Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

borntobeadancer

Hi,

I'm two months into a DMP with Churchwood finance, paying off a Northern Rock loan (who've happily accepted the new payments) and Barclaycard, who have set their Mercer debt collection agency on me. I've spoken to Barclaycard and Mercer a few times, and they've eased off with the constant phone calls.

However, my problem is that I have a Barclays bank account, and am now terrified that Barclaycard can take money from my account. Is it possible this could happen in the future? I've gone from going hungry for half the month to now having a reasonable standard of living, and I'm now scared they can come in and take my money. I'm in an overdraft of £1820, with a monthly income of £1500. I was asked by Churchwood if I wanted to include the overdraft in the DMP but they said I would have to change banks, and because I did this all so fast because I was desperate I didn't want the hassle. Please could you tell me if my wages are safe or if I should take any action?

Thanks in advance.

CCCS_Sarah

hiyer wrote: »

Hello
I need some help with dealing with Debt Collection threatening letter.

I moved from Tiscali broadband to Sky in Feb 09 and my phone line and broadband was disconnected from Tiscali. I got new phone number and broadband from Sky. I notified Tiscali prior to moving.

Tiscali still send me an invoice for £19.81 for Feb 09 and I rang them and emailed them to notify that they no longer supply any service to us. I received an apology note and said that they will close my account. Last month I received 2 letters demanding £133 payment. I ignored this. Now Tiscali has (what appears) sold my debt to a Debt Collector who is threatening to take me to court. Now the Debt Collector is demanding some £240.

Any help on how to deal with this will be appreciated.

Do you have the letter from Tiscali still? If so, send the collection agency a copy of this letter. If you have no longer got a copy of this letter, you will need to either ask Tiscali for another copy or ask them for a Subject Access Request – there is a fee of £10 for this, but it will give you all the notes on the account and all the information they hold on you. This will then give you enough information to send to the collection agency.

Whilst any account is in dispute, the collection agency should put a hold on any action.

CCCS_Sarah

callywally wrote: »

I am on a dmp and wonder ifit is possible to claim bank credit card charges.I know that any money woulld go towards reducing my debt but is itpossible to do and has anyone else done so.thanks

Hi Cally,

You sure can! There is a fantastic guide on this website to help you.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

Who is your DMP with?

Sarah

callywally

I am with cccs

CCCS_Sarah

borntobeadancer wrote: »

Hi,

I'm two months into a DMP with Churchwood finance, paying off a Northern Rock loan (who've happily accepted the new payments) and Barclaycard, who have set their Mercer debt collection agency on me. I've spoken to Barclaycard and Mercer a few times, and they've eased off with the constant phone calls.

However, my problem is that I have a Barclays bank account, and am now terrified that Barclaycard can take money from my account. Is it possible this could happen in the future? I've gone from going hungry for half the month to now having a reasonable standard of living, and I'm now scared they can come in and take my money. I'm in an overdraft of £1820, with a monthly income of £1500. I was asked by Churchwood if I wanted to include the overdraft in the DMP but they said I would have to change banks, and because I did this all so fast because I was desperate I didn't want the hassle. Please could you tell me if my wages are safe or if I should take any action?

Thanks in advance.

You would need to change your bank account as soon as possible. If you have any debts with your current bank and you offer reduced payments, they can use any money in your bank to bring other accounts up to date.

I have attached a link below to a booklet that lists bask bank accounts for you.

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

Are you getting charged for your DMP?

CCCS_Sarah

callywally wrote: »

I am with cccs

If you contact our client support department, they will be able to see if you meet the hardship criteria. If you do we will be able to support your claim and send you a letter to forward to your bank.

Or if you wish, you could send an email to [EMAIL="contactus@cccs.co.uk"]contactus@cccs.co.uk[/EMAIL] with your reference number and your contact number and I will forward your details on to the correct department for you.

borntobeadancer

CCCS_Sarah wrote: »

You would need to change your bank account as soon as possible. If you have any debts with your current bank and you offer reduced payments, they can use any money in your bank to bring other accounts up to date.

I have attached a link below to a booklet that lists bask bank accounts for you.

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

Are you getting charged for your DMP?

I now feel sick with worry. How can I change banks when my wage goes straight into the overdraft, which I've been in for years, and have never been able to claw my way out? Can Barclaycard do this even though I now have a supposed arrangement with them?

I am getting charged about £35 for the DMP and looking around I can see Churchwood are basically a big con. If I were to go to Barclaycard and offer to up my reduced payment with this £35 and cancel Churchwood, would that make my bank account safe?

CCCS_Sarah

borntobeadancer wrote: »

I now feel sick with worry. How can I change banks when my wage goes straight into the overdraft, which I've been in for years, and have never been able to claw my way out? Can Barclaycard do this even though I now have a supposed arrangement with them?

I am getting charged about £35 for the DMP and looking around I can see Churchwood are basically a big con. If I were to go to Barclaycard and offer to up my reduced payment with this £35 and cancel Churchwood, would that make my bank account safe?

You could use this letter to forward onto your bank so that they don’t take your money. You may wish to slightly reword it as it refers to the CCCS, you could add some information about you starting a DMP.

You could approach your creditors directly, then that way all the money is going towards your debts rather than to another company. Or you could approach on of the free organisations such as CCCS, National Debtline or CAB. If you would like an appointment with the CCCS our helpline number is 0800 138 1111.

Example letter – first right of appropriation

From:
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Date:
CCCS Client No:

To:
Creditor’s Name:
Account/Agreement No:
Dear Sir/Madam
Account Number: First Right of Appropriation
A payment of £(amount) will be paid into the above account on this date (date). The account is currently overdrawn; however I need the money to meet my living expenses, utilities and rent payments over the next week.
I am writing to give notice that I intend to use my ‘first right of appropriation’ to earmark the £(amount) for this purpose and will withdraw the sum of £(amount) on this date (date) in order to do so.
I will contact you separately to make arrangements to repay my accounts which remain with you.
Yours faithfully
(Signature)
(Print name)

mb73

Hi - my DMP is starting in October and most of my creditors have been co-operative and understanding, and I have been paying them token amounts until the DMP takes effect.

However, I have received a default notice from co-operative bank today regarding my overdraft with them and basically threatening me with court if I don't pay them the whole amount before 11th October. As far as I'm aware, they know I am now on a DMP and wouldn't be aggressively chasing me (phone calls at all hours, letters, etc) if I hadn't informed them I was going on one.

What do I do about the default notice? I don't want to talk to them on the phone as they are quite aggressive, and the CCCS counsellor I spoke to last week assured me it was simply a matter of waiting for the co-op to sort out their paperwork as a proposal for payment has been sent to them. I'm feeling anxious because the token payment I tried to send them doesn't seem to have left my account and I'm scared I will be taken to court. I have also noticed the balance of the account has gone up (presumably a charge has been added).

What sort of letter should I send them to stop the harassment and prevent this going to court?

mrscmr

hello - i am looking for some advice.
my OH and i are in a real pickle since he lost his job earlier this year. he has a new job BUT it does not cover our outgoings and we have a huge amount of credit card and loan debt. I have arranged a couple of self managed dmp with some of the companies we owe money too - but now its getting too much and i think i have to get someone to do it properly as i am really struggling with the stress of it all.

if i speak to cccs in the morning and go through all the out/in goings -
how long is is before we are on the official plan?
what sort of amount are the token payments?
will they come and take our cars away -and
do i try to make payments before i am officially on the plan?
can we keep our house?
can we make overpayments to the dmp when things get better?

please can someone help ... i am getting close to end of tether.

thanks