Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Matthew

lornz23 wrote: »

Hi I have been on your site and it suggest that I have a debt management plan. The only thing I am worried about is how will this effect me when I come to re-mortgage my house in 4 years time?

If you decide to come on to a DMP, it's likely to have an effect on your credit file because you are making reduced payments. This doesn't mean you won't be able to remortgage in 4 years time, but it may mean you will not be offered the most competitive deals compared to someone with a clean credit file.

Regards,
CCCS

CCCS_Sarah

DawnandAl wrote: »

Help!
We are now getting about 4 -5 calls a day. One from an Indian sounding lady at MBNA offering me another loan. What do i do? I keep explaining our situation but most of the time the caller dosen't seem to get it! HELP!
I have several letters from various companies asking me to call back, when i do they say they cannot accept my offer. Please help, I am at my wits end.

Contact all your creditors in writing and ask them to remove your number from their database – advise them this is causing you undue stress.

If the creditors continue to make the calls keep a log of all the date, times and peoples names and you could look into making a complaint.

CCCS_Sarah

Kron wrote: »

Hi. I am hoping someone can help because I am getting so stressed. I had my long telephone appointment last week and we are due to start out DMP with CCCS on 1 December when we make our first payment.

We have applied to the Co-op for a joint basic account to which they have said yes. We are just waiting for all the information through. However this isn't going to get here in time for hubby's wages to go into and for the direct debits to be moved over. So the end of this month everything will be going into our existing, well overdrawn account.

Has anyone got any advice on how to deal with this. Our loan that will be included in our DMP is with this bank and whilst they don't know what we are doing at the moment they probably will when the loan doesn't get paid. Should I let most of the direct debits go through for gas, electricity, council tax etc and then try to take out what is left of hubby's wages?

Sorry this is so long but I'm in a right state and really need some level headed advice.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Karen

The ideal situation would be to have your husbands wages paid into a family member or friends account (that they trust) for this month or he could ask his work to pay by cheque and just advise them he is having problems with his account.

Once you have the money, then you can put this into the new account and transfer the direct debits over so all your priorities get paid.

Hope this helps

CCCS_Matthew

LadySamara wrote: »

My Dad is in serious debt & I don't know how to help him. He is married to my mum who has always been very careful with money & has some money put aside to get her through retirement. They are both 70 & live in the same house, but live completely seperate lives. He has already remortgaged the house & has now run up more debts of approx £40,000. If something was to happen to my Dad, would my mum be liable for all his debts? I am worried she may lose the house she lives in. If somebody out there could offer some advice I would be very grateful.

Hi there.

The only debts your Mother would be liable for would be the mortgage (assuming it's in joint names) and any other debts she's signed jointly with him. Any debts in his sole name would not have to be repaid by your Mother.

If something did happen to your Father, his outstanding debts would be entitled to a claim on his estate. At this stage she would need to discuss the situation with the solicitors dealing with probate to see what implications it would have on the property.

Regards
CCCS Matthew

CCCS_Sarah

Stix75 wrote: »

Hi,

My partner is being chased by Lloyds for money owed to a joint account that was held with him and his ex partner. He is paying off the balance of over 3K at £20 per month and yet it appears they are not chasing his ex for any of the money, simply because they know he will pay it and she won't. Is there anything we can do about this to make her more liable for her half of the balance rather than he pay it all off alone?

Hello,

Your partner and his ex will each be liable for the whole amount as this is known as joint and several liability.

If your partner is only able to pay the £20 per month he will need to continue to do so. If the creditor does decide to take further action to recover the debt i.e. a CCJ then both parties will be issued with papers and have to complete and return them.

If his ex partner still does not make a payment to the CCJ, the court will seek an alternative way of recovering the debt from her i.e. bailiffs or attachment of earnings.

I would recommend that your partner writes a letter explaining his situation and encourages the creditor to chase the other person for the debt.

CCCS_Sarah

Katie_m_w wrote: »

hoping for some advice...
we have a fixed rate mortgage (fixed for the next 9 years) and a variable secured loan (15k over 20 years) taken out for home improvements 18 months ago. we are not having trouble paying at the moment but are concerned that if first plus decide to charge us more per month we might struggle. we took out insurance (£3673.50) with first plus, our loan provider as they refund the cost if payments are not missed in the 1st 5 years. for this reason it seems like a bad idea to switch to a fixed rate loan provider as i imagine we won't get our insurance money back. are we doing the right thing not changing anything?

If all your payments are affordable at the moment then this is not a problem. Ultimately it does come down to affordability, so if you are unable to meet your payments then your budget would need to be looked at as a whole. If this was the case, then you would need a telephone appointment for us to look at your budget and make suggestions on what routes to take.

CCCS_Sarah

Honky_tonk wrote: »

Hi There,

I have posted this question elsewhere on DFWB thread then noticed this one!

I am about to start/send of dmp letters through cccs. Some of the info I have says that Barclays will offer a basic account to current account holders starting a dmp. Is this still true if they are one of the creditors included in the dmp via my overdraft? I know I can ask the bank, I just havent been able to get in yet (gotta work ) I was just wondereing if there have been any instances of them saying no. I did get a good suggestion for another account elsewhere, staying put just seems easier in a time of confusion!

Thanks

It is true, you would be able to keep an account with Barclays on a DMP. If you give us a call we will send you the forms out to complete. However you would also be able to open another bank account at a bank where you have no debts (there should have been a list in your dmp pack)

CCCS_Sarah

ambers2000 wrote: »

Hi,

Please could i use this opportunity to ask for some advice. My wife has a BLS debt taken on by her after i went through an IVA and LTSB went after my wife for the debt(joint current account). The debt was handed to BLS and we have been paying the debt off monthly for the last 3-4 years.

1. We were offered full and final settlement payment which we took advice on but BLS didnt respond to us at all so the opportunity went.
2. BLS phone once a year and usk us to increase the monthly amount - when we try and say no they go on and on about how we MUST increase the amount as demanded by Lloyds. We have increased the monthly payment every year so far and personally i think they are being pushy. We have gone from £20 per month to now £30 per month. Whilst we could afford it, we have never seen a statement or details of the debt or how much we have paid or how much is outstanding which is ludicrous.
3. Can we stop the standing order until we get a statement or is that stepping into dangerous territory?

Any help with the 3 points would be great - sorry its so indepth.

Thanks
Graham

Hi Graham,

I would recommend you make the request in writing and send the letter recorded delivery so you have proof they have received this.

If you can not afford to increase your payment, don’t feel pressured in to paying more. They can only have what they can afford to give them.

I wouldn’t recommend cancelling your standing order, as a least you are doing your part and not dropping your standards.

You mentioned you were offered a full and final settlement, if you still have access to this money (without borrowing it) I would give it another try. Start low with your offers and work up!

dreadlocks23

Hi!

Please can someone help me? My girlfriend has an Agos credit card which is charging an extortionate rate of interest. I have recommended that she change to a card which charges 0% over 9 months and clear the debt, but this is proving difficult. Her applications are automatically rejected because she only has a mobile telephone number, and none of the "popular" cards will transfer the debt from Argos.

Is there a card which will:
a) Accept applications from people without landline telephones?
b) Take on the debt from the Argos card?

Many thanks in advance!

minisinnyman

HI
Due to a change in circumstances i had to reschedule a personal loan with the halifax. the reshedule date was 19/05/2003. amount of credit was £6997. i have been paying £150 per month ever since. i got a statement today 24/10/2008 saying that i have an outstanding balance of £5253.38. so that means i have paid 65 months at £150 a total of £9750 but have only reduced the debt by £1743.62 so have paid £8006 in interest payments is there anything i can do
regards