Help and advice please!!!

proeleche

Hi everyone!

I need a bit of help!!!!!!!!!!!

I've currently moved back home to live with a relative and this person is in financial hardship:

Incomings are around 750 and outgoings 900ish; and this is before food!

There are C/T arrears from this current year and of course we are moving into the new c/t year next month and no single person discount with me being around :-S.
There are currently 2 months arrears on the mortgage which will go up to 3 on 1st April.
There are 4 months arrears on a secured loan.
And the credit cards (2) + o/d - I dont know when they were last paid!

This person is clearly in financial hardship - and i have started reclaiming their ppi on secured loan [this person was just about to retire and they were told! - cowboys at Household Bank(HSBC)].

And I'm waiting for staments on the rest so I can start proceedings to reclaim under the financial hardship clause/and get writing to the 2 credit cards.

Tho I have a couple of specific questions:
When an unsecured debt is defaulted, will the interest then be frozen? The relative was in a debt management programme to deal with the unsecured debts but fell behind with mortgage and secured debts so I have cancelled it so we can plow all we can into these for the time being. Not only that but these unsecured creditors have still been applying fees and interest etc [nationwide and household] left right and centre, so the debts were going up anyway.

Also, all of this info was unknown to me until a short time ago - I myself have applied for refunds [see my signature] as I am now unemployed; in arrears with previous commitments; and just been silly with payday loans/chq cashing etc and hence the moving home. I'm desperately trying to find work and so is this relative, i have a little money whereby I can help with the mortgage for the next 2 months - but basically, when I eventually get my I/E sheet from the banks [its soon approaching 14 days and no response so far] - can I also use my relatives info to display financial hardship and her mine?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

esmerellda

proeleche wrote: »

Hi everyone!

I need a bit of help!!!!!!!!!!!

I've currently moved back home to live with a relative and this person is in financial hardship:


Incomings are around 750 and outgoings 900ish; and this is before food!

There are C/T arrears from this current year and of course we are moving into the new c/t year next month and no single person discount with me being around :-S.
There are currently 2 months arrears on the mortgage which will go up to 3 on 1st April.
There are 4 months arrears on a secured loan.
And the credit cards (2) + o/d - I dont know when they were last paid!

This person is clearly in financial hardship - and i have started reclaiming their ppi on secured loan [this person was just about to retire and they were told! - cowboys at Household Bank(HSBC)].

And I'm waiting for staments on the rest so I can start proceedings to reclaim under the financial hardship clause/and get writing to the 2 credit cards.

Tho I have a couple of specific questions:
When an unsecured debt is defaulted, will the interest then be frozen? The relative was in a debt management programme to deal with the unsecured debts but fell behind with mortgage and secured debts so I have cancelled it so we can plow all we can into these for the time being. Not only that but these unsecured creditors have still been applying fees and interest etc [nationwide and household] left right and centre, so the debts were going up anyway.

Have you been in touch with a charity such as CCCS to look at starting another DMP ? A DMP certainly shouldnt make you fall behind with any essentials, was she using a pay company before? You can do it yourself and ask them to freeze interest and charges and offer a payment that the IE sheet shows they can afford. They may well try to secure the loan on the property even if you manage to get an arrangement with them but if you just leave it to keep building up then thats almost a certainty.


Also, all of this info was unknown to me until a short time ago - I myself have applied for refunds [see my signature] as I am now unemployed; in arrears with previous commitments; and just been silly with payday loans/chq cashing etc and hence the moving home. I'm desperately trying to find work and so is this relative, i have a little money whereby I can help with the mortgage for the next 2 months - but basically, when I eventually get my I/E sheet from the banks [its soon approaching 14 days and no response so far] - can I also use my relatives info to display financial hardship and her mine?

I think you are both financially independent from one another so there is no household income as such - so you can/should deal with both of your affairs seperately. Helping your relative out with the mortgage could class as rent on your IE, although would show as income on their IE. You don't want to be in a position where you take on their debts, or they take on yours, so staying financial independent would be wise.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Hope that helps a little bit for the moment. you sound like you are on top of the claim side of things.

proeleche

Hi esmerelda,

Yeah she was with a debt management company that charged - from what I can see, my relative was paying around £25 per month to them.

So once I had cancelled this - they called and asked why - I explained that she was behind in the priority debts etc and we needed to catch up with those. This chap informed me that Nationwide were one of the worst to deal with and don't freeze interest - my thoughts/research were that if we stopped paying them they would default the agreement and then the interest and charges would be frozen. Is this correct? If not, how do I go about getting it done?

I realise we should probably get her into another [free and helpful] DMP - should I make token payments to the creditors until I can get this organised - or how would I go about freezing interest/charges myself and negotiating payments?

Yeah, you are probably right that we are separate individuals - I just thought that it would perhaps speed things up for both of us, a bit cheaky I know, but we're desperate!

Thanks again.

esmerellda

proeleche wrote: »

Hi esmerelda,

Yeah she was with a debt management company that charged - from what I can see, my relative was paying around £25 per month to them.

So once I had cancelled this - they called and asked why - I explained that she was behind in the priority debts etc and we needed to catch up with those. This chap informed me that Nationwide were one of the worst to deal with and don't freeze interest - my thoughts/research were that if we stopped paying them they would default the agreement and then the interest and charges would be frozen. Is this correct? If not, how do I go about getting it done?

Once it defaults then no interest and charges wouldnt be frozen. First of all nationwide will pass the debt to their collections dept then to the inhouse solicitors then possibly sell on to a dca. As it stands currently with no arrangement in place interest and charges are racking up, so you do need to write to them and ask for chagre/interest to be frozen and offer a repayment...include your income expenditure sheet. Even if they don;t accept pay that offered amount each month, then if they do go down the court route later, it shows any judge you have been trying to sort things out and dont want to renege on your debts - if they go for a charge order then he would most likely order installments at that offered amount, and keeping those up would kybosh any possible sale order. It really is best to deal with the creditor direct as early as possible, Will find a drafty letter for you to begin with in a tic.

And yep good move getting away from the DM company. If you or your relative dont feel up to dealing with things then i would suggest contacting CCCS - even if just for an initial view of your options.

I realise we should probably get her into another [free and helpful] DMP - should I make token payments to the creditors until I can get this organised - or how would I go about freezing interest/charges myself and negotiating payments?

Yes that would be a great idea....will grab that letter for you - if there arent too many creditors you can do it yourself. People like CCCS are brilliant for the basic repayment plans, but you can;t chuck everything over to them completely because they are pants at dealing with court claims against and seem to advise you just roll over.

Yeah, you are probably right that we are separate individuals - I just thought that it would perhaps speed things up for both of us, a bit cheaky I know, but we're desperate!

Thanks again.

two secs then

okay this is legalbeagles letter (based on national debtline versions) have a play with it...if you need help just yell

LETTER # 2

Ask Your Creditors to Accept Pro Rata Offers of Payment on Your Debts


Dear Sir/Mr

Re: Your Account Number: xxxxxxxxxxxx

We wish to inform you of a recent change to our circumstances and as such we are unable to maintain the present level of repayments. [Add an explanation here, keep it brief and in one paragraph if possible].

Please find enclosed an Income and Expenditure sheet (here) which details our current position. As is clearly shown, the total amount available for us to repay our creditors has now become significantly reduced.

In view of our circumstances, we have written to all our creditors to ask that they agree to accept reduced monthly payments and that any interest and charges currently being applied to the account be frozen to enable the debt to be repaid as quickly as possible.

To this end, we request that you agree to installments of of £............ per month.

We would like to assure you that it was never our intention to renege on our financial responsibilities and as such, should our circumstances improve, we will contact you immediately with a revised installment offer.

Thank you for your assistance. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully/sincerely
__________________

proeleche

Thank you so much esmerelda!!!

I will get onto writing the letters straight away and draw up my relative I/E sheet. There are only 3 unsecured creditors 2 credit cards and an o/d. I will try to deal with it for the time being and if it becomes too much I will go to CCCS. I am also in the process of getting statements etc together in order to claim back all my relatives charges too.

Aso for my own difficulties - i am a little behond with my own credit cards (2) and keep going into unauthorised overdraft. So I have been keeping up best I can, making token payments etc and I am reclaiming on everything cos with JSA - there just isn't enough to go round. I do have a little cash put aside, but I wanted to keep that to assist with the mortgage for the time being. Both my relative and I are looking for work.

I just wanna say thanks to Martin for this site and to everyone that has offered me guidance and advice - I really don't know what I would have done without it!

esmerellda

On your IE sheets make sure the amount you offer is affordable - be realistic in your figures - if you think 'ahhh i could cut back and manage on £xx instead of £xx' then you are adjusting things to suit the creditors - so try not to, because thats how you end up defaulting on arrangements and wham bang in court we go. If you want a third pair of eyes over it feel free to pm me.

good luck with the charges claims - you are using financial hardship on those claims arent you? Your relative may have more luck with this with the mortgage arrears.

Guide to Hardship claims http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?t=15761

proeleche

Thanks again esmerelda!

could you just clarify with me:

when I make the hardship claims, do I claim back 6 years from the waiver or would it be six years from today [if i were writing the letter]?

and when i've done the I/E, what if it looks like there really isn't much or anything at all to distribute? and thank you, I've been looking on CAB and they show you how to distribute the 'disposable' income amongst the creditors.

natweststaffmember

proeleche wrote: »

Thanks again esmerelda!

could you just clarify with me:

when I make the hardship claims, do I claim back 6 years from the waiver or would it be six years from today [if i were writing the letter]?

and when i've done the I/E, what if it looks like there really isn't much or anything at all to distribute? and thank you, I've been looking on CAB and they show you how to distribute the 'disposable' income amongst the creditors.

Its from 27th July 2001(under the FSA Waiver).

esmerellda

Not sure how Martins IE sheets work - we use a Excel/Open Office version similar to CCCS which calculates the proportions for you. If theres under £1 left per creditor then you can ask them to write the debt off, worth an ask isnt it....especially if your circumstances dont look like improving. Secured loans and mortgage/co tax/utility arrears come as prioritys, everything else takes what is left proportionally.

And yep as Nats says claim back to 27 July 2001