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Ask a CCCS counsellor a question
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Hi
I'm helping my friend sort out her finances, she has already had a call with CCCS but was left feeling a little overwhelmed and totally freaked out when the information arrived as it recommended bankruptcy. She really doesn't see this as an option, as the house is joint owned with her son and he can't afford to come up the equity and she is terrified of losing the house.
I think the bankruptcy was recommended as it looked like there was only £91 left to pay £35000 debt. We've been back over her budget and now have a £350 surplus each money, I have helped her come up with a plan and I'm sure a DMP would work. I am going to help her get the letters out and send the £350 pro rata to her creditors next week but I'm a little nervous about making that step if the CCCS will not put her onto a DMP.
If she phones on Tuesday with the new budget, is she likely to be accepted for a DMP with the £350 (6 debts - 3 creditors) and if so how long would it take to set up?
She is anxious to have it all set up so she knows that the £350 comes out every month and she doesn't have to deal with cheques and letters.
Thanks for any advice.0 -
Hello i am in court on wed 27-05-2009 . It is regarding a loan with tesco.It is a joint loan, but tesco are only chasing me.We are paying our debts through payplan.
I already have a ccj from tesco but it was for the exact amount paypal suggested.Tesco immideatly asked for it to go back to court which is wed
tesco solicitors sent me some paperwork today stating they dont accept the ccj payment and want the whole amount, so they can go for a charging order.They are also asking the court to vary the order forthwith.
It also says if the court is minded to grant an installment order, leave is requested to apply for a charging order but not to be enforced if payments are maintaned.
If our home is sold there would be no money left as we have a secured loan.We also have 2 young childern, and my wife is sick and has been for 10 years now.
Any help welcome please0 -
Hi,
I owe approximately £28,000 in debts; most of which came from a professional studies loan that I took out with HSBC 6 years ago. The rest was from overdrafts and credit cards. I started an IVA nearly 2 years ago, but in all honesty was never really able to pay the monthly repayment amount that was asked of me (£340). I used a company called Grant Thornton which came through the CCCS website and they seemed helpful and understanding. I found it difficult to speak to them about my concerns and queries though, because I felt ashamed and also just wanted this all to be over as soon as possible, so I agreed to something that was simply unachievable. I am ashamed to say that I only ever managed 1 payment on this plan and as a result have failed the IVA. It has been officially failed since the end of 2008 and I have been contacted by a debt collection company for the HSBC debt. I have managed to get them to agree on £50 a month, which will last the rest of my life if I am ever to pay it all off. I haven't yet been contacted by any of the other creditors. This is where I am unsure of what to do - should I wait for them to petition bankruptcy for me or should I just go ahead and do this myself?
I should also explain that I have real trouble budgeting properly and keeping to the miserable tight estimations that these companies think are reasonable for you to spend on yourself in a month. I suppport my partner who had been on sick leave for a year and now he has returned to work but earns more than the threshold for any more benefit entitlements but less than enough to actually pay any of our bills or provide any food. I often end up paying his debts and for his travel expenses/food etc. I don't know whether to bring this into my petition for bankruptcy as I don't want to drag him into it with me, but if I don't admit this on my forms it looks (on paper) as if I can afford the IVA payments. I am also worried that my creditors don't have my new address and that is why they have not contacted me about the failed IVA. What will happen if they cannot contact me? Will they send officials after me?
ANY help or advice would be soooo appreciated; I am so ashamed and frightened. I really want to face up to this and get my life together.
Thankyou,
Lulu0 -
Hi
Can someone tell me if a main high street bank can freeze an account after a large ammount of money has been paid in, looked into and cleared through the court and also a judgement from a crown court stating that the account cannot be frozen again?
Thanks0 -
Hi greengrass
Welcome to MSE, can you give somemore details what's actually going on?Click here for Martins (MSE) advice on who to contact with Debt Issues - YOU HAVE NO REASON TO USE A FEE PAYING DEBT MANAGEMENT COMPANY- THEY CANNOT DO ANYMORE FOR YOU THAN THOSE LISTED IN MY LINK ABOVE.
All information given by myself is offered informally and without prejudice - if in doubt seek help from a qualified and insured professional0 -
I recently got a copy of my credit report from Experian & was shocked to find i had a default against my name! after doing a bit of research (looking out previous bank statements) i found that i had made a late payment on 1 of my monthly payments;
I made a scheduled payment on the 31st of Oct 08, & the following scheduled payment on the 1st Dec 08, however i then made a late reduced payment over the phone telling the lender i couldnt really afford to make the full payment on a 1 off basis, we agreed to a reduced payment for 1 month - this was paid on the 7th Feb 09. (the phone call was made after the scheduled payment was due to come out)
I then review my credit report & find out that i had 'deafulted' on 5th Feb 09.
I phoned the lender & asked why i had a deafult against me, they told me they couldnt see a problem & to send a copy of the credit report into them to review (which i am yet to do; this will be done later in the week).
Does this seem like a mistake or is it likely i have been deafulted for a single late reduced payment albeit that i phoned (late) & agreed to make a reduced payment for 1 month.
Cheers in advance.
Michael.0 -
Hi,
Sorry I am very new to this and didn't know where to post this query.
I have about £20,000 debt and MAY BE] be in the fortunate position to inherit some money that would let me pay off the debt.
Apart from one actual CCJ the rest are with various DCA's who keep sending me letters about the amounts owed. The agencies also keep changing as though the debt is being passed on. Could anyone advise if I can negotiate full and final settlement figures with the agencies, or whether I should go through a Debt Counsellor.
I really want this settling but I am worried about being 'ripped off'.
Thank you for your help.
Regards
Pauline::T0 -
Hello all, I was looking for some advive on my debt problem, I currently have my own home which is worth about £47,000 my morgage balance is about the same price, but i have 2 secured loans on the property aswell for 25years one is for £31,000 and one for £13,500 those are settlement figures if i was to pay them back now. I also have a car loan from log book loans where the apr is 428% scandously i know!! i now owe £8,000 on that loan, i need a car to visist my son and for work. All my other unsecured debts to over 20 other companies totals about £12,000.
As you can see i am in lot of debt, i only get paid £1250 a month and my outgoings are far higher than my incomings, i struggle every month to pay for just general items like food and petol. My credit file is shot to pieces what with my arears and defaults and i feel the only opion is going bankrupt, do you think this is wise?0 -
fayjordan99 wrote: »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
Hi Fay, thanks for the post.
If you haven't already done so I would suggest giving us a call for a second opinion on your options. Whilst I couldn't say whether a DMP would be possible at this stage, we do not charge anything for setting up or adminstering a DMP.
If you would like to book an appointment with a debt counsellor, feel free to call our helpline on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open from Mon-Fri from 08:00-20:00.
Regards, Matthew.I am a Debt Counsellor that works for the CCCS and have specific permission from Martin, to post on these boards to try and help those in debt. Read more information on the CCCS and what it does in the Debt Problems: What to do and where to get help article.
CCCS is a registered charity, and there is no charge whatsoever for any of the services we provide to our clients. We take great pride in offering first class help and advice, but we only offer this where we have been able to fully explore and understand your circumstances with you. We want to help you understand these choices and their possible implications but not make them for you.0 -
driver24ian wrote: »hi cccs, at the beginning of April 09 i spoke to one of your collegues who took my incomings/outgoings etc and sent me details of this in the post along with what i should do, he suggested possible bankruptcy! This freaked me out a little bit but i knew it was a option. So throughout the last month/6 six weeks i have cut back on my weeekly shopping by changing where i shop and quit cigarettes and using patches instead, really hard but the hardest part is over i think. i have managed to save at least £160 in a month. Would this be enough to start a DMP? If so how do i arrange this with CCCS?
Thank You, Ian
Hi Ian, thanks for getting in touch.
It sounds like you've worked hard to cut back your costs. In order to see whether a DMP is now a possibility you would need to give us a quick call so we can book you in another session with a counsellor to discuss things with you. You should have the number for the Support Counsellors to do this (it should be on the first page of your advice booklet). If you've not got the number send me a PM and I'll give it to you.
Hope this helps,
Matthew.I am a Debt Counsellor that works for the CCCS and have specific permission from Martin, to post on these boards to try and help those in debt. Read more information on the CCCS and what it does in the Debt Problems: What to do and where to get help article.
CCCS is a registered charity, and there is no charge whatsoever for any of the services we provide to our clients. We take great pride in offering first class help and advice, but we only offer this where we have been able to fully explore and understand your circumstances with you. We want to help you understand these choices and their possible implications but not make them for you.0
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