Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

missjodie

Hi Sue,
Thank you so much for your time and response.
Do you know if raising my limit without me signing is a breach of contract or is it something i would need to ask the Office Of Fair Trading?
Regards
Jodie

CCCS_Sue

yellowpinky wrote: »

Hi, this is a specific question really. I have just started to address my messy debts of £38,000, credit cards and overdraft. I'm taking advice and am about to start the process with a view to beginning a DMP. Last month I took out a Pay Day loan which I was going to pay straight back before starting things, but then read here and there about "preferential treatment" and making the other creditors cross. I haven't contacted any of my creditors yet, about to send out "Hold action" letters, but is there any way they would find out if I paid this Payday loan off first? I just wanted it out of the way.

Hi yellowpinky and thank you for your message

When on a DMP, it is important to make sure all the creditors get a fair share of any money you have spare after paying all your priorities. It is essential that we include all your creditors on the plan and that you do not take out extra credit once the plan has started.

If the DMP is with CCCS, and you have set a date to start the plan, then you need to contact our client support team to let them know about this extra debt.

If you need the number, I can PM it to you.

Regards
CCCS_Sue

CCCS_Sue

Goodtimesahead wrote: »

Thanks Sue but two further questions

1. How can the information be on his credit file as any agreement pre 1994 would have required his written consent to share his data with CRA's, this wouldn't of happened upon signing the original agreement as there was no such clause at the time.

2. Where does it state in law that data has to be held for 6 years, I have not seen any law and the CRA's tell me they just state that but they couldn't provide any reference in law? The only data that has to remain for 6years are CCJ's Bankrupcy IVA data etc but not defaults or late payment history.

Interested to hear from you on these points?

Hi Goodtimesahead and thank you for your message

I believe Amanda answered your previous query.

We are looking into your query and will get back to you when we have the answer .

Regards
CCCS_Sue

MrsTinks

missjodie wrote: »

Hi Sue,
Thank you so much for your time and response.
Do you know if raising my limit without me signing is a breach of contract or is it something i would need to ask the Office Of Fair Trading?
Regards
Jodie

I would check with fair trading but no I wouldn't have thought so... If it went to court I doubt the judge would rule in your favour as you had no qualms spending the money and the creditor more than likely notified you by letter of the increase... giving you ample chance to refuse the rise.
When my credit card providers have done the same I have requested they remove the new limits back down to the previous levels... This is usually instant and means I can easily manage my money...

Why not post up an SOA on a new thread and get the guys and gals to help you find a way of addressing your debts long term?

Crisp_£_note

Hi

I have recently set up some regular payments from my bank account for £1 token payment to some of my creditors as advised by CCCS.

I want to write a letter to the creditors to confirm I have done this as I said I would in a letter to them last month, rather than paying by Postal Order. What do I write?



Some of the information about the accounts I have not had details sent to me yet so I cant set up regular payments.

Do you think it is safe to proceed with these numbers and set up regular payments? I am assumung the numbers on the giro slips near my credit account numbers are the numbers relating to the creditors bank details?

Thanks

CCCS_Sue

cmillard wrote: »

Hi, I am looking for some advice regarding my debt. 3 Years ago I got myself in a mess and my debt became uncontrollable, I entered a debt management company and have been paying my debts through them for 3 years. I pay the DMP 15% per month for them pressing a button to send my money, I feel that this money could be going straight off my debt and therefore pay it off quicker. Please can you advise me if it would be more beneficial coming out of the DMP to start paying my creditors myself or entering another dmp such as cccs.
I look forward to your advice
C

Hi cmillard and thank you for your message

As you so rightly say, the 15% you are paying for your DMP could be paying off your debt quicker.
We 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.

Hope this helps,
CCCS_Sue

mani99

Hi,

I am currently in debt to the tune of £20,000 and am struggling at the moment. Currently I earn £2,000 a month (take home) with £1,100 going to the mortgage. My minimum monthly payments plus loan repayment works out to be £600 leaving me with £300, of which £180 goes on travelling to and from work.

This leaves me with very little each month and it has really started to get me down. What options do I have to reduce my monthly payments? I've read about DMA's on here but not sure if that would be the right path for me to follow?

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Lady1

Hiya, I posted the below a couple of days ago - not sure if it's been missed or just not got round to! Could someone reply? Thanks x




Hi there,

Not my problem as such (but it is worrying me I can't sleep!!), but wondering if there is any advice out there! My parents have a loan on which they have defaulted on for quite a few months and are now being threatened with reposession of their house. They are due to go to court in August.

They are both self employed, running their business together but my dad has been quite ill in the last few months and with hospitals appointments nearly every week they haven't been doing so well.

My mum has agreed payments with the couple of credit cards she has, explained about my dads ill health and they have been really good. So was the loan company, they agreed a payment plan with my mum but have now gone back on it and are saying they want to repossess the house.

I'm wondering how likely will it be that they will actually take the house? Will any considerations be taken in court to the fact they were willing to try and agree a payment plan? Surely reposession is treated as a last resort? And also are IVA's available for the self employed or are these something to completely stay away from?

Thanks in advance. Hope someone can help!

CCCS_Sue

fairybex wrote: »

Hello,
I need advice, back in October myself and my partner realised we were in serious financial problems and stupidly signed up to a DMP with the Debt Advisory Line who charge us every month, even more stupidly we were given a bank account with 5k overdraft when we started. After nearly a year we have eaten that up and are in trouble paying our monthly amount.
We've had to move during this time (deposit, moving costs etc) and my partner lost his job so the spending of the 5k hasn't been completely friviously but I now feel letting someone else deal with our debts has meant us just ignoring the problem and therefore making it worse.
How do we take control back? Can we back out of our dmp and continue either on our own or with the help of someone who doesn't charge?
I can't believe we've ended up back were we were last october but I want to sort it now realisticly and not with our heads in the sand...
Sorry for story...

Hi fairybex and thank you for your message

If you are not happy with your DMP provider, you do not have to continue with them.
You can change to a non fee charging charity such as CCCS or you can make the payments yourself on a self administration basis.


We 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.
Regards
CCCS_Sue

CCCS_Alan

Singleman wrote: »

Hello,
I'm just looking for some advice on the best use of a budgeting loan I've got. I've got an overdraft with the bank of £1000 and every 6 months they review my payments. At the moment I'm paying £15 per month which I can just afford. I've just started getting my pension which gives me a bit more money each week and I'm due for a review with the bank for my overdraft payments. I've also just moved into a council bungalow and have borrowed money off my family to buy essentials for the house but I've no carpets, so I applied for a budgeting loan and got £300. I'm now worried about the bank seeing that I have a bit more money from my pension and asking me to pay a lot more off my overdraft so I am thinking of using the money from the budgeting loan to pay off some of the overdraft. Is this a good idea?

Hi Singleman

If you have borrowed money on a budgeting loan ideally you should be spending the money on what it was intended for, which in your case is the house, but that is up to you.

What you need to do is look at your income and expenditure and see what you have available after your essential living costs. The budgeting loan you have should be deducted directly from your pension credit so you may find that your income drops or is around the same, so you need to make sure your figures are accurate when calculating your available income. You should then only offer the bank the money that you can afford each month even if it is less or more than you had before and stick to that offer. NO creditor can make you pay money that you do not have at the end of the day.

Hopefully you are no longer banking with the bank but if you are you need to change to a new basic account away from your to stay in control of your money. Have all your income paid into the new account and only pay the cred in question via a SO or over the counter so you are in control of how much they receive each month. Below is a link to a basic bank account list.

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/bank_accounts.pdf

Regards

CCCS_Alan