Some basic advice from an ex CAB counseller

maz1964

hiya all

i wish to sort out my financial nightmare but now have been made redundant and thus will be now making an appointment with the dss to at least get registered as unemployed and see what benefits i can get

but hubby is still working full time - dd at college still in education for the next few years

now i have a few concerns

my own sole debts with credit cards are with dca and creditors been trying to get to grips with it all

i have tried in the past to claim bank charges but now getting letters due to the nov court ruling they are not going to pay thus my questions

1. can i now write back and say ive lost my job though the bank accounts are joint two have overdrafts that the bank charges would clear instantly for us barclays and halifax - another was with rbs which was closed but only about 300 max of charges
still get a few charges but have tried really hard to not get any for a long time ((Would this now fall into the hardship type scenarios?? )) Guess now i have to recontact each bank and explain this now and see if they pay up or if i have to then go to the ombudsman?

2. i need to look at all my creditors and currently investigating the cca's on all and have not claimed yet the credit card charges but im looking at this as part of my clearing these debts

3. I have had a bit of redundancy pay but wish to secure this to pay our mortgage for the next year as hubbys overtime is being cut - would this go against us?

just my thoughts for the time being but i will start my own thread once ive had some initial replies

thanks for your help cheers maz

GreenSue

Has anyone tried the Credit Union? They do help people by giving small loans, but mostly they encourage people to save, even a small amount each week. When giving loans, they give an interview, and help the person prepare a budget, so they know how much they have coming in and going out and how much they can afford to repay. The interest charged for the loan is very small. Many people have gone to the Credit Union and over a couple of years have got out of debt, simply because they have learned to manage their money better. Try your local Credit Union, it's great!

maz1964

GreenSue wrote: »

Has anyone tried the Credit Union? They do help people by giving small loans, but mostly they encourage people to save, even a small amount each week. When giving loans, they give an interview, and help the person prepare a budget, so they know how much they have coming in and going out and how much they can afford to repay. The interest charged for the loan is very small. Many people have gone to the Credit Union and over a couple of years have got out of debt, simply because they have learned to manage their money better. Try your local Credit Union, it's great!

hiya GreenSue

i actually agree with you, both of us are part of ours , and going to get my daughter involved too as she is interested in the budgeting and she is now a wizz at buying the bargains and checking out exactly what stuff costs etc

ours lets you save about 12 weeks and then you can request a loan for double the amount of your savings as a max, once that is paid, and you continue to save extra at the same time which is what we do, the next loan is 3 times your savings

we have managed our money so much better, got rid of so many little debts doing it this way and now we can tackle each biggie , which for us now is the overdraft at halifax, being charged 31 or 30 or 28 pounds per month depending on days in the month as the account is always overdrawn as not our main account just the overdraft has remained but instead of paying about 17 pounds in interest we are nearly double, we had started paying a weekly amount since before the charges being amended and now its going to take us longer hence

my next loan will be to clear this debt in the next 2 months , and if i borrow 1000 from the credit union will pay 1% on the remaining balance each end month, thus first month about 10pounds and this way i can reduce the interest monthly and not be stuck with the extornationate daily fee of 1.00 until the whole overdraft is cleared

but ive complained already to the halifax and now taking my complaint to fos and the mps' locally and mr john mcfall who i believe is highly interested in this

anyway yes i totally agree go and have a chat and see how it can change your life and get yourself back in control

we are so glad we have found our local credit union - hope it helps you too

have a fun weekend all maz

Stuart_1980

This is a great post very informative.

annaleese

Kenny I feel your pain, in a way it can help teach a valuable lesson.

You need to speak to somebody with authority at NAtwest.

If all else fails start a fbook campaign!

claireessex

Thanks this is all really useful :-)

jamie00353

Good advice!

calebdylan

nice post with good informations ............

Tinkerbell31_2

Hi,

I hope you can help. I have recently lost my job and I would like some advice on how to write a letter to my loan and credit card compnay asking if I can make the minimum repayments until I find a new job.

Thanks

Becky

Bardo_Pond

I'd just like to briefly introduce myself: I'm a money advice worker employed by a CAB in Yorkshire. I have been dealing with clients in financial difficulties for 10 years and am concerned that an ex CAB "counsellor" has been posting information on this forum.

Debt advice has become far more complex in the last 12-18 months and no one should be obtaining debt advice from any individual who no longer currently works in debt advice with a free, confidential, impartial advice agency such as the CAB. This is because their knowledge base will be out of date and they do not have access to 'information sources' that the CAB MUST USE to give accurate advice to clients.

Please be careful when seeking advice.