Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

drrat

Hi Sue,

I need to review my budget in regards a CCCS review as my costs have most definatley increased rather more quickly then my income!

However, I think I may also need to review the debt values you hold.

My main question is about interest.

One of the credit cards on my DMP had interest either suspended or extremely low, however this year it has been increased to a much higher number, would you expect this?

Another one of the debts has cleared off the CCCS list but I have a feeling there may still be a balance on the actual account, do CCCS ever prompt for us too check the debt is actually cleared? In this instance is was a current account with an old overdraft.

Also if I were to pick on these debts on the side i.e. pay CCCS but also pay additional cash to clear the smaller debts when money was available. What impact might this have on the DMP?

meatloaf43154

We recently got our house repossesed and it was resold to new owners by the mortgage company (britstol and west), however i have enquired with them to ask for a full breakdown of what the costs were involved, sale price etc and they say they havnt got that info and say we still owe them £14K

Have i a legal right to get this info. How do i know they are not fiddling us without hard figures to back up there claim.

Thanks.

lyndorset

Hi, I started on a CCCS DMP in May and have been making token payments to my creditors, including my old bank (Llloyds TSB) on saturday 11 Dec I received a letter from them dated 29th November telling me I had to pay £44.83 within 2 days of receipt of the letter. Obviously I am unable to do so and was working out a letter to that effect when on Monday 13th Dec I received another letter dated 7th Dec beginning "We wanted to let you know that we've made all of the payments that you arranged to come out of your account this morning." It went to say that it had forced me into unauthorised overdraft. Now back in May, I opened a new account, transfered all my dd's and so's to it. I have checked that an annual dd has gone out of the new account. I have cut up the debit card and definately would not be so stupid as to try and make a payment out of the old account when I am paying the overdraft off in such small amounts.

I wrote to them yesterday pointing out that I was in a DMP with CCCS and that I wrote to them in May advising off that, also that I am making regular payments of as much as I can afford. I further pointed out that I have definately not authorised/requested any payments from the account.

These letters were bad enough, and I hoped my response would sort it out, now today I have received 2 more letters from them: 1 dated 8th December telling me that I need to call them on a premium rate number to discuss reducing the overdraft as they are withdraing the overdraft facility. The other datred 9th December is titled "ENFORCEMENT NOTICE (served under section 76(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974)". This states that the unplanned overdrawn balanceis £131.81 (Total being £631.81 with a previous overdraft limit of £550.00. This letter tells me that I must pay £131.81 by 29th December plus interest that is accrued daily. None of the letters say that fees have been applied, in fact they seem to be stating that I have requested payments be made from the accounts, which I have not. I cannot afford to repay any more than I am already and certianly cannot pay the amounts they are requesting. I cannot afford to phone them. They state if I do not pay the £131.81 requested by 29th December they will get solicitors to take me to court. I am now back to feeling sick and do not not know what to do next? I cannot write to them after Thursday as cannot afford ink for printer and am having to print at work, but that will be a problem if I take advantage and ask to do too many letters. (we are not doing Christmas this year as so hard up). Please help asap, I do not understand what is going on.

tired_mum

Hi just a quick question we owe money to barclaycard and we have put OH on my acct at barclays for quickness but we were told by a cccs rep on the phone that they dont off set is this correct? we are starting a DMP with CCCS

StepChange_Pavan

drrat wrote: »

Hi Sue,

I need to review my budget in regards a CCCS review as my costs have most definatley increased rather more quickly then my income!

However, I think I may also need to review the debt values you hold.

My main question is about interest.

One of the credit cards on my DMP had interest either suspended or extremely low, however this year it has been increased to a much higher number, would you expect this?

Another one of the debts has cleared off the CCCS list but I have a feeling there may still be a balance on the actual account, do CCCS ever prompt for us too check the debt is actually cleared? In this instance is was a current account with an old overdraft.

Also if I were to pick on these debts on the side i.e. pay CCCS but also pay additional cash to clear the smaller debts when money was available. What impact might this have on the DMP?

Hi drrat and thanks for your post.

I’d recommend that you call our client support team for a full review of your situation so that we can discuss all of these points with you.

The credit card that has started to charge you more interest may be doing this because they haven’t had an update of your situation. Usually creditors agree to reducing or suspending interest and charges for a specific period of time and when this has elapsed they resort to charging you again. When you review your budget, this update will be sent to your creditors so hopefully they will reduce the charges again.

With regards to the old overdraft that you suspect may not be cleared, it is your responsibility to check this. If there is an amount outstanding and they haven’t received a payment for a while, they would probably be chasing you for a payment by now. I’d recommend that you contact them to be sure that it is cleared and then update us with the situation.

Finally, making extra payments to your creditors is against the terms and conditions of your DMP. We work out your payments on a pro rata basis which is fair to each of your creditors. If you were to start making payments to some over others, this could be seen as preferential treatment and could encourage other creditors to apply for a CCJ. If you find that you have extra money available, this could be because your budget needs reviewing. If the extra money is from ad hoc money, such as bonuses or overtime, you can give us a call and we can discuss the fairest way to distribute the money.

I hope I’ve answered all of your questions, it’s best that you call our review team so that we can discuss your circumstances in more detail.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

meatloaf43154 wrote: »

We recently got our house repossesed and it was resold to new owners by the mortgage company (britstol and west), however i have enquired with them to ask for a full breakdown of what the costs were involved, sale price etc and they say they havnt got that info and say we still owe them £14K

Have i a legal right to get this info. How do i know they are not fiddling us without hard figures to back up there claim.

Thanks.

Hi meatloaf43154 and thanks for your post.

Sue has already answered your question that you sent to us in a private message. If you need any further help, just let us know.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

lyndorset wrote: »

Hi, I started on a CCCS DMP in May and have been making token payments to my creditors, including my old bank (Llloyds TSB) on saturday 11 Dec I received a letter from them dated 29th November telling me I had to pay £44.83 within 2 days of receipt of the letter. Obviously I am unable to do so and was working out a letter to that effect when on Monday 13th Dec I received another letter dated 7th Dec beginning "We wanted to let you know that we've made all of the payments that you arranged to come out of your account this morning." It went to say that it had forced me into unauthorised overdraft. Now back in May, I opened a new account, transfered all my dd's and so's to it. I have checked that an annual dd has gone out of the new account. I have cut up the debit card and definately would not be so stupid as to try and make a payment out of the old account when I am paying the overdraft off in such small amounts.

I wrote to them yesterday pointing out that I was in a DMP with CCCS and that I wrote to them in May advising off that, also that I am making regular payments of as much as I can afford. I further pointed out that I have definately not authorised/requested any payments from the account.

These letters were bad enough, and I hoped my response would sort it out, now today I have received 2 more letters from them: 1 dated 8th December telling me that I need to call them on a premium rate number to discuss reducing the overdraft as they are withdraing the overdraft facility. The other datred 9th December is titled "ENFORCEMENT NOTICE (served under section 76(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974)". This states that the unplanned overdrawn balanceis £131.81 (Total being £631.81 with a previous overdraft limit of £550.00. This letter tells me that I must pay £131.81 by 29th December plus interest that is accrued daily. None of the letters say that fees have been applied, in fact they seem to be stating that I have requested payments be made from the accounts, which I have not. I cannot afford to repay any more than I am already and certianly cannot pay the amounts they are requesting. I cannot afford to phone them. They state if I do not pay the £131.81 requested by 29th December they will get solicitors to take me to court. I am now back to feeling sick and do not not know what to do next? I cannot write to them after Thursday as cannot afford ink for printer and am having to print at work, but that will be a problem if I take advantage and ask to do too many letters. (we are not doing Christmas this year as so hard up). Please help asap, I do not understand what is going on.

Hi lyndorset, and thanks for your post.

lyndorset wrote: »

I have checked that an annual dd has gone out of the new account.

Am I right in assuming that this direct debit was taken from your old account rather than your new one? You can’t offer them money that you don’t have so I’d recommend that you send them an updated copy of your income and expenditure with a list of your creditors. This will show them how much you have available and what you can realistically afford. You should continue to make the token payments to them.

You mentioned that you’re a client of ours. So you can give us a call and we can help you to do this.

Potentially they can take court action, but this would not mean that you would have to attend court. It would mean that you would get county court paperwork that you would have to fill out and make a reasonable offer of payment (which is what you’re doing already). The courts won’t order you to make a payment that you can’t afford, and if the CCJ is granted, the creditor shouldn’t hassle you for extra money. If you get any paperwork from the courts, you can call our support team and we will guide you through the process.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

tired_mum wrote: »

Hi just a quick question we owe money to barclaycard and we have put OH on my acct at barclays for quickness but we were told by a cccs rep on the phone that they dont off set is this correct? we are starting a DMP with CCCS

Hi tired mum and thanks for your post.

Yes, you’re right that Barclays won’t use their right of offset, provided that you are using a Cash Card Account and you inform them that you’re going on a DMP with us.

Kind regards,
Pavan

jasperconran

Hi,

Well our dmp starts in January and most of the calls have stopped although we are still getting letters. but my question is this, my OH contacted MBNA via email thru his account, he gave dmp client ref no and all the details. Which MBNA have acknowledged and advised would remove all contact numbers from their records etc.

However today OH received a nasty letter stating that if he does not contact them or pay the arrears they may proceed with legal action and either issue a CCJ or send bailiffs round:eek:

Are these scare tactics??? My OH is seriously distressed now and so am I. thanks

Binky_2

Hi all,
In March 2007 I was taken to court by a Solicitors working on behalf of a Debt collector, (£900 ) they obtained a C.C.J. against me and I agreed with their Lawyer to pay £30.00 per Month in the meantime they took out a Inhibition against my home.
I paid the £30 for 7 Months and stopped because a Local Council debt advisor HINTED!!!! that I was wasting my time (he said he couldn't advise me to stop payments) but I got the hint. (I couldn't afford it anyway)
MY Debt Advisor say's the inhibition was way over the top for such a small amount of money.
I never heard a thing until October 2010 when their Solicitor sent me a letter threatening further action, I again asked my debt advisor who said they were just "fishing" to see my reaction and not to respond.
Today I came back home and there was a hand delivered letter from Sheriff Officers "charge for payment of money" and the amount now including fees is £1100 that's after my £210 payments is taken off.
They advise that their next move is an attachment order.

1. What happens now?
2. What do I do?
Any help or advise would be very much appreciated.

Binky2