catalogue debt ,can i pay less a month

michellet11

hi, i have a catalogue which i am meant to pay £50 a month ,i can only afford £5 a month off it at the moment,,if i pay just £5 will they keep addinfg on lots of interest every month plus the fine they put on for a missed payment..thanks

DarkConvict

You can only pay what you can afford, but if you cant make the minimum payments by such a large amount i would feel you are struggling with debt related problems.

To answer the question, yes, if you go below your contractual amount they can add on late payment markers to your file, and if you do it to much (about 3 months) a default as well. The interest is part of the terms you agreed to, catelogs are very expensive compared to credit cards.
And yes you can ask them to drop the charges and interest, but they are unlikely to do it.

Example below. £5 a month on a very.co.uk (44.9%), balance at £480.

DarkConvict wrote: »

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

For some perspective, see the snowballing below (£5 a month paid)

If you can, post up an SOA (MSE format) maybe we can see where there are problems. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Further more National Debtline and CCCS, give free professional advice in confidence.

michellet11

hi, thanks,,i can only afford £5 amonth so if i pay that and they keep adding charges on each month then i will be paying forever,,it looks like the only thing i could do would be to stop payment altogether so that it goes to a debt collection agency,at least then there will no more charges,,,,,but i don,t want to do that either.

DarkConvict

Having it go to a debt collector can be preferred for many people that exact reason, unless the terms of your agreement state the interest is transferable, they can only collect the balance, not apply further charges.

All you can do is lower your payment, write out a letter and include an income/going sheet to prove that £5 is the most you can afford.

If you have lots of other debt issues, i do advise ringing the above charities as they can help you, they can even run a DMP for free and talk to your creditors on your behalf.

michellet11

thanks ,,have just pressed ty button for you..excellent

DarkConvict

Thanks, have you decided if you are going to post up an SOA, the best way is to try and lower your outgoings so you can actually pay the debts off.
if your not confident about the forums, i would recommend you do gives the charities a call, until you solidly try and tackle the issues facing you, you won't have had the light bulb moment we talk about.

If you have some time, try using the snowballing calculator.
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx
Put all the debts in, minimum payment required to each, and then the amount you have available every month and it will work out how long it takes to pay them off.

heatherks

id give them a call and explain your situation ...as well as the interest they will also add charges if you dont pay correct min payment (think it was about £12 for not making correct payment)

if you default on your catalogue payments it i can sometimes take months even up to a year before they pass it on to a debt collecting agency .. they just keep adding the charges in the meantime ...id seek advice from CAB or CCCS if making the correct payments is going to become a problem