Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

Brandy29

Thankyou to the counsellor who answered my earlier question - you made me think outside my original plan and that has helped clear my mind.
We are to sell a second property and will in the mean time send token payment and then full and final settlement letters to our creditors.
I'm wondering though - do we send these to our overdraft creditors? Currently we get paid, overdraft is paid off, we spend, overdrawn again. We know that we have to offer them the same percentage settlement payment as the others when the time comes but would like to hang onto our current accounts as long as possible before changing to basics if possiblei.
Thanks in advance

jaffacakes1000

About a year ago i was a bit short of cash and went to a cheque centre and took a £100.00. they only charged 10 percent commission which was not a lot at the time. I then got into a vicious circle and eventually was using my limit of £500.00 every month. It got to the point i was so short when I got paid because all my cheques cleared and you have to wait a week after to cash more i ended up going to different companies and now have my total wage coming out every time i get paid. I recently went way over my overdraft and got a final defualt. I was then told by the bank that by writing cheques when i had no money in my account and getting them cashed when i got paid i was commiting fraud!! they threatened to come round to my house ( my parents council house) . i have not told my parents and am ashamed that ive got my self into such a mess. I called debt help centres becuase i was so stressed but they wont even look at it becuase its not a 'proper loan'. i constantly worry now about payday and the bank have now repossessed my cheque book. i have no idea what to do. i tried to get a loan for 24 months which i can easy pay a month as i do get a good wage but my credit history is now so bad i keep getting refused. im only 20 and have no idea what to do???!!!

july73

michellew wrote: »

JUly73 we have just opened the bog standard account at Barclays which now gives you a Visa Debit card and internet banking - just changed recently so may not be obvious - they didnt even need to do credit check just confirm ID - took 10 mins

Thank you, It's good to know you are not going to be totally thrown on the trash heap by doing a DMP. There are options to make living without getting in to any more debt easier. Life today is all credit/debit even if you have the money to spend in your account. Trying to live a life where you only have notes and coins in your pocket is difficult in today's world I would imagine.

michellew_2

july73 wrote: »

Thank you, It's good to know you are not going to be totally thrown on the trash heap by doing a DMP. There are options to make living without getting in to any more debt easier. Life today is all credit/debit even if you have the money to spend in your account. Trying to live a life where you only have notes and coins in your pocket is difficult in today's world I would imagine.

I have health problems and often have to shop online etc so really needed a debit card, we were totally honest with them and they couldnt have been nicer - had to get away from LloydsTSB - overdraft was taking over half of DMP funds in fees / interest each month

bigyin1760

Hi there can somebody give me some advice , i am in scotland and i had a flat rented out away back in 1999that i sold on years ago. But now i have been hit with a council tax bill from 1999 for the year this flat was rented out to a guy. They said they cant trace him and as i was the owner of the flat then i have to pay over £900. This was in his lease that he was responsible for the council tax.But ive never heard anything from the council until past few weeks now they have put this to a sherriff officer with some sort of they are telling me that they are filing for my seqestrian in about 14 days.Am not sure what to do and am i held responsible for this tax. Hope someone can help or advsise me thanks.:mad:

SAMANTHANICHOLS

Hi,

Myself anf my fainace have a combined debt of aroubd £17,000 and last year after we decided that we needed to do something about this debt we contacted a debt solutions company called DFH Financial Solutions and now pay £280 a month to them which is divided out and paid to each of our debts. In 5 yeras time all our debt will be paid of. I have heard a few things about company like this ripping people of and i just wanted to see if you know anything about them and if this was the best action to take in our circumstances, any advise would be appreciated, thanks

CCCS_Sue

spannermonkey wrote: »

Hi, need a little advice on debts handled by DMA's. I accept that the accounts they are handle are already in default, my fault for losing my job. What I want to know is why does my credit reference file show only that the account is in default and does not show that I have been making regular agreed payments to reduce the debt. If I look at the file it shows all my other accounts have been recieving payments and go back many many months. I just appears to me that my file shows I'm not paying my debts.
Thank you for any help you can give

Hi spannermonkey and thank you for your message

There are three main consumer credit reference agencies in the UK.These are Experian,Equifax and Callcredit

Some lenders do not record the information with all the main credit references so you may find that info on your file at one agency differs from info at another so the file you obtained did not have these details on.

To help you further, I have attached a link to a booklet called Credit Explained
This advises what to do if you are unhappy about any of the details on your file.
click here to go to the booklet.

Hope this helps

Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

jaffacakes1000 wrote: »

About a year ago i was a bit short of cash and went to a cheque centre and took a £100.00. they only charged 10 percent commission which was not a lot at the time. I then got into a vicious circle and eventually was using my limit of £500.00 every month. It got to the point i was so short when I got paid because all my cheques cleared and you have to wait a week after to cash more i ended up going to different companies and now have my total wage coming out every time i get paid. I recently went way over my overdraft and got a final defualt. I was then told by the bank that by writing cheques when i had no money in my account and getting them cashed when i got paid i was commiting fraud!! they threatened to come round to my house ( my parents council house) . i have not told my parents and am ashamed that ive got my self into such a mess. I called debt help centres becuase i was so stressed but they wont even look at it becuase its not a 'proper loan'. i constantly worry now about payday and the bank have now repossessed my cheque book. i have no idea what to do. i tried to get a loan for 24 months which i can easy pay a month as i do get a good wage but my credit history is now so bad i keep getting refused. im only 20 and have no idea what to do???!!!

Hi jaffacake 1000 and thank you for your message

First of all you need to get a basic bank account and have your money paid into this account so that you are back in charge of your finances. You do not need an overdraft facility or any additional credit.
Then you need to put together a budget showing your income and expenditure.
This will show realistically what you can afford to repay to all your creditors.
Once you have worked out how much you can afford to repay each creditor, stick to this repayment and do not be pressured into paying more than you can afford.
It may help to make an appointment to speak to one of our debt counsellors about your situation.

The counsellor will help you to put together a budget and then look at all the options available to deal with your situation.
To make an appointment please ring our free helpline on 0800 138 1111.

Regards

CCCs

CCCS_Sue

byronavitch wrote: »

Hi i hope somebody can help, i lost my job before xmas, to make sure my direct debits where not returned unpaid and i incurred more costs i cancelled them through my internet banking, i then sent my creditors a letter and proposed budget sheet reccomended by national debtline, when i left my account dormant so to speak it still had my permitted overdraft facility in place and unused, tonight i have checked the account and the TSB have taken £411 as payment for my loan agreement which has also taken me into the overdraft ? is this right can they do this

Hi byronavitch and thank you for you message

Is your current account with the TSB?

If so, when you owe money, including overdrafts, to the same bank where your income is paid into, there is a risk of the bank taking money without your consent.
A bank can use their “right of offset” to take money from one account to pay a debt on a different account with the same company. This includes credit cards and loans.
To avoid the problems listed above, it is advisable if you have debts with your bank, to change to a basic bank account with a bank where you have no debts.

If you have already changed banks, and no money is going into that account they can still put any unpaid payments onto an overdraft, though this usually stops when they have received a copy of your budget and an agreement has been made to offer monthly payments to repay the debt.
So it is important to come to an agreement to make regular monthly payments of what you can realistically afford.

However, if the TSB is not your current account and they have just taken the money even though you have cancelled the Direct Debit ,then under the Direct Debit guarantee, the ruling is, if an error is made by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid. So you would have grounds to ask for a refund.

Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

debtman2007 wrote: »

Sorry already started a thread elsewhere but:-

My CCCS review is due in february. My DMP started in Dec 07.

Will the creditors expect to see an increase in my payments? To be honest when all is worked out i cant see how i can afford to do that. I have taken a job closer to home to cut fuel costs, however, what i have saved in fuel has been swallowed up by gas/electric/insurance increases.

What would happen if i have to reduce my payments (really don't want to do this as that will no doubt cause probelms!!)

Hi debtman 2007 and thanks for your message

When you have a review,the counsellor goes through your income and expenditure and updates any areas where you have had any increases or reductions in outgoings.

If there are no changes, then the payment will remain the same.

If it shows there is extra to offer your creditors then the monthly amount will be increased.

If it shows you are struggling and the payment needs to be lowered then the monthly amount will be reduced.
If the payment has to be lowered substantially, and the time to repay is no longer realistic, then it may be that other options could be better suited for your situation and this would be discussed with your counsellor at the review.

Hope this sets your mind at rest!

Regards
CCCS Sue