need all the advice I can get!

Reaper

There is one more option which might help you. Normally 0% credit cards are no use to people in debt because their credit rating is shot to pieces by their debt and they can't get them. However in your case it might help as you have so far not missed any payments.

If you were to take out, say, a LloydsTSB Advance card, you can then ask them to Balance Transfer your debt across from one of your existing cards. The Barclaycard one is the most expensive so that would be the logical one. Then you can cancel the Barclaycard.

The good thing about the Advance card is that it is 0% interest for a year. However under no circumstances should you ever use this card for ordinary spending as it has a tricky catch. Just cut it up as soon as you get it to avoid temptation.

Doing this temporarily reduces the amount you are paying in interest and therefore gives you a chance to use that money to pay off some capital instead.

If it works you may be able to do this with more cards, then again you might not be able to get further cards due to your income and existing debt. Worth a try though.

Debt_Free_Chick

Reaper - this is probably not a suitable case for a CC "shuffle".

They can't meet the minimum repayments. They've been using CC cards to pay them (effectively). Their outgoings exceed their income, hence the DMP. The DMP gets the lenders to accept lower repayments pro-rata.

Even if they were accepted for a 0% card, they would then immediately need to negotiate a lower repayment, which would probably revoke the 0% offer. And ... the debt wouldn't be paid off before the 0% period expires.

No offence ... just to clarify for you and Getting There, who may now be confused

getting_there_6

No offence ... just to clarify for you and Getting There, who may now be confused

Thanks Debt_Free_Chick, wouldn`t have went down that road, the capital one card was taken out trying to do it that way, all it did was to free up the balance on the egg card and allow it to build up again, now we are left with the two of them at high levels, been through all this with my wife, trying to find out how it got to such a high amount, that was one of the things she mentioned.

Thanks anyway Reaper!

D

Reaper

Ah, fair enough. Just wanted to make sure all the options were considered.

Good luck with the debt.

Walletwatch

Best of luck to you, Getting_there, and good to hear that you have your family's support in cutting down on your liabilities.

Do let us know that things have worked out ok.

DFC,

This piece has been really enlightening (so much so that I am bookmarking this chain of posts) This is not a unique occurence, as some of my pals have spoken to me about such problems, but now I have more to offer them than words of support. Have been directing them to MSE of course, from the time I discovered it, but not all of them have taken the time to take a look at the site.

deedee_3

Another thought. Could you and your wife go and talk to the CAB and make sure she is recieving ALL the benefits she is entitled to being disabled. If you find you are entitled to more get them to help you fill out the forms as they know all the 'buzz' words that you need to use to get the benefit.

Good luck.

ffs

Like me, your other half fell in to the trap of protecting your credit rating by borrowing more. In fact you would have been better off had you defaulted ages ago. Protect your home by NOT borrowing against it. Protect your income by enlisting the help of the CCCS, believe them, not what any of your creditors tell you.

getting_there_6

Thanks for reply, we have spoke alot over the past few days, we have decided not to go with the mortgage advancement, and we have contacted cccs, we have an interview set up for the 11th, we will let you know how we go, this is very scary though!

deemy2004

First off ... your current debt is unsecured, so if you fail to meet the repayments, your house is not at risk. In fact, there's very little to be afraid of in not paying off unsecured debt. There's actually very little the lenders can do to you  :)

I don't think they would be happy if the bailiffs came knocking to price up contents for auction.

Or the accumulative penalties and charges incurred that are likely to result in bankruptcy.

Best thing to do is what you are doing, i.e. discuss with your creditors arrangements to make the repayments more manageable.

If your current credit rating is good, you could also look at the 0% balance transfer offers as a way of reducing your immediate repayment %'s which are probably very high. You could at least move half your debt to 0% cards, and repay the other half using a secured loan. This would save you some £1,200 in interest payments a year (i.e. as half your debt is on 0%, and half on 5.9%).

Your monthly payments would thus be
Loan £130 (18k instead of 25k)
Credit cards 2% = £360
Total monthly £490

In a year you would have paid off £4.3k of your credit card debt. Though I doubt much of your loan would have been paid off.

debt4evernot

Hi there we are in a similar position to you and your wife - we were using credit cards to live on as well as pay the bills. It all came to a head at the end of November and we contacted the CCCS - they have been brilliant - we have arranged a dmp with them.

Some of our creditors have not been too pleasant with us - even down to does my wife need to pay out for prescriptions! The CCCS told us that we were being bullied. Ours all comes into force on 1 Jan 2005. We have had a hard few weeks sorting it all out but whilst feeling guilty do feel better (if that makes sense?). It has made us really think though and we have been so careful in December. I have to say it is really strange not using a credit card though.

One bit of advice we would give you - when you open a new bank account do not give your new details to your creditors.

Good luck keep us posted and we'll do the same and here's to a new start in 2005

Just wanted to say to everyone on here although we haven't posted on here we have been avid readers and taking in all your help and support and tips.