Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

Triggles

Hello,

The debt should only be collected by one company at a time, you will need to find out which company is collecting the debt and make the payments directly to them. If he can not afford the full amount then he will need to make the payments based on a detailed financial statement – if he need any help completing one of these then he could use our free online debt advice facility Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy will also let him know his best options based on his budget. The link will take you there www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drmse . If he would prefer an appointment with a debt counsellor then he could call out helpline free on 0800 138 1111.

He should be able to open a basic bank account; I have attached a link to basic accounts that he could take a look at http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/bank_accounts.pdf

With regards the letters he has being receiving, these will be standard collection letters. I have attached a link that explains about these in detail for you https://www.cccs.co.uk/InfoCentre/EnglandandWales/Creditoraction/Debtcollectionprocess/Lettersfromcreditors.aspx

Hope this helps
Sarah

Sarah - thank you so much! Yes, he used the Debt Remedy to get the information. He's managed to go from the recommended token payments, to a small payment, which he will be able to put up again slightly next month and hold at that payment. I think the confusing thing about the inhouse collections is that they say the main company is collecting the "current debt" but the inhouse collections is collecting the "arrears", thus possibly getting around that. He'll have to put together a letter that will go to both places (one to company and copy to inhouse collection) stating basically what's going on and reiterating that he is making a payment to the main company. Is there anything he can do about the charges the inhouse collections are making on his account?? Can he ask for them to be removed as it would appear they are both collecting on the same account - and he had already notified them he didn't want to be contacted by phone - so it seems a bit wrong to be charged £12 monthly for their "attempts to contact by phone".

dragonolly2211

Hi

I am 23 years old and in approx £31k of debt. It all started when i was 19 and applied for a credit card with AMEX, i was earning about £13000 per year at the time. I received the card with a limit of £17200!!! Being young and foolish i went on a spending spree for a year and racked up loads of debt, i then got a loan with nationwide to pay this off and then used my credit card more. Now i have 2 kids and a rented house and a job that pays even less. I have no spare cash to pay any debts although i am dealing with debt collection companies and paying them as little as possible.

My questions are as follows.

1) Can I take some sort of legal action against AMEX for giving me such a ridiculous limit in the first place?

2) Is bankruptcy my best option?

3) Any advice on getting my financial life back on track?

Thank you

Chrisblue1962

Hi, If I entered into a DMP via CCCS, would I be allowed to make occasional additional payments to reduce overall debt, from occasional overtime for example?

If yes, would they be paid to a creditor that I choose or distributed pro-rata amongst all of them?

Would I be allowed to make additional payments directly to creditors?

The idea of handing complete control over to CCCS doesn't really appeal to me but I would welcome their assistance in formalising a DMP if I set it up with creditors as I've already negotiated with a couple of them.

Thank You

arneldlayne

Hi, I apologise in advance for the complexity of this message but my situation is a mess and becoming worse daily. I have tried to send this as a PM to the CCCS people but it seems that even technology is against me at the moment. If this is the wrong thread thn I am lso sorry and happy for it to be moved to the right one.

My wife has recently been made redundant and as a result of someone else's actions she has been declared bankrupt back in September 2009. That is a very complex story indeed. However, my issue is that wih the reduced income I am struggling to meet two specific debts with Egg and MBNA. I used a CCCS pro-forma letter to explain the circumstances (including income/outgoings) and offered each of them £50 per month until things improved, also asking for interest charges to be suspended. I have subsequently made every payment on time and sometimes more in the case of MBNA. However, I am now receiving several call a day from 3rd party agencies representing Egg ad MBNA bullying me and harassing me for more. These calls are driving me to a breakdown because they are constant and they refuse to listen. In fact they are pushing me for a CPA arrangement. I owe Egg circa £12k and MBNA £9k. I don't know where to turn next, whether an IVA is right, or a DMP, or even bankruptcy itself. It is really affecting me at work and in my personal life. My mortgage is £1850 per month and we have a leased car for £256 pm as well as the usual utilities and council tax bills. I'm even considering getting rid of all our insurance policies on life, contents and buildings to save some 'operational' cash. At this moment I am feeling very low, and this bullying seems to be getting worse. Would a DMP administered by CCCS stop this, or should I go for the more nuclear IVA. My credit file is already pretty rotten due to my wife's bankruptcy (association I guess) and the arrears on these cards. On top of this my wifes solicitor is chasing me for £10k for representing her during the bankruptcy despite me having never signed any contract or having received or sent any correspondence. I did speak to him and exchange the odd email, but this was done in support of my wife who simply couldn't cope at the time.

Sorry about this tirade, but I feel embarrassed as well and haven't the courage to talk to a counsellor about this.

Kind regards, Arnie

HardWorkingMum

Hi, The CCCS have reccommended a DMP as after essentials there is a suplus of £185 to pay about £20k of unsecured debt. I have asked them to send me the welcome pack and am waiting for it to arrive. However, my circumstanced are likely to change in the next 6 months or so.

My fixed rate mortgage is due to end by August so the new payment should be significantly lower. Therefore we should have a more 'disposable' income

Also, I work in sales and things are beginning to pick up so I would expect an increase in income to also come to fruision before the end of the year.

Can I make overpayments or lump-sum payments to CCCS to distribute among my creditors on my behalf or does the fact our circumstances are expected to improve mean that the DMP is no longer the right choice?

At the moment we are just getting deeper and deeper into debt every month and having to borrow from relatives to pay for food shopping / petrol etc

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

CCCS_Sue

Hi Car248 and thank you for your message

In reply to your questions:-

1. I live with my fianc! however at the moment we only have my income (which for the last 8 months has been reduced due to reduced hours and then a pay cut). My fianc! is starting his own business and hopefully we should have another income from that. At the moment the all outgoings for the household are coming out of my wage. In my statement can I also include outgoings that relate to my fianc! but not me? Also he has a few credit cards as well and is considering writing to ask if these companies will accept reduced payments for now. Can we send the one statement to all companies, showing all debts (although none are joint) and showing what surplus we have at and then that being split between them?

It would be better to do a joint budget.
Your budget should show all your income and expenditure so that the surplus, if any, is the amount that is left to offer your creditors.

2. I am really worried that the creditors will turn round and say no to my proposals. If so what happens next?

You cannot pay money you do not have, so if your offers are not accepted, then send the money anyway. If they will not give you a payment book, then you can set up a standing order at your bank.

3. If accepted how long before the creditor will be looking to review the situation?

This depends on the creditor, but normally they would want an update after 2/3 months

4. If my situation improves, how soon should I advise the creditors? With my fianc! starting a new business, until that settle downs we won’t know for sure how much more a month we can pay. If I have extra one month should I just split between the creditors?

You need to share any surplus you have on a pro rata basis between the creditors so that they all get a fair share.
The pro rata formula is:
Individual debt x surplus ÷ total owed = individual offer.


5. My fixed rate mortgage ends in July and I will go on to the variable rate which should save around £160 per month provided the base rate stays as it is for now. Do I have to immediately advise the creditors of this?

The more money you pay off your debts, the quicker they will be cleared, so it would make sense to update your budget to show the extra money you can afford as soon as you are able to.

6. I have a bank account at the moment with Lloyds and also a credit card with them, which isn’t in arrears and all payments are up to date. Although I know all creditors will have to be included. Can Lloyds take the funds from my account using setting off (I think that’s what is called). If so what are they entitled to take – the full outstanding balance or just what is missed on the credit card. Or if they have agreed to a reduced payment will that be ok.

You need to get a basic bank account elsewhere where you have no debts and have your money paid into this account. This prevents the bank using their ‘Right of Offset’ which means they can take money from your account to pay off their debts.
By changing banks, this puts you back in charge of your finances.

Regards
Sue

CAR248

Thank you for your help.

CAR248

Hi,

Sorry to bother you again. I have a couple of queries.

Re the joint budget, if my debt is higher than my fiance's but we are doing a joint statement with only my income for now, will the creditors I owe money to not expect more from me because the household income is just mine? Or will it not matter will they just look at the household income and accept the surplus for the household?

I have a few credit cards which are now in arrears (just by a month, I had paid everything up to date and on time until recently). Will arrears on an account have any effect on whether a payment proposal is accepted?

Thanks again

thewad

Am awaiting my phone appointment with CCCS on the 19th.
Have sent the token payment and template letters to all of my creditors about 8 days ago.
Up today no calls whatsoever.
MBNA called today and where pleasant enough when I explained the situation.
When I mentioned CCCS and gave her my number she asked me to send them a letter of authorisation so they could talk with CCCS about me.
Do I need to do this or just leave it, and if so what do I put.

huskypup

Some advice please

I owe alot of money and am in the process of sorting out a DMP (not sure if going to sell administer or go through CCCS), we have worked out that if we sorted out the debts in my name we can pay the ones in my husbands name ourselves - because technically at the moment I don't earn enough to cover the minimum payments in my name - we are using HB's money to pay them.

Our mortgage is with the one account with some where along the line is underwritten by RBS, as this is an offset mortgage all our money gets paid into this account and all our direct debits come out of it - it is the only bank account we have....(bear with me please)

The credit cards I am struggling to pay are Tesco, Egg and Barclaycard and I have a Tesco loan, now I have just realised that Tesco are also somewhere along the line underwritten by RBS - where does that leave me with the one account and my mortgage - will they try and take any moneys we have (which we don't technically have because any money that is left at the end of the month is taken off our mortgage).

I have spoken to Barclaycard who have reduced payments for 3 months then I am to contact them to sort out whether I am going to approach them for a DMP or to let them know if I am going with a company to do it for me. Tesco, have advised me to cancel next months DD - so I default them contact them straight away and we can sort out reduced payment for a couple of months until we decide which way we are going - Egg I am waiting a phone call back through reduced payments shouldn't be a problem (according to the lady I spoke to).

So what Im asking is - what do I do about our bank account - as it is our mortgage and my husband is going to continue paying all of his debts.

Posted this yesterday - circumstances have changed slightly - we are going to do a joint DMP through CCCS just have to make the phone call.

The question still remains though about the bank account - we were thinking of just doing it anyway possibly a Lloyds TSB as I had an account with them for years. Can we do a joint DMP even though know of the debts are joint.