Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Sarah

Nightroamer_uk wrote: »

Hi there,

i have recieved advice from CCCS throught the Debt Remedy and a DRO was recomended.

Unfortunatly i have a pension and also a fluctuating income so can never guarantee i will have less than 50£ disposable income.

my debts are at 12500 and my current approx disposable income is 50£

what other options do i have?

Hello,

If you have a pension worth over £300 then they would be classed as an asset on a DRO, so the application would be rejected on that basis. You may wish to consider other options that have been mentioned in your booklet.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

scruffypet wrote: »

i have been dealing withmy creditors myself by followng the info fromthe nationalebt helplne but i have a couple of creditors that just wont accept my offers and i dont know what to do next

Hello,

Just send them the money anyway as it will come of your balance. The best way of making the payments is either through standing order or direct debt. Have you only just started offering the reduced payments?

Sarah

CCCS_Amanda

samsinfield wrote: »

Hi, please can someone give me some advice

About 5 years ago i lost my job, then found out i was pregnant and couldn't afford to keep up my credit card minimum payments. I went to the CAB and they negotiated with the credit company, Cahoot, of my behalf. They froze the charges and interest and I made repayments of £1 monthly. At that time, they told me they would register a default, but didn't.
Since then, my situation has improved and I've increased my repayments to match my circumstances but it still isn't paid off. I've never missed or been late on any of the agreed payments in the last 5 years
Last year,Cahoot sold my debt to Robinson Way, who decided to register the default. I've checked my credit records and on one, Cahoot have registered the default in June last year, and with the other, Robinson Way have registered it in July last year.
If it had been registered when the original default happened, it would be off my credit record in January but now, its going to be another 5 years, and to anyone checking both credit agencies, it looks like i've got 2 defaults.
Is this allowed and is there anything I can do about it. It doesn't seem fair that they;ve left it so long to register the default after I've kept up to date with all the repayments since :-(

Hi Samsinfield,

Unfortunately, they are within their rights to register the default at any time. Most creditors will register the default when it happens but they do not have to.

I have attached a link to a booklet that will give you a lot of useful information on your credit file and the information that it holds.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/credit_explained_leaflet_2005.pdf

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Amanda

vwcampervan

hello
i have a few credit card debts with balances ranging from £900 -£4500
i heard that it was possible to offer the credit card companies 20p in the pound to settle the debts, as when they sell them on to debt collection agencies they only get 16p in the pound. is this true?

CCCS_Amanda

Tom_L wrote: »

Dear Counsellor,

I have a very typical debt worry. I lived in accommodation last year with 3 people. It was a shared house of one full time student, two part time students (one being myself) and one unemployed guy. In terms of Council Tax, the full time stu was exempt. The other part timer was unemployed the whole year along with the other unemployed fella. Now I am having arrears notices (though I've paid £400 which is more than my share), as the unemployed guy and other part time student have not paid anything. These two are also living in the house with new people. C/T still send me letters as I am on their correspondance address.

This is all third party dispute stuff I am told, but is there anything I can do? Moreover, the two unemployed guys are citing unemployment to try and get the final amount for 2007-2008 reduced. I am not sure if they were claiming c/t benefit during when I lived with them. My questions are: 1. In a third party case like this, what is likely to happen to me in terms of creditors etc.? 2. Also, how likely are they to be able to reduce the amount paid and get the bill re-evaluated? Any help much appreciated as it's doing my nut somewhat,

Thanks very much,

Tom L

Hi Tom L,

If the other people that lived in the property with you were exempt from paying council tax, for any reason, you would be liable for the full amount of the bill because you were not exempt. It is not just a share unfortunately but the whole bill.

You may be able to claim the 25% single person’s discount, but unfortunately you will be liable.

If you have a dispute then you will need to contact your council to see if they can come to an arrangement with you. If there is no dispute then you will need to agree repayment with them.

Regards,
Amanda

CCCS_Amanda

sue1958booth wrote: »

hi i was previously in a lot of debt and over the past 3 years have paid off most of it, my credit score with experian is 900 which is described as good, and my credit score with equifax is 247 described as very poor, which explains why i havent been able to get a credit card. i dont understand the huge difference in scores, can any one advise or help please?

Hi sue1958booth,

Some lenders do not record information with all the main credit reference agencies, so you may find that the information on your credit reference file at one agency differs from the information on your file at another.

The attached booklet will explain credit files and the information that they hold.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/credit_explained_leaflet_2005.pdf

Regards,
Amanda

CCCS_Amanda

Living_in_hope wrote: »

Hi there everyone,

I am brand new to the site and dont really know what I am doing but I have a big problem.

Basically I recently entered into a debt management plan after very careful consideration. Previous to entering the DMP I had never missed any payments, which led me to paying my debts and increasing them along the way.

All of the debts were in the form of loans and credit cards. All of my creditors have agreed to freeze interest charges and have been superb in the way they have dealt with me. All of these except for the HSBC.

I have banked with the HSBC for over 20 years and I have a loan and a credit card with them. Prior to entering the DMP I had never missed payments and had kept my accounts in working order, I had only 2 years left to go on my loan and was paying off the capital. They have been sent a DMP financial statement however they are refusing to accept it and have said that I must take out a management loan instead over a 7 year period. I have refused so far to do this however they are hounding me on the telephone, and today have called me on my work phone even though I spoke to them yesterday for over 30 mins!

The lady today said that they will continue to call me everyday unless I agree to this managment loan, failing which they will issue a final demand and issue baliffs to recover the money, and that they will take me for all legal costs associated with this.

I am so terribly upset about the whole thing and I really do not know what to do. Should I take the management loan (even though I will be tied into more credit and more interest)? They say that they will continue to charge me so the debt rises by the day. I just think that they are being really harsh and I dont know what to do..

Can anyone out there advise me?

Thanks,

L I Hope

Hi Living in Hope,

Ok, Lets start by talking about the collection process. All that a creditor can do is ask you for money; a creditor can not send a bailiff to your property to recover money. The only way that a bailiff can come to your home is if you default on payments to a CCJ.

What HSBC will do is to issue a default notice and then send or sell the debt to a Debt Collection Agency (DCA). A Default Notice is a legal requirement for the creditor and basically says that the creditor wants their money back and that you have broken the terms and conditions of your agreement. When the debt is sold or passed to a DCA you will have another opportunity to negotiate with your creditor.

Are you with a fee charging DMP Company? Sometimes your creditors will not accept your offer if you are paying a service charge for the DMP. You could consider approaching one of the free services out there to help you with your DMP if you are paying.

We do not recommend signing another loan agreement with any of your creditors. I know that it is not easy but we recommend standing your ground. They will not apply the charges on the accounts forever.

If the phone calls are too much, you could ask the creditor to remove your phone details from your account. I have attached a letter that will help you to write to them.

To whom it may concern,

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to ask that you no longer contact me by telephone as your calls are causing me considerable stress due to the frequency, and that they are being made at inappropriate times. Please remove my telephone number from your database and send all future communication in writing to my home address.

I have provided the most recent copy of my income and expenditure to make you aware of my current financial situation. I will continue to make my payment of x on the x of every month and will keep you informed of any changes in my circumstances as I am keen to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

I understand that following this request if you continue to call I can contact the Office of Fair Trading to make a formal complaint.

Please confirm in writing that your records have been amended.

Yours sincerely

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Amanda

debttornado

I have an ongoing issue with council tax. We have arrears with 3 councils that we have been trying to sort out, as well as keeping on top of our current year. Our current year is £190 pm and we wrote to the 3 councils offering £300 pm split pro rata.

One council has accepted this, a second has not yet replied.

The third and highest amount is with a bailiff company. They wrote to me today, they did not acknowledge my offer of payment at all. They have asked for full details of income and outgoings, copies of HP agreements and several months worth of payslips from me and OH.

I have several questions:
1. Do we have to provide all the this personal information?
2. Will they take into account that my OH gets commission which is not guaranteed?
3. Can they insist that we default on all our other commitments?

Thanks

Nightroamer_uk

CCCS_Sarah wrote: »

Hello,

If you have a pension worth over £300 then they would be classed as an asset on a DRO, so the application would be rejected on that basis. You may wish to consider other options that have been mentioned in your booklet.

Sarah

There are some useful tips in the booklet but i was looking for some long term solutions Like DRO but that apply to me

Not really sure where to go from here ?

Many Thanks

CCCS_Matthew

Hi there.

That's not strictly true. Debt collection agencies do generally buy debts for less than they are worth but there isn't a set pence in the £ that debts are bought for.

If you are in the position to be able to make settlement offers to the credit debts you have then it's certainly worth looking at offering a smaller amount. Not all creditors will accept the same percentage when it comes to making an offer. Generally we tend to suggest offering about 50% and working your way up, but there is nothing stopping you offering less. The worst they can do is say no and you can approach them with a slightly better offer to test the water.

Hope this helps,
Matthew

vwcampervan wrote: »

hello
i have a few credit card debts with balances ranging from £900 -£4500
i heard that it was possible to offer the credit card companies 20p in the pound to settle the debts, as when they sell them on to debt collection agencies they only get 16p in the pound. is this true?