Provident loans & credit cards worried / vodafone bill

worrieddan_2

Hi, just signed up and need some advice/help/support

Basically I lost my job and had to claim jobseekers allowance £50 per week.

I owe the following

HSBC Credit Card
£1000
Cap One Credit Card
£857
Vanquis
£250
Littlewoods
£1400
Provident Loans
£400

I have contacted HSBC and they will lower my payment to £11 per month for 6 months so thats good.My real worry is with Provident my weekly payment is £10.50 and after all my other card bills/phone bill etc I just can not afford to pay it.I left my agent a letter saying I can pay £2 per week back until I get a job.He then sent me a text saying I have to send a letter from the C.A.B to their head office in Bradford.does anyone know what will happen then? I am worried sick.my entire benefit is already going on debt.luckily I live with understanding parents after losing my job etc....

Also I have a very high Vodafone bill of £127 which I just can not pay.impossible do you think if I call them they can help out of will it be court action?

I have had sleepless nights about my debt.

thank you

lolababy

Hi as long as your prepared to pay something then they can do little about it. Also you can ask for the interest to be put on hold. As. for the agent telling you you have to have a letter from the cab is a load of rubbish. Put it in writing to the provident yourself offering a payment of the two pounds a week.
All the people you owe money to write explaining your circumstances and offer a small payment even if its a pound a month.
They wont go through a court for such small amounts. Even with the higher bills as long as you pay something and make them aware of your circumstances there is little they can do.
Have you looked into the loans you have to see if you have insurance that covers loss of job ie redundancy.

worrieddan_2

thanks for your reply

I have looked and the only one covered is Vanquis which offer to freeze your account for 3 months.

I will write to Provident head office tomorrow and see if they will accept £2 per week.

then it's on to the other bills.Hopefully Vodafone will allow me to upgrade my package to unlimited text as i keep goin over and getting silly high bills.i am hoping they will allow me to spread the cost of my £124 bill too

BigDave81

Sounds like you are doing the right thing with the cards and debts but not with the mobile. If you don't have the money to pay for it then don't keep using it so much, you only have yourself to blame on that one.

If you really want to change it then Vodafone can put a limit on usage and block outgoing charges after the limit is reached until the next billing month, this may help you.

I know it's harsh losing your job but are you the kind of person who will do any job until a decent one comes along or are you happy to sit around waiting to find the decent job??

Go and flip burgers in macdonalds, stack shelves in a super market or deliver newspapers, surely any money is better than none? Just a thought, don't mean to be patronising

worrieddan_2

Yes I am willing to do any job.
My last job was a Kitchen Porter not nice or easy but I done it even they had no more shifts available I am applying to everything possible hopefully something will come up.

My only worry is when you do get a job you lose benefit from the day you sign off and most you do not get paid until the end of the month so how would I pay debts etc in that time ? I have already had my 'job grant' for the year so that's not possible.

thanks

Cumbrian_Male

Hi Dan,

I work for Provident. If you have lost your job phone the local office about your payments. If you phone head office they will only log the call and fax it to the office anyway so cut out the middleman.

The reason the agent has told you to get the CAB to write to head office is to get your account taken off his book. All CAB accounts are handled by central debt recovery. I find this incredibly short sighted by your agent, you may only be unemployed a short time and then able to repay fully later.

You know your areas of experience, is your type of employment easy to find but seasonal or volatile?

adea

Hi Dan.
I would second what Cumbrian Male has said, he is the man in the know for this type of thing .
As he says, speak to your local office and i'm sure a manager will be more than happy to talk to you aobut a temporary payment plan.
They would rather get some money than no money at all.
Also, you could speak to them about your agent, if you are unhappy with him or have any problems.

Good luck with eveything and please keep us updated as to how you get on.

spookeyone_2

Hi Dan

I,m going through similiar as you but you,ve done it a much better way by not hiding from it and actually doing something. Well done!
Also I used to work for Morse's which is similiar to provident and your agent sounds awful.... they just don,t want your bad credit on their account and cannot refuse to collect £1 a week from you. I would write a letter informing Provident that you are willing to continue paying your agent £1 a week and as soon as your circumstances improve then you will increase your payment. The head office will be fine, they prefer it. Its the agent that doesnt!
Good luck mate and don,t give up, you sound genuine and honest so i,m sure things will be brighter for you soon. :-)

worrieddan_2

Hi,

Thanks for the replies,made me feel alot better about it all

I have sent a letter off to my local Provident office saying I can afford £2 per week and would they be happy for me to pay the agent as normal?I let them know about my situation with having no job and I said I would continue with my £10.50 full payments once I find a new job!just hope they will be OK with it.

I have contacted Capitol One and they are sending out a form to fill in and return with what I have to pay out and what I could afford to pay them back etc.

Littlewoods were great no problem at all and said they will accept £10 per month payment until I find a new job

Vodafone said I could have a payment plan for my big bill but they would have to cut me off until it's paid good news is they changed my tariff to unlimited texts at £20 per month

Work it seems is hard to come by at the minute and there is not many job vacancies that I have experience in around at the moment but......I have an interview/assesment day on Thursday at the Hilton Hotel :j so hopefully that goes well and I can get these off my back.I hate not having any money!

housebuyer_abc

worrieddan wrote: »

Also I have a very high Vodafone bill of £127 which I just can not pay.impossible do you think if I call them they can help out of will it be court action?

I'm concerned by this one... how do you run up a £127 bill? I'm never off my phone and it's never been above £80 (by never off I mean 9am - 8pm most days with 50% of the time on the phone)

ElkyElky

Get rid of Vodafone, immediately. Switch to Pay as you go.

The money you are spending on Vodafone can go towards your debt, which ofcourse is more important than phoning friends.