Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

poppytj

Hi below is a recent SOA, this doesn't include all my expenses only those that need to be paid each month. I was wondering if there was any help I could get in helping to reduce or stabilise my situation again.
I do have a payday loan as well to come out, I have moved it back but will need to pay 84 at the end of Jan then over 500 in Feb, i will be writing to my creditors to inform them of my situation and was advised to make a token payment of a pound, this may help put me back on my feet and manage my money again then i can budget the money that is left over for food etc any advice greatly appreciated, thank you

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 751
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 849
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1600

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 560
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 190
Electricity............................. 90
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 40
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 5
Car Insurance........................... 15
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 120
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1327


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
M&S............................3223......82....... .0
overdrafts.....................800.......0........ .0
loan...........................1000......48....... .0
store cards....................800.......50........0
course loan....................2000......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........7823......180.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,600
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,327
Available for debt repayments........... 273
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 180
Amount left after debt repayments....... 93

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,823
Net Assets.............................. -7,823

StepChange_Pavan

blackkbeauty wrote: »

Please can you give me some advise.

Two years ago i made a pledge to clear up my debts and to never obtain a credit/loan again. I have kept this pledge.

Two years ago i made arrangement with Virgin (credit card - owe approx £6200.00) and RSB(Tesco loan- owe approx £6000) to pay them at a rate of £60.00 each per month. Both agreed to freeze the interest. I attempted to offer RSB a firm and final value but this was rejected in 2009. I want to pay more than £60.00 per month to clear the debts quicker but i am afraid that they may them start charging me interest. Would it be better to offer firm and final offers or could that be detrimental to me?

I have other debts such as an overdraft (£2700.00) which i will tackle seriously in 2011 having paid off my egg account this month (hurrah!!!) .

This website has been my lifeline.I have managed to reduce my debts and day to day living expenses year on year thanks to this website.

Thank you

Blackkbeauty

Hi Blackbeauty and thank you for your post.

It sounds likes you’re really taking control of your debts and you’re definitely heading in the right direction.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to say whether they will start to charge interest again if you were to offer them more, as there are no guarantees. I’d recommend that you put together a budget showing what you can afford and then keep paying what you can.

If you can afford to make a full and final settlement offer, it is worth writing to them. If you send me your email address in a private message I can send you an advice pack which gives you detailed information on how to make settlement offers. Again, there are no guarantees that this will be accepted but it's still worth trying.


Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

pickledpenguins wrote: »

Hi,
I am in the very early stages of my involvement with CCCS and have a ref number but have not got a plan or anything set up yet.
Basically we were waiting for family to go home after Christmas so we could sit down and work out where all the debts are.
My question is one of my creditors called yesterday (cc company) I explained that I was going to go with CCCS but they then offered to freeze interest and offer me a payment plan as an alternative.
Should I stick to my guns and get sorted with CCCS or try to negotiate with my creditors individually? Many thanks for your help!

Hi pickledpenguins and thank you for your post.

It’s entirely up to you whether you decide to negotiate with your creditors direct or whether you to go through a third party such as us. Some people prefer to go through us because it’s easier to deal with one organisation rather than several creditors and we can sometimes have more chance of reducing the interest and charges.

However, we can’t guarantee that we will be able to stop all of the charges, so if you feel that their plan is affordable and you don’t mind dealing with them directly, you could use their payment plan.

I’m guessing that you haven’t had an appointment with one of our counsellors yet; so either way, I’d recommend that you do, so that we can help you to put together a budget and explore all of the options that are available to you. There may even be other solutions that suit your circumstances better than a DMP. Even if we recommend a DMP, there is no obligation that you go through us, but at least you can use the budget to determine whether the plan with the creditor is affordable.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

presley32 wrote: »

Hi, I am struggling with my credit cards and also day to day living.
I have 2 credit cards and a car loan. My cards add up to:
card 1 = £9861.00
card 2 = 13,000.00
Car loan= 15,000.00
I have been in touch with a company called DFH and after reading various posts I am a little worried about proceding with them.
They have offered me a Consolidation Plan which says that I can be debt free in 7 years by paying £550.00 per month which would be a great help as it reduces my payments from £900.00 a month.
The only thing is thay say I would be advised to change my bank account as the Car finance is with barclays finance, and there is the chance of the bank still taking the amount from my account even though it is part of the Consolidation Plan.
Any help would be most grateful in this matter, before I sign the papers.
Thanks Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Fermi has kindly already answered your question better than I can!

I would recommend that you do open a basic bank account away from your creditors, as they may be able to take money from your account to pay towards their debts.

You can use our online Debt Remedy, or call our free Helpline to speak to a counsellor on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a financial statement which includes information on your household, employment, income, expenditure and debts. All this information is used as a basis to determine the options available to you to deal with your situation.

Once you’ve followed the process through and completed all the required information you will immediately be presented with an advice booklet, which will provide tailored advice for you based on your current circumstances. It will also provide advice on ways you may be able to improve your situation.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Candy757 wrote: »

Hi,
In 2004 being young and stupid, I ran up a credit card bill of £4000. I then took out a loan to pay off the credit card but could not make the payments. The bank I had the loan with have passed the debt onto a debt company. The company have been sending letters to my parent's house but I have been on speaking terms with them for a long time so have not seen the letters until recently. I can't afford to pay the debt off all at once but could afford a repayment plan. I'm scared if I get in contact with the company, they will want the amount in full, please advise.
Many thanks
C

Hi Candy757 and thanks for your post.

It’s likely that the collection agency will ask for the amount in full, but you can’t give them money that you haven’t got.

I’d recommend that you put together a budget, which shows all of your income and expenditure. If there is any money leftover after you have paid your priorities, this is what you should offer them. You can then send them this budget as proof of why you can’t offer them any more. You don’t have to speak to anyone, you can correspond in writing only if you prefer.

If you’d like help to do this or need any further advice, you can use our online debt advice tool, Debt Remedy or call our free helpline to book an appointment with a debt advisor. You can call 0800 138 1111 and lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

Hope this helps to put your mind at ease.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

wackyjacky06 wrote: »

Hi I have had a DMP with CCCS for over a year. Lloyds have just written to me to say that the plan has now expired and interest will now be charged. This month's interest was £16. This reduces their monthly payment from £42 to £26. Can they do this?

Hi there and thanks for your post.

It’s likely that they agreed to stop the charges for a year until they receive an update of your situation.

I’d recommend that you call our Client Support Team so that we can review your budget and send it to Lloyds on your behalf.

Kind regards,
Pavan

CCCS_Sue

cinders-3 wrote: »

We recently had a drop in income and have found ourselves unable to keep up with all our expenditure. To combat this we worked out all our essentials like mortgage, council tax, etc and decided that our two largest other bills which were still up to date with regards payments to keep paying the same. This left us with 4 bills that we needed to make different payment amounts to. The first being owed £1500 has accepted our offer of lower payment. The second being a credit card owed £525 which we offered to pay at £50 a month has rejected offer straight away and sent us a default notice stating that it will be put on my husbands credit file for the next 6 years and that they are either sending collectors to our address or selling on the debt for payment in full. Can they do this straight away we already made the first payment of £50 just before christmas with the next one due 18th jan? The third and fourth are both debts that have been sent to NDR. NDR are not being helpful at all. With one they insisted we pay £96 a month on a debt of £550 which i did try to pay but we can't afford that much and i was finding it increasing difficult to keep up payments.They have now sent a notice stating that they want payment in full by the 18th january or else they will take court action or sell on the debt. The second that NDR have is a much larger debt of £2300 as yet the only thing we have heard about this debt is that they cannot except our offer of payment. But this debt was originally with Very who have sent us a letter offering to reduce the interest on the debt for 3yrs down from 39% to 10%. I have sent a letter to NDR about this debt saying that i am sticking to the offer of payment that i made and that i want all communication to be in writing rather than phone calls as that is how i was bullied into making the high payments on other debt that i just couldn't do. Will NDR just sell on my debt to another company with the first one or am i looking at court? And can they insist on my telephoning them to make arrangements for payment as they claim that i have to phone them? This is all stressing me out now as its coming to the end of a fixed term on our mortgage and we wanted to sign up for another deal but i'm worried all this will affect our ability to sign for one. Any help plz.

Hi cinders and thank you for your message

First of all, it is important to keep on top of all your priority bills, so you are right to make sure that your mortgage, council tax etc are paid up to date.


Whatever is left after paying your priorities is the amount you can realistically afford to offer any unsecured debts you have, such as loans, credit cards, store cards etc.

You need to work out a pro rata amount to each creditor so that they all get a fair share of any surplus you have.
Do not be pressured into paying money you can’t afford. Even if they refuse your offer, send it anyway. You can’t pay them money you do not have.

You do not have to phone them, especially if it is costing you money.
Ask them to communicate with you in writing only, and remove you from their telephone data base. Send the request in writing and keep a copy for yourself.

If you would like help putting together a budget and if you would like advice on all your options, you can use our online debt advice facility, Debt Remedy
Alternatively, you can ring our free Helpline to book a telephone appointment with a counsellor. Lines are open from 08.00 until 20.00 Monday to Friday

Kind Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

skintscottishgirl wrote: »

Hi All

I have searched the threads but not had much luck with this. I took out a debt management plan with CCCS in March and everything was fine till recently September time I was going through a difficult time and drinking a lot, I got three payday loans and am now approaching crisis point.

I am not proud of what happened as i know I broke my agreement not to take out anymore credit. I think I have now defaulted on my most recent payment to the CCCS and i am afraid to call them. I have been advised that they would not be able to help by adding the payday loans onto my current debt with them, so my only option would be to get a different company to take a new DMP with them ( with a charge ) and they would take over from the CCCS.

I just donb't know what to do, should i call them or would they not be able to help me on this? Or would they say they couldn't deal with my other debts either now? I know I have breached my agreement and feel so guilty.... But I absolutely want to sort things out once and for all.

Thanks

I hope someone can help just to know what the procedure would be would be a great help.

SSG

Hi there and thank you for your message

We can all suffer from weak moments when we are going through difficult times as we are all human!

However, as you are already aware, because you have taken out further credit whilst on your plan, and fallen behind on your payments, then you have broken your DMP agreement.

I would recommend that you call our client support team and let them know what has happened as soon as possible. The longer you put it off, the worse your debt situation will become. Payday loans can become incredibly expensive after interest has been added if you are not able to repay them straight away.

Your situation will need to be reviewed as your debt has now increased
I am not able to say what the best solution will be for you. There may be other options you could consider.

The main thing is not to let your situation get completely out of hand.
There will be light at the end of the tunnel again once you get back on track , but you must try to resist the temptation to take out further debt.

With kind regards

Sue

leedslad85

HI,

8 months ago i got £12000 finance from santander on a car over 5 years, my circumstances have now changed and i can no longer afford the £260 a month. I got a settlement figure of £10,800, the problem is the car is only worth £9000 at best. Is there any way i can soften the blow of such a financial loss over such a short period of time.

My current plan is to hold out a few more months and hope the settlement figure evens out with what the car is worth.

Any advice appreciated, im new to the forum.:(

spiralblunder

Hello there,

Im wondering if anyone is able to help, my original debt was £15500

I currently have debt totalling £13500. this breaks down as follows:

£3100 credit card

£10400 on overdraft on two bank accounts.

I was managing reasonably well until recently the overtime dried up and im now in a position where my basic wage is not enough to cover all my outgoings. Im sure the overtime issue will pick up again now the christmas period is over. I managed to negotiate 0% intrest with my bank for the overdrafts and this has come to an end. I was paying £160 a month between the 2 overdrafts but now they have raised that amount to £210 split between them both however the intrest is £156 of the £210 payment, which means this year I will pay back over £2200 to the bank but will only have paid £360 off each overdraft. I explained to the bank when we did the breakdown of income and outgoings that I couldnt afford the £210 a month, but they told me they would freeze the use of my bank account so I couldnt use it and pass on my account to another department. with regards to my credit card ive commited the cardinal sin and have not made a payment in 3 months as ive had no funds available. I dont live above my means anymore and havent for some 2 years Im commited to getting this debt issue sorted, but I could sure use some good advice. Im ex forces and have considered contacting one of the forces institutes for help but Im not one to take advantage.

If anyone can help in any way I look forward to hearing from you.