Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

JillyOJolly

Hi,

I have completely brick walled and need some help. After 4 years on a DMP with Payplan the end is in sight! Well it was a year ago until suddenly the balance went up. I have now gone from May 2009 end of DMP, to October 2009 and today it says December 2009. I dont understand it. My balance was £12k to start and I have a balance of £750 in total to all creditors as pr their statements received this month, some of them are £50! My friend and I bit the bullet back in June and in order to complete all agreements he said he would give me money for full and final settlements. Rather excitedly I sent off my letters to 5 creditors until every letter that came back refused or demanded new financial statements (which they only got in July!!). I have now read in detail about partial settlements and the effects this could have on my credit rating for the future and I am not keen to go there. My friend has now offered the full balances for each creditor to give them exactly what the balances are on each statement as I receive them in order to close each account fully satisfied.

However, my quesiton is - as I still get my statements and still occasionally deal with my creditors myself can I just have the money transferred from my friend to me, ring up and pay the balances (without asking any special favours) and then close the account? Or do I need to go through Payplan direct for them to allocate the money, which worries me as they have not been very forthcoming in the last year and dont seem to want to talk to my creditors at all. I have NEVER had interest frozen on any account although I did work hard myself in years 2 and 3 to get it reduced and it still is today. My reason for not having interest stopped was because I was always paying over the minimum payment I was never classed as "in financial crisis"!

My instinct is to ring and just pay off the balances all on one day (as any normal person would pay their bills) then ring Payplan and tell them to stop the plan because the balances are £0.

Are there any comebacks from doing it like this? My fear is that each month on the 1st I send out my payment, if I leave this in the hands of someone else to go to my creditors I may end up still having to pay an extra month if the money is not sent out in time and they end up getting more. Timing is key!

If a statement date is the 18th of the month is it best to do it on that day as not to incur any more interest or does it not matter?

Sorry this is a long one, but I need to get this sorted, potentially debt free and I dont know how best to do this to keep everyone happy.

Thanks all

mumisworried

CCCS_Sue wrote: »

Hi mumisworried and thank you for your email

They should be able to provide you with a signed copy of the agreement, as even though it was done over the phone, he should have received the offer in writing and a credit agreement to sign and a cooling off period in which to cancel the loan.
I would recommend that you send the attached letter to Blair, Oliver with the fee of £1 if you have not already done so.
Send it recorded delivery and keep a copy for yourself

Without Prejudice

Dear Sirs

Ref …………………………………….

With reference to the above account:

Please will you send me a true copy of the original signed agreement together with an up to date statement of the account showing all transactions, including interest and charges, and a copy of any other document referred to in the agreement.

I understand I am entitled to this information under ss77-79 of The Consumer Credit Act (CCA) 1974.

I also understand that this information should be sent to me within 12 working days of you receiving this letter. The CCA states that creditors are unable to enforce an agreement until this request is complied with.

I am enclosing the £1:00 fee, payable under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, for each account.


Yours faithfully

If they do not reply within 12 working days, then you can send the follow up letter. Whilst the debt is in dispute, they cannot enforce the debt.



Postcode:
Date:
CCCS Client No:
To:
Creditor’s Name:
Account/Agreement No:

Without Prejudice

Dear Sirs
With reference to the above account
I wrote to you on (date) requesting a copy of the above agreement together with the relevant information under Section 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) 1974. I enclosed the £1.00 fee. This letter was delivered and signed for on (date).
I have not yet received the information requested.
The Consumer Credit Act allows 12 working days for this request to be fulfilled. The 12 days ended on (date*) and you are now therefore in default of the CCA.
As you are probably aware this debt has now become unenforceable by law.
May I also remind you that until you produce the agreement and therefore show you have my authority, you cannot pass information to a credit reference agency without my permission.
This situation will remain until you either provide the requested information or a further 31 days expire. The date for this will be (date* + 31 days). At this stage, you have committed an offence and can be reported to Trading Standards .

Yours faithfully,

Regards
CCCS_Sue

Thank you so much for the advice. Sending the letter tomorrow.

seh567

Hi, need some advice. My son has been advised by CCCS to either go bankrupt or start a lowcost DMP until his finances improve. This is because he has been unemployed but has just started employment on and basic and commission basis. They would only take his basic wage into consideration which only gave him a very small £25 excess amount after living expenses. However he should be earning considerable more soon because the commission is based on installation not on selling and the order book is full and he advised CCCS about this during his interview. He is not keen to take the bankruptcy route just yet so I believe he will take the low cost DMP route for the moment to see how the work goes for a couple of months. The question is, would he be able to make extra payments to his creditors if he is earning the potential commission and would he have to make these payments direct or would he be able to make extra payments via the DMP plan. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

dfwannabe_4

Hello, an anonymous post here (for obvious reasons). I am wondering if it's possible for a currently qualified independent financial adviser to have a DMP / IVA / go bankrupt without the FSA revoking the ability to keep selling.

Just to clarify, the financial adviser is very good at their job and looking after other people's money - just not their own :rolleyes:

Many thanks in advance (and if this is posted in the wrong place, please accept my apologies)

CCCS_Sue

MyopicMoo wrote: »

Hi,
I'm new here but have rather a big problem (or rather a series of vile ones). I have looked at our finances and, after rent, living expenses and priority debts, we have about £440 to pay towards debts.

Problem 1 - we owe council tax arrears, should most of it go to them or can we pay token amounts to our other non-priority debts?

Problem 2 - our landlord is intending to sell up, we have not had notice yet but will need to save for a deposit and moving costs. This would mean paying less to the council tax arrears - can we do this? We would need to save about £1450 plus moving costs.

Problem 3 - the real big one. My OH is under threat of redundancy, he will find out in the next few weeks. Obviously if this happens our income won't cover our outgoings let alone anything else - what can we do (either to prepare or if the worst comes to the worst)?

Thanks
MM

Hi MM and thank you for your message

First of all you need to put together a budget showing your income and expenditure.
This will give you an idea of how much you have spare after paying all your main priorities.
Any surplus is the amount you can afford for the arrears on your council tax and saving for your deposit for your new tenancy.
Do you have a bond to be returned from your current tenancy? This could be used towards your new deposit, leaving extra to pay towards clearing your council tax arrears.
Until these are sorted, you may need to offer token payments to your non priority debts such as any credit cards, store cards, unsecured loans, catalogues, etc.

It is difficult to give you full advice via email without knowing details of your financial situation.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail with a counsellor, you can call for an appointment on our free helpline 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_Sue

JillyOJolly wrote: »

Hi,

I have completely brick walled and need some help. After 4 years on a DMP with Payplan the end is in sight! Well it was a year ago until suddenly the balance went up. I have now gone from May 2009 end of DMP, to October 2009 and today it says December 2009. I dont understand it. My balance was £12k to start and I have a balance of £750 in total to all creditors as pr their statements received this month, some of them are £50! My friend and I bit the bullet back in June and in order to complete all agreements he said he would give me money for full and final settlements. Rather excitedly I sent off my letters to 5 creditors until every letter that came back refused or demanded new financial statements (which they only got in July!!). I have now read in detail about partial settlements and the effects this could have on my credit rating for the future and I am not keen to go there. My friend has now offered the full balances for each creditor to give them exactly what the balances are on each statement as I receive them in order to close each account fully satisfied.

However, my quesiton is - as I still get my statements and still occasionally deal with my creditors myself can I just have the money transferred from my friend to me, ring up and pay the balances (without asking any special favours) and then close the account? Or do I need to go through Payplan direct for them to allocate the money, which worries me as they have not been very forthcoming in the last year and dont seem to want to talk to my creditors at all. I have NEVER had interest frozen on any account although I did work hard myself in years 2 and 3 to get it reduced and it still is today. My reason for not having interest stopped was because I was always paying over the minimum payment I was never classed as "in financial crisis"!

My instinct is to ring and just pay off the balances all on one day (as any normal person would pay their bills) then ring Payplan and tell them to stop the plan because the balances are £0.

Are there any comebacks from doing it like this? My fear is that each month on the 1st I send out my payment, if I leave this in the hands of someone else to go to my creditors I may end up still having to pay an extra month if the money is not sent out in time and they end up getting more. Timing is key!

If a statement date is the 18th of the month is it best to do it on that day as not to incur any more interest or does it not matter?

Sorry this is a long one, but I need to get this sorted, potentially debt free and I dont know how best to do this to keep everyone happy.

Thanks all

Hi JillyoJolly and thank you for your email

Great news to hear that you are nearing the end of your DMP and that you will soon be debt free!
You should be able to finish your DMP, and make the payments yourself.

If you are able to clear your debt by paying your creditors off in full, then you should go ahead.
It is better to make your offer in writing rather than by phone

Don’t pay the money until the creditors have accepted in writing. Keep the creditors’ letters.
Ask the creditor to send a statement showing that the balance has been cleared in full e.g. a nil balance outstanding
Make sure the creditor agrees to mark the credit reference file as ‘satisfied’. This can be checked by asking the credit reference agencies (Call Credit, Experian and Equifax) for a copy of your credit file.
Regards
CCCS_Sue

CCCS_Amanda

seh567 wrote: »

Hi, need some advice. My son has been advised by CCCS to either go bankrupt or start a lowcost DMP until his finances improve. This is because he has been unemployed but has just started employment on and basic and commission basis. They would only take his basic wage into consideration which only gave him a very small £25 excess amount after living expenses. However he should be earning considerable more soon because the commission is based on installation not on selling and the order book is full and he advised CCCS about this during his interview. He is not keen to take the bankruptcy route just yet so I believe he will take the low cost DMP route for the moment to see how the work goes for a couple of months. The question is, would he be able to make extra payments to his creditors if he is earning the potential commission and would he have to make these payments direct or would he be able to make extra payments via the DMP plan. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi seh567,

Without knowing the specifics of your son’s appointment, I think that the counsellor did not want to leave your son short of money on a monthly basis until he is able to average out the commission that he will be receiving.

I would give it 2 or 3 months and then come back for a review appointment and we can then amend the income shown on his budget. Hopefully, this will mean that your son will be able to increase his DMP payment and pay off his debts quicker avoiding bankruptcy.

In the meantime, he could put any extra earnings aside and make a 1 off payment to his DMP after a couple of months. We do not recommend that you make any payments to creditors without coming through CCCS. The first reason for this is that the creditor will doubt the budget that we have completed and will continue to pursue your son for further money. And secondly, if you give a creditor an extra £10 this month, they will probably want £20 next month and £30 the next month, etc.

If your son has any queries he can contact the client support number that would have been provided on the pack that we sent to him.

Regards,
Amanda

PollyandMartin

Please help me as I am unsure where to turn next. Although we have been to CAB and have looked at options of DMP, IVA and BR and have a telehone appt with Payplan on Sat eve. I have so many questions and worries.

I know we are the only ones to blame but have been juggling to ensure all minimum payments have been made on time and because of this and other stupidity have huge debts. I am so humiliated and angry with myself.

My main worries are: nasty phone calls and letters - although home visits scare me the most. Will everyone know if we have to go down BR route?

Our mortgage is 340 000 and house worth about 375 000. Have early repayment penalties with mortgage of about 15 000. Really want to keep our home if possible. Never been late with mortgage and until this month credit card repayments.

I have SOA

Income:
OH 2555
Me 1556
Child Benefit 135
Total: 4246

Expenditure
Mortgage: 2365
Utilities: 213
Council Tax: 176
TV Licence:12
Life Ins: 33
Home ins: 33
Water: 50
Travel: 220
Petrol: 80
Car Ins: 30
MOT/Tax: 20
Children activities: 50
Food: 450
Haircuts: 30
Glasses: 22.50
BT: 25
Mobiles: 30
Prescription: 13
School Lunches/trips: 30
Total: 3949

Surplus: 364

Our outstanding debts between us are:

Barclayloan: 14100
Eggloan: 7000
Egg cards: 500
Egg card: 5000
Barclaycard: 8700
Barclaycard: 2000
MBNA: 14700
MBNA: 10000
Halifax: 10500
Marks and Spencer: 9700
Overdrafts: 8500


I know I should wait until Payplan interview but would really appreciate soem advice.

I know I have been stupid but please go easy on me as feel very vulnerable. Nobody can beat me up more than myself.

Guildford_Girl

CCCS_Sue wrote: »

Hi mumisworried and thank you for your email

They should be able to provide you with a signed copy of the agreement, as even though it was done over the phone, he should have received the offer in writing and a credit agreement to sign and a cooling off period in which to cancel the loan.
I would recommend that you send the attached letter to Blair, Oliver with the fee of £1 if you have not already done so.
Send it recorded delivery and keep a copy for yourself

Without Prejudice

Dear Sirs

Ref …………………………………….

With reference to the above account:

Please will you send me a true copy of the original signed agreement together with an up to date statement of the account showing all transactions, including interest and charges, and a copy of any other document referred to in the agreement.

I understand I am entitled to this information under ss77-79 of The Consumer Credit Act (CCA) 1974.

I also understand that this information should be sent to me within 12 working days of you receiving this letter. The CCA states that creditors are unable to enforce an agreement until this request is complied with.

I am enclosing the £1:00 fee, payable under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, for each account.


Yours faithfully

If they do not reply within 12 working days, then you can send the follow up letter. Whilst the debt is in dispute, they cannot enforce the debt.



Postcode:
Date:
CCCS Client No:
To:
Creditor’s Name:
Account/Agreement No:

Without Prejudice

Dear Sirs
With reference to the above account
I wrote to you on (date) requesting a copy of the above agreement together with the relevant information under Section 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) 1974. I enclosed the £1.00 fee. This letter was delivered and signed for on (date).
I have not yet received the information requested.
The Consumer Credit Act allows 12 working days for this request to be fulfilled. The 12 days ended on (date*) and you are now therefore in default of the CCA.
As you are probably aware this debt has now become unenforceable by law.
May I also remind you that until you produce the agreement and therefore show you have my authority, you cannot pass information to a credit reference agency without my permission.
This situation will remain until you either provide the requested information or a further 31 days expire. The date for this will be (date* + 31 days). At this stage, you have committed an offence and can be reported to Trading Standards .

Yours faithfully,

Regards
CCCS_Sue

I am looking into doing this, as i have missed 2 payments on a loan that is now in the hands of a debt collector (Blaine Oliver and Scott) before the outstanding debt was transfered over to to the debt collectors i asked the loan company on serval occassions over the phone to send out to me the signed loan agreement. I never did get it !! (making me think they do not have it)

I have made 1 payment to the debt collector due to threatening letters so am i still able to do this ?

leslb

Hi i'm not sure if i am in the right place or even posted correctly but i wanted to ask a question ... my husband has debt on 2 credit cards totalling £28K ... he gave up his career 5 years ago to take care of our children and since then i have been making the payments on his behalf ... i was made redundant 9 months ago and have since had to take a major salary drop and now am really struggling to make the minimum payments ... any suggestions what route we should go down to try to sort this out .... i haven't even had this conversation with him but i spend most nights worried sick about how we will manage going forward
thanks