Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

Andypolack

Thanks Sarah.

trixxi

Hey Sarah,
Thanks for the investigative work!
I did a bit on my own.
There was only one name on the accounts not two.
I took it upon myself to send a letter in to court saying that I accept liability for monies due but disputed expenses on the grounds of wrong info no recorded delivery letter etc...
And sent copy to garage solicitors,
Got phonecall from them and they offered to reduce their fees to £176.50.(half what they were)
When i called them back i said i would be prepared to settle if they would reduce the amount by a further £32.50, the other sheriff officer fees, which they have agreed to.
They have suspended the case and given us 6 weeks to pay in full.

We are delighted!!

Thanks for the help and support

chaos10_2

Hi all. Seriously need some help here. in my younger days of being a stupid kid i gained a bit of debt along the way. when i was 18 i got myself a gold card and went nuts with the spending. that was way back july 2001. now it's november 08 and i'm being chased by a card company for just over £3000. there has been a Very small amount of contact with said card people (one or two phone calls in the last 8 years) i'm now at a complete loss as me and my girlfriend have just had our daughter 12 days ago and i'm the only one earning. i need to get this sorted but they have already threatened action if i do not pay the full amount by 28th nov and when i offered part payment on a monthly basis they point blank refused! any ideas as to what i can do? Gary.

squirreltop

CCCS_Sarah wrote: »

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

Thank you Sarah.

My only future interest in credit would realistically be a mortgage on moving home and (only if totally necessary) a car loan.

I have read the leaflet, but it is not clear about my issue. To makes things clearer ievery 6 to 12 months some of my creditors review my situation and put me on a new arrangement. The the amount does not necessarilly change if affordability has not changed, but the point here is that even if I settle in as few as five years, if the last arrangement was made 12 months before that, will I have the latter arrangements that on my file for 5 years AFTER the debt is settled . Hence would I suffer a longer impairment than going on an IVA even though I may actually have paid more back? Or am I totally mistaken?

Thanks in advance.

CCCS_Alan

chaos10 wrote: »

Hi all. Seriously need some help here. in my younger days of being a stupid kid i gained a bit of debt along the way. when i was 18 i got myself a gold card and went nuts with the spending. that was way back july 2001. now it's november 08 and i'm being chased by a card company for just over £3000. there has been a Very small amount of contact with said card people (one or two phone calls in the last 8 years) i'm now at a complete loss as me and my girlfriend have just had our daughter 12 days ago and i'm the only one earning. i need to get this sorted but they have already threatened action if i do not pay the full amount by 28th nov and when i offered part payment on a monthly basis they point blank refused! any ideas as to what i can do? Gary.

Hi Chaos10

First of all don’t panic. No creditor can make you pay money you don’t have, so you should only offer what you can afford to them even if it would be a token payment of £1 per month if you cant clear the debt in one payment. You should always put you and your familys costs before your creditors demands.

If you would like us to look at your financial situation and see what your next steps are regarding your debt you can either use the Debt Remedy link which is on the first post at the start of this thread.
Alternatively if you would prefer to talk to a debt counsellor about your situation you can book a telephone based appointment by calling our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

Regards

CCCS_Alan

gizmomum

Hi there, this is my first post so please bear with me.
Myself and my husband have reached the stage where something has to be done. After months of struggling we need to 'get serious' and sort ourselves out.
Ove the last couple of years our money situation has deteriorated until now we are in a place where we have a list of debts that we haven't paid (eg catalogue payments, credit card payments), we're just about meeting the ones that we can pay (mortgage, car loan, gas water etc) and there is no leeway for catching up or improving things.
I have completed the CCCS debt solution and it suggest a DMP or selling up and settling like that (which I really don't want to do). As I know very little about DMPs, am still not really accepting the position I'm in, and also am on a good wage and there are some payments that we've had no probelms with, I suppose I'm asking if a DMP is really the only way, is it as bad as it sounds and are there any viable alternatives?
I hope that I've posted on the right board and that this makes sense!
All help appreciated

CCCS_Alan

gizmomum wrote: »

Hi there, this is my first post so please bear with me.
Myself and my husband have reached the stage where something has to be done. After months of struggling we need to 'get serious' and sort ourselves out.
Ove the last couple of years our money situation has deteriorated until now we are in a place where we have a list of debts that we haven't paid (eg catalogue payments, credit card payments), we're just about meeting the ones that we can pay (mortgage, car loan, gas water etc) and there is no leeway for catching up or improving things.
I have completed the CCCS debt solution and it suggest a DMP or selling up and settling like that (which I really don't want to do). As I know very little about DMPs, am still not really accepting the position I'm in, and also am on a good wage and there are some payments that we've had no probelms with, I suppose I'm asking if a DMP is really the only way, is it as bad as it sounds and are there any viable alternatives?
I hope that I've posted on the right board and that this makes sense!
All help appreciated

Hi Gizmomum

The Debt Remedy system has been designed to give advice similar to the way a counsellor would do in an appointment. So if those are the options it has advised, other routes such as an IVA may not be applicable. This could be possibly relating factors such as how much equity you have in the house, time to repay debts, jobs etc.
If you are meeting some payments and not all payments that shows that you are having trouble.

If you have a question regard the advice a contact number is available on the Debt Remedy site and also a online chat facility is available to the team.

Regards

CCCS_Alan

CCCS_Sarah

squirreltop wrote: »

Thank you Sarah.

My only future interest in credit would realistically be a mortgage on moving home and (only if totally necessary) a car loan.

I have read the leaflet, but it is not clear about my issue. To makes things clearer ievery 6 to 12 months some of my creditors review my situation and put me on a new arrangement. The the amount does not necessarilly change if affordability has not changed, but the point here is that even if I settle in as few as five years, if the last arrangement was made 12 months before that, will I have the latter arrangements that on my file for 5 years AFTER the debt is settled . Hence would I suffer a longer impairment than going on an IVA even though I may actually have paid more back? Or am I totally mistaken?

Thanks in advance.

Yes, that’s right. If you were paying the debts back through a reduced payment plan, your file could keep changing as and when you make payments, or the creditors take further action. Your credit file will effectively only start to improve once the debts are cleared in full.

shellfishb5

CCCS_Sarah wrote: »

Hi Andy,

This does not seem right to me, as far as I am aware HSBC can not set you up on a Managed Loan without you signing agreement.

I would recommend that you try to challenge this and ask for a copy of your agreement.

Sarah

Hi Sarah
I received the paperwork from HSBC for my managed loan yesterday would you like me to forward it to CCCs for your records.
Am i wrong in thinking that this must be illegal practice, as i cant and wont agree to loan because it would be a breech of my DMP agreement with CCCS surely HSBC are aware that part of the terms for a DMP are that you dont take out any further credit and what are HSBC insisting i do is sign for this managed loan, i have already told them i will not sign for this loan in a e-mail so will wait and see what happens.

Regards

Andy

CCCS_Sarah

shellfishb5 wrote: »

Hi Sarah
I received the paperwork from HSBC for my managed loan yesterday would you like me to forward it to CCCs for your records.
Am i wrong in thinking that this must be illegal practice, as i cant and wont agree to loan because it would be a breech of my DMP agreement with CCCS surely HSBC are aware that part of the terms for a DMP are that you dont take out any further credit and what are HSBC insisting i do is sign for this managed loan, i have already told them i will not sign for this loan in a e-mail so will wait and see what happens.

Regards

Andy

Have they sent you the loan paperwork to sign? If so, don’t sign it, just ignore it and continue with your plans of the dmp.