Facing Up But In Need Of Informed Advise!

GMFlash

Good afternoon to you all,

I am keen to seek some advice from other people who are in or have been in a similar situation to myself.

I want to deal with my debts myself or at least not hide away from it, face it and deal with it. Presently, however due to the volume of calls and I am not communicating as best I can with my debtors I am a little stuck and daunted as to where to start or what I can say that will result in the best outcome for all parties. My debt isn’t massive and with the right strategy could be cleared very soon.

Firstly, I was made redundant like a lot of people last year, not once but three times believe it or not, and I went from earning a good wage to working on temporary contracts to make ends meet.

Now I am by no means shirking the responsibility of my debt, I have made some ill advised decisions and am paying for them now – at the time I thought desperate circumstances required desperate measures! Now it is a case of doing what I can to keep out of court, freeze interest if I can and pay back these people who are calling me 24/7 – I need a little help in knowing where to start though if I may ask.

My debts look like this:

HSBC Current Account – £2000 odd (Overdrawn £1700 + fees to be added to account of about £200) (Overdraft limit £1000)
HSBC Loan - £2800 approx
Capital One - £600 approx
Provident Personal Credit - £700 approx
The Money Shop - £200 approx

Approx Total: £6300 without other unknown charges on top.

I am not sure what allowances I am allowed to make for myself for live off of etc, so I know I need to find out so I can make up a budget.

I have approached a DMC but they offered their services at a charge which as I read is standard – I then contacted CCCS and have got a Counsellor session booked in for the start of May.

I am not sure whether to use the CCCS as my debtors can still pursue me through court and the reduced payments may appear as defaults on my credit report – the threat of court action is still there along with the calls, letters etc.

Would I be better contacting the companies myself and based on my income etc prioritise payments to them at the reduced rate if I can reach an agreement – after all I have breached (defaulted) on the original credit agreements so I know I face an uphill struggle and I am worried.

Please if you feel you can offer some advise I would be grateful for any informed input.

Thank you very much in advance.

crapwithcash82

Hi There, firstly you have come to the right place for lots of advice and tips to help you on your debt free journey!!

I think people will probably advise you complete a statement of affairs and post it on here, that way people can have a look and see if there are any area's you can cut down on.

The CCCS should be able to advise you how to handle your creditors, I stupidly went with a fee paying DMC a couple of years ago - before I found the wisdom and wealth of advice available on here and I do regret it.

Good luck with your debt and I'm sure someone with more expertise than me will be along soon!

angelicmary85

Hi GMFLASH!!

First of all welcome to MSE, everyone on DFW are facing up to their debts together so don't be afraid to ask questions if there's info people give you that you don't understand - thee are alot of very smart people on here who will be able to offer their assistance through their knowledge or just personal experience!

You will, however, as crapwithcash82 has mentioned, post your SOA (so it can get ripped to pieces!!) and let the advice flow (although, unlike me, people are at work so it may not be until later than you'll get lots of replies!) but I'm going to go and find you the link to the place you need to be!
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Tixy

Well done on posting and well done on realising not to use a fee charging DMC. CCCS are a good option for many - also there is Payplan and Christians against Poverty that are often recommended here. Equally many do choose to run their own DMP themselves - there is a thread on here for people doing just that.

The national debtline website has some template letters which will be of use to you. Maybe if you are getting a lot of hassle you could start by sending a letter to request all communication is done in writing and not to call you anymore (this is always a good idea as you have proof of everything they agree to). You could also send the letter offering token payments for the next month whilst you sort out your debt management plan. This should give you some time and space to think.

I would recommend that you fill in your SOA for what you think you currently spend.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

We can advise you where/how to reduce outgoings and how to organise your debts best. Additionally some people on here will be able to tell you where on your SOA you can increase your actual spend to 'allowed amounts' so you can do a budget to send to creditors.

I have seen it suggested on here that some creditors prefer to deal with charity DMP organisations but in theory they should come to the same agreements if they work with you personally. I suppose it partly depends on how able you feel you will be to stand up to their 'pressure tactics' to get money out of you.

Good luck whatever you decide.