Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Matthew

lisamummytoarchieplusbump wrote: »

hello i have just done a debt remedy on the website and its advised me to go bankrupt so i rang cccs up to arange a phone call appointment as i really would like another option than bankrupsy.

i am currently in around £5700 debt with credit cards and overdrafts but my only income is benefits. i took out the credit cards and overdrafts when i was working, i became pregnant and while on maternity leave i got made redundant. i have been redundant since april 2006 i have managed to keep up the minimum payments( dont ask me how) but im really struggling now.

one credit card is now being refered to a solicitor
the other i am making token payments to till we can come to an arrangement for a deffinat payment plan
my overdraft is now being sent to a debt collector

i have requested a claim form for one credit card for the ppi insurance so that should take abit of balance off but not sure how much they said anything from 10% upwards

i have put in a claim for bank charges but because of the courtcase they are not paying the claim. the cccs adviser just said i maybe able to claim a hardship case.

im thinking of claiming for the credit cards charges but do i have to do the same as with banks ask for my statements?

one credit card said they wont stop the interest, but that was before i have become a client of cccs will that change now?

i have wrote out my monthly income and worked out my priority bills. i am canceling some bills like sky and bt and switched my gas and electric. and write out a strick budget for food
but im not sure what to offer them as i havent took into account things like birthdays and christmas budget

i want to pay off as much of my debts as possible but still have some for emergencies and birthday and christmas budgets or will that not be included

any advice would be helpful

Hi there.

It's really difficult to advise you on any of the above without seeing your financial situation in front of me. If you've booked in an appointment to speak to a counsellor, I would try not to worry to much in the mean time as the counsellor will be able to answer all of your questions on the day.

As far as the bank charges are concerned, if the counsellor agrees that you appear to fall into the hardship category we can provide you with a letter to send to your bank. Whilst this doens't necessarily guarantee you will get your charges back any quicker, it's certainly worth trying. Again, this will be discussed in detail on your appointment.

Regards,
Matthew

CCCS_Matthew

Shell13 wrote: »

Hi there

Just after some advise really ( ..... I have a loan with Barclays that started on around £4,000 and after paying it for nearly a year - it is on £3,800 I cannot understand how this can be possible! I have asked them numerous times and no-one can explain this to me!

Also, I have a fair bit of credit card and store card debt and just can't seem to find a way to pay them off - even staying home every weekend and not going out does not seem to help!

Any advise / help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hello there.

It's quite likely that your Barclays loan comes with front loaded interest. This basically means that you pay the majority of the interest off at the beginning of the loan which results in the balance coming down very slowly to start with. Once the interest is paid off, you'll start to find that your payments make a much bigger dent in the balance.

If you are in a position where you are struggling to make repayments with the rest of your creditors, you really need to sit down and draw up a budget in order to see if you can cut back in other places to service your debts. However if after doing this you're still not in a position to entertain all you're debts you need to look at what options you have.

Our Debt Remedy service can do this for you, so you might benefit from giving it a try. Click here to go straight to Debt Remedy. If however, you would prefer to speak to a counsellor, ring the freephone helpline number on 0800 138 1111 to book an appointment.

Hope this helps,
Matthew

pinksparkle_2

Hi Mattew and Sarah

Sorry to be a pain, i just wondered if anyone hae read my message from yesterday and can help with some advice???

Pinksparkle
x

CCCS_Sue

badmark wrote: »

Ive been paying some of my debts of f for over 15 years , all unsecured and have always kept in touch with creditors which to perfectly honest now probably seems a bad idea, is there no "statute of limitations"? one of them to universal credit was an interest rate of 30% 15 years ago , I have paid of the original debt its now interest. thanks Mark

Are you managing to pay the minimum payments or have you agreed a reduced payment because you are struggling?
If you are struggling and would like help to look at other options that may be available,you could ring our helpline free on 0800 138 1111

If you are just paying off the minimum each month, then at the rate of interest you are paying, it will take a very long time to repay the debt!

You need to try and pay extra each month if you can. Try and concentrate on the debts with the highest interest. That way you are paying more of the capital off and not just the interest and obviously this will clear the debt quicker.

With regard to your query regarding debts that are statute barred,
The Limitations Act 1980 outlines the time limit within which a creditor can chase a debtor for outstanding debts.
The Limitations Act 1980 only applies when no contact has been made between the creditor and debtor within the given time limit so this would not apply to your circumstances as you have been paying regularly and been in contact with your creditors.

As you signed the agreement and agreed to pay the interest initially you are legally bound to the contract.

Hope this helps

CCCS_Sarah

pinksparkle wrote: »

Hi There,

Im new on this thread so please bare with me...I am currently on a DMP with Payplan since August, when i originally wemt to payplan, my debt was £34000, as soon as my creditors were informed about my DMP, 2 of my creditors (citi loan & Welcome finance loan) have whacked the interset for the full laon term on my balance, so my balance now is near on £38000, I have just lowered my monthly payment tp payplan from £500 to £320 which Payplan have agreed with due to obvious problems, none of my creditors had neither accepted or declined my DMP when i started in august, they will be receiving new financial statements now, so maybe i will hear back, I have written letters to all of my creditors explaining my situation, lowering the payments and hopefully i will be increasing them again as soon as i can, i only got into this situation as i have recently hada baby, Please freeze interest and charges and please refund these etc..... What i want to know is, do you think, Welcome and citi will refund the interest they have whacked on the balance as it is thousands?????

HELP...

Pinksparkle
xxx

Hi Pinksparkle,

Sorry for the delay, we are working on the questions in order that they have been answered.

This does sound like they have ‘defaulted’ the account. A default notice is a legal requirement that ends the contract between you and the creditor; it will stay on your credit file for 6 years. When they issue a default, the full amount of the loan becomes payable i.e. all the debt and interest.

I think it is very unlikely that the will refund the interest as this is part of the agreement!

Have Payplan done a full review of your account? As looking at your figures, it will take you around 10 years to clear the debts if all your creditors were to stop the interest and charges.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

tracy52 wrote: »

Hi Sarah
just wondering my brother owes 13thousand they don't own there house there on income support and disability?
he cant afford the this is for loans and c2 credit cards
£240 a month although he has agreed to pay it every month with the cccs can he ask them to lower his payments, it is just brother and his wife, he used to work but became ill, even if they just paid £140 a month at least it will give him and wife a little breather
thank you inadvance Tracyxx

Your brother could look at having a joint account with his wife. This would mean adding all the household income, expenditure and debts.

Alternatively if they do split the bills and he just wants to keep it all in his name, all he would need to do is call our client support department for a review. As the payment would be lowered, this may change his best advice – if it does we will let him know his options.

Just another thing to take into account, depending on your brothers full financial circumstances, if he has a small amount coming in from his income support, bankruptcy may be an option if there was not going to be any major changes to his situation as his DLA would not be taken into account. (Presuming he had no other assets etc, will be discussed in detail on appointment).


Hope this helps

CCCS_Sue

IWant2BDebtFree wrote: »

Hi There, I'll keep it brief and if further info is needed, i'll post later.

The Short story is that me and my now ex partner entered into an IVA approx 2 years ago.

Since then we have split up and gone our seperate ways, although there is no bad blood, we have an issue now with the IVA.

I recently received a letter stating that due to arrears we have been informed of 2 options, either we register as bankrupt, or the agreement will be cancelled and the debts will return to the original debtors for collection.

We've worked it out and my personal debt is currently about 13k

I need to know which is the best option to go for from this point. I know NOW (stupidly too late) that an IVA perhaps wasn't the best course of action. but what is done is done and i now need to be pro-active and sort out my debt.

Can anyone offer any advice? - I don't really have many assets at all but i plan on moving in the future and i know that when i come to rent, a bankrupcy isn't going to bode well with future landlords.

Does anyone have any advice, i really want to sort this out and this seems the best place to ask advice.

Many Thanks in advance.

When you default on an IVA then the insolvency practitioner can look at commencing bankruptcy proceedings against you. However it seems that you are also being given the option for the debts to be returned to the original creditors for collection.
As I do not have details of your full financial situation, it is difficult to give you any advice as to which course you should take.
If you would like to look at this in more detail, then you could book an appointment to speak to one of our debt counsellors. Our free helpline number is 0800 138 1111.

Regards

Sue

pinksparkle_2

CCCS_Sarah wrote: »

Hi Pinksparkle,

Sorry for the delay, we are working on the questions in order that they have been answered.

This does sound like they have ‘defaulted’ the account. A default notice is a legal requirement that ends the contract between you and the creditor; it will stay on your credit file for 6 years. When they issue a default, the full amount of the loan becomes payable i.e. all the debt and interest.

I think it is very unlikely that the will refund the interest as this is part of the agreement!

Have Payplan done a full review of your account? As looking at your figures, it will take you around 10 years to clear the debts if all your creditors were to stop the interest and charges.

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Yes they said that i could reduce my payments to £320, i am hoping to increase my payments in the new year. I check my credit file regularly and i havent been defaulted as of yet..!!!

Another question i have is, regarding remortgaging when my deal ends in 2 and half years, obviously i will have a bad credit file, do they take look at how many defaults you have, or does it not matter if you have 1 or 5???

Pinksparkle

CCCS_Sarah

pinksparkle wrote: »

Hi Sarah,

Yes they said that i could reduce my payments to £320, i am hoping to increase my payments in the new year. I check my credit file regularly and i havent been defaulted as of yet..!!!

Another question i have is, regarding remortgaging when my deal ends in 2 and half years, obviously i will have a bad credit file, do they take look at how many defaults you have, or does it not matter if you have 1 or 5???

Pinksparkle

I would assume, but not 100% sure that the more you have would have a more of an impact on your file.

When it comes to getting a new mortgage this would mean it would be harder to get a better rate, as a lot of companies use a ‘rates for risk’ policy. This means the higher the risk you are to the company the higher rate you will pay.

If you click on this link I have added a booklet for you to read over that explains about credit files in more detail for you.

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

chriswa1

Hi

I'm currently using a DMP via CCCS, but I thought I should raise something regarding my personal circumstances, as they might be applicable to others. If creditors had not frozen interest then I am sure I would have been recommended to go down the IVA or Bankruptcy route. Fortunately creditors did freeze interest intially. Now 1 has started charging interest again, despite having been informed that my circumstances remain unchanged (bar for less debt obviously). If one or more others (there are 6 debts in total) suddenly started charging interest, I would be back to square one, or possibly worse as I would have wasted 18 months and a lot of money, and could have taken an "easy" route with bankruptcy. Is there a way to avoid this situation? It isn't beneficial for anyone - neither the lender nor the person owing the money.

Many thanks