Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Sarah

runningems wrote: »

Hi

I have today completed the debt remedy on the CCCS website albeit it rather quickly with 2 children running around so may need to go back and tweek a few bits & pieces.

To try and get straight to the point, my OH and I between us have some credit card debts loans and overdraft which I feel are now getting out of control and the situation is keeping me awake at night. At the moment we have been able to make all our monthly payments and we are not in arrears with anyone we seem to be able to struggle through each month taking a bit here and putting it over there but I am now getting to the stage where I don't want to struggle but want to get something in place to pay off so I feel that we are getting somewhere and that we are not going to be homeless next week!

CCCS website recommended a DMP but I'm not sure how this works - do we still have a bank account with a cheque book / debit card facility I am not sure that we could pay everything in cash? My OH monthly salary can vary each month with overtime although none of its guaranteed (although I think our main prob is that we have been living as if it was) even more so of late - what would happen on the months that we earnt more money I'm not thinking that we keep it and not pay of our debts but would it be taken straight from us or would we be able to put aside some for the kids birthday if it was coming up etc.? My OH doesn't know I have posted and I am not sure how he would feel about a DMP or if it even exists he has said about such things in the past that our life wouldn't be our own but I feel I need to do something as I can feel the worry starting to take over all aspects of life.

Hello,

With regards your bank account, each bank offers a slightly different service, so it would depend what bank you went to. I have attached a link of basic bank accounts for you to look at.

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

With overtime and a DMP, it would really depend on the situation and how regular overtime is available. There is two ways that you could look at your income, the first way is working from the basic wage and if your husband receives any overtime he could pay a lump sum into the dmp to reduce the term. The other way if the overtime is more regular is work out an average.

Hope this helps
Sarah

matw2

Hi, my partner has asked me to fill this in to get some advice.

From 09/06 to 12/06 she worked in a secondary school in Stoke-on-Trent, and was paid by Stoke City Council. She moved house in 03/07.

From what we have pieced together, this is what we have gathered.

In 07/07, Stoke council sent a letter to address A to say that they had overpaid her.
Since she was not living in this house anymore, and the mail forwarding had been set up for only 1 month she never received the letter.
In 09/07 Stoke council applied to Northampton county court for a CCJ, which was granted in 10/07. All of this happened without my partner knowing since all letters were sent to her old house.

Having moved to address B she claimed housing benefit and council tax benefit from Stoke City Council (so they could easily have found out that she was no longer at address A)

Now having moved again to address C, with a tenancy which expires in 2 weeks, we applied to move to address D. As part of the application we had to do credit checks, so we checked our files with Experian and found nothing adverse, so we put NO in the box on the form that asked about adverse credit history. Now the letting agent has contacted us this morning to say that there is a CCJ and because we said there wasn't, she can't let the house (we're looking into the possibility of me letting the house entirely in my name with my parents as guarantors).

This was the first that she knew about this CCJ, and as such never had a chance to respond to the original one, or to pay the debt within the month.

I was hoping that someone would be able to offer any advice. Could our case be "set aside" so that we would have the opportunity to pay the debt in full and therefore not have the CCJ?

Is there a reasonable grounds for objecting to the CCJ? We don't know if a default judgement was made because she didn't attend (we're also not sure why the CCJ was made at Northampton, which is way outside of staffordshire)

Are there any agencies that would be able to negotiate the removal of the CCJ if we settle the debt in full (I read this on the MSE site).

We are in a position where we would be able to pay the debt if we had to (it's almost £500 so it's not an insignificant sum, but we could pay it out of the loan we're taking out to furnish the new house) but if the CCJ will stay on file for the full 6 years anyway then there's no point breaking ourselves to pay it off in full and they can have £5 a week for the next 2 years.

At the moment we are going to become homeless in 2 weeks unless we can sort this, so any help would be appreciated. We have 2 children including one 6 week old and can't spend any length of time on friend's and family's sofas.

Thanks

Mat

CCCS_Sarah

gethro wrote: »

Hi
My wife has started a DMP with the CCCS and has been advised to open a new bank account,she has an overdraft with her current bank of £1550 which she has been told must be included in her debts.
She has been with her bank for 20 yrs,we have applied for an account with another bank not linked to any of her debts but what does she tell them if they phone and ask why she wants to change accounts ,should she tell them about the DMP ?
We have not taken the option of them changing all the debits as her bank doesn't know about the DMP yet,she would prefer to stay with her current bank but has been told as she owes them money she must change. is this correct.

That’s correct.

She would need to change bank accounts as soon as possible. He current bank will have the right to offset her account, so this basically means if she owes money and there are arrears, they will take her money to bring the account up to date. This then could leave your wife short for priority bills, food etc

Your wife will not need to tell the new bank anything, she could be switching for any reason.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

staffiegirl wrote: »

Hi I've approached a company called Debt Release Direct who are willing to handle my credit cards debts that have got out of hand. They charge £400 one-off set up fee, and will approach my creditors to try to come to an arrangement whereby I would pay them £200 per month, £40 to them and £160 to my creditors. It sounds ideal, but I'm worried a) is this the right way to go, b)are they reputable? How do they differ from a CCCS DMP? This is my first post. I'm anxious to to face up to my problems and find a way to solve them but I dont know which way to turn.

Hello,

Thank you for your post.

I would recommend that you go to a non profit organisation such as CCCS, National Debtline or Citizens Advice Bureau, the reason for this is any money needs to be going towards your debts rather than to another company’s pocket. This will then reduce the term of your dmp.

If you would like the CCCS to see if a DMP is an option for you, you could visit our online debt advice facility Debt Remedy. You will need to have the details of you income, expenditure and debts to hand to input into the system. This link will take you directly to Debt Remedy.

If you would prefer a telephone appointment with a counsellor please call our helpline on 0800 138 1111, again have your income and expenditure to hand.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

runningems wrote: »

Thanks for your 2 peneth Jaybag it all feels really quite scary and I still do not understand the full implications or results achieved by a DMP which is what I need to do before I can even try to convince my OH that we should do this.

If you do decide to have a telephone appointment, your counsellor will talk through all your options in detail and you will have the opportunity to ask as many questions as you want. Everything that is discussed during the appointment will either be emailed or posted out to you as well.

CCCS_Sarah

samantha12345 wrote: »

Thanks so much for your reply Sue.
However, do you know how I would find out if I did get a ccj 12 years ago?
(or should I just send the letter you suggested and then surely, if they do have a ccj for this old debt, they will reply telling me so?)
My credit file is clear today, but like you say, any ccj would have fallen off 6 years ago. I have not been in contact with anyone, nor paid anything towards this debt ever.
Thanks again,
Sam

Hello,

The problem here is if you wrote a standard letter to the creditors, you could be classed acknowledging the debt. I would recommend that you send the letter Sue has attached and see what they come back with.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

katkins2 wrote: »

Hi there,

I have just done the debt remedy on the CCCS website. I based our incomings on mine and my husbands basic wages. My OH works overtime each month to boost his income as his basic is pretty dire. He has always done this however the amount of overtime available each month does vary, especially of late. I was hoping to set up a DMP, but as I used OH's basic wage, the debt remedy result was an IVA or a low dmp which would be £162 per month. I know we can afford more than this, especially as at that rate it would take 16 years to clear our debts (31,000 in total). I really would rather pay more than that to our creditors each month as I know we could afford it. Did I do the debt remedy correct in using just his basic wage? I don't feel that is a true reflection of his income.
The IVA was the recomended route for us, I am very wary of this as I believe our home would be at risk if we took this option.
I would be grateful of any advice you could offer.

Many thanks

Hi Katkins,

Thank you for your message.

I would recommend you call our Debt Remedy support team. They will be able to look at your budget and talk through your situation and see what amount is best amount to put down for your income.

Even if an IVA is a suggested solution for you, you don’t have to go down this route. You could look at going down the DMP route and try and increase income/reduce your costs as this would reduce the term.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

matw2 wrote: »

Hi, my partner has asked me to fill this in to get some advice.

From 09/06 to 12/06 she worked in a secondary school in Stoke-on-Trent, and was paid by Stoke City Council. She moved house in 03/07.

From what we have pieced together, this is what we have gathered.

In 07/07, Stoke council sent a letter to address A to say that they had overpaid her.
Since she was not living in this house anymore, and the mail forwarding had been set up for only 1 month she never received the letter.
In 09/07 Stoke council applied to Northampton county court for a CCJ, which was granted in 10/07. All of this happened without my partner knowing since all letters were sent to her old house.

Having moved to address B she claimed housing benefit and council tax benefit from Stoke City Council (so they could easily have found out that she was no longer at address A)

Now having moved again to address C, with a tenancy which expires in 2 weeks, we applied to move to address D. As part of the application we had to do credit checks, so we checked our files with Experian and found nothing adverse, so we put NO in the box on the form that asked about adverse credit history. Now the letting agent has contacted us this morning to say that there is a CCJ and because we said there wasn't, she can't let the house (we're looking into the possibility of me letting the house entirely in my name with my parents as guarantors).

This was the first that she knew about this CCJ, and as such never had a chance to respond to the original one, or to pay the debt within the month.

I was hoping that someone would be able to offer any advice. Could our case be "set aside" so that we would have the opportunity to pay the debt in full and therefore not have the CCJ?

Is there a reasonable grounds for objecting to the CCJ? We don't know if a default judgement was made because she didn't attend (we're also not sure why the CCJ was made at Northampton, which is way outside of staffordshire)

Are there any agencies that would be able to negotiate the removal of the CCJ if we settle the debt in full (I read this on the MSE site).

We are in a position where we would be able to pay the debt if we had to (it's almost £500 so it's not an insignificant sum, but we could pay it out of the loan we're taking out to furnish the new house) but if the CCJ will stay on file for the full 6 years anyway then there's no point breaking ourselves to pay it off in full and they can have £5 a week for the next 2 years.

At the moment we are going to become homeless in 2 weeks unless we can sort this, so any help would be appreciated. We have 2 children including one 6 week old and can't spend any length of time on friend's and family's sofas.

Thanks

Mat

Hello,

Thank you for your message.

If you want to try and appeal against this, you could try completing a form called an N244. You would be able to ask the court to look at your case with or without a hearing. With a hearing would cost you £75 and without would cost you £40.

You would be able to get a copy of the N244 from your local County Court or print them off the courts website – this link will take you directly there http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/


Sarah

Sofa-surfer_3

Hiya,
I've posted this in a thread in debt free wannabe so sorry if I'm repeating myself (and you!)

I have just been landed with a large council tax bill that is now with a DCA. They are demanding £50 a month which I am struggling to pay, but realise this is a priority. My brother has offered to pay this debt as it is a priority, but I don't think he can afford the full amount in one go. Can I make an offer of a full & final settlement since this is a priority debt?

Also, I currently have payment plans in place with my non-priority creditors to try to sort out my debts. If my brother pays off my one priority debt, will it affect my payment arrangements with the non-priority creditors (apart from giving me more money to pay each month!)

All advice greatly appreciated!

buddy31

Hi
My husband & I are in the process of trying to sort out a DMP with C.C.C.S. I am unable to work as I am in receipt of Disability Living Allowance. Does my D.L.A have to be included in our income as I am not guaranteed to be entitled to this for 11 years (which is how long our DMP will be for) Also this is a none taxable benefit. I am only guaranteed D.L.A for the next couple of years.
Thanks