Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

CCCS_Sue

stilton_cheesewright wrote: »

I have some premium bonds in my name which were bought on behalf of the family. Would creditors (credit cards & overdrafts) have any claim to these be they through debt collection or the courts?

many thanks

Hi stilton cheesewright and thank you for your message

Not normally, but there are some exceptions such as, for example, if you were to go bankrupt or enter into an IVA.
You would need to declare any savings in your name.

Kind Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

hawkmiles13 wrote: »

Hi everyone.

I have been through the CCCS website and taken the advice given of offering my creditors a token payment of £1.00 a month. I tried to basically offer above this and try and offer a half payment of the minimum payments.

I have today received 3 replies from 8 creditors in total. 2 of them point blank refuse and threaten court action and charges. 1 agreed which is good news. I am still waiting replies from 5 others.

What action can I take should they refuse payment? I even posted them a copy of the CCCS report telling me to pay £1.00 a month but to no avail.

Any advice much appreciated.

Regards

Phil

Hi Phil and thank you for your message

Unfortunately, the creditors do not have to agree to accept your offer or stop interest and charges.

You should still send your £1 token payment. You cannot give them money you do not have.

They may decide to go for a CCJ, but if they do go to court, the judge will look at your income and expenditure and if he agrees you can only afford £1, then the CCJ may be set at this amount anyway.

Do not be pressured into paying more than you can realistically afford, as you could end up falling behind on your priority payments.

Kind Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

Betelguese wrote: »

MSE_Wendy wrote: »

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has several counsellors answering questions in our forum. There are three ways to contact them:

1 - To ask them a question please post it below and someone will post a reply here.


I had an IVA for 1 year in 2007 (lumpsum payment 60% of debts)
IVA completed in April 2008.
Nothing in IVA about claiming any windfalls after completion.

Have been reclaiming unfair charges & PPI on loans and credit cards through a claim company. All successful claims have been paid directly to me on unfair charges, however recent successfull PPI claims has resulted in card companies paying the claim amounts to my old credit cards. All my credit cards were returned or destroyed as a requirement of my IVA so therefore I no longer own those cards and would have no way of possessing them again as they defaulted during my IVA preparation.
The card companies advise the claims are being returned to the card that the PPI claim was made on. As I no longer have those cards in my possession and in view of my IVA details above, do the card companies have a legal right to effectively pay such monies to themselves?

Hi Betelguese and thank you for your message.

I think you need to get legal advice regarding this.

Technically the debts have been written off by the IVA if you have received your completion certificate.
If you receive a repayment/refund from a creditor like this while the IVA is still in place then it goes to pay off the debt first but because you say you have completed your IVA I am unsure as to how you stand legally.
I have attached a link to community legal advice. They give free help and legal advice.

http://www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/

Kind regards

Sue

CCCS_Sue

LorenaW wrote: »

I have recently spoken to CCCF and was advised my best option would be the Debt Relief Programme where if my situation stays the same for 12 months my debt will be written off, I am currently staying with a friend in Spain doing the odd bit of work (usually 1/2 shifts per week) and CCCF have said i need to send a credit report which i have ordered proof of debts which i have also got but i also need payslips which i can get no problem but due to the nature of the business i work in ( pretty much a summer job barmaid/waitress ) the pay slips i recieve are printed but filled in by hand , is this going to be a problem to send off?

Many thanks

Hi LorenaW and thank you for your message

Could you please send an email to [EMAIL="contactus@cccs.co.uk"]contactus@cccs.co.uk[/EMAIL]
with your client reference number. We can then look into this further for you.

Kind Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

beargirl wrote: »

Hello,
I currently have a DMP set up with you but most of my creditors are still charging interest on the outstanding balances, I feel as if I am never going to get them paid off as the monthly interest is around the same as my monthly payments. Are there any other options I could look at and is it legal for them to still charge interest when the DMP is in place?
Thanks

Hi beargirl and thank you for your message.

Unfortunately,in most cases, there is nothing you can do to stop interest and charges being added, even if you are on a DMP.
However, if you make reduced payments over a long period of time, usually several months, most creditors will eventually stop charging interest and adding late payment charges.
Usually, a creditor will stop interest and charges either after they issue a default notice or they pass it onto a debt collection agency, although this does not always happen.

Kind Regards
Sue

Ethereal_Gaz

CCCS_Sue wrote: »

Hi Etheralgaz and thank you for your message.

If you have received a county court judgment (CCJ) asking for the full payment to be made immediately or asking for a monthly instalment you cannot afford, you can request a more affordable monthly instalment is set. You should do this before any further enforcement action has been started.
You can collect form N245 from your local court or download one from
HM Court Service. This form allows you to offer an instalment based on your ability to pay. There is a court fee payable to do this.
In order to give you further advice on this,or any help with completing the N245 form and offering a realistic payment, please call us on 0800 138 1111.

Regards
Sue

Thanks for you help Sue,
It hasn't got to the CCJ stage yet so I intend to defend this. I don't see why I should accept a CCJ when I was already in a payment plan with MBNA. I see them stopping taking the monthly payments that I authorised then passing this on to Optima to take me to court as a very underhand trick.

Does anyone have any advice on how to defend this??

annasara

I've worked hard to pay off debts in the last few years; I've paid off a loan and two credit cards which were all in arrears, I'll also have my overdraft cleared soon.

I've recently remembered a couple of things I chose to ignore years ago though; a debt to a mobile provider for the best part of a grand and then a couple of debts to power suppliers and a few months of council tax. Having moved around a lot I have no idea whether I am still being chased for these and I don't know how to go about finding out.

I also had a second bank account which I only used occasionally but it was a few pence overdrawn last time I checked it; that would have lead to charges. I moved shortly after that and never updated my address. This is more than 3 years ago. I'd like to contact the bank concerned and get the debt paid off but I'm terrified that they'll have been charging me every month since then and I'll owe thousands.

I'm also worried as I don't seem to be able to get credit but none of these things are showing up when I check the 2 free credit checkers. Is it possible I could have been issued a CCJ to a previous address without knowing it?

I'm quite stressed about it because I'm like a different person now from the silly wee girl who ran up loads of debt I am earning a good salary and I'm at the stage where I'd love to get on the property ladder, but if I don't know what's preventing me getting a storecard then how can I sort my credit out for a mortgage?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide

wendallg

hi
i ve just sent my letters off to my creditors explaining my situation. when they contact me i am ok to quote my cccs number and refer them back to you?
also i know its hard to say but im really worried about ccjs and a charging order on my property.
how often to companies go down this route.
happy know ive taken the first step just worried about consequences!!!!!!!!!

hayleyjacobno2

Hi there,
I have had an appointment with a debt case worker at CAB to sort out my catologue/credit card/over draft debts of £4000. because of my situation, they have put me through for a debt relief order.

As i am currently paying minimum payments on all of the creditors but the catologues,he has advised me to stop paying all creditors. the only things i am to pay while the debt relief order is being processed is gas,electric,water,rent and tv licence.
He ordered me to go straight to my bank and cancel any direct debit to companys as he said that they will get funny at the fact that i am paying some and not others.

Is this right advice???
I have been told to answer the phone to creditors and say that i am in the process of some help from CAB and have been advised not to pay you... but they are not taking it very well!

Also as he said that I am only to pay gas,electric,water,rent and tv licence.. i have virgin media and an orange contract.. am i not to pay them too? i need some sort of way of contacting family.

gettingready

I have about 28k worth of debts between 7 different creditors - those were being paid at £570 per month through a DMP with CCCS.

From today I am out of work and will be getting a bit of money which I would like to use to possibly make an offer to the creditors for a reduced final settlement of the debts, to have them all completely written off/cleared for a reduced amount of one off payment.

As I have no idea how long will I be out of work (nobody can ever plan for that) and I am not able to make the £570 per month repayments, is this something that you feel may be accepted by my creditors?

From your experience, what percentage of the original debt would be the lowest that they are likely to accept?

I have seen figures between 20% and 60%. I think I could probably make the 20-25% offer - is it likely to be accepted or not?

Not sure if this matters but the debts are (rough figures) with:

Abbey National Plc 7010
MbNA Europe bank Limited 6400
Credit Security Ltd 6050
Robinson Way Ltd 3050
The Littlewoods Org 3500
Abbey National plc 1500
Santander Cards 300

Thanks a lot for any input anyone can possibly offer.