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CCCS_Matthew

303 wrote: »

Hi there,

Having gone through the online debt counselling on the CCCS website a few weeks ago, and as a result written to my creditors with offers of pro-rata payments, I have received an offer from HSBC of a Managed Loan at 0%. Obviously there are a lot of horror stories around about Managed Loans - would you say an agreement at 0% APR above base rate (although they do reserve the right to review this at a later date based in our income and expenditure) is too good to be true??

This is a bit of a difficult one.

Obviously, if by signing the agreement they agree not to add further interest onto your debts then this natrually a good thing. The problem of course is that if your situation takes a turn for the worse and are unable to keep up with the payments they might revoke the 0% interest.

I would be inclined to perhaps stick to your initial offer of payment, and wait to see how that goes down with HSBC. If you've shown that you're treating all of your creditors fairly, and your offer is fair they may choose to freeze the interest anyway.

Did you choose to do pro-rata payments in favour of a DMP, or was a DMP not offered as a solution? (It's difficult to tell without seeing your details)

Feel free to PM me if you like, as it's probably easier to come back to me that way rather than finding your response on the thread.

Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

spinningsheep wrote: »

I went to the CCCS for advice and they worked out a DMP for me which I have sent all the letters for, however, only 3 out of my 10 creditors have replied and accepted the offers of payments, the others just keep sending threatening letters. What else can I do? Also, my income will be going down soon as one of my lodgers will be moving out, and we aren't allowed to get anyone else in to replace her,(landlady is fine if we know them but we have no friends looking for a houseshare at the moment) meaning we'll each have to pay more to cover her portion, and theres a prospect of the other lodger going too, so I will have to pay an extra £300 a month to cover it all, making my offers of payments unworkable now. What do I do? I seem to be getting nowhere.

Hi Spinningsheep.

I think the first thing to do is to give us a call so we can update your budget based on the fact you are going to be £300 worse off each month, as this could have an impact on your options. If the DMP is no longer a possibility, we can explore other more suitable options based on your new situation. You should have the number for our Client Support, but if you need it PM me and I'll send it you.

Regards,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

phatlad wrote: »

just received letter from AKasking for money on old barclays business acc this is from around year 2000 is this statute barred

Hello Phatlad. If no attempt of any communication has been made from Barclays in six years from when the last payment was made then it's quite likey to be Staute Barred. If you think this is the case there's a template letter you can use which I'm sure you will be able to find if you do a search.

Regards,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

callywally wrote: »

Hello,

Some advice please. I am on a dmp and one creditor is lloyds tsb for a overdraft on a currant account despite asking several times they are still taking a monthly fee on this account. I have asked for the account to be closed or changed to a non fee account several times but they just ignore my letters and keep adding the charge every month. i am no longer useing the account and am paying the amount agreed by cccs to lloyds tsb.
As the charge is more than my payment each month I am getting no where are they allowed to keep adding this charge every month even though i have asked them to close the account. any advice please.
thanks

Hi Callywally.

Generally current accounts that have a fee attached to them have a condition that when you sign up, you agree to pay for a certain period of time (normally 12 months). Have you still got any of the original paperwork which might confirm this within the terms and conditions? It might be that once you're so many months in you have a right to cancel the fee.

As you say they've refused to respond to your letters, have you tried ringing them or going into branch perhaps? Sometimes you can get a more useful answer from someone when you're speaking to them directly. If not and you're still having trouble I would speak to our Client Support team (PM me if you need the number) to see what they suggest. It might be a case of getting another proposal sent out to them as if the fee is more than the payment their getting they aren't really helpling the situation.

Regards,
CCCS

CCCS_Matthew

marns wrote: »

I'd like to know if how you decide whether to help someone with there debts. I don't quite know the scale of mine, but I'm guessing between 15 and 20K.

Techinacly, in terms of income I should be ok but things have been getting out of hand. I had a letter from a bailif at the weekend. My problem is even when I know I what I should do I just can't. I'm depressed and I just can't cope. I know I should contact my creditors but the idea brings on such a feeling of panic that at one point I thought I was having a stroke.

Thanks

Marns

Hi Marns, thanks for getting in touch.

CCCS's policy is to offer anyone who feels they are struggling financially or those who feel they could benefit from our help. When you say you've had a letter from a bailiff is it in relation to a CCJ that you've fallen behind with, or is it a letter from a collection agency acting on behalf of a creditor? If you're not sure you can always mention the name of the orgainisation as that generally helps determine who they are.

If you are feeling overwhelmed at the thought of dealing with your situation, I certainly think it would be worth speaking to a debt counsellor who can help advise you on your options. The aim of having a telephone appointment with a counsellor is to draw up a sustainable budget in order to represent your income and priority living costs, showing what's left to pay your creditors with. This exercise helps determine your options, which your counsellor can talk you through.

If you would like to speak to a counsellor, you can call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111 where an advisor will take some details down from you, such as income and some of your expenditure as well as details of who you owe money to (so have this information to hand). Once this has been taken down they can either transfer you to a counsellor or book you an appointment for a later date. All advice is completely free, impartial and confidential.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

cleomolly wrote: »

Hi, I'm going to be entering into a DMP soon and wouldl ike to know what to do with my bank accounts? I have posted elsewhere in the forum but haven't had much luck.

i currently have a joint bank account with my OH, the bills all go out, some are in my name, some are in his, it's not split down the middle as most of them are in my name, but it has never mattered before as we both get paid into that account and share whatevers left. now i need to open a new bank account as i have debts with the current one, which are paid from the joint account. my question is, can any of my creditors take money from the joint account if it is left as joint account? my idea was to have my wages paid into my new account and transfer enough to cover the bills coming out of the joint account, but could anyone take money from this joint account as my partners wages would still be going in there and all our debts coming out. hard for me to explain but hoping it makes sense!! Thanks in advance : )

Hi there,

If the joint account is a bank or building society that you have debts with it's important that neither of you use that account. Whilst your name is still on the account you risk the bank offesetting money from it to pay more than what you've offered through the DMP, regardless of the fact you are no longer personally using the account.

My advice would be to either enquire whether you can take your name off the account (not all banks will allow this when you still owe them money). The other option is for both yourself and your partner to open either seperate or a joint account elsewhere, providing that the new bank is someone you don't owe any money to.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

patrico wrote: »

Hi all ,
we have recently had to succumb to going with the advice of the cccs to get out of debt , can our bank which is the same bank that our sons bank with touch their accounts to pay our debt.
we are very worried because they have the same address as us .
can anybody help please :eek:

Hi Patrico.

In this case the creditors can not take funds from your son to pay your debts. Although you share the same address, the account is not not in joint names so they cannot touch it.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

fayjordan99

Hi all I have posted on another thread but thought I would chime in here if thats ok.

I currently owe over 20k on credit cards £11.5k to American Express £7k to Citibank and £3k to Lloyds until recently I have kept up the minimum monthly repayments albeit by paying off and then living on credit for the rest of the month.

I got into this mess a few years back when I had cancer, it sent me over the edge and facing upto my mortality and the associated depression I just spent money on things I couldnt afford. I was working part time up until a year ago and was also happily married until the stress of the cancer came along, we are now on a trial seperation and he gives me £600 per month to live on which entails housekeeping and child fees for activities, the mortgage is paid by him as its all in his name and so are all the household utility bills..
I can no longer keep living on credit and cannot keep up the minumum monthly repayments so I contacted Payplan who sent me out a pack to make out a budget form and letter to send to my creditors. I have written offering each £35 per month as thats what I can afford and also asked them to freeze interest, my concern is Payplan do not seem that willing to help, I am due a major operation in a few months time related to the cancer and what with the debt and this I cannot cope, I had hoped Payplan would liase with them for me and maybe set up a DMP where I pay them each month...as I see it they have just sent me the forms and gone here you go now get on with it.

Should I consider using a private firm to do this? Gregory Pennington have quoted £200 to start me off but it seems ludicrous to have to find that sort of money when Im already in debt. The house is in my other halfs name so can they force him to pay from his house? I have an 11 year old at home and its just driving me insane..I swear if I didnt have him I would end it all today.

Thankyou for listening

CCCS_Sue

talisker78 wrote: »

Really stupid question here - sorry!

I'm creeping ever closer to getting a DMP, depending on a possible promotion in the next month or so.

I currently have a mortgage with HSBC which is on a fixed rate until Jan10. If I get a DMP, I know that wrecks your credit rating, do i just revert to their standard base rate after the fixed rate ends or do I HAVE to get a re-mortgage with them? And, given that i may be on a DMP would they be able to withdraw my mortgage?

Sorry, i'm a recent first time buyer and I still get a bit confused with the whole mortgage thing - and I guess a bit panicked as well!

thanks

Hi Talisker and thank you for your message,

It will depend on what is available in January 2010 when your fixed rate ends and your mortgage lender would be able to advise you on this.

The mortgage lenders tend to have their own different offers, so you would need to check with them.

Being on a DMP would not mean they would withdraw your mortgage.
But if the repayments to your mortgage were to change at this time ,you would need to do a review of your plan to make sure you had enough money to pay the monthly repayments to your mortgage as this is your main priority.

Regards
CCCS_Sue

CCCS_Sue

Scarlett wrote: »

My creditors don't respond to my letters outlining a payment plan based on a certain amount a month. Is it advisable to just send yet another letter offering the same amount, but this time with a cheque for that amount attached - if they cash the cheque, it's pretty much accepting my offer then no?

Hi Scarlett and thank you for your message

Send them the payment anyway and continue to send it regularly each month.
If you pay by cheque, then you will have proof you have sent it and they have cashed it.
If you have not already done so, it is a good idea to send them a copy of your income and expenditure and a list of any other creditors you have with the payment.

Then, stick to the amount you can realistically afford to pay them and do not be pressured into paying more, if you cannot afford it.

Regards

CCCS_Sue