Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

pollijc2268

Hi Pavan,

My son has come to some arrangements with the water company where he has to pay back £20 a month and british gas where he has to pay back £30 a month, he said that is the minimum they would accept, after rent that only leaves him with £150 - £200 a month to pay for everything else. There is no way he can manage to do this, is there any way he can get these companies to accept a lower payment?

His girlfriend was recieving job seekers but I believe it was stopped as she had to leave the country for a month as her Dad was involved in an accident abroad where he is on life support with serious head injuries. She is back now but I don't know if her benefits will be re-instated.

I have passed on the phone number you gave me but his house phone has already been disconnected and his mobile only recieves incoming calls.

guinness34

Hi hope you can help me, i and my partner have a dmp with cccs and now i"m in need of some advice please. My partner has been taken very ill and i have had to take time off work to care for him. On the 8th Sept was the last day i worked, they are been very good. On the 16th of Sept he was taken to hospital, we were told he had very high blood pressure, water retention and heart failure, he came out on 30 Sept but has needed 24 hour care so i am still off work (this is all unpaid) They have paid me holiday pay up to March 2011. I only have child benefit, working tax credit and child tax credit. I have applied for dla cares and mobility also care allowance i am 400 pound a month down with no wages please help what do i do now please and thank you.

JnH_2

CCCS_Sue wrote: »

Hi jnH and thanks for your message

A default notice is a standard procedure in the debt collection process.
The creditor may send a default notice[/URL] if you miss a number of payments (usually between three and six) and if the debt is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act. The only way you can prevent a default notice is if you pay back the arrears amount stated within fourteen days, then no further action will be taken.
However, if future payments are missed a default notice can be issued again.
Once issued, the default will show on your credit file for six years from the date of issue.

Regards
Sue

Thanks for the reply,

I am paying back small amounts to my creditors and have not missed any payments to them, however, on my credit report it still says that I have been defaulting in my payments. Is this possible or is there a mistake by them?

CCCS_Sue

rekab71 wrote: »

Hi there

This my first time using this forum so bear with me.

I took out a loan with Llloyds Bank back in June 2003 for £10,000. I was asked if I wanted PPI on the loan, at the time I thought it was a good idea as I have a cronic back condition.

I was making all payments on time. After a couple years I was made redundant, I informed the bank and the PPI was put into place. After 12 months the payments stopped and the loan was referred to their recoveries dept. I was under the impression PPI covered me for the duration of the loan. Not so.

Having taken advice from my local CAB, I set up a payment plan with a collection agency. Things were okay until I discovered they were taking out more than we had agreed. I stupidly canceled the direct debit. Things got worse from then on, I put my head in the sand and tried to forget about it until they started court proceeding against me. I have set up another payment plan with them to stop this.

I have also written to the bank asking for all information with regards to the loan I took out with them. I recieved a letter back form them, this is where i'm confused.

The loan was for £10,000, but the statment shows it was for £7,800 and £2,200 loan for PPI plus another £2,150 for some reason.

It also shows after each payment was paid I was charged interest on that payment of at least £100.

Sorry to go on so much.

Can anyone shed some light on what I should do.

Thanks in advance

Hi rekab71 and welcome to the forum!

Have you requested a copy of the original agreement you signed when you took out the loan? This would show what you signed and agreed to.

It should also show the interest rate.

I have attached a letter you can use for a CCA request
You need to also include a £1 for the fee. This will also prevent them from enforcing the debt until they comply.

Without Prejudice

Dear Sirs

Ref …………………………………….

With reference to the above account:

Please will you send me a true copy of the original signed agreement together with an up to date statement of the account showing all transactions, including interest and charges, and a copy of any other document referred to in the agreement.

I understand I am entitled to this information under ss77-79 of The Consumer Credit Act (CCA) 1974.

I also understand that this information should be sent to me within 12 working days of you receiving this letter. The CCA states that creditors are unable to enforce an agreement until this request is complied with.

I am enclosing the £1:00 fee, payable under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, for each account.


Yours faithfully

Hope this helps

Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

pollijc2268 wrote: »

Hi Pavan,

My son has come to some arrangements with the water company where he has to pay back £20 a month and british gas where he has to pay back £30 a month, he said that is the minimum they would accept, after rent that only leaves him with £150 - £200 a month to pay for everything else. There is no way he can manage to do this, is there any way he can get these companies to accept a lower payment?

His girlfriend was recieving job seekers but I believe it was stopped as she had to leave the country for a month as her Dad was involved in an accident abroad where he is on life support with serious head injuries. She is back now but I don't know if her benefits will be re-instated.

I have passed on the phone number you gave me but his house phone has already been disconnected and his mobile only recieves incoming calls.

Hi pollijc 2268 and thank you for your message

He needs to contact his suppliers and explain his situation. This should be backed up with a copy of his income and expenditure. He needs to make an offer of what he can afford.
All fuel suppliers (electricity and gas) follow a code of practice that means they won't cut off his supply if he agrees a payment plan with them and sticks to it. With regard to his water company, they should not cut off his supply but may issue a CCJ. (county court judgement) if no mutual agreement can be made.

They should take into account his ability to pay.

He could complain to Consumer Direct if they don’t.

A payment plan could include paying by weekly or monthly instalments or using a pre payment meter.

If he would like further help and assistance, he can use our online facility, Debt Remedy.

Debt Remedy would assist him in completing a financial statement and he would be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with his situation. This link will take you directly to Debt Remedy www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu

Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

guinness34 wrote: »

Hi hope you can help me, i and my partner have a dmp with cccs and now i"m in need of some advice please. My partner has been taken very ill and i have had to take time off work to care for him. On the 8th Sept was the last day i worked, they are been very good. On the 16th of Sept he was taken to hospital, we were told he had very high blood pressure, water retention and heart failure, he came out on 30 Sept but has needed 24 hour care so i am still off work (this is all unpaid) They have paid me holiday pay up to March 2011. I only have child benefit, working tax credit and child tax credit. I have applied for dla cares and mobility also care allowance i am 400 pound a month down with no wages please help what do i do now please and thank you.

Hi guinness 34 and thank you for your message

Sorry to hear of your husband’s illness and your current situation.

I would recommend that you call our client support team and explain your situation to them. They will review your income and expenditure and discuss your options until your circumstances change again. It is better to deal with this as soon as possible so that you can take control again.

Kind regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

JnH wrote: »

Thanks for the reply,

I am paying back small amounts to my creditors and have not missed any payments to them, however, on my credit report it still says that I have been defaulting in my payments. Is this possible or is there a mistake by them?

Hi jnH

A default notice is a record placed on your file by creditors stating that you have been in default in some way. So, even though you are making reduced payments each month, you will still be behind with your contractual payments.
Under the terms of your credit agreement you will probably have agreed that the lender has the right to inform the credit agencies of any default.
Regards
Sue

guinness34

CCCS_Sue wrote: »

Hi guinness 34 and thank you for your message

Sorry to hear of your husband’s illness and your current situation.

I would recommend that you call our client support team and explain your situation to them. They will review your income and expenditure and discuss your options until your circumstances change again. It is better to deal with this as soon as possible so that you can take control again.

Kind regards
Sue

thank you sue for your quick responce i will give them a ring thank you once again

Tabitha_T

Hi

We have received a card today from NCO which was redirected from our old house. The card is addressed to our limited company (which is in the process of Strike-Off) and relates to an old company debt with Orange for approx £200. We have been writing to Orange since the demise of our company last May and have kept them informed of the situation regarding the limited company. In total, they have received five letters from us, all of which have been ignored. We found what appeared to be a Head Office for Orange in Paddington and sent them our copy of the DS01 Companies House form back on 5 October 2010. There has been no acknowledgement from Orange of any kind.

Not sure what to do about this, our limited company is due to be struck off on 11 January 2011. As a limited company we are not personally liable for the debt but not sure dca's seem to think the same, anybody have any experience of this sort of thing?

We have a postal redirection on our old property, hence we have received this NCO card. It says that P Brown will be round on Tuesday (today) between 8am and 8pm. Obviously we won't be there but what do these people do in this event, anybody know? Just what powers of tracking do they have and what lengths will they go to?

Any help appreciated, a worrying situation for us..

madmich666

Hi all,

It started when I got made redundant and hubby's hours at work were cut we couldn't afford to pay all the maintenance charge for our leasehold flat. The management company then doubled the already extortionate maintenance to over £2,000 for the year so of course we could not pay.

Then they started charging interest. In the Lease this states it is 1% but it is not clear as to whether that is daily, weekly, monthly or yearly and I am currently in contact with the freeholder about this.

So the management company are now charging interest worked out at 1% per week based on there being 4.33 weeks per month, personally I thought it had to be worked out at x added per week not rounded like that to work out per month. I am querying the interest amount any way because payments to be off set (due to me cleaning the building and not being paid but it coming off my balance) were not taken off.

Now please correct me if I am wrong but when I worked at a solicitors and dealt with interest on debts owed to the firm and for court documents (its been a long time hence I'm asking for clarification) we worked out the interest set at x per day/week etc and not charging interest on interest. Now the management company have set up an excel spreadsheet working out the interest each month but this is based on the figure for the month before with the interest added and therefore interest is being charged on interest. Someone else who I have spoken to about this said that interest cannot be charged on interest, is this correct?

Can any of you clever people give me any info on how the interest should be worked out per week at 1% (my brain has turned to mush since the birth of my baby and all the sums I use never seem to be correct) and if interest can be charged on interest. Any legislation about this that I can use when writing to them and any suggestions on wording would be very useful

Also I would like to add that I have contacted them about stopping the interest via letters as I have with all my other debts in order to pay off the amount owed but they have refused point blank about this and not sure where to turn next but I have a feeling that the interest is incorrect and want to deal with this before being able to consider the best way to deal with the debt.

Any advice on what I can do next?

Thanks very much in advance. I look forward to some advice and suggestions.

Mich