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Andypolack

Hi, quick question hopefully.

I am just about to enter into a DMP with CCCS, and am in the process of getting in touch with my creditors and sending them a letter stating my intent to enter into a DMP and send a token payment.

Will the creditors default you anyway, and sell your debt to a recovery agency, or after contact with the CCCS will they generally accept the terms and payments?

If a debt recovery agency attempts to contact you, then what?

Thanks,

Andy

CCCS_Sarah

sunshine38 wrote: »

to keep going with our DMP.

Hi guys and gals

Apologies for being so woeful but I really dont know how much more we can take. Long story short, me and hubby have been on DMP with CCCS since June when we made our first payment. Admittedly, it was a struggle because I lost my job just before it was due to start but didnt want to "rock the boat". Consequently we ended up with mortgage arrears and council tax arrears which we have been trying to pay from our allocated budget. I did get another job but it took six weeks.

We had a review just over a month ago and still I kept quiet about them ... all the while thinking that surely, somehow, we will get back up to date and be able to live within the budget we were supposed to have.

Our payments were reduced from £210 to £201 when we had the review. I know that CCCS work really hard and that you peeps on here are very helpful but I felt like a naughty school girl being told off for not managing better with the budget we were left with, so I agreed to just the £9 reduction.

Since that review we've had shocking news from the CSA that previous payments had not been sufficient (based on hubby's self employment/tax return now sorted) and they threatened enforcement action, claiming that we had been sent several reminders etc. So, the payments there have had to double or they threatened to take 40% of hubby's wages.

I've come home tonight to a bill for scottish power claiming that we owe £86 for the period 11/10/08 to 29/10/08 which I am stunned about ... we have always had a pre-payment meter and have recently changed back to British Gas ... ironically in an attempt to save money. How can they attempt to charge us that much money when we paid on a prepayment meter?!! I kept trying to ring to get an explanation ... after 3 minutes going through their automated service, each time I was told they were busy and to "try later"!! Anyway, the point is, there now appears yet another debt to be added to the never ending list.

When I updated figures on the CCCS list of creditors last month, we actually owe more money to the majority of the creditors than we did at the beginning due to charges/interest.

I've been threatened with court proceedings (for a £328 debt - one of the smallest!) and I've managed to send a CCA request to the solicitors and am wondering whether they will produce a signed copy of the agreement - time runs out this Friday. I'm not trying to avoid payment of the debt - just need time.

Well, I'm saying I/we just need time but when we started back in June, I stupidly thought that within six months we'd have had some breathing space and would be getting into a better position to be able to increase payments and get rid of the debts.

Me and hubby are arguing almost daily now - not always money related - but it must be niggling away at us both because we never used to be like this.

So, I think, after all that, my question has to be, what do I/we do now?

Sorry for the long ramble

Sunshine

Hi Sunshine,

Please please call for a review, the main thing point of a dmp is to ensure that you have enough money for your priorities, and your unsecured creditors get what is left over.

If there have been changes in your budget we need to know as soon as possible, so that we can make sure things like your mortgage get paid first.

Call our client support department and arrange a review as soon as possible so we can help you get back on track.

The implications of not paying things like your mortgage, is a lot more severe than not paying your unsecured creditors.

With regards the letter you have received threatening court action – that’s all it is, a threat try not to worry.

Sarah

tori.k

hello can anyone help? we just had a bill from a debt collection agency for a over due account from nine years ago, my hubby had a joint account with his ex-wife,he had closed the account as far as he was aware,has even open another account with the same bank,but it seems that the ex cleared the account up to the max overdraft nine years ago, and they are now looking for us to pay the full amount plus interest, we are waiting for paperwork off the bank,but are we liable for the full amont as this was a joint account? we dont mind paying half, if it will keep it off our credit score,we have passed her address on to the debt collection agency but they dont seem to be interested now that they have found us and just say that joint or not we are libel for the full amount, is this true??

CCCS_Sarah

elaine1geo wrote: »

HI, I have a personal loan and 5 credit cards. I am quite happy with the repayments on the personal loan but would like to see if I could freeze the interest on the credit cards so that I can pay it off quicker. Is this possible or would I have to go into all the credit I have and mess with it? In particular I have an MBNA card which has an interest rate of 34.9% apr. I tried to renegotiate this interest rate when it was at 29.9% but about 3 months later they increased it to the higher rate.

Hi Elaine,

Thank you for your message.

It is very unlikely that the creditors will stop the interest for you. If you are managing your payments fine and you are not in financial difficulties, you could look at transferring the balances to a lower rate credit card.

You could also look at reducing costs/increasing income, as the more money you pay towards the debts, the quicker you will pay them off and less interest you will pay over all. When you do start to clear the debts, start with the higher interest cards first.

If you are generally struggling with your budget, you may benefit from putting together a budget detailing all you incomings and outgoings. This will show you if you have enough money to pay your credit debts after you have paid your priority payments. If there is a shortfall please call the CCCS for an appointment and then we can look at what options are available to your. Our helpline is 0800 138 1111.

Hope this helps and give me a shout if you have any further questions
Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

squirreltop wrote: »

realise an IVA can cut down the payments and limit the period to 5 years.

My situation is that I can continue to pay off my debts on accounts that have frozen interest and payments according to means over the next 6 to 8 years with income and ad-hoc future lump sums I am prepared to do this.

However, I have been told an IVA repairs the bad credit record after 5 plus 1 (6 years total) from its start date and you can start to build up the record again. In contrast, will my plan to take time in paying the debt off in full mean I have to wait another 6 years after these debts are discharged i.e. in 12 to 14 years for this to happen???

I would rather take the repsonsibility for my debts, but I might think twice if I (and by extension my familly) are actually penalised (relative to an IVA) for doing it.

Or am I mistaken?

Can anyone advise what the situation is? Thank you

Everything will stay on your credit file for six years. So for example an IVA will stay on your credit file six years from the date of arrangement.

If you were offering reduced payments, then any arrangements will also stay on your file for six years, so this may take longer to repair your file.

I always advise my clients, that a credit file is only relevant if you are wishing to take out further credit. So if you do not want credit then a credit file is irrelevant!

I have attached a link to a booklet for you to look over that explains about credit files in a lot more detail.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/credit_explained_leaflet_2005.pdf

If you have any other questions, let me know

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

chunkey101 wrote: »

Last week I posted my letter of intent to enter into a DMP with CCCS to all my creditors together with token payments to them all. Today I have received a statement from barclaycard that clearly shows the token payment being received (meaning they must also be aware of my impending DMP). The statement advises of a late payment and a £12 charge for this late payment. It also says if I am unable to make the minimum payment I must contact them immediately ( I thought I had already told them this when I sent the DMP cover letter).

My question is should I contact them or wait for the DMP to start ?

Regards

Chunkey

Hi Chunkey,

This is standard stuff, as many people on here that are on dmp’s will confirm, it generally takes a couple of months for the creditors to calm down.

You have done everything on your part, so you can sit back and relax a little more.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

tass wrote: »

Six years into our DMP Capital ONe are going to default us. I was going to CCA them but my query is do I have to put the sentence saying no further payments will be made meantime while the debt is in dispute. I don't want to not pay them and am wondering whether to go ahead and do this to try and avoid the default or not. Any advice welcome.

Hi Tass,

A default notice is a legal requirement that ends the contract between you and the creditor, so what they may choose to do is pass the debt on to a collection agency. This is a standard thing, it usually happens after a couple of payments.

A CCA request is to dispute the debt i.e. If you are been chased for a debt that you don’t owe. So I would recommend that you keep things as they are and continue making the payments, this happens to most clients at some point on their dmp.

CCCS_Sarah

swayze wrote: »

Hello all,

Im wondering if anyone could help me out with these questions for this piece of uni work I am doing.

I understand that CCCS and Payplan are charity companies, so do they actually give IVA's and DMPs to potential customers, or do they advise the best solution which possibly means recommending a company that charges for these services of IVA's and DMPs?

Also does anyone know what the demographics are for people taking out DMPS and IVA's? (I know this is possibly a sensitive question so sending me a private message would be cool)?

Finally how do companies actually become IVA/DM companies? Does anyone know the procedure?

Thanks

Hi Swayze,

I have received your PM about this and looking into a response for you. I will PM you the details as soon as possible.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

Andypolack wrote: »

Hi, quick question hopefully.

I am just about to enter into a DMP with CCCS, and am in the process of getting in touch with my creditors and sending them a letter stating my intent to enter into a DMP and send a token payment.

Will the creditors default you anyway, and sell your debt to a recovery agency, or after contact with the CCCS will they generally accept the terms and payments?

If a debt recovery agency attempts to contact you, then what?

Thanks,

Andy

Hi Andy,

There is nothing set in stone, it does really depend on the creditor. Some creditors will default the account after a couple of missed payments, but this is standard.

Once they have defaulted the account they are then able to pass the debt onto a debt collection agency. Debt collection agencies can be an internal department working under a different name or an external organisation, however it does not mean that they have more power than the original creditor. If the debt did get passed on, you would just need to let us know and then we will change who we are paying for you.

CCCS_Matthew

tori.k wrote: »

hello can anyone help? we just had a bill from a debt collection agency for a over due account from nine years ago, my hubby had a joint account with his ex-wife,he had closed the account as far as he was aware,has even open another account with the same bank,but it seems that the ex cleared the account up to the max overdraft nine years ago, and they are now looking for us to pay the full amount plus interest, we are waiting for paperwork off the bank,but are we liable for the full amont as this was a joint account? we dont mind paying half, if it will keep it off our credit score,we have passed her address on to the debt collection agency but they dont seem to be interested now that they have found us and just say that joint or not we are libel for the full amount, is this true??

Hi Tori.

Legally both your husband and his ex-wife are liable for the full amount of the debt, as they are classed as joint and severally liable. So if he was to pay half the balance, he can still be chased for the remaining half.

However, it's likely that if there has been no contact from anyone in relation to this debt in the last 6 years that it's Statute Barred. The Limitations Act set by the Office of Fair Trading states that it's unfair to chase a debt after such a long period of time has been passed.

If no contact has been made within the last 6 years then send me a PM and I can provide you with some details on how to respond to the collection agency.

Regards,
Matthew.