18 year old in trouble with credit card.

samwalters

Hi

Last October capital one blinded me with a credit card.. thought: "FREE MONEY!!!!"

£200 limit, spent it! then the bills started coming in.. at nearly 40% interest, anyway paid minimum for the first 2 months, 3rd month came, i had lost my job had no money to pay it.. Locked it in a drawer, thought oh well, it will just go away.

Never heard much for a while, bills came through, i added them to the pile in the drawer.

Now Debitas (Capital one debt people) started on me. I know owe £349.89.

I though ok lets negotiate with them, get it sorted. All i can pay is £10 per month, they are having none of it, i get 10+ calls a day, letters are getting worse and worse, now threatening to pass on to proper debt collectors, which could mean bailiffs I can't take anymore, i can't sleep over it, i'm distracted at work.

Anyway i while a go, i spoke to a lady in the debitas, said i could pay £10 a month, could be more depending on circumstances each month. So she said no. 3 days letter a letter arrives saying i agreed to pay £20 per month. I was so angry, rang them, they basically called me a liar.

I really want to get this sorted, but there not willing to help me as their letters claim. They just don't get it.

Any advice would be gratefully recieved, I'm getting really scared now =/

Thanks Sam.

Merlinexcalibur

'What's the Sam? I didn't quite catch it'.

Okay, well I am afraid nothing in life is 'free'. But if you wanna get some help then try somone like CCCS. I could give you a very boring speach about not speaking to them on the phone but I hazard a guess you've probably seen it before.

mrcow

So you have a job. How much do you earn and what do you spend it on?

RAS

Hi

A few things to learn from this

credit hurts
never speak to a creditor on the phone.
Credit does not go away.
Creditor lie - theyn canot send the bailiffs at the moment and you have lots of chances to sort it out first.

things to do.

Send a letter telling them no more phone calls - will post.
Pay £10 - whatever you can afford each month, what ever they say.
Learn your rights.
if any paperwork arrives from the courts, come here.

devils_vixen

samwalters wrote: »

Hi

i had lost my job i'm distracted at work.

I am a little confused - you lost job but you're distracted at work because of the debt?

Merlinexcalibur

proper debt collectors, which could mean bailiffs

But just to reassure you, despite what Debitas says or Capital One threatens that is a long way down the road. But it seems you already knew Capital One were Debitas so you already have some knowledge of how they work. And, whilst it may seem 'worrying' it's really only a small amount. I'll let others here assist with the many, many other things that can be done at this stage but, please, it's not worth kicking yourself in for.

RAS

Start by posting your income and expenditure here

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Merlinexcalibur

Oh, I missed that, Devils Vixen. That part. Hmmm. Now I re-read all that in a different light entirely. And in an entirely different context. Hmmm.

I know owe £349.89.

Can you tell us what part of that amount is their fees? Oh, and just this but is that your real name in your username? Just really quite foolish putting real names on a forum. If you have, that is.

samwalters

im in a new job now, but its not exactly amazing pay and after my mega expensive car insurance, board payments, petrol, general living expensives it doesn't really leave me with a lot. I am trying to get together the lump sum to just pay it, but it just seems like the tunnel is getting darker to be honest =/ thanks all for the advice

Merlinexcalibur

Well, quick reply but well done for posting about your experiences. I imagine you will begin to feel better now.

samwalters

yeah, just looking through the forums now, there are people far worse off than me, and they are getting things sorted, so i'm going to take a leaf out of there book, get some letters off to debitas telling them how much i'm going pay and when the payments will start, tell them to stop ringing all the time as well!

it feels good to tell people, kind of takes a weight off!