Cautious Paul's Debt Diary.......

CautiousPaul1981

Day 1

Came on M.S.E for the first time yesterday, previous post covers the problems I am facing...£30k in debt(or so I thought) and a gambling addiction to conquer - I'm 27 years old and tackling both of these head on before it's too late. Went home last night and with the information from here(and gamcare) and the determination, I sifted through the MOUNTAINS of paperwork to try and worked out what I owe....I have got all the details and have made up a statement of affairs as I was advised to do on a previous Post.

Statement of affairs:

INCOMING (Per month)

Wages - £1223.00

TOTAL - £1223.00

OUTGOING (Per month)

Rent - £0 (Still at home with parents!)
Food - £100 (Since I don't pay rent I do a fortnightly food shop)
Gym - £46 (I am using it, so I stay out of bookies/casinos.)
Fuel - £180
Emergencies - £50
Luxury - £100
Internet - £30
Car Insurance - £36

TOTAL - £542

DEBTS I CURRENTLY PAY

Welcome -£208 per month (remaining £6241)
Provident - £180 per month (remaining £2142)

TOTAL - £388

This means I have current outgoings of £930 (give or take a few pence) each and every month. This will leave me £293 a month to put towards other debts...here's where the tough part comes in.......

DEBTS I HAVE NOT PAID FOR SOME TIME (6 months - 5 years!)

Hodsons - £327.00
Fenton - £440.40
Thames Credit - £2347.25
Chantry - £1203.40
Cabot - £1498.98
Scotcall - £977.25
Capquest - £2087.87
Wescot - £1602.75
Student Loan - £2836.98
Blair Oliver + Scott - £18764.63

Total (including Welcome and Provident) - £40468.51 !!!!!

VERY VERY Scary........Now I am currently paying Welcome and Provident and have done each month. The Provident debt is actually a lot less IF I pay it off early(which I am looking to do now). The other debts have offered reduced payments, special pay-offs etc, so I am going to look into this further as well.

One query I have is with the Blair Oliver + Scott debt. This was taken in 2002 as a Personal loan from the Halifax...I don't think I have paid anything towards this since 2005-2006. The LAST correspondence I have on this debt(and I keep it ALL even though I dont pay it) is from July 2006....now yesterday a poster on here said I may not be liable for this after 5 years, is this the case? In 2006 I liased with the CCCS and made an offer to them, but I broke that agreement only a few months in.

Where do I stand with this debt as they have not made any contact with me for nearly THIRTY months? How do I find out where I am with it?

Any advice on the above, and also how to tackle the OVERALL debt will be gratefully received and I will update you all on how I get on in the coming days, weeks, months and years!!!:T

mickey_mouse

good luck - i am sure one of the experts will be here soon to give you some advice

laura2481

Welcome Cautious Paul :beer:

I would probably start by going back to CCCS or debtline and get a plan worked out for deal with all those you aren't paying.

I'm not sure but maybe because you acknowledged them the last time you went to CCCS and they possibly made some small payments to them for you then you will not be able to have them written off. I'm no expert on this area though. Perhaps someone else will know better!

Also, do you really need £100 Luxury budget? Could you be throwing that at the loans you are paying, or split it between all those other guys. Peanuts, I know, but a start.

And good luck with the gambling thing, i think there is a support thread on here somewhere....

hampsterpoo

Morning Cautious Paul,
it might be more helpful for you to do a SOA using the SOA calulator as you could have a few thing that you havent listed above, such as other insurances , mot etc.
heres the link to southern scousers first time guide
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Are the debts are they all interest free?, if not whats are the APR %'s,
good luck

GeorgeUK

Hi Paul.

There's a gamblers support thread on here that you may want to have a look at (i'm on there too :rolleyes: ). It helps to try to get it off your chest when you start to feel like you're going to slip back into old habits.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1090463

Well done on tackling this. One thing about doing it "head on" though is that when you are going up against a mountain like this, it can usually give you a sore head. It took a long time to build up these debts and will take a long time to deal with them. Don't be too dicouraged if you don't see results that you had hoped for. As long as you are moving in the right direction, that is all you can hope for.

Regarding your query on being liable for a debt after 5 years (I take it you are in Scotland then), If you have made no payments towards a debt or acknowledged the debt in writing then the debt MAY be statute barred. I would imagine for a debt of that amount that they may try to go through the courts before it became time barred. In England they have CCJ's - the Scottish equivalent is a Decree which is issued by the Sheriff Court. If this happens, they have up to 20 years to start enforcing the decree.

You say you are currently only paying the Welcome and Provident debts. If you were to tackle all the debts, they would want you to split your available funds equally in a pro rata agreement. I work this out as follows:
creditor********* debt***i***** pay
Welcome******i** 6241******** 105
Provident ******.* 2142******** 36
Hodsons*******ii* 327*******i** 5
Fenton********ii* 440.4******** 7
Thames Credit**i** 2347.25****** 39
Chantry********* 1203.4******* 20
Cabot*********ii* 1498.98****** 25
Scotcall********* 977.25******* 16
Capquest******** 2087.87****** 35
Wescot*****i**** 1602.75****** 26
Student Loan***** 2836.98****** 47
Blair Oliver + Scott* 18764.63***** 315
*************** 40469.51**** 676

Do you know if the interest has been stopped on these debts? As you are in Scotland (aren't you?), you may be able to enter a debt administration scheme (DAS), but the payments you make will be legally binding so you will need to ensure that you have the figures right and look into it in detail.

CautiousPaul1981

Thank you George for laying that out for me....

Interestingly taking into account your monthly amount and the debt outstanding, it will take approx 60 months to achieve....looking at it like that it actually doesn't feel so long to me. I mean after looking at paperwork last night and seeing how much of the last 8 years I have wasted, 5 years to clear this up is no time....

I do have to tackle everything head on, I'm the sort of person who quits on things VERY easily, so I need to keep my determination up, and I need to feel I'm proving a point to other people and not just myself. These are my faults, but knowing them can help me overcome them and also overcome this.

Your help is gratefully received though, and I am going to make a start this weeked by getting a pack from the National Debtline, and setting something up with these companies. Judging by the letters I have had, some of the smaller amounts may be cleared for 50% payments (I guess due to the amount of time they have taken, they are happy to get anything!).

With regards interest, the only things that are adding interest are the welcome and provident loans, so I plan to try and clear those both early (Especially the Provident one as if I pay it early I nearly save £700!!!). The other debts have been with collection agencies for a LONG time, and they don't look to have accumulated any charges.

I feel happier than I ever have in the last 4 years! Long may this continue!:j

mummum2

Hi Paul,

Well done for tackling your debts. Good luck and welcome to MSE, people on here are truly wonderful for giving great advice.

MM2

looktothefuture

Well done for being brave and trying to sort this mess out!

GeorgeUK

A few other things to bear in mind (didn't want ot overload you on one post).
As debt collection agencies (DCA's) usually buy the debts for between 7%-15%, you may be able to make full and final offers on the debts of between 25%-50%. If you are going to make a settlement offer, make sure you receive confirmation in writing and that it is full and final - not partial before sending any payment. If the debt is with the original creditor, offers are usually between 50%-75%.

Also, as you are not yet being chased by the other DCA's, it may be better to save the money in a high interest account until they do contact you, then make the offer. If a DCA does contact you, you can write letters requesting that all communication be in writing only so you don't get any harassing telephone calls - never agree to anything over the phone - you will not be able to prove what was agreed.

Have you looked into the possibility of requesting the credit agreements? For a loan, credit card or HP a credit agreement should have been signed and have certain prescribed terms on it for it to be legally binding. If the company requesting payment are unable to provide a copy or the agreement does not have all the prescribed terms then it may be unenforcable outside of court. Again, if they are not in contact with you right now it may be better holding off on this incase they do have an enforcable CCA and then demand payment.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=578486

Have you tried reclaiming your bank charges or credit card charges (or loan charges)?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/

CautiousPaul1981

George you are a star my friend! :T

Your advice is greatly received and I think I will attempt to clear the smallest loan (the £327 one) at month end by offering an amount and then getting written conformation.

I had not thought of getting the original agreements, this is definitely something I will have to look into. I will have a further hunt through paperwork to see If I have anything from away back in 2001-2002.

I was not sure if I could reclaim charges if the accounts had gone to DCA's as they all have been with them since 2006 onwards (bar Welcome and Provident, both of which I have kept up with). I just posted on another thread asking this also.

This weekend is going to be quite busy!!!

[Deleted User]

Hi Paul,

Just popped in to say hello.

Tea
x