Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

Tuscan

Hi

ive had a dmp with the CCCS for over 5yrs now and its largely worked very well and have paid many thousands off my debts.

in all this time ive always kept to the plan and never missed payments etc and have increased payment amount year on year.

however i am self employed and although i managed to get through the credit crunch last year but with a very reduced income i still kept to the plan.

now im getting very worried as for the first time in 20yrs of working for myself ive not had any work since the 6th of December and currently theres nothing on the horizon although this could change at any moment should the phone ring. we have very little money left after last year and have a mortgage and a secured loan that must come first.

what im asking is what do i do if i cant make a full payment this month? im gutted at the thought of stirring up trouble with my creditors as they have excepted the plan from the start and have been good as gold with me bar one that took me to court.

im paying £420 a month on a outstanding debt of around 29k plus £250 to the CCJ which i pay direct.

wife's taking on more hours at work so her income should just cover the secured debts and CCJ but wont cover my dmp, chances are my work will start to pick up in the next few weeks but may not be in time to get a full payment to the CCCS.

also have a 2yr old to support so we are feeling a bit concerned at this time..

thanks for your time
tuscan

CCCS_Matthew

Triggles wrote: »

We have been basically following a self-administered DMP, after using advice from the CCCS website. All the debt (loans, credit cards) are in DH's name, although I had secondary cards (my name is on card, but not on account as responsible for payment). The only thing that has both our names is the overdraft (approximately £2100). We have opened a new bank account in my name only at a different bank, and all incomings are now being paid into this account, as well as any priority bills (rent, utilities, and such).

The overdraft has just gone over it's limit (due to a math error on my part) and by the time I'd realised it, they'd already started adding charges. They will be adding more charges in a few weeks, according to a letter we just received. We had discussed scraping enough each month to pay the interest and just £10 on the balance of the overdraft just to chip away at it and to keep it from getting more charges added to it, since it has my name on it also. However, my concern is because one of his debts is a loan and a credit card through the same bank, that as soon as we've whittled away any money off the overdraft, they will swoop in and take more money out of the account, putting us back at the limit and racking up the charges again. The other problem is that as long as it's over the overdraft limit, they are apparently going to be charging us £25 for being over, £20 "instant interest" plus another £20 for regular interest EACH MONTH, according to the letter I just received! So..... what's the best approach for this? I have debated calling them tomorrow and speaking to them to find out what they plan on doing and what they recommend, but obviously I would like the opinion of someone that is knowledgeable about this stuff that DOESN'T have a vested interest in the bank's money.

So what would CCCS recommend in this instance?

Hi there, thanks for getting in touch.

The key issue is to definitely get the overdraft back into it's limit to prevent the added interest and charges piling on each month leaving the debt to increase each month. In practice, if you can do this and contribute something each month to chip away at the overdraft this would be the best solution.

You are right in saying that there is a risk that the bank will 'dip in' to the overdraft to pay the loan/credit card but whether or not they will do this depends on how receptive they are to the other payments you are making to the loan/cards.

If they do decide to offset money from the account, then there isn't really much you can do to stop them doing this. However, as soon as they take you over the limit again you tend to find that they will then default the account and pass the outstanding balance of the overdraft to a debt collection agency. At this stage you could then make an arrangement to pay what you can afford without the risk of the added charges.

Good luck,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

ISeeRedLetters wrote: »

Hi, I have 4 credit card debts and 2 loans totalling approx £20,000, I cannot afford even the minimum payments on any of them due to work cut-backs. I have entered the "spiral of debt" big time, and am looking at IVA or bankruptcy(seeking advice via CAB).
I have read on the National Debtline website on how to calculate full and final settlement offers between creditors.
My Questions is:- Is there any way of "guessing" how much they will accept in "full and final settlement"? What kind of percentage of the outstanding balance is a bechmark?
The reason I ask is because a relative has offered to help, and I don't want to be flapping in the wind when they ask how much I need. I would like to say a figure +-10%.
Do the banks and C/C companies have a formulae for write-offs?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there.

Most creditors work on a case by case basis so unfortunately, there is no set rule to what is accepted when it comes to a settlement offer. You also tend to find that some creditors will not entertain settlement offers.

If you are in the position to make a settlement it's best to start low and work your way up. I tend to suggest try your luck with maybe 20-30% of what is owed and work your way up accordingly. Your best bet is to write to them first to get an idea of an amount they are likely to accept, and then approach family/friends for the money. Most creditors give you a set timescale of how long the settlement offer is valid for which gives you time to request the money and see if there is enough to go round for other creditors.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

mitchelltime wrote: »

Hi,

I'm new on here so apologies if this is the wrong section, I've done a search and can't find it answered previously.

I'm on a mission to improve my credit rating due to starting saving for a house deposit, and will be looking for a mortgage eventually (although it seems a long way off at present).

During my wild younger days I was a bit haphazard in regards to credit, I've just got my Experian and Equifax credit reports and all looks a much healthier state and making good headway in to wiping the remaining debt out and have a clean payment record for nearly 3 years now.

One thing still of concern is an old CCJ from May 2006, whilst it won't be of issue when I actually come to get a mortgage (as I won't have a deposit till after May 2012) it is still not showing as settled. I knew about this before but didn't do anything back then (stupid I know).

My question is I actually paid a DCA in Feb 08 part of the amount in settlement for the debt.

Can I actually get the CCJ marked as settled via providing the court with proof from the DCA (Thames Credit) - I have a letter saying acceptance of paid in full status subject to cleared funds (do I need to get more?) and paying the court fee? Or do I just have to have it sit there as is till 2012?

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give

Hi there.

Your best bet is to get a 'Certificate of Satisfaction' from the court by providing them with proof the CCJ has been paid. There is normally a £10 fee for this. Once you have this, you can then send this to the credit reference agencies who can then mark the CCJ as settled. It will still stay on there for 6 years from the date of entry but a settled CCJ will be considered better as far as borrowing money is concerned compared to an outstanding CCJ.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

brunettegirl wrote: »

I have a charging order on my property that I have not paid since I got it 2007 (I am in the process of changing this) they have sent me a statement of affairs to complete and a statement, (the first contact from them in 3 years) anyway it turns out they are still adding interest to the original debt. My offer to repay won't cover the interest, how do I get them to stop putting interest on?
I have the same problem with my old car company my payments a month don't cover the interest payments, so my debt is still going up.
Can someone please let me know how to stop the interest from being added.

2010 is my year for getting organised!

Hi there.

As far as the charging order is concerned, most courts will normally set statutory interest of 8%. If you want to court to reconsider you must take the case back to court. To do this you must obtain an N244 form and request a hearing (£75). You would need to explain that your current monthly payments do not cover the interest meaning that you'll never be able to clear the debt. Whether or not the judge will agree will be down to their discretion. If you've not paid anything for 3 years it may not act in your favour, but ultimately it's down to the judge.

As far as the car is concerned has it got as far as a CCJ or is it just with a debt collection agency?

Regards,
Matthew.

redpolly1

Hello

I have a hearing on Thursday for a Charging Order. It is from NR for a loan of £15000. Am on DMP with CCCS. CCj rejected. Is it worth fighting or just best to accept and ask for condition - stop interest, instalments and no order of sale?
Also what should we expect to happen there?
What do we need to take with us?

Thanks

brunettegirl

As far as the car is concerned has it got as far as a CCJ or is it just with a debt collection agency?

Regards,
Matthew.[/QUOTE]

thanks for that.

The car is still with the original company I took the loan with and they haven't taken it to court, i dealt with them direct.

1066wasabadyear

Hello all, well its finally come, I have run out of money to pay my bills (CCs) for the first time ever in over 10 years this month and I've not got a clue what I should do, I'm self employed and been claiming JSA since October 09 I've had a DCA after me for purchases I never made or agreed to I'm not worried about them but I am over the credit cards, usually I ignore them but I don't think it will work for the cc, so please any advice as to what I should do would be great, thanks, Gary.

>£4meplease

I thought I'd found a reliable debt advisor through this site, but maybe I got side-tracked, but tonight a man from Debt Sepecialist Limted contacted me. I gave him a list of all my outgoing and income and eventually he said a plan could be arranged to pay back all our debts over about 6years at about £250/mth. The first 2 payments go to pay the company themselves for setting up the system and making the arrangements with the companies we owe plus a %age of our monthly payment each month also goes to them. The rest pays off our debts with most of the interest frozen. Sounds good. He suggests that we avoid companies like CCCS, payplan and the Debt Advisory Line as they only make things worst and spiral the debt. He also told me that Mr. M Lewis is giving poor advice as the CAB that he recommends, signpost people to these type of companies which excalates their problems. I thought it worth mentioning this to you, (assuming that you haven't already heard this). I'm so confused who to trust. I thought I'd found a trustworthy firm but - "I think I got it wrong again." I haven't agreed to anything and won't be, not with them.

(Hope I haven't broken any rules by quoting the above.) tried to put in a confused smilie but failed at that as well:(

>£4meplease.

workinonit

>£4meplease wrote: »

I thought I'd found a reliable debt advisor through this site, but maybe I got side-tracked, but tonight a man from Debt Sepecialist Limted contacted me. I gave him a list of all my outgoing and income and eventually he said a plan could be arranged to pay back all our debts over about 6years at about £250/mth. The first 2 payments go to pay the company themselves for setting up the system and making the arrangements with the companies we owe plus a %age of our monthly payment each month also goes to them. The rest pays off our debts with most of the interest frozen. Sounds good. He suggests that we avoid companies like CCCS, payplan and the Debt Advisory Line as they only make things worst and spiral the debt. He also told me that Mr. M Lewis is giving poor advice as the CAB that he recommends, signpost people to these type of companies which excalates their problems. I thought it worth mentioning this to you, (assuming that you haven't already heard this). I'm so confused who to trust. I thought I'd found a trustworthy firm but - "I think I got it wrong again." I haven't agreed to anything and won't be, not with them.

(Hope I haven't broken any rules by quoting the above.) tried to put in a confused smilie but failed at that as well:(

>£4meplease.

I'd trust the advice on here, not the company trying to sell to you. I have been on a CCCS plan for 3 years, long before I started looking on here. No charges, great service, all creditors happy to work with them. Debts been dealt with, going to CCCS was a huge step forward/relief for me, and plenty of others have had similar experiences now I read these boards. Good luck.