Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

matthew_s

Hi there CCCS advisors, im wondering if you can help me, bascically i have done your online advisor thing and it has recomended i do a IVA, but under the creditors section i put (for instance) my Natwest CC and the contractual payment (this is the minimum payment each month yes?) was put in at £300 - the minimum payment is actually only £223 but i couldnt change this £300 figure,

is the £300 put in for a reason or something and why couldnt i change it ?

Thank you and hoping that you can help...........Matt

CCCS_Sarah

pjays666 wrote: »

hi, approx 2 years ago my business was the subject of an arson attack and due to some bad business decisions and being under insured had to liquidate the company last year. The company had a vehicle on finance (for which i signed as guarantor). RCI Finance would not let me take over payments so it was returned to them in august last year. Until last week i heard nothing more about this until i got a letter off RCI solicitors saying i had 7 days to pay 1700 pound or legal action would ensue. I have tried to phone them but keep getting answer phone i have left message but no call back. I tried to contact RCI direct but they would not talk to me saying the file had been passed to their solicitors. This afternoon i returned home to find County court papers on the doormat. I still have had no breakdown of costs etc is there anything i can do about this

Hello,

Thank you for your message.

You could try completing the N9B, this form is for defending the CCJ. In section 3 of the forms it does have a section where you can put forward your reasons why you are defending the claim. You could explain that you have not heard anything since the car has been returned so you have not had the opportunity to pay the debt, you may also want to add that you would like a breakdown of the debt to see if the amount is also valid.

I have attached a link to the courts website where you can find forms and guidance on this http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n9b.pdf

CCCS_Sarah

FREDTHERED wrote: »

Hi i am a new member as of today and i have a question which is worrying me. i am currently on a DMP with the CCCS and have debts totaling £22000 and i am on a fixed rate mortgage and it finishes in october this year. as i am on a DMP will this affect me getting a new deal and will i lose my house over it?

thanks

very worried newbie

Hello and welcome to the boards!

As you have been offering reduced payments this will have had some effect on your credit file i.e. arrangements in place/ default notices etc.

This does not mean that you will not get another mortgage; it just means it you will find it harder to get a better interest rate.

Closer to the time when you are looking, let the CCCS know and we would be able to point you in the direction of a broker that deals with people with all different credit scores.

Your mortgage would always be treated as a priority in your budget, so if there was a change to your payment then let us know and we will review your budget to make sure that you can still afford your payments.

Hope this helps

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

crow2121 wrote: »

Hi,

Last year things were going great for my partner and I, the beginning of the year they got even better when we found we were having our first child - due on 23/09/09.

THEN....my partner was told she is going to be made redundent in May, my work as a self-employed delivery driver has dried up, and now we are struggling to live, never mind pay our Halifax (fixed rate at 6% untill 2012), mortgage £405p/m (got house Sept 2007) and my unsecured loans of 15k (both are with Halifax). Oh, and there's the small matter of buying things for the little one on the way.

I have two bank accounts with Halifax and both are overdrawn to their limits (£100 and £500)

I have phoned the bank to take a mortgage holiday but they said I didn't meet the right criteria as it is a joint mortgage and my partner is going to be made redundant. They checked a couple of options and said the only thing they could do was to change our mortgage to an interest-only one which would make the payments £365p/m!

I then phoned the loan's helpline and the only thing they said they could do was offer me a larger personal loan of £20k which would have a monthly payment of over £400 (but he did say "it would give you £6k extra to tide you over" LOL), obviously I told him I was looking to reduce my monthly outgoings not increase them. Though he did make the £6k sound nice, stupid as i am i asked him to go for it. I wasn't supprised when he returned to the phone to say it had been refused.

Because everything seems to work on last years earnings (my partners £14000 and mine £8000) it seems we are not entitled to anything after my partner spoke to a Sure Start advisor regarding benefits. She got told that she could only apply for Job Seekers allowance when her contract had been discontinued due to redundancy. Also, due to the fact that we are homeowners, we are unable to apply for council tax benefit.

Oh and our house is worth less than we owe so i don't see selling an option?

I know there are people in worst situations than us but I just dont see a solution, please help or advise.

Hi Crow,

Your mortgage and other household bills needs to take priority over your unsecured debts, so if you have not got enough money to keep everyone happy try and make sure your household bills get paid. Do look into switching the mortgage to interest only for the moment as this will free up a little bit of cash.

With regards your unsecured creditors, these are way down the pecking order at the moment. You will need to put together a detailed budget with all you incomings and outgoings – included everything food, clothes, utilities, car running costs etc Whatever you are left with is the amount to split between your unsecured creditors.

Pay your creditors this reduced amount by standing order or payment book rather than direct debit, this is so you have control of your payments at all times, rather than them just taking the money from your account.

If you have any debts with your bank, you will need to open a new account somewhere else as again they could just dip into your account to bring that debt up to date.

I would recommend that you have a telephone appointment with ourselves as soon as possible and then we can take a look at your long term options. As your self employed you would not be able to use the online debt remedy as a counsellor would need to make sure that all your business and personal costs are separated in your budget as they use a slightly different system.

If you would like an appointment please call 0800 138 111

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

debtfreenewbie wrote: »

HI cccs: the debt is not joint, no ccj and I have made no contact.
Do I ignore the letter?

Hiya,

Sorry what was your original question? Can't find it on the thread

Sarah

CCCS_Sue

debtfreenewbie wrote: »

I cant help too much but just to tell you there is a new government payment for women 25 wks pregnant or more,its worth 190.00.

Hi debtfreenewbie

This is the new Health in Pregnancy Grant, a one off tax free payment from H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC)and is for helping towards preparing for the birth of your baby.
It is available for mums to be who are at least 25 weeks pregnant and whose babies are expected after 6th April 2009.
The one off payment of £190 does not affect tax credits or any other benefits.

Regards
CCCS_Sue

CCCS_Sarah

symikins wrote: »

hi there
have been on a dmp with yourselves for last 2 yrs lm now on benefits and can only offer a token £1 to all creditors , l spoke to one of your collegues
and he was quite blunt and said that as lm on benefits cccs could not help anymore and would cancel the plan ... no more conversation .. nothing :eek:

what do l do now ????

Hi symikins,

Sorry to hear your plan has been cancelled. When there has been a big change in circumstances i.e. your income has been reduced this sometimes means that there is not enough surplus left over for a debt management plan.

As I don’t have your full details its hard for me to advise on specifics but if it just a temp situation that your in, you would need to offer the £1 token payments until your situation improves then you would be able to have another appointment and we could look again to see if a debt management plan is an option for you.

Were you sent out letters for you to send to creditors? If not, you would be able to click on this link, and it would take you to our online debt advice facility debt remedy. At the end of Debt Remedy there will be a pack that you could use with sample letters, budgets etc

Once you have sent the letters and budgets to your creditors you would need to either make the payments by standing order or direct debit.

If you’re going to be on benefits long term then there maybe other options available to you, as £1 token payments will never get rid of the debts they are just a goodwill gesture payment. Again debt remedy would let you know what your options are at the moment.

Sarah

CCCS_Sue

beth11 wrote: »

Hello, I was wondering if someone could offer me some advice. I've been on a reduced payment scheme with the CCCS for a couple of years now. Honestly I can say it was the best thing I could have done, so thank you for all your help so far. However, I was talking to my mum this weekend and she might be able to lend me a small bi of money. So, I was wondering if it would be a good idea for me to contact the various loan/cc companies and offer a full and final settlement figure and see what they say, as it could be a good way of reducing the total amount. However, is this possible when you're already on a reduced payment scheme? Could someone let me know, as I don't want to mess things up.
Thanks ever so much!
Beth

Hi Beth and thank you for your email

So pleased to hear all is going well with your plan.

If you can offer a lump sum payment, then it is best if you contact us and we will deal with this for you and advice you what you need to do next.

You should have the number for our client support team, but if you need it, let me know and I will PM it to you.

Regards

CCCS_Sue

CCCS_Sue

No_Debt_Please wrote: »

Hi,

I'm in Scotland so not sure if you only cover England or not - thought I'd ask anyway.

We moved into a bigger house only 3 months ago thinking we could manage the higher mortgage, council tax etc but it would seem we can't - husband had hid some debt from me so I didn't realise the extent of our debt (or wouldn't have bought the bigger house with bigger mortgage). Does the fact that we have not long bought a house affect our chances of setting up a DAS? (estate agents fees, home reports & lawyers fees are so much that it would cost a lot to downsize again)

Also most of the debt is in husband's name - 3 credit cards totalling £25k plus we have a joint loan of about £12k -I'm not sure how DAS's work - could my husband apply on his own and if so could the joint loan be part of a DAS? If not would we be able to do a joint DAS?

Are DAS's similar to IVA's etc in that any additional money should be declared and paid towards the debt? I would anticipate that our incomings would increase over the period of the DAS (if we were to be successful) - would we be able to increase the amount we paid towards the debt?

Also, I've just recently fallen pregnant - would this affect us getting a DAS?

We're in a right pickle!

Many thanks

Debt Free Wannabe.

Hi No Debt Please and thank you for your email


The Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) gives you both help and the time to pay your debts. All you need is some surplus income.

Under DAS, a single regular payment is made to an approved payments distributor. If you keep to the agreed payments, your creditors cannot carry out enforcement action against you.

However, a DAR is not always the best option for everyone.

It is difficult to give you advice via email without knowing your full financial situation. Especially as your circumstances will be changing in the near future when your new baby arrives!


I suggest you ring for an appointment to speak to one of our Scottish debt counsellors about your situation. They will put together a financial statement and then give you advice on the best option for your situation.
Our free helpline number is 0800 138 1111

Regards
CCCS_Sue

CCCS_Sue

brookvanila wrote: »

Dear CCCS counsellor, please could you help me? I'm not sure what to do now.

I've got
1.credit card @24% interest rate of £2400 balance.
2.Bank draft A. of £700
3. Bank draft B. of £3000

My debit in total now is £6100

As planning my clearing debit, I found there is a late payment record affected my credit score on my credit report, but it's not a late payment, it's a bank charge for interst of £10, and the balance go beyond the credit limite of £8, though I paid it off soon after received the bank letter.

That plus a recent relocation to a new city and new job, my credit scor is only 591, which turn out to be poor,
but this is really a chip on the shoulder, as in my 4 years of credit card history, I never paid late for anything.

I looked into my credit score after rejected by Virgin Media credit card in Febuary, but there is a problem which is, when taking my details online they took my surname in wrong spelling, after received my credit score in April from Experian, I contacted Virgin explained my go beyond overdraft situation, asking if I can appeal. and also mentioned, my name was taken wrongly, they therefore corrected my details in their database, but I really don't understand why, I received another refual letter from them, with my correct name on. therefore from my credit report, the Febuary application score search disappeared, and insead there is a April, recent one.

To me, that is really a scream, as I've beening waiting for nealy three month to make another apppliction, but now this date changed, does that mean I have to wait for another three months please?

As there is a student visa rules change, I must show a loan of whole next year's living fee draftly around £7500 to extend a family memeber's student visa, I was planing to show a loan as a balance for a month for visa application, (one month balance of the loan on the account is the requirment of Home Office)and then start to pay off all the credit card, and drafts. But I'm really not sure it the date is OK now,

Currently,my salary per month is £1000
If I need this loan by 10th June, where should I start，could anybody give me some ideas pleeeeeeease? It's really urgent, and I'm feeling so stuck.


Thank you very much,everyone.

Looking forward to hearing from you

Brook

Hi Brook and thank you for your email

I have attached a link to a booklet called "Credit Explained"which explains in more detail about your credit file and what to do if you do not agree with something on it. click here
There is also lots of really good info here on mse regarding how to repair your credit reference file and how it works. click here

Hope this helps

Regards
CCCS_Sue