Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

worry_2

thanks i will do that , i will phone and talk over it all agian , burt i think im going to go for bankcruptcy i have been debating it for a few years now

kind regards

KATTY

I have a question I have just started a DMP and my partner is not working and his dad died and left him shares.
The solicter has advised to open an accoun t to put his share of the shares.
He used the people who the solicter advised him to do it with and they said they cannot open an account due to the address is blocke.
The DMP is in my name as its my debit.

What can he do its not my money and not his debt. But he could go back to work self empolyed if he sold these shares, bringing in more money. But I cannot expect him to give me any of his money from the share.

Any advise please

CCCS_Amanda

deano66 wrote: »

Hi
In March 2007 I applied for an IVA through Debtmatters. During the application process I was advised to transfer my mortgage to 'interest only' as this would reduce the monthly payment and bring the outgoings inside the allowed amount. This I did but I am concerned that at some point I need to revert back to 'repayment' in order to start reducing the capital otherwise I will need to sell my home to clear the debt which is something I tried to avoid doing by taking out an IVA!

During the application process I received correspondence from one of my debtors advising me that they were taking court action - I immediately contacted Debtmatters who instructed me to fax the paperwork through to them and they would deal with it - I did this and assumed they would do so. I heard nothing more from the company until a document arrived from the court advising me a legal charge had been placed on my deeds!

However this debt is showing on my paperwork as being part of the IVA. I again forwarded all documents to Debtmatters who assured me they would deal with it but it would appear they did not as I later received a letter from a company advising me that they had purchased my debt from the original company and were now chasing me for payment. I have also received correspondence from Unique Business Finance Ltd who tell me they are now my Supervisor - this is the ONLY time my supervisor has ever contacted me.

Sorry for being so long winded but my questions are:
Should/could Debtmatters have stopped the court action prior to my IVA court date?

When it comes to releasing equity in my property to clear my outstanding IVA balance can I transfer my mortgage back to repayment before I take a loan so that my outgoings stay within the boundary it is at present (my mortgage payment is £800 pm and IVA £550 - transferring to repayment will increase it to £1250approx so there will be very little left for additional loan).

Was is legal for the company to sell my debt even though it is part of an IVA? (It also appears that a legal charge was put on my deeds just before the IVA was finalised but it was still included in the IVA.

Am I allowed to refuse to take an equity release loan if the interest rate is too high and is likely to put me back to where I was when I started the IVA?

If I am unable to find a lender to provide me with the required equity release loan what will happen?

It seems unfair that the adverts say you can be debt free within 60 months when this only appears to be the case if you are not a home owner! I took out an IVA in panic and relief as I thought it would help me with my financial mess however it seems that the further I get into it the longer it is going to go on for - at the moment I cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel - just constant debt and court cases! I never expected a magic wand but neither did I expect to stick to the agreement for 5 years and still risk losing my home at the end of it!

Thanks to amyone who can reply to this thread.

Hi deano66,

Thank you for your post.

Unfortunately, as you have entered into a legally binding agreement any queries you have need to be directed to your Insolvency Practitioner. You could call them and ask them to provide you with answers to your questions.

If you have a complaint about your Insolvency Practitioner the insolvency service website gives you guidance on how to do this.

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/ipcomplaint.pdf

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Amanda

CCCS_Amanda

KATTY wrote: »

I have a question I have just started a DMP and my partner is not working and his dad died and left him shares.
The solicter has advised to open an accoun t to put his share of the shares.
He used the people who the solicter advised him to do it with and they said they cannot open an account due to the address is blocke.
The DMP is in my name as its my debit.

What can he do its not my money and not his debt. But he could go back to work self empolyed if he sold these shares, bringing in more money. But I cannot expect him to give me any of his money from the share.

Any advise please

Hi KATTY,

Thank you for your post.

Your husband should still be able to open a basic bank. He may have difficulties with a current account as here are different credit requirements for a current account and because he has a financial association with you.

I have attached a leaflet that will give you more advice on basic bank accounts.

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

Regards,
Amanda

agata

We have been with PDH for 4 months now. They take over £87 from our £500 monthly payment. Can we move to CCCS. Will you guys be able to help us? Our debt is around £44k. I'm on maternity leave from Jun, planning to go back to work in Nov. My husband had to leave his job in aug and at the moment he's self employed, doing ad hoc jobs. That means £290 so far in Sept. The property that we owe is in negative equity (£984 mortgage repayments). What can we do? Is bunkruptcy an option?

CCCS_Sue

agata wrote: »

We have been with PDH for 4 months now. They take over £87 from our £500 monthly payment. Can we move to CCCS. Will you guys be able to help us? Our debt is around £44k. I'm on maternity leave from Jun, planning to go back to work in Nov. My husband had to leave his job in aug and at the moment he's self employed, doing ad hoc jobs. That means £290 so far in Sept. The property that we owe is in negative equity (£984 mortgage repayments). What can we do? Is bunkruptcy an option?

Hi agata and thank you for your message

If you are currently on a Debt Management Plan, we would not be able to simply transfer your DMP 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.

At this stage,I would not be able to say whether bankruptcy was your best option without knowing your full circumstances.

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

gandl

Hi - I tried to PM the message below to CCCS, but can't work out whether it has gone or not, so am trying this as well.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

---

My father-in-law (T) was recently forced to reveal to us and to my mother-in-law (C) that he has run up total debts of ca. £46k (ca. £18k on 2 loans and ca. £28k on about 6 credit cards). C was unaware of this (they have separate current accounts) and is inevitably very upset, as she hates debt of any kind.

I did a rough run through of figures with them and it seems that just based on essential outgoings and repayments, his outgoings are currently ca. £400/month more than his net earnings. Until this came out he also regularly spent significant amounts on non-essential luxuries and this is how he has got into the debt cycle and ended up with such a large total.

I advised them to seek proper debt counselling, but CCCS, CAB, etc. were unable to provide much help because they are not yet formally in debt crisis, because he has so far been able to keep up the payments and not default. However, according to the Experian credit report we got for him, he has now used up well over 90% of his available credit, so it is a matter of months before he will have to start to default, if something is not done.

The average % rate on the credit cards is ca. 18%, so most of the monthly payments on these are just going on repaying interest.

He has the opportunity to increase his loans by another ca. £7.5k with Black Horse finance (I don't know at what %), keeping similar repayments but spreading the loan over a longer period. This will allow him to clear some of the credit card debt, but not enough. They are also insisting C countersigns the form, which she is unhappy about, as she will then be jointly liable for the debt.

A few key points are: 1. T is now 63, but expects to (and needs to) be able to continue working after his retirement; 2. C is 62 and retired, but she has now started looking for a job again; 3. they have a house worth ca. £160k-£180k with no mortgage on it. 4. The situation is very tense and could potentially split them up (C has already had valuations on the house, but really does not want to move). 5. The person who seems least concerned by all this is T, who still, in the face of all the figures, seems to think it is under control and that he could have sorted it out on his own. He is effectively being forced into these changes (including having to hand over all his credit cards to stop him spending any more on them!).

Could they and should they be considering a mortgage or home equity loan or some other form of debt consolidation, or should they avoid any sort of secured debt? Is the only answer to do the credit card shuffle, etc. to try to get everything onto the lowest possible %? Is there anything else that can be done?

One of our biggest concerns is that it seems inevitable that C will have to take on joint responsibility for some or all of T's debts. She is obviously very worried about this (having never knowingly been in debt before) and wants to try to get some sort of insurance protection (to the extent possible). Is there any way to sort this out without putting her and/or the house at risk?

I apologise for such a long message, but would be very grateful for any advice you can provide.

graduategeo

Hi I am looking for some advice. I had taken out a loan with a student provider and after hearing nothing attempted to contact them and discovered they had gone under. I continued to try and get in touch with someone to no avail. Last week my parents (I live abroad currently) rang to say I had a payment schedule from a Canadian debt agency called Total Crediting. They only provided a list of payment dates and no other info. They also will only accept payment by cheque. As my first payment is due in 2 days I tried calling but the number was not accepted. I then emailed and got a very short reply back saying it was my fault they could not get in touch despite having my current address, email and phone on their records! My main concern is if there is a way to confirm the validity of the company? They are difficult to contact and deal with, do not accept bank payments and use emails which are listed as spam. I haved saved up so that I can make full early settlement but am not confident to do so until I know they are the real deal.

Any assistance greatly appreciated

dirtydavey

I have two laons, one of about 3k with RBS and one of about 7K with Egg. I also have a credit card with about 400 pounds on it.

I am making payments on these each month, but as I am paying the minimum amount each company will let me, I am not able to pay off my overdraft and the CC debt is not going down, as I am being chraged intrest at allmost the same rate as I am paying off.

I talked to HSBC, and they told me that the CCCS could help. The question I have though is will this affect my credit rating, as at present I am not missing any payments, and my credit rating is good. This is mainly also due to the fact that I make sure all my payments go out on the same day as I get paid.

By the end of the month I am starting to run out of money and cant afford any thing. And so am going over my overdraft and getting bank changes of 25 pounds a go.

What should I do?

jamesd

dirtydavey, it sounds as though you aren't yet at the point where arrangements through CCCS are the best approach. Assuming that your credit record really is that good you should be able to obtain 0% balance transfer deals from credit cards. Virgin's 0% for 15 months with 2.98% fee allows transfers to a current account and might get you a limit sufficient to eliminate the overdraft and costs from that, as well as possibly reducing the cost of other debt.

These deals can be very helpful but you must ensure that you don't increase borrowing while using them to reduce debt issues. If you find that your borrowing is still increasing then you will need to take the CCCS route and should do so sooner rather than later.

Someone with an unblemished credit record might expect to be able to borrow up to half of their salary on 0% credit card deals, and to be able to get repeat deals as the old ones expire. Depending on your income it's possible that you could mostly eliminate the interest cost.

You may also find the Debt-free Wannabe and Old Style Moneysaving sections of interest. The Debt-free Wannabe people are good at squeezing money from budgets but do be aware that many there have had significant major debt issues and will not accept borrowing, even to reduce debt costs, because they were unable to manage to stop borrowing more when they did it themselves. It's vital that you do avoid increasing your total borrowing, or promptly seek CCCS assistance if you can't do that!