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Achelois_2

I am planning on starting a DMP with CCCS shortly.

I am scared. I am worried about a number of issues and wondered if someone could put my mind at rest please?

1) I have always just about managed to keep up my repayments with all my items except for one / two debts which are on frozen interest and agreed monthly payments (barclaycard and Amex - now with RMA)
2) What if I go with CCCS and my debtors refuse to freeze the interest and take my monthly payments - I dont want to end up in a worse situation then I am in now?
3) My parents have offered to guarantee one loan with my bank to cover everything instead of going on the DMP so that I can just do this this way but this worries me as I would still have access to credit and I dont trust myself.... so therefore leaving me open to making my situation worse.... should I take this option and avoid the DMP or go with CCCS and become debt free eventually?
4) If I go with the DMP, my parents will give me £3600 to knock off some of my debt. I thought with this I should try and get some F&F Settlements with some of them before I take the DMP route, or should I wait and let CCCS deal with this on my behalf?

Sorry to ask so many questions. My Mum and Dad are convinced CCCS is not the way to go, they keep mentioning IVAs, Insovelncy Solicitors, the fact I will lose my house (which is housing association and loans / debt is not secured) and people like Ocean Finance despite me telling them that CCCS is a registered charity and the money I pay goes off my debt. I think the fact that they have heard CCCS is funded by banks is what is worrying them (and me!)

Thanks all and sorry for the long post

A xx

CCCS_Sue

mumtoangel wrote: »

Hi,

I have a ccj against me which started in Dec 2006. Since that time my working hours have decreased and so has my salary, although my tax credits have increased I am finding it increasingly hard to find the money at the time the payments are due which is the middle of the month so a couple of times I have paid it 8 days later which is when I get paid.

Do they see this as not paying it and can I write to them and ask if the due date can be changed to the end of the month.

I wish there was some way of paying the ccj off.

Many thanks

Hi mumtoangel and thank you for your message

You could write to them and ask if you could change the date, but
if you are struggling to make the payments because of a change in circumstances, you can apply to have a CCJ varied on a form N245.
There is a charge for this, which is currently £35, but if you are on benefits, you can apply to have some or all of this waived on a form EX160a.
You need to send a copy of your updated income and expenditure with this.
If you would like help to put together a budget, you can call for an appointment to speak to one of our debt counsellors on 0800 138 1111.

Regards
Sue

Phil-1956

Hi,

Wonder if anyone can help. I have been in a DMP now for a year & have made all payments on time at £400 per month. (I owe about £100,000). I am self employed as a mortgage broker & the bottom has fallen out of the business. My recent review shows me as having more out go than income so I have dropped my DMP payments to £200 until things pick up. (I considered an IVA but the varaible nature of my income makes this a difficult option)
One of the debts is with Nat West from whom I borrowed £25,000 over a 7 year period two years ago. They have recently filed for a Court judgement demanding £29,000+ which includes all of the interest that is payable on the loan over the next 5 years.
I jointly own our property with my wife with a mortgage & secured loan & very little equity. We are now 1 month in arrears with the mortgage.
I have filed an acknowledgement giving me another 14 days to file a defense.
My major concerns are as follows
As a mortgage broker I am regulated by the FSA (As an appointed rep of a network). I believe a judgement will put my job at risk, but am unsure. Any body know ? I have written to Nat Wests solicitors telling them this but they have replied to the effect that Nat West are continuing the action unless I pay them the full amount or £490 per month. (The original payment was £384 per month)
I am looking for employment outside the industry but this is not easy.
If I were able to repay the loan now or in the future I would under the terms of the loan be entitled to a reduction in interest. But the CCJ is going to be for the amount borrowed PLUS future interest. Can they do this & is there a defense.
The DMP company have told me that Nat West are going to be looking to place a charging order on the house effectively making it a secured loan. My Wife would object to this as she owns half & is not party to the loan.
Selling the house currently is not an option as I would have a hefty penalty to find on redemtion of the mortgage. However if I did in the future I would intend to offer any equity to all creditors on a pro rata basis. Surely Nat West seeking a charging order are being unfair to other creditors who have been (in the main) more co-operative by freezing interest.
Can anyone advise me on the above in particular any points I can make in my defence.

Thanks in advance

CCCS_Sue

daddo11 wrote: »

On 2 March 2007 I was having trouble paying off some credit cards so I did a spreadsheet of all expenses and sent it to Lloyds, Virgin and Halifax with a covering letter asking them to suspend interest charges and offering to pay off the outstanding debt by monthly payments. Lloyds and Virgin agreed and both are now paid off, but Halifax didn't reply. I wrote again offering to pay £15 per month (the debt was £1618). I also said that if the amount wasn't enough, to let me know how much they would accept. That letter also went unanswered.

Since that time I have written to them 10 times asking them to stop charging interest, all of which have been ignored. I did receive a telephone call from their collections dept. and I explained the above. I was asked to fax all the letters I had sent to them, and they would get back to me. That was 4 weeks ago.

On 14 January I printed off all 10 letters with a covering letter explaining the whole saga and sent it by recorded delivery to the Halifax Collections Dept. The only communication I have received from the Halifax since then is a letter threatening court action!

Since 2 March 2007, I have paid £1260, which would have left a balance of £358 if they had accepted my request, instead of which the balance now stands at £996. Could you advise me what to do next? I don't know what it takes to get an answer from them!

Thank you and regards, Colin

Hi Colin and thank you for your message

I can understand how frustrating this must be for you, when you are trying your best to pay your debt off!

However, the creditors do not have to stop the interest and charges. It is entirely at their discretion.
I would keep sending the amount you can afford regardless of whether they accept or not.
Make sure you keep them updated by sending them a copy of your income and expenditure at regular intervals and do not be pressured into paying more than you can afford.
When you do your budget, whatever surplus is left should be worked out on a pro rata basis so that each creditor gets a fair share. A full list of all your other creditors should be sent to each of them so they can see who else you owe money to.

If you have not done this already, it may help next time you update your budget, and you ask them to reconsider stopping interest and charges

Regards
Sue

nicnacnoo

hi there, im trying to help my friend who has been with GregoryPennington for a few years now, i have told her about CCCS and will be passing her the number tomorrow, my question is, is the transition from GP to CCCS straight forward enough?
Thanx in advance, Nic

Northstar68

Hi there,

Please do you have a copy of the template letter handy which we can send to creditors which kindly asks them to reconsider charges and interest in light of our efforts to repay our debts through our DMP?

We are in month 2 of our DMP and feeling really down as our balance is increasing instead of decreasing, 12 creditors, only 2 have stopped interest and charges
Apologies if I have missed it somewhere.
Many thanks

norm79

Hi,

Through mismanagement I managed to get a credit default on my hsbc credit card. i am almost in a position to pay the debt in full, but would like to negotiate the removal of the default as part of the payment. Can you suggest the best way to do this?

My thoughts are I can ask for it to be removed or I will continue with low payments and allocate the funds elsewhere?

or

Are there ways I can highlight to potential creditors I can afford thee payments. I have 4 years to run on this and now I have grown up a bit I dont want it to hold me back.

Thanks

MissDemeanour_2

Quick question on behalf of my son. He failed his 1st year at University, and owes some money (now over £2500) to the accommodation office for his halls of residence. He went to see them last week, but they have now passed the debt on, and he received a letter advising of court proceedings if he didn't pay in full by today. He called the debt collection people yesterday offering to pay £50 per month, but they would not accept anything less than clearing the debt in 12 months. He has a small overdraft of about £200, and about £120 in a savings account. He has no job, and hasn't even signed on for Jobseekers Allowance yet, or housing benefit, although he could have done so in October. He is going to try and see someone at CAB tomorrow, but is worried what will happen if he can't speak to anyone. I think he is verging on clinical depression, which is why he has done nothing about his debts or claiming benefits, and doesn't seem to be able to do anything for himself. I am going down on Thursday, but want to help sort things before then if possible. I am trying to prevent a CCJ being registered at this address too, as I assume it will affect our own credit rating. Your adv ice would be appreciated.

Nearly_Floating

First of all let me be the X hundredth person to say what a great thread this is. Thankyou
I have been on a DMP for about a year. I am paying all my creditors about 1% per month of the amounts outstanding at the time the DMP started. I have a catalogue account which I didn’t include on my DMP as they weren’t actively chasing me for some reason and I wasn’t paying them anything. They are now pursuing this debt so I wrote to them and sent them the same budget as I sent the DM co, except I reduced my monthly spend for groceries by £5 which is what I offered them as a monthly payment. This represents 1% of the debt and so is in line with the other payments I am making.
They refused this offer and have passed the debt do a DCA. The DCA called me the other day and said that this amount is too low for them to accept unless the offer is made by a DM co.
I pointed out that the offer is pro-rata with the other payments I am making and that if they took me to court I would only be ordered to pay a similar amount.
The guy I spoke to then said that they had options other than court action available. “What other options?” I asked. He said that the debt would be passed to an enforcement agency and they could send bailiffs and so on.
My questions are:
1. If I contact my DM co would they be prepared to add a new debt to the plan?
2. If they were, is it likely to cause problems with my other creditors? i.e. would they want to know why I couldn’t come up with an extra £5 per month before now?
3. Does their possible reluctance to go to court mean they are planning to hike up my bill with a load of solicitors’ letters at £50 a go and/or visits from debt collectors at £100 a go before they finally take me to court, thus securing a higher monthly repayment for themselves?
4. Should I start paying them what I have offered regardless?
Apologies for the length of this but I wanted to try to get all the information in.
Thanks

ljm23k

Hi, I have been in touch with cccs and plan to go ahead with a dmp. I have a current account with a bank to whom I owe no money and have never had an overdraft with. All my debts are credit cards with other banks and are in no way linked to my bank account. I have no direct debits set up either. Can I stay with this bank or do I still need to change account?

Thankyou in advance