Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Sarah

Julesiep wrote: »

Hi
My husband and I have a self dmp devised by the CCCS. We changed our bank account as suggested to A&L however they are now Santander. My sole car finance is with Santander and they have caused me the most problems... phoning and sending around to my house abusive people from Credit Style Limited. Unlike the other creditors they have made me very depressed. We need a new bank account urgently but can't think who is left and more importantly who is safe from the credit crunch now all banks seem to be owned by the same companies! We have debts with Santander Finance, HSBC, MBNA, Northern Rock (unsecure part of mortgage) and Sky card.
Many thanks.
Jules

Hi Jules,

I have attached a link to a list of basic bank accounts that you could use.

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

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

bunnygreen wrote: »

Hi Sarah,

We didn't receive an additional letter as I realised after we had asked for the pack to be sent that the unsecured part needed to be added to our debts (can't believe I missed that off!!). When I phoned to add this on, I wasn't advised that a different letter should be sent, they just said to send a copy to them too. So, I sent it, but just made it clear that it was for the unsecured part.

I phoned Northern Rock today to ask if they could separate the Direct Debits and they said that they couldn't do anything until they received the form that I sent to them today.

However, I think I will send this suggested letter that you've posted in addition, so that it's clear and then set up a standing order once my new bank account is set up. Does a standing order get paid that day? I.e. do they receive it the same day that it goes out of the bank? Or should we set the Standing Order for a few days before it normally comes out?

Thanks
Charlie

Let me know how you get on with this, and call us if you have any problems.

I would suggest that you set it up a couple of days early to be on the safe side as it may take them a couple of days to apply it to your account.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

misscutiepie1984 wrote: »

RE: Decembers early payment.

If I make payments by DD how will this affect me?

I am looking into this for you, as it's another dept that deals with payments

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

ineedhelp2008 wrote: »

Hi there

I am contemplating contacting CCCS re a debt repayment plan, but hopefully only regarding my husband's and possibly my credit card debt.

My husband is self employed and due to the state of the economy his work has taken a real nose dive and we are now struggling. He is PAYE at the minute in a very low paid factory job.

Everyone is getting paid at present, however my husband missed a credit card payment last month and now the minimum payment has doubled and we haven't got a hope in hell of making it.

The cc company have telephoned him and he explained the problems we are having, they weren't really interested but pretty much encouraged him to go on a DMP.

My question is, we bought a sofa last year on a 'buy now pay next year' plan and it is due for repayment in six instalments in january. How will this work? Is it classed as a secured payment and therefore a priority or will they become a creditor? If they do, will our sofa be reposessed?

We also have a self assessment tax bill due in january which at present we can't pay. How would this work?

Many thanks for any help in this.

Hello,

I would suggest that you both have an appointment so that we can take a look at things in detail for you.

Tax should be classed as a priority so this will need to be budgeted. Sofas are generally done on a personal loan not hire purchase. What finance company is it? If it is Hitachi Capital or Black Horse I am 99.9% sure it is a Personal Loan, however if it is a company like brighthouse the chances are is on HP.

For your unsecured creditors, pay what you can afford until you have an appointment and cancel your unsecured direct debits to insure you don’t incur charges from your bank.

If you would like an appointment please call 0800 138 1111

mui7087

Good morning, can i first of all say what a fantasitc site this is. I have spent many sleepless nights worry about my finances and feel sure that I can find all the help I need here.
My problem is this, I am already in a self managed CCCS DMP and upto now it has worked just fine with most of my creditors accepting the payment plan. However, Barclaycard has called me and said that they will not start to add reduced interest to my account and are 'bullying' me for more money. I have explained that this is not possible and the only way I could di it would be to default on payments to my other creditors, something I am not prepared to do. They said that they would allow the current agreement to continue for 3 months more but would then insist on higher payments. Can they do this, I know that I cannot give anymore and am concerned that they may start legal action? Once more, Barclay are one of the lower debts that I have. Can I request a long term agreement from them.

Many thanks in advance for your advice

parsamonious

Quote:
Originally Posted by parsamonious
Hi

We'd really welcome your comments on our situation as posted elsewhere on the forum. I've cut and pasted our SOA below and would be very grateful if you could help. We have an appointment with an IP in a couple of weeks time so have some time to change our minds about going down that route.

"brief history, myself and wife have sank into financial dificulty, no excuses, simply spending more than we earn. We've tried to borrow ourselves out of it but just gone further under, we're at the point that although we both have good jobs and earn well we simply don't earn enough to cover all our debts. We've sold the toys to cover monthly payments. Recently been to CAB who advise IVA and have an appointment with them. However reading this site it seems that we may have an alternative with CCCS. I've filled out their forms and reckon with CCCS and huge efforts to reduce our monthly expenditure we would possibly be able to avoid IVA. I'd really appreciate any thoughts, (already accept that the Sky will have to go, we get broadband phone & telephone package) We moved house just before the down turn in house prices (not in negative equity yet, but not really concerned as we don't plan to move for decades)"



Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1570
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3262
Benefits................................ 72
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4904

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1198
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 195
Electricity............................. 29
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25.55
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 60 2 mobiles
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 48 will reduce to basic package at 21
Internet Services....................... 0 inc with sky package/line rental
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 Intend to get this down to 300
Clothing................................ 80 Will aim to cut this right back
Petrol/diesel........................... 250 should read 350 (2 cars - need both due to work requirements, not luxury)
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30 should read 45 for above reason
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 525 CSA payments
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 20 (combined buildings & contents ins. amount is 36)
Contents insurance...................... 16
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 185 This relates to the endowment policies for the mortgage
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 80 This is for 2 adults and 2 kids but will reduce to 60
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 100 Accept that this will be cut back to minimum for next 5 yrs
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3523.16

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 265000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 271000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 260000...(1198).....0
Total secured debts........... 260000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Loan...........................11000.....258...... 5.6
Loan...........................10500.....239...... 5.6
Loan...........................4600......203...... .0
Credit Card....................17500.....410.......15.0
Store Card.....................445.......42........26.49
Credit Card....................8862......222.......18.9
Loan...........................24500.....370...... 9.9
Overdraft......................1000......50....... .0
Credit Card....................250.......7.........17.9
Credit Card....................12750.....241.......17.9
Total unsecured debts..........91407.....2042......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,904
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 3,523.16
Available for debt repayments........... 1,380.84
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 2,042
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -661.16

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 271,000
Total Secured debt...................... -260,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -91,407
Net Assets.............................. -80,407

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

======== Enter any other useful information below ========
two adults one child living in house, two cars (nothing flash)which we both need for work

Hi Parsamonious

I have highlighted in blue some areas that may be questioned by your creditors if you approached them with your budget.
If you are experiencing financial difficulties it unfortunately also involves changes in lifestyle, to reduce expenditure in the aim of becoming debt free quicker and reducing costs to reasonable figures that your creditors would expect.
Things like holidays would normally be classed as luxuries so would be something creditors would be unhappy about, and to try and reduce if possible areas like food, clothing and haircuts. I am unsure about what the other insurance cost is for but this does look high.

If you have an appointment booked with a counsellor, or have used Debt Remedy the costs highlighted will normally be questioned.

Regards

CCCS_Alan

Alan,

we really appreciate your reply but I realise that my SOA was rushed and misleading, it relates to what we do now, before we tighten our belts. (which probably explains our situation) I have answered your blue replies with red to clarify. What we really want to know is would it be likely that with around £1,100 per month to pay off around £2,000 would we be able to manage with a DMP rather than an IVA and would loan & card companies freeze payments. They are all main lenders.

CCCS_Sarah

tobethisgirl wrote: »

hiya,

if someone could give me some advice i would be very grateful

a few years ago, i got myself into a mess with money. i was going through a divorce, suffering from depression and other issues, and ended up in around £9'500 of debt. this is made up of credit cards, overdrafts and various smaller amounts. i have some ccjs i imagine, but i don't know how many and for what amounts.

two years ago, after working hard to get my life together, i left the town i lived in and started training to be a nurse at university. i never told my creditors my new address or paid anything for about three years. stupidly, i tried to forget about my debts. having managed to 'successfully' avoid them for all this time, except for the odd letter to my previous addresses, i rarely thought of them. when i did though, it did scare me.

i want to try and put this right. i want to pay them off, but as i literally only earn enough to live at present, this isn't possible.

my plan is to write to my creditors (i still have previous letters etc) and explain the situation and apologise, offering them a token payment of perhaps £1 a month until i qualify and get a proper job next summer, with the idea of paying more (perhaps with the help of cccs) at that point.

am i being niave in thinking they will accept this? that me getting in touch, explaining my circumstances and promising more in the future, will be enough? i really just want to pay them off, get on with life and start repairing my credit record, with the hope of one day putting it behind me. i think once i finish uni, i should be able to pay them off in a maximum of 3 or 4 years.

thanks for any advice.

Hello,

As I say to a lot of people, the creditors can only have what you have got to give them. So if your budget is tight until next year, stick to the £1 then you can have a review and look to increase this when you are in work.

If you are unsure of the amounts that you owe, you will need to request a copy of your credit file from one of the three credit reference agencies.

Their contact details are as follows.

Call Credit 0870 060 1414 www.callcredit.co.uk
Experian 0870 241 6212 www.experian.co.uk
Equifax 0870 514 3700 www.equifax.co.uk

If you do have any CCJ’s, these will need to be treated as a priority along with your living costs.

Send me a PM if you have got some CCJ’s and I will let you know the process of getting them sorted, so you don’t have any problems with them

CCCS_Sarah

Worried_Soul wrote: »

Thank you for your reply Sarah. However, my husband is not interested in DMP's, IVA's etc and we do keep our finances very seperate [no joint accounts, bills etc]. He is self employed and income is not at all constant. So I'm going to have to do this one alone but just wanted to make sure that because I'm married they will not expect anything from more from him since he is paying everything else apart from my debt.

One other question, if you don'd mind.....your response to worried bear is that if s/he only pays 100pcm it will take it will take long to repay the 15k debt i.e. 12 years. I'm in the same situation as my debt is 53k, I'm hoping to pay 400 pcm so at that rate it will take a long time in theory BUT I am will be working full time again in 4 years [once my course is completed] so would hope to at least double that amount. Would that be taken into consideration?

That’s fair enough; you can keep things separate if that’s how you work it.

When you have your appointment, let your counsellor know that your income will be increasing and then they will take this into account when looking at your advice.

When is your appointment booked in for?

CCCS_Sarah

Becky86 wrote: »

Hi all

Im looking for a bit of advice if possible?

My partner and I are struggling at the mo to make ends meet.

We have a mortgage and both have a credit card (£2500 and £300 outstanding on both). We both have a store card with £100 outstanding). We have not yet missed any payments but we feel that we might miss a payment soon if we dont do anything.

We have contacted CCCS but unfortunately have had to cancel both appointments due to work comittments.

We are thinking of taking out a loan.

I was wondering whether because the debt is not a massive amount, we are still able to get advice from CCCS and whether CCCS can actually help us. After we have paid bills, mortgage, credit card, we have about 100 left over to last us for a month.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Becky

Hi Becky,

Thank you for your message.

If you feel that you are struggling and are worried about your debts, then it would be better for you to seek advice – even if it turned out that everything is OK, at least it would put your mind at ease. You have noting to lose!

It doesn’t matter how much debt you have to take advice, it’s if the debt is affordable for you.

Hope this helps

c7sdus

Hi,

Hope someone can advise. I have been paying Payplan £1189.72 for the last 29 months and have never missed a payment. On the PP website it states that my DMP started at £72011.56, I have paid £34501.88 and have £37509.68 outstanding. If I carry on paying my monthly ammount then creditors should be paid off July 2011.

Payplan have told me that this does not take into account any interset added since DMP started and that they will contact all creditors at end off plan to apply for interest to be removed from accounts. What they are not able orwilling to tell me is how successfull they are in having interest removed.

I have contacted all my my creditors this morning as it has really been worrying both wife and I and there has been £11.5K in interest been added, most of it by Lloyds TSB (aprox 10K) so my total outstanding as of right now is £49081.02 not the £37509.68 that payplan have.

Can anyone please advise how successful comany's like Payplan are in general but with Lloyds TSB particularly in having this interst removed.

cheers

C7