debt advice needed

dont_want_to_be_in_debt

Please a bit of advice is needed. I have posted on the ccs website but no-ones home.

We owe debt to credit cards, no personal loans or store cards. We owe in total 65k. Having filled in the questionaire on the cccs website, we have a question about the income section. On average o/h earns £2409 per month with child benifit and tax credit of £166 on top. The problem is because he is commission based. His income this year varied from £1849 at the lowest to £4090 at the highest. How can be deal with this difference on a debt plan?

Please help someone- cant sleep at night

Numpty_Monkey

It might be best to call CCCS and explain about the pay,
i think they use your "guarnteed income" and work out a plan based on that,
Idon't think they take commission or bonus's into account, but you can make extra payments if you have the money
HTH

Silverbird

I agree with NumptyMonkey (what a cool name!)

I would assume that they will provide a payment plan with regards to guaranteed income and any extra is just a bonus.

Just my opinion though - I don't have any experience of this personally.

skintandscared_2

I was told to put just my basic income into the CCCS budget thing. I do normally manage some overtime, but my budget will be pretty tight on the months that I don't. If I do get a really good overtime month, the surplus will go in my savings account as my emergency fund and to get the MOT/tax out of.

dont_want_to_be_in_debt

skintandscared wrote: »

I was told to put just my basic income into the CCCS budget thing. I do normally manage some overtime, but my budget will be pretty tight on the months that I don't. If I do get a really good overtime month, the surplus will go in my savings account as my emergency fund and to get the MOT/tax out of.

Thank you for your help everyone - this is a bit scary

Numpty_Monkey

dont_want_to_be_in_debt wrote: »

Thank you for your help everyone - this is a bit scary

It might bescary but your among friends here:A

elsie52

:hello:Hi,

Don't be scared, soon you will be able to sleep at night, and just knowing that you are dealing with your debts definitely helps. Just recently posted on site, but have been on DMP for 9 months....we have not very much spare cash, only what we manage to save out of our allocated amounts, but we definitely feel better. We are hoping to be debt free Dec 2011. Good luck and keep checking this site, people are ver helpful and give good advice.

skintandscared_2

It does get less scary, I promise. I was terrified at the start, even just thinking about it, but now I've got my head round it and have more of an idea what is going to happen I do feel better. Even knowing the potential bad stuff that could be coming down the phone lines or through the mail is easier to deal with when you know what to expect. I've learned so much from the amazing people on here and they've taken a lot of the mystery out of it and explained things brilliantly. Just keep reading stuff, and asking questions, and it will get a lot less frightening.

netty07

hi, this is my first time, there is no need to go through debt managment companies, what they can do you can do also. get in contact with all your creditors and tell them about your current circumstances, if they do not listend to you or help you they are breaking the law. debt management companies do not do this for nothing they charge you a fee for there services out of what you pay them in your monthly fee, so what they are taking from that could go to another creditor. another way out is to make an appointment with citizens advice[cab] they do exactly the same only for free or they have a form that says apply for bankcruptcy, this is not for everybody but works for some, some being people who are not bothered about losing thier house,not everybody does. people in rented accomadation, private or council and in debt should think about bankcruptcy. the quickest fix to a debt free future. some people might say that this is bad information but it did benifit people we know. they were on benifits after been made redundant and found they could no longer afford thier debt,so filed for bankcruptcy, did not pay the fee due to been on benefits and dont pay nothing towards any debts and was discharged within 6 months. they are now alot happier and staying away from debt and pay as they go. the court got in touch with all the companies so they had nothing to sort out. they got to keep the car because of where they live, they lost nothing just the debt. it was all over and done within a week. bare in mind they cant take off you whats not yours. hope this may help someone. good advice for some bad for others.

laura2481

netty07 wrote: »

debt management companies do not do this for nothing they charge you a fee for there services out of what you pay them in your monthly fee, so what they are taking from that could go to another creditor.

The Foundation for Credit Counselling, based in Leeds, is the umbrella charity for the Consumer Credit Counselling Service in the United Kingdom. Through its free national telephone service, ten regional centres and online CCCS Debt Remedy, CCCS is able to help people with debt problems wherever they live - taken from the dent free wannabe dictionary!

CCCS is a free to use service as far as I'm aware. Not too sure about advising people to file for bankruptcy either, but I guess what works for one may not work for all... I always thought that filing for bankruptcy can affect you for years and stop you being able to get mortgages and stuff?

I'd probably advise sticking with the CCCS plan, and only work it out on your guaranteed income, you can't rely on bonuses to arrive when you think they should! (saying that, I've got my fingers crossed for a small christmas bonus!) Good Luck!

fatbelly

Hi Netty

I don't want to jump down your throat on your first posting as it's really helpful and it's brilliant to be able to share experiences. I just wanted to make a few comments, though..

netty07 wrote: »

hi, this is my first time, there is no need to go through debt managment companies, what they can do you can do also. .

Some people find it difficult to deal direct with creditors as they are not prepared for the underhand methods that they use to try to scare people into treating them preferentially. So to use a third party to at least set up the debt management plan is often a good idea.

CCCS won't rip you off, and there are a few other organisations that we also trust. Martin has a list of fee-free sources of help here

There are many different srategies in addition to bankruptcy and DMP. To find out which is right for you requires you to do some research - posting here and talking to the trusted organisations is part of that process.

When petitioning for bankruptcy, there is a Official Receiver fee of £345 and a court fee of £150 payable on application . Those on certain benefits or a low income can get remission of the court fee but the OR fee always has to be paid.

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