Help- i'm in over my head

DizzyLady_3

Hello,

I'm in the doo doo

I have an RBS loan, that started going a bit wrong a couple of years ago when i tried to change the repayment date as i changed jobs. Basically the short version is, they failed to change the date and as a result i incurred charges and when i was paying money into the account they were using that to pay the charges and thus my loan payments were falling short. Finally got that reolved last year but as a direct result my payments on paper at least were a bit scatty. But they were up to date and i started paying a bit more every month to show willing. I asked them earlier this year if i could drop the payments back to the original £150 per month and they initially said yes, so i did, then they said they were refering my account to Triton Credit, and then i started paying them £150 a month. I recieved a letter at the end of July accepting the £150 payments. Then i gets a call from Apex credit early August saying my account was now with them. I contacted them and said i had an arrangement with Triton. Apex said they would refer to RBS and take it from there. Then i gets a letter from Triton (RBS) saying my account was with Apex. By this point a payment was due, so upon advice (telephone) from Triton i paid that to Apex. I am due to make another payment next Thursday. I recieved a letter last night from Apex saying that this was my final chance to bring the account up to date before they take legal action. I have just rung them and they said that they need a detailed financial statement. What is that and what do i have to disclose? I'm not very comfortable giving out sensitive info to just anyone. I understand they need to know thay are getting as much as they can out of you, but as the amount i owe is £4508, if i had it they could have it will pleasure!

Thanks if you got this far (without falling asleep!) and any info or suggestions would be most welcome. They (Apex) are due to ring me at 5.30 to do this statement thing.

Thanks
DL xx

mozzyc

Hi

I'm bumping you up seeming as though you are on a deadline for this evening.
Somebody will have more info on this, but basically its a list of your income and expenditure, something that i had to give to payplan for them to decide how much i could afford to pay my creditors. Then this was sent off to all the creditors to show them how/why they receive the amount they do.
But I wouldn't want to do it over the phone. Tell them you will communicate in writing, so you have a record of your dealings with them.

But i'm sure someone else can give the specifics of giving this straight to a creditor. I'm not sure if its a good thing or not.

Good luck

Tixy

Hi Dizylady
I would not give your income & expenditure details over the phone and I would not discuss the account in detail over the phone with these people. Have they given you written proof that they now own the debt? (A notice of assignment?)
If they get difficult on the phone tell them you will write to them with the information they need.

What I would suggest is that you write to them with your offer of £150 per month. Enclose an income& expenditure account showing all income and all expenses excluding unsecured debt repayments. Then at the bottom this will give a figure available for debt repayments. You then need to show that £150 is a fair share of this based on your total unsecured debt.

(So as an illustration - if you owe £12,000 total unsecured debt, and you have a total of £400 left to make repayments each month then at a balance of £4508, they would get a pro-rata payment of £150)

The creditor needs to see something along these lines so that they know they are being treated the same as any other creditors you have.

DizzyLady_3

Hi Tixy,

Thanks for that- although you lost me on the the working out bit!

I have no big unsecure debts other than that, i have no credit cards or store cards. I have 2 catalogues that i owe £13.00 and £64.00 on, and i have an overdraft, a bit large a 1k but it is all managed well.

I do have a mortgage and that is my only bill aside from childcare each moth as my partner pays that side of things. Once those 2 are taken from my salary i usually have arround £300 left, £150 goes toward this loan payment and the other £150 i use for food shopping and petrol to get me to work.

I am scared to tell them i have a mortgage as i have heard stories of collectors securing debts on houses and stuff, and as i said it scares the living breath out of me. I dont know how true this is though....

I have recieved 2 letters from them, one to say they have the account and the other to threaten me with legal action if this financial statement isn't completed, as without that they cant accept a payment plan as "i may be sitting on disposable income".

I'm so worried....

mrcow

This is fine - don't worry.

When they call you tonight, tell them calmly that you are not going to be disclosing any information on your financial affairs to anyone at all on the telephone.

If they want to deal with you, then they do it in writing.

If they refuse, then tell them that any further phone calls will be treated as harrassment and will be reported to the police as such.


You need a full statement on this loan before you pay any more money. You need a full and binding copy of the original credit agreement - and they are obliged to send this to you.

It sounds like you may have incurred late charges on this loan agreement?

If so, you need to find out what you have been charged over the term and exactly how much interest has been charged and is currently being charged.


What was the original amount on the loan and at what rate and over what term?

Do you have PPI on the loan? If so, why? How was it sold to you?

Lastly, don't pay them anything by debit card or otherwise over the phone. If you are going to send them any money at all, then do so by cheque. How much are they currently saying is outstanding? Do they have any records of the payments you have made recently to them?

Tixy

Whilst its a possibility to secure a debt on your house that is a long way off now and there are lots of steps between that and where you are now.

You do need to complete a financial statement. Some households do this jointly, others individually. Is your mortgage joint or just yours? Do you pay for half of the mortgage or you pay all of that while he pays all utilities etc.

It certainly doesn't sound like you are sitting on disposable income! (I assume you don't have thousands saved up in a bank account?!)

Did they send a form to complete? If not you could use this template - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html. Although by the sounds of it you don't pay for a lot of these costs.

If you give them what they ask for they are likely to accept your repayment plan, try not to worry.

mozzyc

Hi Dizzy

I know this may all seem overwhelming, but if you listen to the advice given to you, all will be ok.
Speaking from experience, the threatening letters are just the norm. We all get them. And at first its scary, but just follow the correct procedure and keep in contact with them by writing. It'll be ok.
But most of all, explain to them that you will be in written contact with them and won't be discussing anything over the phone.
If you need advice on your income and expenditure, why not try asking a CCCS counsellor for some advice on what to put on it.
This is found at the top of the debt free wannabe forum.

DizzyLady_3

Thank you both!

I dont have thousands saved up- if i did i would have gotten rid of this loan years ago when RBS first started making a hash of things and charged me for their mistakes.

Our mortgage is joint, but i pay all that and he pays all the utilities and the nice stuff (sky, broadband etc) and also some of the childcare.

Do i have to tell them that it is a mortgage, can't i tell a white lie and says its rented?! I'm just terrified that they will latch onto that and i can't bear the thought of that- its our family home.

When i speak to them later i'll tell them i'll download a income and expenditure form and write to them with that.

And they are texting me as well as calling up to 3 or 4 times a day- is that really allowed? I'm starting to leave my phone switched off so i get some peace!

Denis_UK

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Scroll through the above link highlight any paragraph where you think they are in default, let them know.They know the rules they hope you don't

BeautyandtheBeast_3

Hi how did it go? xx

Tixy

Hi you can send a letter saying all future communication should be in writing which should stop the calls & the texts - here is a template - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11571485&postcount=4

Did you speak to them earlier?
Personally I wouldn't lie about the mortgage, they really won't go after your home for a debt of this size.

First they would have to not accept your reasonable repayment plan, then they would have to get a county court judgement against you, then you would have to not keep up with the payments as awarded by the judge (and you can influence the judgment) and only then could they try to get a charging order. These are not common. Most charging orders just sit against the house like a second mortgage and if and when you choose to sell the house, any equity left after the mortgage is paid would go first to pay off your debt with them. It is exceptionally rare for a judge to grant a forced sale charging order and the fact that it is a family home and a jointly owned home and mortgage (and the debt is presumably just yours) would mean that you would be able to file a decent defence against it - but seriously all this is a long way from happening or ever being likely to. All you need is to get them to agree a repayment plan.