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CCCS_Matthew

smh2008 wrote: »

I have received a letter today from a debt agency called Wescot for unpaid charges totalling almost £700 from the Halifax!

The letter says I need to contact them in order to prevent Court action!

I cannot afford to pay all this at once and need some advice urgently.

Hi there,

First of all, is this a debt that you are aware of? Have you had an account with Halifax?

If so, don't panic. The letter you have recieved sounds like a general collections letter encouraging to repay the debt as quick as possible. You won't have to pay the debt off in full, as if you had that kind of money in the first place then the debt would have been cleared ages ago! Westcot will normally want you to get in contact for you to make a payment arrangement in order to get the debt cleared.

My advice would be to sit down and work out what you can afford to pay and set up a standing order to Westcot (avoid setting up a Direct Debit to ensure the amount stays the same).

Court action is the last stage with a debt if you refuse to make payments or offer an amount that is deemed unrealistic by the creditor. If you feel you are unable to make any sort of payment to this debt or are struggling with other debts too, you could call our helpline for some more in-depth advice to see whether you would benefit from speaking to one of our debt counsellors.

Regards,
CCCS

lordsnooty01

CCCS_Matthew wrote: »

Hi there, sorry to take so long to get back to you. We’re very busy at the moment!

Reading through your post, there seems to be a lot going on with this debt. As far as the CCA request is concerned, the fact that they’ve got back to you a little late doesn’t really make too much of a difference, as you’ve mentioned in your post that you admit the debt is yours (although the balance of the debt is in dispute).

It’s difficult to see how they got to the £29k considering the default was for £14k. Do you know what you borrowed in the first place? I must stress that although you made an agreement to pay a set amount back with them stopping interest, is not legally binding so it’s likely that at some stage they started adding on interest and charges again.

If you’re happy to clear the debt for £14k your best bet is to approach them to make a settlement offer, asking them to consider accepting a lump sum payment and write off the remainder of the balance. If this is something that you are considering, send me a PM and I’ll provide you with a template letter to use.

Regards,
CCCS

Thanks for the prompt reply.

The original amount borrowed was £18k. Another point (irrelevant possibly) is that on my credit file, the debt relates to my current account. What I think they did was transfer the debt from the loan to the current account (if that makes sense?)

The loan account is closed and states: Settled £14,100.00
The current account states: Default £14,100.00 !!!!

Is this legal? They have failed to supply me with account information, instead just assuming I will pay what they ask. Should I not be pushing back and asking them to supply me with a derived calculation breakdown before I make any offer of payment to clear this?

Lastly, the CCA - how can I tell if this is enforceable or not? As mentioned, it is in a 3 page format - what makes this an unenforceable debt?

Apologies for the questioning, but I want to handle this correctly.

craigp_2

Hi guys

I recently applied to payplan for help and was reccommended a DMP,but when I was going through my incomings and outgoings I told payplan that I needed a new car.The lady on the phone said she would put this into my outgoings and I was to make a small token payment to my debt for 3 months and then payplan would get back in touch with me to start my DMP.

Does this sound resonable and can I expect the people I owe money to to accept a token payment for 3 months?I do need a car to get to work and back.

Many thanks!

CCCS_Matthew

NoMoreTears wrote: »

May I ask a question re IVA's please?

My situation is that I would not be suitable for a standard IVA as I do not have spare income (negative in fact), but I have read somewhere about "lump sum" IVA's.

From what I understand, you go through the standard process of asking your creditors to accept your IVA proposal, but then pay one lump sum to them and that's it (assuming they agree of course).

Can you confirm my thoughts are correct, and if so, would they still be likely to accept a lump sum of 25% of money owed, bearing in mind that if they say "no" the only other option for us is bankruptcy, and they are unlikely to receive anything?

One last point (sorry!), is it possible to negotiate a lump sum IVA where the lump sum is paid at the end of the five year period, and during the five years all interest is stopped? I know that sounds cheeky, but our situation is that we would not be in this amount of trouble if our house would sell at the valued amount (realistically fallen by a third in value - and that third roughly matches the money we owe - aarrrggghhh!), so if they were to accept a deferred lump sum payment we could almost certainly do this once the housing market recovered in our area back to where is was a year ago.

Thanks for you help on these questions.

Martin

Hi Martin.

Your thoughts of how a lump-sum IVA are correct. You would also be expected to make monthly payments on the IVA should you have a surplus available. In your case you mention you are in a deficit position so this should not be likely. Unfortunately on that basis, a lump sum IVA would not be a suitable option as you need to show on paper that your income is substantial enough to maintain your living costs. If you are in a deficit it shows to the creditors you would need to rely on credit to bridge the gap, and would therefore not accept the proposal.

I can’t really comment on what percentage the creditors would accept on a lump sum, as it’s solely down to their discretion. But typically speaking IVA’s normally become possible once 25% of the debt is to be repaid.

With a lump sum IVA you have to have realisable assets, whether it’s equity in property or money in the bank to put forward to the proposal. In your situation an lump sum IVA would not be possible, as you cannot make a proposal based on equity that might be available within the future. You have no guarantee that you will have a set amount of equity available by next year, so on that basis it’s not going to be a suitable option.

If you haven’t already done so, I’d suggest ringing us for an appointment as it’s difficult to give you in-depth advice without seeing all your figures in front of me.

Hope this help,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

Boonsie wrote: »

Hello

I have just completed my Dept remedy with CCCS and they have suggested an IVA solution for me or a "low start DMP", I have filled in my Contact details for them to contact me, how long will it be before they call me?

Before I read about CCCS I contacted a firm called Bains & Ernst about my dept and they have also suggested an IVA, they seem desperate to sign me up and I am very nervous about them!

Should I wait and talk to the CCCS about my IVA

thanks

Hi there Boonsie.

Normally we will be in contact within a couple of days of your request. alterntatively you can call us directly, there should be a number to call at the end of Debt Remedy. I would suggest holding on before making any decisions about what you want to do, as sometimes speaking to someone directly we can discuss any concerns that you might have before advising you on the best option for your needs.

Hope this helps.
Matthew

CCCS_Matthew

lordsnooty01 wrote: »

Thanks for the prompt reply.

The original amount borrowed was £18k. Another point (irrelevant possibly) is that on my credit file, the debt relates to my current account. What I think they did was transfer the debt from the loan to the current account (if that makes sense?)

The loan account is closed and states: Settled £14,100.00
The current account states: Default £14,100.00 !!!!

Is this legal? They have failed to supply me with account information, instead just assuming I will pay what they ask. Should I not be pushing back and asking them to supply me with a derived calculation breakdown before I make any offer of payment to clear this?

Lastly, the CCA - how can I tell if this is enforceable or not? As mentioned, it is in a 3 page format - what makes this an unenforceable debt?

Apologies for the questioning, but I want to handle this correctly.

Hello again.

It sounds to me like the bank have carried out the “right to offset” meaning that they have transferred the balance of the loan to your current account once it was defaulted. This is something that they are legally allowed to do.

I think that your better off requesting a Subject Acess Request (SAR) rather than a CCA. Asking for the CCA is only really going to prove whether you owe the debt, which you’ve admitted you do. The issue that you have is the amount that they are demanding from you. If you apply for a SAR they are committed to supply you with all the information they have on file about your accounts, incluiding a breakdown of all payments made and the balances of the debts you have. This should give you a better of understanding of how they’ve managed to get the outstanding amount that they have. If this doesn’t justify the amount, your then in a better position to look at trying to dispute the amount that they are chasing you for.

I’ve attached a link for a template letter for a SAR if helps:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/Home/what_we_cover/data_protection/your_rights/how_to_access_information.aspx

Regards,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

craigp wrote: »

Hi guys

I recently applied to payplan for help and was reccommended a DMP,but when I was going through my incomings and outgoings I told payplan that I needed a new car.The lady on the phone said she would put this into my outgoings and I was to make a small token payment to my debt for 3 months and then payplan would get back in touch with me to start my DMP.

Does this sound resonable and can I expect the people I owe money to to accept a token payment for 3 months?I do need a car to get to work and back.

Many thanks!

If a DMP is still a possibility once you've built in all your running costs for the car then making token payments to your creditors for 3 months is a reasonable short term solution. Are you looking at buying a car outright, or are you looking to take on finance to pay the car?

CCCS

CCCS_Sarah

misscutiepie1984 wrote: »

RE: Decembers early payment.

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

Sorry for the delay, just wanted to make sure I gave you the correct information.

Payments will be sent to your creditors early in December; to allow them sufficient time to process the funds over the Christmas period please ensure that you make your payment at the Post Office no later than Friday, 5th December, Direct Debits will be paid on the usual days.

All clients that are on a DMP will have a note in their November statements confirming this information.

bunty1983

hi im starting dmp this month and first payment is due to you 1st january just wondering whats the latest date i make the payment?i will be doing it via internet banking.

CCCS_Matthew

bunty1983 wrote: »

hi im starting dmp this month and first payment is due to you 1st january just wondering whats the latest date i make the payment?i will be doing it via internet banking.

Hi there.

Payments can reach to us at the 10th of each month at the very latest to ensure the money is sent to your creditors on time. So if you set up the payment for the 1st of the month, it will certainly reach us on time.

Hope that helps,
CCCS