Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Sarah

daveyboy1979 wrote: »

Hi

My girlfriend and I currently owe nearly £40,000 to about 9 companies in total, including HSBC and Nationwide. We rent a flat and we both earn around £1500 a month each.
We have been on a DMP for the past seven months paying £800 and we have just been told that they estimate this will last for 7 and a half years. The company is Hanover Sterling and they have now put us in touch with a company call Personal Debt Helpline saying an IVA may be more suitable for us.
I have read what Martin has had to say on the IVA and part of me is keen to do this as the period is 2 and a half years shorter. The other part of me fears that we will have to pay more than the £800 we currently pay and feel that this is the most we would like to pay on either the DMP or IVA. Our credit ratings are quite obviously no good and we cannot borrow from family.
My main question is really do you think it is likely an IVA will be cheaper than a DMP?

Hi Davey,

Just doing some quick maths… If you are paying £800pcm towards debts of £40000 this should take you 50 months based on the interest and charges been stopped. The term may differ with your current provider as they are a fee charging company so not all your money will be going towards your debts.

You need to look to look at transferring you dmp to a non fee charging company such as CCCS, National Debtline or CAB.

CCCS don’t have the facility to be able to simply transfer your Debt Management Plan from your existing provider as you would need to have an appointment with one of our debt counsellors first. If the counsellor is happy to offer a DMP as a result of your appointment, we would then discuss with you how to end the current arrangement you have and setting it up with ourselves. CCCS does not charge for setting up or administering a Debt Management Plan.

If you would like us to take a look at your situation to see what options you have, you would need to book a telephone based appointment with one of our trained debt counsellors by calling our helpline on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. It would be helpful that when you call you have details ready regarding your income, expenditure and creditors, as this can help speed up the referral process. If you have this information ready it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor if one is available, otherwise we will arrange a time that is convenient for you to be called back for an appointment.


Alternatively, you can use our online electronic facility called Debt Remedy where you can complete a financial statement and be provided with advice on the best way to deal with your situation. Click here to go directly to Debt Remedy.

CCCS_Sarah

Tot wrote: »

Hi there,

I have been on a DMP with CCCS for over a year now and things are running quite smoothly, so thank you for your help. My question is that my statement shows I have made 14 payments of £500 (keeping numbers simple!) making £7,000 paid to yourselves, but only £6,300 appears to heve been paid out to my creditors.

This appears to come from the early months of my DMP when things were being set up and creditors were accepting/disputing my DMP but is there a way that I can get this money back? It doesn't appear to have been paid out and I could really do with it as my boiler has broken and my wife and I are really struggling to find the money to have it fixed.

Many thanks again, Tony.

Hi Tony,

You would need to contact client support for help on this one because I don’t have access to your account unfortunately. Let me know if you need the number and I will PM you it.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

drfaust wrote: »

Hi Sarah,

I have a loan of £9650 that I took back in 2004 and have been paying since. I have another £6000 left to pay off, approximately another 6 years.

Is there any such thing as writing a loan off and if 'Yes' where shall I start from? A company called Beneficial Claims called me and offered their services but I am not entirely sure.

If the answer is 'No' what other options are there to minimize/decrease the huge interest I am paying?!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and look forward to your advice.

Vladimir

Hi Vladimir,

It is very unlikely that the debt would be wiped off, and with regards the rate of interest as you have signed for the agreement then this is unlikely to change.

Are you struggling with debts in general?

CCCS_Sarah

Ch1rpie wrote: »

Hi...I am new to this forum, and not sure if I am posting this correctly. I need to reduce my monthly payments to all my cards - due to a reduction in hours in my job over next 6 months.... what is the best way to do this.... do I contact the credit card companies by phone or is it better by mail. What sort of reduction could I request? Should I ask for a set payment each month with a reduced rate?

Hello,

Welcome to the boards. I would recommend that you have an appointment with the CCCS as it’s difficult to give you detailed advice on your options as we don’t have your full financial details. However you can visit our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy would assist you in completing a financial statement and you would be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your situation. Click here to go directly to Debt Remedy.

If you would prefer to talk to a debt counsellor about your situation, you can book a telephone based appointment by calling our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. It would be helpful that when you call you have details ready regarding your income, expenditure and creditors, as this can help speed up the referral process. If you have this information ready it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor if one is available, otherwise we will arrange a time that is convenient for you to be called back for an appointment.

Regards,
CCCS

CCCS_Sarah

Widelats wrote: »

Sarah,

Am i likely to get this DRO order processed or not? These are my basic details, i have a appointment next week at the CAB to fill in the forms, i am taking my whole JSA along and paying in full up front.

Rent £16 per 2 weeks approx
Electric £10 per 2 weeks approx
Food and other household stuff £40 per 2 weeks
Catalogue £60 approx per month


I get £100 per 2 weeks JSA as the jobcentre are taking £30 per 2 weeks back in social fund loans.

No assets or bank savings, live in council accomodation, unemployed.

Cheers.

Hello,

It would be really hard to say without seeing a full financial statement. The key points for a DRO would be:

• No more than £15000 of debt
• No more than £50 surplus
• No assets more than £300 with an exception of a domestic car

If you would like to see if a DRO is an option for you can visit our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy would assist you in completing a financial statement and you would be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your situation. Click here to go directly to Debt Remedy.

If you would prefer to talk to a debt counsellor about your situation, you can book a telephone based appointment by calling our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. It would be helpful that when you call you have details ready regarding your income, expenditure and creditors, as this can help speed up the referral process. If you have this information ready it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor if one is available, otherwise we will arrange a time that is convenient for you to be called back for an appointment.

Hope this helps
Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

saskia1 wrote: »

advice please....

I recently completed the cccsonline debt remedy which recommended iva or dmp.

we considered the iva but as both me & my husband work for banks this was not an option.

My q is - i have had to do a Managed Loan with the bank i work for - my staff loan / credit cards x 2 & o/draft (30k) - i know MLA are considered the worst thing but i had no choice otherwise would have faced disiplinary procedures & possibly the sack & yes i did discuss a cccs dmp with them but they basically said thats when they would have to consider disiplinary- wouldn't have helped our finances one bit!!

my other creditors - 6 - largest debt 25k & smallest £3k - i have £312 to offer these creditors. Will cccs take off HSBC debt from my DMP and deal with the remaining creditors or will i have to do a self admin dmp?

many thanks

sas

Hi SAS,

Tricky situation! I would recommend that you contact our debt remedy team with your reference number as they will be able to view your budget and make suggestions.

Send me a PM if you need their number.

Sarah

hariboh

Hi, Im seriously needing some advise on our debts, My husband was taken to court today by the Clydesdale Bank, for £3500 credit card. The judge granted an open decree??

I wrote to all our creditors a few months ago telling them of our situation and an offer to pay them a reduced amount, some of them wrote back agreeing to the reduced offer...including the Clydesdale Bank for my Credit Card?? they however never replied regarding his and took him to court today.

My husband is self employed and hasnt had any work for weeks, I work full time and we have 2 kids.

We have £27000 of unsecured debts, and after paying our outgoings we only have £122 per month towards them.

Our home isnt in negative equity, but not sure what we should do now??
any advise would be greatly received

CCCS_Sarah

hariboh wrote: »

Hi, Im seriously needing some advise on our debts, My husband was taken to court today by the Clydesdale Bank, for £3500 credit card. The judge granted an open decree??

I wrote to all our creditors a few months ago telling them of our situation and an offer to pay them a reduced amount, some of them wrote back agreeing to the reduced offer...including the Clydesdale Bank for my Credit Card?? they however never replied regarding his and took him to court today.

My husband is self employed and hasnt had any work for weeks, I work full time and we have 2 kids.

We have £27000 of unsecured debts, and after paying our outgoings we only have £122 per month towards them.

Our home isnt in negative equity, but not sure what we should do now??
any advise would be greatly received

Hi Hariboh,

Thank you for your message.

I’m not trained in Scottish debts so I will forward you email to my colleague in Scotland and get back to you as soon as possible.

Sarah

Widelats

Thanks for the info, appreciated.

seh567

Hi, my son in is debt crisis. He has credit card, loans and overdraft debt totalling approx £15k. He was self employed until last October when work dried up. After a short period on JS benefit he got a private hire licence and has been driving for an operator on a self employed basis which has not worked so is ceasing trading this week so once again will have to rely on JS, HB & CTB until he can find another job. He has managed to survive with our help and so far has been able to keep to minimum payments but the time has come for him to manage his own debts. He has done a SOA and there is no monies left over to even meet minimum debt payments nor to clear debts by DMP. I have an amount of £7k which I am willing to give him to help clear some of the debt but am unsure the best way to use this, should he:-

1) Should this be used to clear largest and most expensive credit card and current overdraft, then offer the remaining creditors token payments

2) Should we use it to offer all creditors pro rata full and final settlements.

3) Should I drip feed it monthly to use for a DMP, if so how would this be shown on a budget sheet.

Any help would be appreciated