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daz_79

janeboo wrote: »

hi i'm very interested reading all your stories and questions! i've been juggling (fairly unsuccessfully) for years now, every so often getting on top of things, but only by luck or consolidation or extending my mortgage, and i'm sick of the constant worry and sleepless nights - this month i can't pay bills of approximately £400, and my son and i only have about £120 to live on till payday(food, petrol...etc)
:eek:
so i should do something about it obviously!
i have 3 credit cards totalling about £20k, 2 loans (one secured one unsecured) for £15k and £3k respectively, my mortgage is up to date, i owe scottish power £200...
and i am ashamed to admit that this is all approximation coss i do such a good ostrich impression!!!
anyway i think it's time to sort it out, how do i begin please?!

Hi, i'm new to and have recently began proceedings with CCCS to reduce mine and my partners monthly outgoings as we can't afford our bills either. To start with i recommend visiting the CCCS website where you can complete a income and expenditure plan and see the recommendation from that. You can then speak to the CCCS about your options. The CCCS are a charity and will help you out of 'niceness' for want of a better word rather than for profit like most debt remedy companies out there. That's what i'd do if i were you because like you i was struggling for years and i finally decided to do something about it and things look so much better even though nothing has been sorted yet because it's only been about 3 weeks since i did the online budget planner on the CCCS website. Good luck

janeboo

:beer:
thanks Darren
i've just been to their website and filled it all in - there's no-one there today but i feel a little better already!!!
thanks for your help and good luck with yours too!
i'll be back...
jane

janeboo

just another thought... is the Student Loan Company included in this type of thing? I still owe £10k after 5 years paying, AND apparently missed an opportunity to claim back my debt as a qualified teacher of a specialist shortage subject! I have tried in vain to regain this but have been told that I should have applied immediately, and that it was the responsibilty of my school to inform me...? Any ideas?
Jane

daz_79

i'm not sure about your student loan. When my partner and i were looking into an IVA we were told we couldn't include our student loans because they were the new style ones where the money is taken direct from our pay at source. If it's a one where you make the reapyments direct then you may be able to. That's a good point for anyone else reading this, does anyone know if a student loan can be dealt with the same on a DMP or does it have to be kept seperate? Thanks

salstar_2

Hi, Im with cccs on a dmp. I have a joint lloyds bank account with OH,but want to make this account in just my name so I can include the overdraft on my plan. Does anyone know if Lloyds will do this?

janeboo

yes darren, my student loan comes direct from my pay also, crafty !!!!!!s!
:mad:

CCCS_Sarah

red_machenka wrote: »

Hi,

We have been advised by CCCS to set up DMP with our creditors which we sent IE and letters to all creditors, we have been told by all our creditors (with the exception of Abbey) that they have aggreed to our token payments etc.

We have been called a number of times by Abbey stating that they have not recieved our IE and token payment (which they must have recieved due to the fact that they cashed the cheque which we sent with the IE and the letter, which was sent on 11th Nov) so we sent it out again on the 1st Dec, which they said the hadn't recieved (even though they have chased the cheque that was sent with it again.) so we sent it all again on the 18th including another cheque. I checked our (abbey) bank account yesterday and Abbey have taken £279.00 to clear the arrers on the account.

We called them last night to ask why they have taken the money they said that WE told them that my other half is unemployed and when they checked his bank account they found he had over £1000 in the account... well of course he has, it's his wages ready to pay our essential bills at the beginning of the next month.

there is no way we would have told them that he was unemployed... they would have only had to check his account to see his wages going in!

is there any way of getting this money back or at least trying to get it back.
If they had set up the payment plan when we sent the first IE, letter and token payment we wouldn't be having this trouble.

We will now have to use our overdraft this month just to pay the bills which is surly defeating the object... gettin into more debt???

should we even bother to try and get the money back... We are both so furious about how they have treated us I'd be happy to take them to court as I think this is unfair treatment, not to mention the arrogent woman on the other end of the phone!

Sorry for the rant... any help greatfully recieved!

Hi red,

Thank you for your message,

Unfortunately Abbey are able to take money from your account, this is known as the right of offset.

Have you opened a basic bank account at another bank yet? If not, please do this as soon as possible and arrange for any wages to be paid into your new account. This is to ensure that they don’t have access to your money.

You could try and ask Abbey for the money back, if they don’t please call the CCCS and they may be able to delay the start of your DMP.

Hope this help
Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

Lost2 wrote: »

I have a Barclay's credit card, I make a min payment of £123 a month
the interest a month is £120.60 which means there is only £2.40
going off the debt. I did phone them telling them that I was having difficulty paying it back I was told " You will just have to pay it wont you"
it is not the paying back but the interest that is adding to the bill
I pay an extra £100 a month on top of payment it will take me about 10 at that rate to pay back and if I only pay min payment it will take 40 years to pay back:mad: :money:

Hi Lost,

Thank you for your message, Interest can be a complete nightmare.

There is two ways that you can look at this. If you can afford all your monthly payments on all your bills, if possible you could try increasing your income to pay more towards the debt. This will reduce the term you are paying the debt over. You could also look at transferring the balance on to a 0% or low interest credit card.

Alternatively if you can’t meet your commitments then you will need to put together a full income and expenditure. This will detail your full income and expenditure. You will need to take into account everything from your household bills to clothes, MOT’s etc. This will show you how much surplus you have left over to put towards your debts. If you do have a shortfall then you will be better seeking advice. You could call our helpline on 0800 138 1111.

Hope this helps

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

Worried_Soul wrote: »

Hi CCCS

After getting advice from the CCCS, I contacted my creditors to explain that I am now a full time student with no job and will be making £5 token payments. They have now started calling me. I spoke to NatWest today and the lady said that they had not received my letter explaining my situation. She also said that I need to get the CCCS to call NatWest or write to them on my behalf stating that they are a 3rd party. I was not aware that the CCCS could act as a 3rd party for me. Is this the case?

I then received a letter from the Halifax saying that they require an up to date financial statement. Do you think this is also what NatWest require?

Thank you

Hello,

If you are making token payments, you are doing the right thing. You send them a copy of your budget, along with the token payment.

If you find the phone calls are causing you stress you could use this letter to forward to them and see if it helps.

To whom it may concern


Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to ask that you no longer contact me by telephone as your calls are causing me considerable stress due to the frequency, and that they are being made at inappropriate times. Please remove my telephone number from your database and send all future communication in writing to my home address.

I have provided the most recent copy of my income and expenditure to make you aware of my current financial situation. I will continue to make my payment of x on the x of every month and will keep you informed of any changes in my circumstances as I am keen to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

I understand that following this request if you continue to call I can contact the Office of Fair Trading to make a formal complaint.

Please confirm in writing that your records have been amended.

Yours sincerely

If you need a new copy of your budget putting together, you are more than welcome to have another appointment and then you can forward these onto your creditors.

CCCS_Sarah

Moany_Money wrote: »

Hi all,
I'm a newbie so this is my first post. Hopefully someone can give me some advice.
I recently completed my CCCS debt management plan online and should get my pack soon. I've also opened a new account with the Yorkshire Bank. As advised I cancelled my direct debit with my crditors so I could make the first DMP payment in January. However one of my biggest debts is a loan with Natwest, and they still took the money out of my account, which has left me up the creek without a paddle. (Only just found out that they can do this as my bank account is with them). I went to the bank today to explain my situation to the bank manager, who told me to contact the lending dept. The girl I spoke to there was very helpful and said she would pass my situation onto their debt management team but they may not accept an offer from the CCCS and could still ask for the full payment each month. (My wages will be going into my Yorkshire bank account from Jan onwards) I'm really worried as my mortgage is also with natwest and it seems like they can call all the shots with the payments. I just want to start my DMP with CCCS but now it looks like it is doomed
Any advice or help would be much appreciated,

Thanks!

Thanks for your message,

Natwest are able to do this, but the main thing is that you have now opened your new account. You will need to make arrangements for your mortgage to be debited from your Yorkshire Bank account along with any other priority payments.

If Natwest say that they are not accepting the DMP payments, they key is to send it anyway, as it’s an affordable amount for you. Don’t let them pressure you into paying anymore than you can afford.

Let me know how you get on, and if you need anything else.

Sarah