Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Sue

mr36 wrote: »

Thank You Sue for your feedback.

As advised, I rang and spoke with a cccs advisor and has booked me an appt with a debt counsellor for Feb and advised me in the meantime time to advise Northern Rock of my cccs claim reference number which I have.

However when I opened the post this morning, I received a letter from Northern Rock's solicitor that i am in breach of the terms and agreement of the mortgage agreement and that I have 7 days to make payment of the arrears to Northern Rock to avoid repossession proceedings against me.

They also add, any fees and charges incurred from this action will be added to the outstanding mortgage debt.

As I cannot afford to pay, what should I do ?

Hi Mr 36

If you fall behind with your payments on a mortgage you do run the risk of having your property repossessed by the lender.

Until you have the appointment with your counsellor, I would suggest that you contact your lender and make an offer of payment of what you can realistically afford at the moment rather than not offer anything at all. Remind them that you are waiting for an appointment with CCCS and you will be in contact to discuss the outcome with them.

If you can come to a realistic offer to repay the arrears and the monthly mortgage amount then the hearing could be adjourned to give the agreement time to work. All this will be explained in more detail at your appointment.

Regards
Sue

CCCS_Matthew

SkintFlint73 wrote: »

Hi - a few months ago I was issued with a CCJ from my past employers, Marks & Spencer. This was because I attempted to leave work giving them a weeks notice. They explained I could not leave when I wanted to because I hadn't handed my notice in on a particular day of the week - something to do with shift patterns etc, so I left owing them just over £200 in wages overpayment


They wrote to me asking for the money back but as I had left without a new job to go to, I could not afford to pay it back. They passed it to a debt collection agency who rang to ask how much I could pay back. The woman who called was unbelievably rude. I explained I had no job and have two small daughters who are my priority. She told me that was my problem. She said if I was not prepared to pay anything it would have to go to court. I honestly could not pay a thing and was only getting £38 per week in tax credits, hadn't applied for any benefits in the hope I was going to get a job.

I came off the phone, slightly shell shocked and thought afterwards, she never even asked me anything about my income and expenditure. A while afterwards, I received forms from Northampton County Court asking me how much I could pay & what my income & expenditure is. I filled it in, sent it back and received confirmation I could pay £1 per month. I very stupidly didn't realise this was a CCJ. I have never had bad debt in my life and I'm so cross with them and myself for not knowing what was happening. I have since got a new job but now I presume this will be on my credit file now for 6 years.

I wondered if it all sounds like the usual process and whether they have done anything underhand by not asking me about my income or expenditure in the one phone call I had about it?

I also wanted to ask, I presume this now means I won't have any chance of moving my credit card to another with less interest or 0% balance transfer?

Arrghh!!

Hope you can advise me. Thanks in advance.

Hi there,

Not all Debt Collection Agencies will discuss your income and expenditure with you when trying to come to a payment arrangement. If you were unable to come up with an agreement that was affordable for you and realistic for them, they were entitled to obtain a CCJ, which will stay on your credit file for 6 years or as long as it takes before the debt is cleared.

My advice would be to be now that you are working, perhaps over pay the CCJ by as much as you can to get it cleared as quick as possible. Once the CCJ is cleared you can request a “Certificate of Satisfaction” from the court which you can send to the credit reference agency in order to mark the debt as settled. The CCJ will still show for 6 years, but the fact that you’ve now paid it in full will bode well prospective lenders, and you’re more likely to be accepted for further credit.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Sarah

sezzyann wrote: »

Hi
I was wondering if anyone could help. I received a CCj in October on a £7000 debt with HFC , Restons are dealing with it. Restons went for a redetermination hearing and at that (which i didn't realise I should have attended) the judge decided to vary the order so they could get a charging order on me. I'm not sure thay can do that from reading on these posts. I have been advised by NDL to put in a complaint to the court manager but does anyone know on what grounds specifically?
Also I have asked for a CCA and not received anything. Where do I stand on that as I have the charging order hearing in February?
I would really appreciate some help
Thanks

Hi Sezzy,

It would be hard to say with out knowing the full circumstances.

I would recommend that you attend this hearing and put together a defence. There are a number of different defences you could use depending on your circumstances.

• Is there enough equity in the home?
• Is it fair to all your creditors, or would it be favouring this particular debt?
• Is your home jointly owned?
• Is your total debt below £5000, if so you could ask the court for an Admin Order as an alternative

If you would like to talk through this or if you need any help putting together, please call our helpline free on 0800 138 1111

CCCS_Sue

reaver wrote: »

I am starting a DMP for the debts that are solely in my name. My husband doesn't want me to do this as he is worried that this will affect his credit rating. The only joint debts we have are the mortgage (not in arrears and not included in the debt plan) and a joint account with Natwest that has a small overdraft (one of my credit cards is a Natwest one). I am moving all direct debits over to a separate, independant bank account and husband's pay will clear the overdraft.

1.Should we close the joint account?
2.Will my DMP affect husband's credit record?

Hi reaver and thank you for your message

If the debts are solely in your name your husband’s credit file will not be affected.
I have attached a link to a booklet called Credit Explained which goes into more detail regarding your credit reference file. click here


The mortgage is obviously your main priority and it is essential to keep this up to date.

If you have debts at the bank where you hold a current account we would always advice it is best to get a new bank account where you have no debts whatsoever so that you are back in charge of your finances and the bank cannot dip into your account to pay off their debt. It would be advisable to close the joint account.

Regards
Sue

leanne2402

Hi, as no one seems to know the answer, thought would try you guys. Does anyone know if overpayment on mortage is allowed whilst in IVA. Our mortage is going down by aprroz 80, but with increase everything else, this decrease is making up for the increase in gas/electrcity/car services/food/pet insurance/cousal tax/car insurance etc. But, as my payments are by standing order, and we have o proper paper work from NR to say payments are changing, can i over pay on it whilst in IVA (I'm doing overtime, so wanna try and get it down whilst can).


As its now SVR, i don't really wanna tell IP in change, incase it goes up again and we can't get our payments changed etc (changes to IVA were big, including having to have a creditors meeting everytime something is changed...with a chance of them changing mind and it being 6 years and not 5)

And help would be really greatful.

CCCS_Matthew

laurakiora wrote: »

I am wanting some advice on where to go from here. I have worked out how much debt that my husband and I have this morning and it is £11,000 on credit card and 5400 on a loan. We do not default on our payments at all and they are all up to date. The loan is fine and we are well on our way to paying that one off and it will end in June next year. The problem is that the credit cards are just going round and round in circles as we can only make the minmum payments. I have tried to get a graduate loan to cover some of them and pay them off over three years how ever it was declined on affordability even though teh payments were no more than the credit card payments added together. I am now not knowing where to go from here but I need to go somewhere because we want to get a mortgage next year. Could I have some advice please ? Thanks

Hi there,

The fact that you are managing to repay your debts is great, but it can be frustrating if you can only muster enough money to pay the minimum. If you haven't already done so, it might be worth drawing up a budget of your income and expenditure and starting your own thread on here. That way people can help by advising how to maximise your income as well as looking at whether if you can reduce some of your expenditure. In the mean time, you could look at the possibility if there are any 0% balance transfer credit cards that you could take advantage of in order to pay no interest for a period of time which will mean your payments should start to bring the balance down substantially.

Regards,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

Darth_chaffinch wrote: »

I've been on a DMP with the CCCS for a few years now, but all the credit card companies have been charging me interest every month, which is adding ~£200 a month to my debts. I know this is within their rights, but does anyone have experience of getting them to stop??

Hi Darth,

I'd suggest getting in contact with our Client Support team. They will be able to send out another request to ask creditors to consider stopping the interest, and also to carry out a review if you've not discussed the budget with us within the last 12 months.

Matthew.

CCCS_Sue

spendsdaily wrote: »

Hi

Im in debt crisis. I cant afford to pay all my bills as I have less money than bills. My husband is self employed and owes the tax money, who very shortly will probably foreclose on his business. We are 8 months behind on our mortgage and despite having many arrangements with our mortgage company we keep letting them down. They have now advised that they are going to send a debt counsellor unless we pay the amount we owe in full, for a charge of £100. I don't know where to go for help/advice as our situation is so complicated. I work and get a set salary every month but my husband never knows if he is going to get a wage or not, depending on which customers pay him.

Please help

Thanks

Hi spendsdaily and thanks for your message

Michellew is right when she says you need to get some professional help as soon as possible.

Your home is at risk if you do not keep up with any agreements you have made to pay off any arrears with your lender. If you can, offer to pay something rather than nothing at all.

You should not have to pay for counselling advice.

CCCS is a registered charity, and there is no charge whatsoever for the services we provide to our clients. We take great pride in offering first class help and advice, but we only offer this where we have been able to fully explore and understand your circumstances with you. We want to help you understand these choices and the possible implications, but not make them for you.
CCCS do have specialist self employed and mortgage counsellors you could speak to about your situation. They will help you to put together a budget showing income and expenditure and would then advice on the options that are available for you.

If you would like to talk to a counsellor about your situation you can ring our free helpline on 0800 138 1111. Our debt remedy facility online would not be able to advise on self employed situations so you are better having a telephone appointment.

Regards
Sue

aceplay

Hi,

I have a debt with littlewoods, which had difficulty keeping up to the repayments after my husband lost his job in October. They have since sent it to NDR which i have offered to pay them £10 a week which they have refused (over the phone). They are continuing to phone me asking for more which i cannot agree to. They phoned my last night and ask me what i was going to do about the debt and I said that I had offered them £10 pound and she said I had not I have been getting calls regular and they are also denying that. I just feel that i am getting harrassed by them on a regular basis, I don't deny i owe the money but they will not accept the amount I can afford to pay them what can I do now.

Thankyou

CCCS_Sue

livis wrote: »

Dear CCCS Counseller,
I currently have a DMP up and running with the CCCS for personal unsecured debts, Credit cards and loans.
I live with my partner who pays all the household bills and his own debts with his salary.
We are now in a situation where he is finding it hard to cover all the outgoings and he is under increasing pressure due to being chased for missed payments for unsecured debt.
Everything is a bit of a mess really with bills here there and everywhere.
What we want to know is if we could set up a joint DMP together? If this is possible, would i have to set up a new DMP or would it all be added to my plan?
Hoping you can advise
Many thanks
Livis

Hi Livis and thank you for your message

I suggest you ring for an appointment to discuss this further.
It is possible to have a joint DMP.
However, before we could do this, we would need to look at your joint income and expenditure as it may be that there are other options suitable for you.
If you ring our client support team, they will arrange to do a review for you.

Regards
Sue