Completely lost, very long post - need a lot of advice/direction

meerkat2007

dalip wrote: »

Very impressed meer. Well done to you. My OH is doing a DMP with CCC's and it can be a pain at times.Can I ask did most of your creditors stop interest?

Thanks.

Amazingly enough, all of them did. I had a mixture of original creditors and DCAs, and all of them stopped interest. I currently have just Hillesden (original debt was First Direct, combination of credit card, overdraft and maybe loan as well, I'm not sure now), and Barclays, obviously an original creditor, for just a loan (I think the original loan was around £15k). I'm currently paying them £100 each per month, with no interest. These are the only two left from when everything went pear-shaped back in 2001/2002.

Through my dealings with all these creditors, I made small increases when I could, and then, once I found MSE, I learned how to say no when they asked for more and I couldn't afford it at that particular time. But when I could afford it, I did send more, which I will eventually be doing with these two, next time I receive a pay rise.

Oh, and I have an overdraft facility with my current bank, NatWest, which I am repaying at £100 a month, but that's totally voluntary. The only other debts I have are the mortgage (completely up to date) and car HP (also completely up to date).

I should perhaps add that I was again extremely lucky a couple of months ago: I received a firm job offer on the day that my previous employer was canvassing for volunteers for redundancy, so I was paid a tidy lump sum to leave, which I was planning to do anyway. I paid off about 7 creditors with that - in full, I'm afraid, as I didn't want any repercussions on my credit record, due to the nature of my new job, especially since all the defaults, apart from the special arrangement with Capital One (due to disappear in May 2012, I think), had all fallen off my record.

I probably should have gone bankrupt back in 2000, when I was unemployed for a few months, living on credit cards and watching the balances creep up, but I was desperate to hang on to the house. Also, until getting this new job, I'd been working in a finance role, and I was afraid that if I changed employer and went to another finance role, they would do a credit check and I'd be out on my ear if they found that I had been bankrupt.

dalip

Oh you are lucky meer. I went bc in nov 2007 and it was very hard for me,emotionally.So when OH and i hit hard times(we both took lower paid jobs-long story and not to avoid an IPA)We took out a DMP with ccc's. OH only has 4 creditors, nat west access(s/interest)tesco-again natwest(s/interest)bos(interest being added) and natwest overdraft(interest being added)we were paying £70,then we got laid off recently,so payments have had to be suspended. We paid that £70 for 7 months and both the overdraft and the bos are now owed more than when we started:mad:. The only good thing is, it has stopped all the phone calls and letters. The budget that CCC's gave us was, to say the least unrealistic. That said they did have to cut right back to get the repayments withinn a certain time scale, as apparently they will not authorise a DMP over 12 years or don't like to.

I am basically bideing my time as i know that i have some money coming to me when my father dies(he is 76 and in poor health)so will be in a better postion to offer(and get accepted) f/f offers. As bad as that sounds it is the only way we will reasonably get out of debt sooner than the 12 years forcasted by ccc's.

I take my hat off to you meer you are a good example to us all. You should be very proud of yourself.XX

Sorry T/L hyjacked your thread.Dx

fiveyearplan

TotallyLost - I'm just throwing this out to think about and for discussion.

What if you stopped paying your creditors and saved your surplus income to either offer F&F or a new payment plan?

Can you list your debts (type and amount and lender) and we can see how realistic this is.

IMHO if you haven't missed any payments a creditor may think you can still pay but if you haven't paid for say 6-12 months then you may get away with paying very reduced (like 30%) amount.

TottalyLost

Dalip - no problem, you not h/j my thread, all relevant

Fiveyearplan - I have not paid them a penny in nearly a year and first have to locate my creditors (they not even writting to me any more to be honest, hardly ever - did they know I was shredding the letters?) apart from that postcard kind of thing saying "we will come to see you in the w/c 15th June if this is inconveninet please call.... "

They never had my number so nobody ever phoned.

But who knows, maybe this is an idea.... Hmmmm Thanks

I will call CCCS on Monday , they had all my details

TottalyLost

Dalip - sorry, did you mention that the CCCS set up a veryunrealistic budget for you with your DMP?

When I first contacted Debtline, they referred me to PayPlan and according to them at the time I had £1200 per month "disposable income", I did not agree with that at all and was then referred to CCCS and they calculated my "disposable income" at.... £500 per month.

Anyone wants to guess which one I went with?

Just shows you ... £700 difference between one and the other - all based on the same figures(at the time).

I will give CCCS a ring in a week's time - a bit overwhelemed with things at home right now, got family visiting, daughter forever on the computer etc and I need peace and quiet to make THAT call.

Thanks again everyone for all contributuions to this thread and for all the support/ideas - very much appreciated.

blind-as-a-bat_2

JCS1 wrote: »

From the technical manual:


31.7.4 Reasonable domestic needs
In assessing the amount the bankrupt is able to pay under an income payments agreement, the official receiver or trustee must make allowance for the "reasonable domestic needs" of the bankrupt and his/her family in the same way as would be considered for an income payments order [note 10]
The bankrupt’s family are persons who are living with him/her and who are dependent on him/her.

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/freedomofinformation/technical/TechnicalManual/Ch25-36/Chapter31/part7/part1/part1.htm

My reading of this would be if she was at home, then she would be a dependant - if away at university then she would not be.

I wish:rolleyes: Our oldest is at college, staying there, and home for holidays, you get the idea.

But it seems to cost us more now than he did when at home, with EMA and his food allowence, which can only be spent on campuss in there canteen, who's prices are frankly ridiculous, and he only gets paid to feed himself on collage days to boot, so the other three days he has use his EMA to buy food, so much selling it as an insentive to go on to further education:rolleyes:

So where does the money for clothing(some of it specialist stuff, so bl00dy expensive, for his course) books, and the other stuff they need for there course come from

So i have to disagree on this one im afraid JCS1, not your interpretation, i disagree with the fact in real life.

Just because they are not at 'home' does not mean they are not a dependant, in fact they may be more dependent

Thats before i start on the £50 a year campus fee, £200 dorm insurance deposit, petrol/wear and tear on the car to bring him home and take him back every 6 to 8 weeks..........etc etc etc

meerkat2007

dalip wrote: »

Oh you are lucky meer. I went bc in nov 2007 and it was very hard for me,emotionally.So when OH and i hit hard times(we both took lower paid jobs-long story and not to avoid an IPA)We took out a DMP with ccc's. OH only has 4 creditors, nat west access(s/interest)tesco-again natwest(s/interest)bos(interest being added) and natwest overdraft(interest being added)we were paying £70,then we got laid off recently,so payments have had to be suspended. We paid that £70 for 7 months and both the overdraft and the bos are now owed more than when we started:mad:. The only good thing is, it has stopped all the phone calls and letters. The budget that CCC's gave us was, to say the least unrealistic. That said they did have to cut right back to get the repayments withinn a certain time scale, as apparently they will not authorise a DMP over 12 years or don't like to.

I am basically bideing my time as i know that i have some money coming to me when my father dies(he is 76 and in poor health)so will be in a better postion to offer(and get accepted) f/f offers. As bad as that sounds it is the only way we will reasonably get out of debt sooner than the 12 years forcasted by ccc's.

I take my hat off to you meer you are a good example to us all. You should be very proud of yourself.XX

Sorry T/L hyjacked your thread.Dx

Thank you, dalip, but please don't see me as a good example. There have been times when I've splurged on things I shouldn't have. But I will agree that I have been incredibly, unbelievably lucky, looking back.

When I was unemployed, I had a friend - now sadly deceased - whose attitude to money was "It's only money", and he stopped me from getting too depressed about my situation, by helping me to retain some perspective, otherwise it's possible I could have gone into serious depression. I remember one Sunday afternoon where, for a second, I understood fully how people could become suicidal about being unemployed and up to their armpits in debt, but thanks to my friend's influence, I was able to stop the thought in its tracks and bounce back.

When I started the job I just left, I made a new friend in whom I eventually confided my money problems, and she told me what to do about writing to my creditors and explaining what had happpened (unemployment, followed by a job on about two-thirds of the salary I had previously been earning). I had another friend who lent me a substantial amount of money for a long time - now all paid back, and I had the privilege of returning the favour recently, when she needed a little extra to tide her over between jobs. I count myself lucky to have both of them as friends.

It sounds like your debts are all still with the original creditors. The only original creditors I had were Capital One (now paid off) and Barclays (ongoing), and they fortunately stopped interest. The others were DCAs; they stopped interest too, and I did find them easier to deal with - so long as they got what I told them was their pro rata share of the available cash, they were happy.

I'm sorry to hear about your father, but if I'm honest, I'd still be plodding along if it hadn't been for my redundancy payout, so I understand what you mean about the difference a lump sum can make. I earn less now, but I have more disposable income.

Dalip, I wish you and your OH all the best for the future. You never know what is round the corner, and sometimes it's good news, not bad. A few months ago, I never imagined that my old employer would pay me several thousand pounds to leave, and that I would be starting a new job two weeks later, in a different field, on 90% of the salary my old company was paying me, and that it would be with a company I've wanted to work for for years.

And to TottalyLost, I wish you all the very best too - there will be a way to deal with this that suits your circumstances, and you will find it.

JCS1

blind-as-a-bat wrote: »

I wish:rolleyes: Our oldest is at college, staying there, and home for holidays, you get the idea.

But it seems to cost us more now than he did when at home, with EMA and his food allowence, which can only be spent on campuss in there canteen, who's prices are frankly ridiculous, and he only gets paid to feed himself on collage days to boot, so the other three days he has use his EMA to buy food, so much selling it as an insentive to go on to further education:rolleyes:

So where does the money for clothing(some of it specialist stuff, so bl00dy expensive, for his course) books, and the other stuff they need for there course come from

So i have to disagree on this one im afraid JCS1, not your interpretation, i disagree with the fact in real life.

Just because they are not at 'home' does not mean they are not a dependant, in fact they may be more dependent

Thats before i start on the £50 a year campus fee, £200 dorm insurance deposit, petrol/wear and tear on the car to bring him home and take him back every 6 to 8 weeks..........etc etc etc

I agree - it does appear to be a case where the technical manual does not reflect real life at all.

TottalyLost

Oh tje technical manual assumes the "non dependant" children/adults at Uni have to get themselves into debt, doesn't it? How silly really......

Thanks again everyone again. For all the contributions to this thread.

I am going to do a SOA that is realistic - for me. I can see why some people may think I spend too much on my pets but they are part of the family so they are going to be included. As well as expenses relating to my daughter although she is 19 and off to Uni. Then I am going to see what I have REALISTICALLY left every month and see how CCCS looks at it.

There is a possibility that I may follow Meerkat's footsteps and try to go solo with my DMP. After all they (creditors) should be happy to see they are getting something rather then nothing?

Going to check exactly how much do I owe to to whom, ask (again) for any interest to be frozen, divide the total by 10 (years) and then offer monthly repayments.

The one thing that does worry me - what if they refuse to freeze the interest?

TottalyLost

Ok so..... Thanks to all the posts on here I used my brain a bit just now and composed a very realistic (read: one I can live on) SOA which leaves me with £500 per month of "surplus".

Last time I have checked (while dealing with CCCS nearly a year ago, when my original DMP was set up) my debts were in the region of £35000.

By the way, my DMP then was for £500 per month over 5 years which in total would have come to £30000 so maybe £3000 was my total debt at the time, really need to check that tomorrow.

Anyway, considering I seem to have £500 per month to offer the creditors now......considering the worst scenario lets say that my debt now is £40000 (interest/fees etc).

£40000 divided by £500 per month = 80 months which is just under 7 years.

Does not look THAT bad at this moment, does it?

Hopefully it is not £40000 so hopefully would be even less then 7 years.

Can not wait now till CCCS opens in the morning to give them a call to find out the details they may have and start digging into where do I owe money/how much etc.

Meercat - if you are reading this... With your DIY arrangement, did you send any SOA or proof of bills/payslips etc?

If this is so I will have to work on this but I am planning just to write to them and offer what I can offer without going into details....

One small problem - with my Co-op basic account (opened about 2 years ago) I do nto have a cheque book, buying and sending postal orders would be a nightmare... Any thoughts on that?

I plan to:

1) Find out who my creditors at the monet are (as the debts were sold)
2) Find out what do I owe and to whom
3) Write to every one of them myself not going into details but offering a set amount of money that i CAN realistically afford each month and include a cheque with the letter asking them for a confirmation of freezing the interest and my offer of payment being accepted and .. hope for the best. As long as I pay something they can not really harass me much - can they?

Or am I completely wrong and overoptimistic? If so, someone enlighten me please?

Thanks a lot