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Ask a CCCS counsellor a question
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Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this is the correct thread for me but wanted to gauge some opinion on our current situation and what others/CCCS think of the future for us.
Towards the middle of last year my earnings dropped quite considerably due to economic downturn and what was just about manageable became completely impossible to pay all our creditors.
We contacted various organisations including CCCS and National Debtline but in the end settled for PayPlan and a DMP. Since then we have been ticking over quite nicely albiet with one CCJ from HFC/Restons. I forgot to mention, our debts between my wife and i total £34000. I also have a loan from my employer which now stands at around £25000!!! This was the main reason that we went for a DMP rather than an IVA which would probably have made more sense for our situation, but i just feel that it would put my employment at risk. This work loan comes directly from my salary and is paid at a percentage of my monthly gross which fluctuates monthly.
At the moment the DMP is getting £160 per month and at this rate it would take 20 years to pay it off!!! This has made us look at an IVA recently because there seems like no light at the end of the tunnel, but we still keep hitting a brick wall with regard to the work loan that i NEED to pay! How would we stand if the work loan was to be secured? The work loan should end in another 3 or 4 years, as does a secured loan that we have. These 2 agreements total on average about £5-600 per month.
At the moment we feel that all we can do is to carry on with the DMP at £160 pm until a time that these other obligations are finished and then fire everything we can at the DMP or indeed offer smaller settlement figures for some.
Sorry to go on a bit, just helps to have an outlet sometimes and also get feedback from others in the know or in the same position as ourselves.
Thanks for reading, opinions welcome.0 -
I am in the process of setting up a dmp with cccs. I received my agreement today & will be sending the notification of dmp to my creditors tomorrow. I have opened a basic bank account with the coop & am in the process of transferring my priority dd's & cancelling the dd's set up to pay my debts. However, I am concerned as 2 of my debts are to Provident & Shopacheck and the payments are made to these by cash to an agent who comes to my home every week. The next payments are due on Monday, what do I do about these payments - obviously there are no dd's to cancel - will the agent still call while the dmp is being set up (or indeed after) - if so what do I say to them? I am extremely nervous about this as would find having to explain my situation face to face quite daunting. I have considered going out at the time the agent usually calls but know she will keep coming back. I really don't know what to do. Please can someone advise?0
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Please can I have some advice ref a post april 07 loan agreement. Struggling a bit but as yet not defaulted on anything. Requested copies of several loan agreements all cane through bar one for HSBC. They told me over the phone that they do not have a copy of my loan agreement, that it was 'done on internal emails'. I have written, had letter saying dealing with 6 weeks ago, just sent default letter to them but still paying. As post 2007 can they still enforce if the have no agreement with my sig on???0
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euronorris wrote: »Hi,
I'm having some trouble managing my debts of late. I am just about managing to pay the minimum (though this will improve in around 3 months time) payments.
As I have always paid on time, I have an excellent credit rating but the companies will still be wary because the debt is quite substantial. However, I was hoping to consolidate the debt, with a smaller monthly repayment, making it more manageable.
The problem is that I no longer live in the UK (left on 31st Jan 09) and am therefore, it seems, no longer eligible for new credit.
Is there anyway around this? As I barely have enough to buy food for the month at the moment.
Would greatly appreciate some advice.
Thank you.
Hello,
Consolidating is not often the best option, as all it does is move the debt from one place to another and increase the amount of interest paid overall.
If you are struggling to keep up with payments on your credit debts and priority living costs, then something has to give and the main thing is that you keep up with your priorities i.e. food, bills etc
You would need to keep a spending diary and write down everything you spend your money on. Once you have this information you would be able to put together a detailed income and expenditure. You will need to include everything from utilities, food, clothes, travel etc. This will show you how much you can realistically pay your creditors.
If you would like any help completing a financial statement and would like further advice on how to deal with your situation please call 0800 138 1111.
CCCS_SarahI 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.
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Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this is the correct thread for me but wanted to gauge some opinion on our current situation and what others/CCCS think of the future for us.
Towards the middle of last year my earnings dropped quite considerably due to economic downturn and what was just about manageable became completely impossible to pay all our creditors.
We contacted various organisations including CCCS and National Debtline but in the end settled for PayPlan and a DMP. Since then we have been ticking over quite nicely albiet with one CCJ from HFC/Restons. I forgot to mention, our debts between my wife and i total £34000. I also have a loan from my employer which now stands at around £25000!!! This was the main reason that we went for a DMP rather than an IVA which would probably have made more sense for our situation, but i just feel that it would put my employment at risk. This work loan comes directly from my salary and is paid at a percentage of my monthly gross which fluctuates monthly.
At the moment the DMP is getting £160 per month and at this rate it would take 20 years to pay it off!!! This has made us look at an IVA recently because there seems like no light at the end of the tunnel, but we still keep hitting a brick wall with regard to the work loan that i NEED to pay! How would we stand if the work loan was to be secured? The work loan should end in another 3 or 4 years, as does a secured loan that we have. These 2 agreements total on average about £5-600 per month.
At the moment we feel that all we can do is to carry on with the DMP at £160 pm until a time that these other obligations are finished and then fire everything we can at the DMP or indeed offer smaller settlement figures for some.
Sorry to go on a bit, just helps to have an outlet sometimes and also get feedback from others in the know or in the same position as ourselves.
Thanks for reading, opinions welcome.
Hello,
You wouldn’t be able to secure your work loan against your home and then enter into an IVA. This would be seen as treating your work loan preferential over your other debts. The Insolvency Practitioner will would also check all the dates on secured loans.
From the information you have given me, you could look at waiting until you have paid your work loan off and then have a review of your budget. As the work loan will be cleared this would mean more money to go to the credit debts thus reducing the term. If the term is still long at that point then you could possibly look at an IVA then.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.
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I am in the process of setting up a dmp with cccs. I received my agreement today & will be sending the notification of dmp to my creditors tomorrow. I have opened a basic bank account with the coop & am in the process of transferring my priority dd's & cancelling the dd's set up to pay my debts. However, I am concerned as 2 of my debts are to Provident & Shopacheck and the payments are made to these by cash to an agent who comes to my home every week. The next payments are due on Monday, what do I do about these payments - obviously there are no dd's to cancel - will the agent still call while the dmp is being set up (or indeed after) - if so what do I say to them? I am extremely nervous about this as would find having to explain my situation face to face quite daunting. I have considered going out at the time the agent usually calls but know she will keep coming back. I really don't know what to do. Please can someone advise?
In your advice booklet there is a letter to send to your creditors called ‘notification of debt management plan’. Once you have sent this letter they will be aware that you are going on the DMP with the CCCS. You may wish to add a couple of lines to the bottom of the letter advising that the payments will be made by the CCCS and there is no need for an agent to call.
Hope this helps
SarahI 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.
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Please can I have some advice ref a post april 07 loan agreement. Struggling a bit but as yet not defaulted on anything. Requested copies of several loan agreements all cane through bar one for HSBC. They told me over the phone that they do not have a copy of my loan agreement, that it was 'done on internal emails'. I have written, had letter saying dealing with 6 weeks ago, just sent default letter to them but still paying. As post 2007 can they still enforce if the have no agreement with my sig on???
Hi there.
CCCS can't really provide advice when it comes to contesting whether debts are enforceable, unless it's a case where you dispute owing the money. You may get a better response by starting a new thread elsewhere as you are more likely to get advice from those more familiar in this area.
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 -
My OH is starting his DMP on July 1st and we have sent all of letters of notification etc along with token payments.
From now on do we have to respond to letters or calls, or can we just keep the letters to forward to CCCS and ignore the calls? In what instance would we have to reply to a letter or phonecalls ourselves?
Probably sounds like laziness on our part, it's not, it's just we are both easily intimidated, especially my OH and the appeal of a DMP was no longer having to deal with his creditors.
Thank you.0 -
So here is the story... I used to be quite good with money paid off credit cards when they were due etc... but then let them slip when I found out about the 0% deals on offer.
My hisband and I own 2 porpeties both of which are worth about what I paid for them.
Loans
I owe 13k on an egg loan, -£278 p mth
7,500k on another - 158 p mth
3k on another - 70 p mth
Overdraft of 4k
credit cards:
1 - 1500
2 - 5000
3 - 3000
Payments of at least £650 per mth + nursery fees
My husband has 2 CCJs so getting credit for him is a no go and both mortages and all debt is in my name.
I have been offered an IVA with a payemt of 292 p mth for 5 years.
Can anyone recommend any other options or advice on whether the IVA is the best route. I have been toying with the idea of a secured loan and one payment of £400 oer 10 years to cover 30k of the debt and shifting the rest on c/cards.
Stressed and confused0 -
My OH is starting his DMP on July 1st and we have sent all of letters of notification etc along with token payments.
From now on do we have to respond to letters or calls, or can we just keep the letters to forward to CCCS and ignore the calls? In what instance would we have to reply to a letter or phonecalls ourselves?
Probably sounds like laziness on our part, it's not, it's just we are both easily intimidated, especially my OH and the appeal of a DMP was no longer having to deal with his creditors.
Thank you.
Hi Miss_Bexy
If you advise you’re OH if any creditors call to advise them he has entered into a DMP with CCCS and they should be receiving proposals of payment soon of a monthly amount, and that’s all that can be afforded to pay each month. Never feel pressured to pay any extra to creditors no matter what they say so stick to the DMP payments only.
Creditors may still call once the DMP has started initially but after a few months of regular payments it usually settles down as they realise they can’t get any more money out of a person.
You would only need to let us know about letters from creditors if a debt has changed hands as we need to make sure that your money is sent to the correct company.
Regards
CCCS_AlanI 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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