Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Sarah

excess wrote: »

Hi,

I have a number of credit cards some of which I have had for a number of years. Following divorce I now find myself struggling to match my outgoings with my income, something not helped by the extortionate CC interest rates. Do you know whether or not it is true that some credit card agreements (particularly older ones) are not enforcable due to how they were worded or did not correctly point out the statutory points? If so is there a legitimate process to cancel such a CC account.

many thanks,

excess

Just answered a very similar question and this was the response…
There seems to be a lot of organisations offering “wipe-off debt” services for a substantial fee. It’s worth noting that consumer credit debts will only be written off, if there is clear evidence that the creditor in question has breached the guidelines set within the Consumer Credit Act. The commercial companies offering to wipe off debts seem to be advertising this to the wider market, without prior knowledge to the individual’s financial situation.

If you are in a position where you think your creditors have taken unnecessary action which breaches the CCA and have evidence that proves so, then you could consider going down the route of disputing the debt through County Court. I would be very careful of any organisation offering such services, especially when they are charging substantial fees with no guarantee of success, when it’s something that you could do for yourself.

My advice would be that if you do feel you have a case where you feel your creditors have breached the CCA, speak to someone who can offer free independent advice, such as the Office of Fair Trading.

More information can be found on the Office of Fair Trading website: http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2008/consumeralert.
Regards

shelly782003

Hi, wonder if you could offer some much needed advice.

In Jan i am coming into some money (40K). My husband and I have around 15K worth of debt, we have a property that we are currently renting out, and we are renting ourselves.
Is it wise to pay off this debt, then we would have around about 10% deposit on a new house, with still renting out our flat???
I would of course save all the extra money we didn't have each month in a high interest savings account to put towards moving costs

Any advice would be helpful

CCCS_Sarah

marie2000 wrote: »

Hi,

Does anyone know of any commercial alternatives to CAP(christians against povery), where they manage your money for you and pay your bills. I am just not into dealing with an obviously religious organisation and would prefer to deal with someone else privately. Thanks.

Hi Marie,

The CCCS offer similar services, if you would like an appointment you can call our helpline free on 0800 138 1111, or you can visit our online debt advice facility Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a financial statement and you would be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your situation. Click here to go directly to Debt Remedy.

CCCS_Sarah

Antoinette1976Totton wrote: »

Hi,

I was wondering if you could help me. I currently am on a DMP with DFH, Manchester. Now at the moment I pay them £150 per month and £25 they take as fees.

Is it possible for me to stop this programme and change it over - are there free DMP company's that you know of?

CCCS does not charge for setting up or administering a Debt Management Plan.

We don’t have the facility to be able to simply transfer your Debt Management Plan 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..

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.

debtfreesomeyear

Help. I have £11400 in credit card debts. Been paying the minimums and have very little left for living ie. utilities. Went to my bank and they will not offer me a consolidation loan, tired Sainsbury's on line and RBS. What do I do??

vinnyknox

Hello

This is my first post and some questions may have already been answered.

My wife has received a letter today from a debt collection agency who are apparantly representing Orange. They say she owes over £200 but my wife has never had a phone with Orange. We moved house on 1st October last year and I have just been round to our old flat and found 3 letters relating to the same debt, the first dated 28th October 2008.

We intend to write to the Debt collectors to ask for details of the debt and I understand this type of letter is called a subject access request.

Can anyone confirm that this is the correct first step in challenging the validity of this debt.

Does anyone have any other advice about dealing with these types of letters?

Thanks in advance

meggiemoo1

Is there anyone that can advise us. 10 years ago a friend returned to the UK from working overseas. They stayed at our UK address for sometime then moved on. We have started to receive letters from a debt collector saying that this person owes money overseas. We have returned their letters stating that no-one with the name they are addressing the letters to lives at this address and we have no forwarding address. We have now received another letter so we called to advise them again the person they want does not live at our address and to stop sending letters to our address. They insisted on a telephone number for us which I refused. They threatened to pass the details onto a baliff. I hung up at this stage.
What can they do and more so what can we do.
Thank you

Findingawayout

I don't know if I am doing this right, I am new to forums and am not quite sure how they work, anyways if somebody is reading this maybee you could help.

We are in a serious position, We have spoken to the good people at CCCS and completed the budget questionair and had a telephone interview, however on three occasions we have had three different pieces of advise, ie First an IVA then after the interview a DMP, to which we could not commit since it would have taken us well past retirement age and lastly Bancruptcy. We have tonight reworked our budget plan allowing a better surplus for an IVA, is it possable to contact you again with a view to submitting the revised budet for consideration.

hambocolin

Hello! My husband owes £4550 to sky redit card. we are on a monthly repayment plan of £50 per month which is to be reviewed shortly.we have been very good and not missed a payment nor have we been late. the question i want to ask is in regards to a ful and final offer. he will recieve a bonus from work in march, for approx £3500 - give or take.we wouldlike to offer this as a full and final payment as we just want to get rid of the debt and concentrate on our other ones. is this something that might be considered by creditors? and do we simply put it in writting?

thanks in advance!

CCCS_Amanda

7062 wrote: »

Hi, I was retired on health grounds by HSBC bank in December last year due to me having cancer 9 times since I was 14 (i'm now 32).

When I retired I had around £20,000 worth of debt over 2 credit cards an overdraft and a Personal Loan.

I started sinking so contacted HSBC to ask for a consolidation loan but as I had little income, they wouldn't entertain me so I went to a debt management company for advice and they said to make a payment of £274 per month to them and they would deal with HSBC and clear the balances over 8 years with charges of around £3500.

Since then, HSBC sent me out an offer of a Managed Loan at £202 per month and at only 1.5% interest (variable) meaning total charges were £1700. My debt company said to send it to them to look over and they would advise me if it was a good option or if there was a catch. This was in September.

They took a while getting back to me and I've again been back in hospital so I contacted HSBC to ask if I could exercise this option but they said they have to go through a new proposal as my circumstances may have changed (which they have for the better) so they did that today but their new offer was £242 per month with total charges of £6000.

Sorry for the long story but what i'm asking I suppose is, Can they do this and what can I do? Can I negotiate with HSBC, and if so how?

My other concern is that if I leave my debt management company to deal with it, they have said that HSBC will pass my debts to metropolitan but by paying my debts to HSBC, I may be able to start mending my credit history. I just feel totally lost and confused.

Thank you.

Hi 7062,

Thank you for your post.

The loans that HSBC offer you are based on your circumstances and your credit rating. There is not a lot that you can do if they have retracted your previous offer.

The main thing is that you pay your debts at a rate that you can afford. If you are on a Debt Management Plan, you can get this service totally free of charge. We offer a DMP at CCCS that has no set up fees and no monthly management fees. This means that all of your available income will go to servicing the debts that you have outstanding.

As far as your credit history goes, anything that is put on your credit history, a default for example, will stay on your credit history for 6 years.

If you would like to have a chat with one of our debt counsellors you can call our helpline on 0800 138 1111. The counsellor will review your budget and your situation with you and advise you on ALL of the options available to you to deal with your debts. Alternately, you can use our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy buy using this link.

Regards,
Amanda