat everyone the same?I also dont want to look bad when it comes to the OR.


I have also received a debt agency letter and I am sure the debt is more than 6 years old. I keep reading conflicting advice on this.
Do I write or not. I am not going br yet probably october so dont want to leave it til then.

Thanks..

pirates51

I received my first letter from you regarding a DMP, with the agreement and the forms to send to creditors. I have a couple of questions.

I have opened a basic bank account at lloyds TSB, but my account i have with First direct is a joint account with my wife, we asked to take my wife's name off the account, but they said we would have to close the account and i would have to open another account in my name. My wife already has a sole account, which we can move some direct debits over too, but the joint account has a overdraft which will be included in the DMP. I am wondering if the bank may get awkward about closing the account, should i tell them the reasons behind closing the joint account.
I am back at work now, but i am still waiting for a jobseekers allowance payment that i am owed, so i cannot close the account until that is payed in, and i am hoping to use that payment to reduce the overdraft a bit.

Secondly, would it be alright to start my DMP on June 1st, as there are only three more pay days left this month, and after not receiving any money for a month we need to get on top of our priority bills like council tax, electric and rent.

CCCS_Matthew

keithwill wrote: »

At present i am paying off a set ammount on my credit cards which was worked out by my local cab advisor and has been accepted by the cc companies,i have been making the repayments for 7 months and have not missed 1,,now Monument credit card via Portland house have been after me to either increase payments or repay them of which i can do neither,,they have now told me the debt is being sold on at the end of april,the questions i have is who will they sell it on to and will the people buying the debt accept the repayments that i have bein making to monument,or am i right in thinking i am going to be hassled by bald men in suits who appear and also write nasty letters.

Hi Keith,

If you have calculated exactly how much you can afford to pay your creditors then it is best to stick to that payment, rather than increase it and risk not having money for your most important costs.

If your creditor is unhappy with the offer of payment you have made they can pass your debt to a debt collection agency but they will not have any more legal power than the original creditor.

They will not be able to send a bailiff unless you have broken the terms of a County Court Judgment, so there is little chance of anyone being sent to your property. Debt Collectors occasionally send their own staff out to try and collect money on their debts, but those people do not have any legal powers and are very different to bailiffs, they will pretty much just ask for a payment and you can say no and they will go away.

It's fairly rare that Debt Collectors do send out their own staff, because it is an expensive way to collect debts. Usually they will use letter and phone calls to ask you for payments.

If the debt gets passed on, just send the new company an income and expenditure sheet and maintain your payments.

Hope this helps.

Matthew

CCCS_Matthew

smile2grin wrote: »

Hi there,
I'm very much a newcomer to MSE but am hoping to get some advice on my very overwhelming and complicated financial situation.

My partner and I got into lots of debt when we were students, but we'd really love to own our own home.

At the moment we are paying 800 pounds a month off in debt, living on 400 pounds a month for food and petrol etc, and then the rest goes on bills/rent. We have a measly 50 pounds saved with the credit union.

Our original plan was to pay off all our debts save for our student loans (4000 credit cards, 4000 overdrafts and 5000 graduate loan) and then save for a deposit for a house.

We're starting to wonder now though if it would be better to save for a deposit, and get on the property market (at least we wouldn't be paying 600 a month rent) rather than paying the debts off first.

I spoke to a man earlier at London & Country Mortgages Ltd who said we would just be able to get a 110,000 mortgage with our current level of debt...but only if we had a 10% deposit! How do I figure out the maths of how much we're paying in interest on debt versus how much we'd save by getting on the property ladder????!!!!!!!

Please advise if you can, the whole situation is just so confusing to me, and at the moment I can't see a way we'll ever own a home

many thanks for your time
Lenny x

Hi Lenny,

Thanks for posting. I think your situation is the same problem that many people are faced with at the moment and is a symptom of the global financial crisis. Mortgage lenders are currently very cautious and only willing to lend when buyers have a significant amount to put down as a deposit.

Unfortunately there are no quick fix solutions to your situation. I think your original suggestion of clearing the debts first, then saving for a deposit would be the best bet. It may take a while but you will be on a much firmer financial footing when you do take on a mortgage.

Sorry there is nothing more I can suggest, but I hope this helps a bit.

Regards

Matthew