Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

hayley11

CCCS_Alan wrote: »

Hi Hayley11

If you are looking into a DRO it would have to be just in your name for your debts. You would also need to be able to balance your budget first as you need to be able to survive on your income and would not be able to do that on a deficit budget.

What will be looked at in any application would be reasonably split household costs as well so as long as they are split fairly, and you are not paying excessively high costs you should be ok. If you can manage to balance your budget, and if you want to discuss a DRO call the number on your monthly statement and we can go through your information and discuss this with you and look at your eligibility.

Regards

CCCS_Alan

Thanks, i'll give them a ring in the morning.

ohdearwhatcanthematterbe

I can’t believe im writing this publicly. I am so ashamed of the trouble I have got our family into in such a short space of time. I now know I have a real problem with money – or more accurately spending it when I haven’t got it. I feel that I have come to the end of the line now and need to face up to my problems. Not long ago, November 2005, I posted on here for advice on what to do with a £160k inheritance I had. Almost 4 short years later, I have spent it plus ran up credit card debts of in excess of £55K. Granted a large chunk of my inheritance went into my home as we had just moved house, we had the gardens landscaped, bought a car, went on some great holidays, I had a gastric band fitted, gave some to my family, put some into my business. I can’t really remember much more detail about where it went. Only that it went. A different story, but I had and am having problems dealing with the sudden death of my Dad at 57. And the fact that I have been so crap with money makes it 10 times worse. He would have so ashamed of me, and so so cross.

I have been in touch with debt free direct but really want to hold of from having a IVA if at all possible and want to manage these debts ourselves. They did a financial assessment on us and established that our disposable income was about £900.

My husband knows everything and has been fantastic about it all. He generally leaves me to always deal with money issues so now I want to show him that I can sort it out.

My husband is getting made redundant in September, with a possible payout of just £3K (which will pay off some debt, or help us through the 3 months we have without income whilst we wait for the income policy to kick in).

I have written letter today to all of our creditors, to inform them of the situation, and to say that we do not need to alter our payments yet as we are managing at the moment, but to make them aware of a possible IVA situation, and to ask if they will freeze interest, which would help no end. Unfortunately we fell into the interest free card juggling trap and did not close accounts after we had balance transferred.

My main worry is that our house will get repossessed. If this happens my business will have to close as I cannot work from rented premises (I work from home as a nail technician) and that our family’s beloved pets will have to go (we have 5 cats and a dog). My kids would be heart broken (and so would I) if our pets had to go. So, my main priority is my mortgage and I would do ANYTHING to keep my house…..

I’m sorry this is so long winded but I have found this very difficult to write and have just sort of poured everything out here. I have included all our financial details below. I’m hoping for some advice here on the best way forward.

Oh, one last thing – my kids are aged 6, 12 and 15. My 15 year old is hoping to go into medicine so I am worried how our damaged credit rating will affect his student loans etc as this is the only way we will be able to afford to put him through med school…..

DEBTS – Total of £55360.31

HSBC CREDIT CARD £2,795.83
HSBC OVERDRAFTS £1500.00
M&S CREDIT CARD £7,500.00
MINT CREDIT CARD £7,553.73
TESCO CREDIT CARD £3,431.27
SKY CREDIT CARD £5,232.20
BARCLAYCARD £4,692.43
VIRGIN CREDIT CARD £8,622.67
HALIFAX CREDIT CARD £6,959.12
FIRST DIRECT OVERDRAFT £468.90
LITTLEWOODS DIRECT £3,409.94
ADDITIONS £2251.55
NEXT DIRECTORY £942.67

INCOME – Total of £2662

Child Benefit £185
Child Tax Credits £40
Self Employed Income (Sarah) £400
Husbands Wages £2037 (until redundancy in September 2009)

THEN – Total of £3110

Hoping to qualify for Working Families Tax Credits £893.00 per month
PLUS Unemployment Policy will kick in after 3 months £1375.00 per month
PLUS Job Seeker’s Allowance for 6 months of £257.00 per month
Child Benefit £185
Self Employed Income (Sarah) £400

OUTGOING BILLS – Total of £2686.56

UNEMPLOYMENT POLICY £80.71
HSBC + £12.95 (paying for 12 months to get discount on unemployment policy)
NEXT DIRECTORY £88.90
LITTLEWOODS DIRECT £130.0
Bitmap Bitmap LIFE INSURANCE £10.60
BT PHONE £23.00
MORTGAGE (INTEREST ONLY) £378.17 (Owe total £169K over 17 years)
TV LICENCE £12.00
CAR INS £24.74
SKY TV £49.75
SKY CREDIT CARD £200.00
HOUSE INS £24.58
COUNCIL TAX £128.00
VODAFONE £35.00
BANK CHARGES £6.83
HALIFAX CREDIT CARD £100.00
WATER £37.00
VIRGIN CREDIT CARD £270.00
DFS £58.00 (finishes in June 2010)
THREE £30.00
BT BROAD BAND £20.00
M&S CREDIT CARD £200.00
BARCLAYCARD £144.00
ADDITIONS £70.00
TESCO CREDIT CARD £107.00
GYM FINANCE PLAN £30.00 (finishes in Mar 2010)
CLODE FINANCE £36.00 (finishes in Dec 2009)
FR PR/LI £24.33
MINT CREDIT CARD £175.00
ELECTRIC £90.00
GAS £60.00
FIRST DIRECT OVERDRAFT £20.00
PENSION 10.00

CCCS_Alan

ohdearwhatcanthematterbe wrote: »

I can’t believe im writing this publicly. I am so ashamed of the trouble I have got our family into in such a short space of time. I now know I have a real problem with money – or more accurately spending it when I haven’t got it. I feel that I have come to the end of the line now and need to face up to my problems. Not long ago, November 2005, I posted on here for advice on what to do with a £160k inheritance I had. Almost 4 short years later, I have spent it plus ran up credit card debts of in excess of £55K. Granted a large chunk of my inheritance went into my home as we had just moved house, we had the gardens landscaped, bought a car, went on some great holidays, I had a gastric band fitted, gave some to my family, put some into my business. I can’t really remember much more detail about where it went. Only that it went. A different story, but I had and am having problems dealing with the sudden death of my Dad at 57. And the fact that I have been so crap with money makes it 10 times worse. He would have so ashamed of me, and so so cross.

I have been in touch with debt free direct but really want to hold of from having a IVA if at all possible and want to manage these debts ourselves. They did a financial assessment on us and established that our disposable income was about £900.

My husband knows everything and has been fantastic about it all. He generally leaves me to always deal with money issues so now I want to show him that I can sort it out.

My husband is getting made redundant in September, with a possible payout of just £3K (which will pay off some debt, or help us through the 3 months we have without income whilst we wait for the income policy to kick in).

I have written letter today to all of our creditors, to inform them of the situation, and to say that we do not need to alter our payments yet as we are managing at the moment, but to make them aware of a possible IVA situation, and to ask if they will freeze interest, which would help no end. Unfortunately we fell into the interest free card juggling trap and did not close accounts after we had balance transferred.

My main worry is that our house will get repossessed. If this happens my business will have to close as I cannot work from rented premises (I work from home as a nail technician) and that our family’s beloved pets will have to go (we have 5 cats and a dog). My kids would be heart broken (and so would I) if our pets had to go. So, my main priority is my mortgage and I would do ANYTHING to keep my house…..

I’m sorry this is so long winded but I have found this very difficult to write and have just sort of poured everything out here. I have included all our financial details below. I’m hoping for some advice here on the best way forward.

Oh, one last thing – my kids are aged 6, 12 and 15. My 15 year old is hoping to go into medicine so I am worried how our damaged credit rating will affect his student loans etc as this is the only way we will be able to afford to put him through med school…..

DEBTS – Total of £55360.31

HSBC CREDIT CARD £2,795.83
HSBC OVERDRAFTS £1500.00
M&S CREDIT CARD £7,500.00
MINT CREDIT CARD £7,553.73
TESCO CREDIT CARD £3,431.27
SKY CREDIT CARD £5,232.20
BARCLAYCARD £4,692.43
VIRGIN CREDIT CARD £8,622.67
HALIFAX CREDIT CARD £6,959.12
FIRST DIRECT OVERDRAFT £468.90
LITTLEWOODS DIRECT £3,409.94
ADDITIONS £2251.55
NEXT DIRECTORY £942.67

INCOME – Total of £2662

Child Benefit £185
Child Tax Credits £40
Self Employed Income (Sarah) £400
Husbands Wages £2037 (until redundancy in September 2009)

THEN – Total of £3110

Hoping to qualify for Working Families Tax Credits £893.00 per month
PLUS Unemployment Policy will kick in after 3 months £1375.00 per month
PLUS Job Seeker’s Allowance for 6 months of £257.00 per month
Child Benefit £185
Self Employed Income (Sarah) £400

OUTGOING BILLS – Total of £2686.56

UNEMPLOYMENT POLICY £80.71
HSBC + £12.95 (paying for 12 months to get discount on unemployment policy)
NEXT DIRECTORY £88.90
LITTLEWOODS DIRECT £130.0
Bitmap Bitmap LIFE INSURANCE £10.60
BT PHONE £23.00
MORTGAGE (INTEREST ONLY) £378.17 (Owe total £169K over 17 years)
TV LICENCE £12.00
CAR INS £24.74
SKY TV £49.75
SKY CREDIT CARD £200.00
HOUSE INS £24.58
COUNCIL TAX £128.00
VODAFONE £35.00
BANK CHARGES £6.83
HALIFAX CREDIT CARD £100.00
WATER £37.00
VIRGIN CREDIT CARD £270.00
DFS £58.00 (finishes in June 2010)
THREE £30.00
BT BROAD BAND £20.00
M&S CREDIT CARD £200.00
BARCLAYCARD £144.00
ADDITIONS £70.00
TESCO CREDIT CARD £107.00
GYM FINANCE PLAN £30.00 (finishes in Mar 2010)
CLODE FINANCE £36.00 (finishes in Dec 2009)
FR PR/LI £24.33
MINT CREDIT CARD £175.00
ELECTRIC £90.00
GAS £60.00
FIRST DIRECT OVERDRAFT £20.00
PENSION 10.00

Hi ODWCTMB

Sorry to hear about the situation.

One of the first things you need to do is get in control of your money, and cease the use of all credit. If you are serious about becoming debt free destroy your cards and return them to the providers to remove the temptation of spending any more and aim to survive on your income. The money that you have left over is what you would offer to your creditors after all your essential living costs. You have to be aware as well that you may have to make some changes and sacrifices to your lifestyle by cutting out non essential costs to allow you to survive. This would be areas such as reducing your sky package to a basic package of approx £21pcm or cancelling completely and moving to free view, look to reduce phone costs, shop around for cheaper utility providers. All in the name of improving your situation.

To help you with your budgeting open a new basic bank account that has no connection to any of your creditors. Basic as in no overdraft no chequebook or credit card attachment. Pay all your income into the account and pay all your essential living costs mortgage, utilities, food etc from this account and what you have left over is what you would pay to the creditors, even if it a small token payment. You would do this in a way that you control such as a SO or with a payment slip. DD can be altered by the creditor which is why we generally advise to avoid paying creditors this way.

Looking at your budget you seem to have missed off some essential living costs such as food, petrol, clothing etc so it is essential that you start taking note of your spending and start budgeting when you go shopping etc.

With your situation due to change dramatically as well an IVA may not be a realistic option due to changes in your circumstances. Say if the insurance for the unemployment policy only lasts for 12 months and in that time your partner has been unable to find alternative work you would suffer a large income drop and may not be able to continue the IVA and it could fail. So do check out factors like this to make sure it would be a viable option.

For your partners redundancy package as well you may be better keeping the funds in an account away from your creditors so you can use them to top up your income until the benefits and insurance are sorted out.

To really get an idea of what options you can look at going forward 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.
Until you select an advice section from the online facility you can go in as many times as you need to alter your figures with your changing situation to get a better idea of what options are available to you.

Regards

CCCS_Alan

di3004

Hi there

We are under CCCS but no DMP, as there is not enough for a plan at this time, but will be under review when the financial situation improves, for example when my husband is successful for new employment.

We have only missed one repayment on the loan earlier this month but they had accepted the token payments, today we received a default notice from Lloyds TSB with a leaflet in what to do, such as contact a debt organisation which includes the CCCS, however they know we are already with the CCCS, as we enclosed everything possible with the token payments, including the token payment template letter that were sent from CCCS for us to complete and the expenditure sheet, even a copy of the mortgage arrears letter, the mortgage with with lloyds as well (C&G) and critical.

They did still take the loan repayments last week, and we even cancelled on the Direct debits.
However, they did refund them back in when we complained.

But they still take the token payments for the loans etc.

We did open a new bank account but its taken some time for everything to be moved over, such as the priority Direct Debits, and payments being made into the account.
And as there is an overdraft as well, we cannot close the account at lloyds.

We did also notice by checking online banking this morning that lloyds taken out £25.00 personal loan charge, and have checked back on statements and it normally states "account charge £25.00" not that of personal loan charge.

As all this is new to us we have not got a clue from here in what to do, any suggestions here please as they are threatening legal action?, thanks so much.

laurasbump

I really need some advice in relation to mine and my partner's finances.

He's about £38k in debt. I am £15k in debt.

We have a 1 year old and another on the way in October. I returned from maternity leave in February and go off again in October.

Our monthly outgoings come to £3900. £1600 are repayments to cards and loans. £1300 on household bills inc mortgage. We then have food, childcare and transport costs on top of this, which adds an extra £1000 to our outgoings. Currently we can manage with a joint income of £4400. However, my OH has a gambling habit which continues to haunt us, and we frequently end up spending more than our income. After December my maternity pay will be almost gone and our income will be down to only £2300 a month.

We will be quite a bit short on our commitments. Even before then we'll be in trouble but it's really difficult to work out exactly how much I'll be bringing home each month while I'm on maternity. It is also unlikely that I'll return to work as childcare costs will be £70 daily for the 2 babies (I am trying to think of other ways to bring in an income).

My questions are:

Can we go into a DMP jointly or are they individual agreements?
Ideally I'd like to get out of my debt by lending £15k from my dad. Is this advisable, could he be added as one of my OH's creditors or does he not count because there's no formal agreement?
How will CCCS react to the gambling habit? Will they still take us on?

Thanks,

Laura

songbird2

Dear Sarah
I have spent over a month trying to complete the on-line DRF. Wiht the new tax year and one thing and another my income and out goings have kept changing. I have numerous qeustions, I am at a loss and wil do my ut most to keep questions to a minimal. Here goes:
On-line DR has suggested: eihter token payments or AO - the bulk of my debt is tot he Halifax (mostly bank charges which i am trying to reclaim on the basis of hardship. I phoned direct recieved a letter saying not excepting responsibility but to fil in budgeting form etc)
I have fallen behind with United Utilities Water. They have sent me a form from the Unitied Utilities Trust Fund. They rquire you to fil in their incoming and outgoing forms. Are you familiar with how they operate. Should I enclose a copy from the CCCS DR form.
I donot have a fridge or frezzer or washing machine. Therefore my expenditure for food and laundry is above the recommended amount suggested by the CCCS. Wil they take this into account.
I am regisetered disabled and recieve DLA. In both situations i.e is this taken into account when assessing yr situation.
I owe Southern Electric nearly £450.00, they except they are part at fault and have offered to reduce this amount by 10% big deal. Stil have to pay £80.00 per month for gas n elec. Tried to leave they put in an objection.
I Should have started treatment last year but haven't been able to because of current situation. I have several letters from Consultatn, Drs etc. Should I include these to Creditors and UU Trust Fund Oh and the re-claiming bank charges. Theres so much more but I dont want to take up all yr time. Any advice wouls be much appreciated.
Thanks Sarah

auntsally121

I hope someone can help! I have completed the Debt Management Recovery Plan and in the booklet produced, it states that I have 207.00 left over each month after all priority expenditure.

But what I don't understand is whether this is used to pay off the debt, whilst continuing to make payments on for example minimum payments on credit/store cards etc. I am currently paying out 409 per month on credit cards, store cards, catalogues and HP agreements (and that is only making minimum payments). This does not include 200 per month HP for car and I also have a latge 2950 overdraft, that I am regularly going over the limti for and getting charged interest. So essentially what I would like to know is whether I have to continue with these above payments and then use the 207 to make 'extra' payments to my creditors?

Would be grateful if someone could answer, as I am ever slightly confused....

auntsally121

I hope someone can help! I have completed the Debt Management Recovery Plan and in the booklet produced, it states that I have 207.00 left over each month after all priority expenditure.

But what I don't understand is whether this is used to pay off the debt, whilst continuing to make payments on for example minimum payments on credit/store cards etc. I am currently paying out 409 per month on credit cards, store cards, catalogues and HP agreements (and that is only making minimum payments). This does not include 200 per month HP for car and I also have a latge 2950 overdraft, that I am regularly going over the limti for and getting charged interest. So essentially what I would like to know is whether I have to continue with these above payments and then use the 207 to make 'extra' payments to my creditors?

Would be grateful if someone could answer, as I am ever slightly confused....

depressed_but_determined

Hi cccs counsellors I went down this morning to Abbey with my passport and a bill to open a new totally basic account with no overdraft or switch facility as I am now on a DMP and want to manage my money more carefully.

I was in for about an hour, the customer service manager said he was having trouble with my address. I explained the purpose of the account and basically said it was because of money problems etc and that I just wanted to keep my money all seperate from my bills.

When he printed off the paperwork he said he would just explain what would happen. I would get the account number and details tomorrow and could use the account from then. I would also recieve my card in the post along with a black card!!! He said this was a credit card - I paniced and said I had never asked for a credit card and didn't want to be credit checked - I didn't mention the CCCS but I was terrified it may jeopordise my DMP and be see as me appyling for more credit which I didn't even ask for.

He said this was a 'gift' for banking with them. I was totally fuming, he said there would be no harm done if I just cut it up or why don't I just take advantage of the 0% free balance transfer!.

I didn't want to go fully in to the ins and out of my finances because thats none of his business and I think the damage may have been done. I have been on the DMP since December and never used any form of credit since.

Are they allowed to do this, I doubt I will even qualify for a credit card with my bad rating but they will credit check me anyway with no permission. He had me sign 2 forms before explaining about the 2 cards but I just assumed they were for the bank account, it was like a credit agreement but he never explained what they were.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

dbd x

toniabbey

hi my husband rung one of his creditor today, asking them why they taking payment on his debit card without his knowledge. Last thursday, they ask him to pay any amount but he told them that he is on DMP with CCCS and could only afford to pay £5 and gave them his card details. They took £5 then few minutes later took £200 which without his authorization. He rung them today and asking why they took the money on his card but they told him that he don't need to as know as they will take more money as much as they can to pay his debts of £750. I want to know where could we able to complain about this company who is doing this thing. Is it in OFT ? Please help us if you have template to write a complaint letter. We are not able to pay our bills and buy foods because of what happen, they left us .35 pence in his bank.