Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

yippeedoo

Hi Sue,

I've posted this elsewhere on the forum but wondered if you could give me your/CCCS's opinion too please. I just want to get things straight in my head now so that I can plan for the future - not said that for a while!

Thanks for any help.

Regards.

yippeedoo wrote: »

Hi everyone,

DMPs, CCAs & F&Fs - No-one uses words anymore! :rolleyes:

Firstly thanks for such great information on this board. :T However, I've got some more specific questions that I've not been able to find the answer to. Hope you can help!


I've got £38k of debt on 5 credit cards and have just had a DMP agreed with CCCS which will start on October 1st (assuming the creditors agree which I'm assured they will). Assuming the interest is frozen for the duration, I will be debt-free in 7 years.

Quite literally, for the last 12 months I have been paying £1000 worth of interest every month without actually touching the debt itself and having no money left over to live on. Obviously that was getting me nowhere so I stopped payments 2-3 months ago, paid off all my rent arrears, etc instead and began looking at a DMP. All the debt is still with the credit card companies (no DCAs) at the moment.

Question 1 - I've read on here about CCAs and understand how the agreements may be unenforcable so it is something that I should look into at some point. However, I'm not sure of the timing - should I wait until the DMP is firmly in place before pushing them on the CCAs (I assume the creditors will know what I'm up to so I don't want to jeopardise the DMP).

Question 2 - When the DMP is up and running and I then find that one of my CCAs is unenforceable, do I instruct CCCS to stop paying that creditor? I get the impression that CCCS have a degree of trust with the banks, etc and it may not be in their interest to be seen to support this?

Question 3 - If I can build up some cash in the future to approach a creditor with a F&F (but not enough to approach them all) and they agree, how does that work with the DMP. The CCCS would obviously want me to spread my extra cash fairly between my creditors but doing that would mean there would be no F&F reduction.

Thanks for any help.

Jameshar73

Hi Sue,
I have not sent Newman a financial breakdown but I have posted one on the CCCS website and will follow up with a call to an advisor.

Charliebird

Hi Sue & Team

Sorry another question. My Hubby has received a really scary letter from Santander.

Background - Hubby has spoken to CCCS and has an interview booked on the 11th Sept. In the meantime we have sent all of the CCArd companies and Loans a letter explaining he is having financial difficulties and that he is speaking to CCCS and enclosing a cheque with nominal payments.

In the case of Santander/Paypal he missed one payment in July. We sent a letter to them recorded delivery on 15th August. We enclosed a cheque and advised them that the cheque was to be split and taken for July and August Payments. The cheque was cashed on the 20th. The letter we have received from them is dated the 21st August - so after they have received our letter and cashed the chq.

The letter in essence says .. "we are required by law to send you this notice before we can take action to recover the outstanding balance on your account. You are in breach of the payments clause of your agreement that states that you must make at least the minimum payment each month when due. You have failed to make these payments and as a result your account is in arrears of £35.37. To remedy this breach you must pay the arrears within 14 days from receipt of this notice." The letter continues and says that failure to do so will mean a series of outcomes one of which is legal proceedings.

My issue with this is that we have already sent in a letter telling them of my husbands financial problems. However what do we do now? Do we ignore the letter and just send in another nominal payment -- which was our plan. Or should we pay the arrears - which we could afford - but it will reduce the amount that another creditor would get. Or should he just call them?

I would really welcome some advice as we are trying to manage this the best way until he can speak with the CCCS counsellor on the 11th.

Many thanks

Charlie

londonfraggle

Hello - I wonder if any of you lovely people on here can give me some advice. I've got my call this afternoon with CCCS. I'm super nervous, although I know they will just be trying to help me.

Can nyone give me any tips or feedback about what to expect, what I should have ready (obviously have got details of all my debts, creditors etc already, as well as income and expenditure), any questions I should make sure I ask etc etc. Also what they might ask me?

I am quite scared, but also looking forward to making this step as I finally feel I'm tackling the problem.

Thank you in advance and have a lovely day all of you.

Fraggle x

CCCS_Sarah

Charliebird wrote: »

Hi Sue & Team

Sorry another question. My Hubby has received a really scary letter from Santander.

Background - Hubby has spoken to CCCS and has an interview booked on the 11th Sept. In the meantime we have sent all of the CCArd companies and Loans a letter explaining he is having financial difficulties and that he is speaking to CCCS and enclosing a cheque with nominal payments.

In the case of Santander/Paypal he missed one payment in July. We sent a letter to them recorded delivery on 15th August. We enclosed a cheque and advised them that the cheque was to be split and taken for July and August Payments. The cheque was cashed on the 20th. The letter we have received from them is dated the 21st August - so after they have received our letter and cashed the chq.

The letter in essence says .. "we are required by law to send you this notice before we can take action to recover the outstanding balance on your account. You are in breach of the payments clause of your agreement that states that you must make at least the minimum payment each month when due. You have failed to make these payments and as a result your account is in arrears of £35.37. To remedy this breach you must pay the arrears within 14 days from receipt of this notice." The letter continues and says that failure to do so will mean a series of outcomes one of which is legal proceedings.

My issue with this is that we have already sent in a letter telling them of my husbands financial problems. However what do we do now? Do we ignore the letter and just send in another nominal payment -- which was our plan. Or should we pay the arrears - which we could afford - but it will reduce the amount that another creditor would get. Or should he just call them?

I would really welcome some advice as we are trying to manage this the best way until he can speak with the CCCS counsellor on the 11th.

Many thanks

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

This is a standard collections letter. If you can afford to make a token payment then you could send that as a goodwill gesture – even if it’s only £1.

Generally when a creditor is referring to “legal action”, they are meaning a County Court Judgment however there is no guarantee they would go down this route. If they did, its not a big issue as all you would need to do is complete the forms and post them back with the agreed time – the offer of repayment would then stay the same.

Hope this helps put your mind at ease, give me a shout if you are still worried and have any other questions.

Sarah

dockers697

Is this the right place to ask a question?

dockers697

Ah it is.

So my situation is that I'm 58 years old and paying off £30,000 in debt. I have very little money left each month. Is there any way my loan companies will accept a lower amount each month? Also, when I retire, if I still owe money, is bankruptcy the only route? And finally can my company insist I retire at 60?

Many questions

Thanks

CCCS_Sarah

londonfraggle wrote: »

Hello - I wonder if any of you lovely people on here can give me some advice. I've got my call this afternoon with CCCS. I'm super nervous, although I know they will just be trying to help me.

Can nyone give me any tips or feedback about what to expect, what I should have ready (obviously have got details of all my debts, creditors etc already, as well as income and expenditure), any questions I should make sure I ask etc etc. Also what they might ask me?

I am quite scared, but also looking forward to making this step as I finally feel I'm tackling the problem.

Thank you in advance and have a lovely day all of you.

Fraggle x

Hi Fraggle

Lovely people… you haven’t seen CCCS Matthew :rotfl:

Try not to worry your counsellor will make you feel at ease. If you have any questions or worries, make a note of them before your appointment – if you’re anything like me I forget to ask and then put the phone down!

You will have given the helpline advisor some information on your initial call. Your counsellor will then just double check this information and then complete the rest of your budget. Once the budget is completed he/she will talk through your options and answer any questions you have. Once your appointment is completed you will receive an advice booklet with your options listed and a copy of your budget.

If there is anything you forget to ask on the call, you could give me a shout and I will be happy to answer any questions or there will be a support counsellor’s number in the pack-you could give them a call.

Good luck today, and let me know how it goes.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

dockers697 wrote: »

Ah it is.

So my situation is that I'm 58 years old and paying off £30,000 in debt. I have very little money left each month. Is there any way my loan companies will accept a lower amount each month? Also, when I retire, if I still owe money, is bankruptcy the only route? And finally can my company insist I retire at 60?

Many questions

Thanks

Hi Dockers,

Welcome to the boards!

I wouldn’t be able to say if bankruptcy is your best option as I don’t have access to your full financial circumstances.

If you’re unable to afford to make the full payments to your creditors, you could make reduced payments. The reduced payments would need to be based on a detailed budget.

If you would like to have an appointment with the CCCS, we could help you complete a budget and have a look at your long term solutions. If you would like a telephone appointment please call 0800 138 1111.

Alternatively, we do have a free online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy. You would just need to input the details of your income and expenditure in the system and then you would be provided with a tailored budget to your situation and be given advice on how to deal with your situation. This link will take you directly to Debt Remedy.

Hope this helps
Sarah

londonfraggle

CCCS_Sarah wrote: »

Hi Fraggle

Lovely people… you haven’t seen CCCS Matthew :rotfl:

Try not to worry your counsellor will make you feel at ease. If you have any questions or worries, make a note of them before your appointment – if you’re anything like me I forget to ask and then put the phone down!

You will have given the helpline advisor some information on your initial call. Your counsellor will then just double check this information and then complete the rest of your budget. Once the budget is completed he/she will talk through your options and answer any questions you have. Once your appointment is completed you will receive an advice booklet with your options listed and a copy of your budget.

If there is anything you forget to ask on the call, you could give me a shout and I will be happy to answer any questions or there will be a support counsellor’s number in the pack-you could give them a call.

Good luck today, and let me know how it goes.

Sarah

Thank you very much and I will do. It's so reassuring to know this site exists! Have a lovely day and thank you again.
Fraggle x