advice needed - long story!

csum78

hello everyone,

my name is chris and i find myself in a bit of a quandry...
basically i have around 22k of debt spread across a loan, 3 credit cards and an overdraft.. i had never missed a payment on any until this month and now they are all about ten days overdue.

about a fortnight ago i called debt advice link, a company that i came across on the money supermarket websit. the guy was extremely helpful basically asking me how much i want to pay per month then "creating" my outgoings based around this figure... i should point out that i work through my own ltd company and pay my own wages from this... ok so basically we said i can pay 300 a month, 45 of which goes to them. for this i get no hassle whatsoever from any of my creditors. apparently.

i knew about the cccs so before signing anything i also spoke to a consellor there yesterday. she came to a different figure of 407 a month obviously with no fee and also said there is a chance a creditor could decide at any point to take me to court to claim all the debt back. this scares me and obviously i know the private company might stretch the truth a little but there was no mention of the possibility of further action during that call.

so basically my question is how likely is it that after startinga reduced repayment plan as debt advice link call it or a debt management plan as the cccs call it that i will still get hassle from the creditors/worse - end up in court in 2 years arguing a case a thought was behind me?

also is there any difference in what debt advice link are offering as a service compared with the cccs apart from the charge of 45 quid? if they take care of all the creditors, allow the reduced payment of 300 pcm as opposed to 400 and guarentee that i wont end up in court then to me that is worth 45 a month! probebly naiive of me to think that is possible!?
sorry for the long windedness of the explanation and any dodgy grammer- this is being written on my mobile...

thanks in advance for any advice

chris

TotallyBroke

The only difference is that CCCS is free so more of your money goes to your debt and it is paid quicker.
The others do not touch. You will be paying them £540 per year to do nothing different to cccs.
They won't be able to stop the creditors from going to court.

Much better to go with cccs and have more money to pay at the debts. CCCS soa is quite relaxed as well. So by cutting back all the way you could get on top of it over a few years.

Why don't you use https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html and post it. We can have a look and give you an idea.

Please do not pay a company to do the same as a free company.

GeorgeUK

There is a difference between what the debt advice link and an organisation like CCCS or Payplan may be able to do for you. As Payplan and CCCS are partially funded by the finance industry, the financial institutions are used to dealing with them and are better about stopping charges and interest if you use these organisations.

You will not have been told about the possibility of court action as they don't want to scare you away. I would definately go with CCCS rather than a fee paying organisation. This 'no hassle' idea is a pipe dream i'm afraid. No matter who you go with you will get some form of 'pressure' to increase payments or to get in touch with them.

If you post up a statement of affairs, we may be able to suggest some other areas to make savings in. Also, have you looked at transferring balances or possibly getting a 0% card to transfer funds to such as Virgin?

csum78

thanks for the help guys - SOA attached...

It's an embarassing mess.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 4
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 4

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1200

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 200
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 12
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 195
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 25
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 793


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
loan...........................8424......468.......5.7
cc alliance....................5991......150.......14.9
cc hsbc........................655.......15........15
overdraft......................859.......0.........5
cc egg.........................6435......150.......16.9
Total unsecured debts..........22364.....783.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,200
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 793
Available for debt repayments........... 407
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 783
Amount short for making debt repayments. -376

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,364
Net Assets.............................. -20,864

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.



Oh - I live with my parents and drive 40miles to work every day... not sure if thats relevant.

Also - how do the private companies get away with the lies they tell?! The guy basically told me I would not have to speak to any creditors as he would takes care of all of that - is that a blatant lie then?

Thanks for any help,

Chris.

debrag

csum78 wrote: »

thanks for the help guys - SOA attached...

It's an embarassing mess.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 4 - if the figures below are just for you then remove the over people
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 4 - unless you personally use and pay towards all 4 cars remove

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1200

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 200
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50 - this can be reduced
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 12
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 195 - high for one person
Clothing................................ 20 - do you need this every month?
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 25
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 793


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
loan...........................8424......468.......5.7
cc alliance....................5991......150.......14.9
cc hsbc........................655.......15........15
overdraft......................859.......0.........5
cc egg.........................6435......150.......16.9
Total unsecured debts..........22364.....783.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,200
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 793
Available for debt repayments........... 407
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 783
Amount short for making debt repayments. -376

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,364
Net Assets.............................. -20,864

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.



Oh - I live with my parents and drive 40miles to work every day... not sure if thats relevant.

Also - how do the private companies get away with the lies they tell?! The guy basically told me I would not have to speak to any creditors as he would takes care of all of that - is that a blatant lie then?

Thanks for any help,

Chris.

see my comments

10past6

csum78 wrote: »

end up in court in 2 years arguing a case a thought was behind me?

A debt is never behind you, unless it's paid or unenforceable.

A few points you need to bear in mind Chris, creditors / DCAs are becomming more agressive as the credit crunch bites, everyone wants a piece of the cake, also no matter when, if a creditor decides to take litigation against you there is nothing you can do to stop it, you're only option is to fight the case.

This is very, very important, if at anytime you receive litigation papers, in your own intrests, do not involve CCCS / Payplan, or any debt managment company, they'll not become invloved in the legal disputes of a debt, hence, they 'll admit the claim rather than dispute it, it's much harder to fight if a claim is admitted, post here for advice first.

Good luck on your debt free journey.

GeorgeUK

If a tree falls in the forest, but nobody hears it, did it make a sound?
If this company has lied, and you have no proof, did they lie?

This is why we say to people to get everything in writing and to send any important letters or forms by recorded delivery. What you can prove is all they matters - the rest is all hot air.

I'll try to have a look at the SOA later.