National Debt Helpline - what lovely people :-)

Desperate4help

OK, following my less than helpful call to CCCS I took a deep breath and called the National Debt Helpline this afternoon. They were much more friendly and empathetic and talked me through ALL options including BR. Obviously they can't tell me what to do but they did confirm that BR is an option due to my asssets being so much less than my debts. They're going to pop all the info in the post to me so I'll have a good look through. IVA is technically still an option, but from reading stuff here - and on other sites - it's almost as bad legacy-wise as being BR, but an IPA would be a bit more forgiving, and last for a shorter time.

I have some questions though (of course!) -

- I had a call from the mortgage co yesterday :-( It took me by surprise as I didn't think they had my new home no. but I'm sure my 'lovely' ex gave it to them. I was so shocked when I answered that I told them they'd got the wrong number! lol! I'm sure they'll keep trying though but at least it bought me some time. The question is: what do I tell them?? I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the BR thing, ex has defaulted 'our' mortgage three times now so they're obviously getting twitchy. How honest should I be with them? Or should I try and avoid talking to them?

- How soon should I do the BR thing if I decide it's what I want to do? Does it look bad to the OR if I don't kick it all off pretty soon after I found out how bad my situation is? Tbh, just missing one months worth of debt repayments will give me the BR fees, so technically I could do it in a month's time. But part of me would like to try and save a bit more money too so that I've got a bit of contingency money if I need it in the future. Would it look bad if I waited until after Christmas? Obviously the longer I leave it the more my creditors will start to chase me so what do I tell them?

Thanks guys, as ever!

d4h

p.s. to the CCCS guys on here - sorry, I'm not meaning to be horrible about your service. I think I just had bad luck with the person I spoke to!

confused76

hello there! i spoke to NDH at the weekend and they were brilliant, very helpful, just gave me all the facts without making me feel small (the CCCS woman i spoke to was a bit harsh about £20 a month i put on prescriptions/medicine ha ha)
i don't really know the answer regarding your mortgage. i do know that i've taken the decision to go br and i am putting it into action asap. i just don't want months of upsetting letters and phone calls. that's your call though, i'm sure others will have a better idea.
well, good luck! x

Desperate4help wrote: »

OK, following my less than helpful call to CCCS I took a deep breath and called the National Debt Helpline this afternoon. They were much more friendly and empathetic and talked me through ALL options including BR. Obviously they can't tell me what to do but they did confirm that BR is an option due to my asssets being so much less than my debts. They're going to pop all the info in the post to me so I'll have a good look through. IVA is technically still an option, but from reading stuff here - and on other sites - it's almost as bad legacy-wise as being BR, but an IPA would be a bit more forgiving, and last for a shorter time.

I have some questions though (of course!) -

- I had a call from the mortgage co yesterday :-( It took me by surprise as I didn't think they had my new home no. but I'm sure my 'lovely' ex gave it to them. I was so shocked when I answered that I told them they'd got the wrong number! lol! I'm sure they'll keep trying though but at least it bought me some time. The question is: what do I tell them?? I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the BR thing, ex has defaulted 'our' mortgage three times now so they're obviously getting twitchy. How honest should I be with them? Or should I try and avoid talking to them?

- How soon should I do the BR thing if I decide it's what I want to do? Does it look bad to the OR if I don't kick it all off pretty soon after I found out how bad my situation is? Tbh, just missing one months worth of debt repayments will give me the BR fees, so technically I could do it in a month's time. But part of me would like to try and save a bit more money too so that I've got a bit of contingency money if I need it in the future. Would it look bad if I waited until after Christmas? Obviously the longer I leave it the more my creditors will start to chase me so what do I tell them?

Thanks guys, as ever!

d4h

p.s. to the CCCS guys on here - sorry, I'm not meaning to be horrible about your service. I think I just had bad luck with the person I spoke to!

ToriD29

I made decision to go br less than five weeks ago and it is mostly all sorted already, just waiting for confirmation of ipa amount etc so it has all gone through very quickly for me. In terms of getting some money together for contingencies, have been told it will prob take till about feb to sort ipa out and that my wages are until then mine to what I want with. So I am going to live within budget on Soa and have opened a second cashminder to put my surplus into not to be touched unless absolutelyneeded.

joobie538

I would have to agree about the National Debt Helpline, they were amazing! I think at one point i was calling them 3 times a day, just to check things. And I too had a poor experience with the cccs, they refused to help me because I was yet to recieve my letter confirming my JSA amount, even though I knew how much it was.

I decided I wanted it over and done with asap so booked my date as soon as I had the money. If you decide to wait i'd be incline not to tell your creditors you are going bankrupt. But that is just my opinion coz i'd be scared they would hound me more...... pretty sure someone else will be along soon with some better advise

fatbelly

I hope we're all talking about National Debtline