Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

farradn wrote: »

Just realized that there is an option D.

If I am too late to withdraw the money from my account on Monday, then the payday loan is paid off in full and I am thus one debt down.

As I have been taking out payday loans to cover the non-priority debts, if they take their money leaving me -£375 this month then I don't have enough to pay any of my creditors, so I still withdraw my money (so the bank can't take theirs this month) and pay all of my priority payments then write to each of my creditors explaining I don't have any of their money this month and will contact them soon when I have an idea of how much I can pay them to start clearing these debts.

I have a feeling option D is the right answer, and that I have just reached a moment of clarity usually reserved for those Zen masters who have reached Nirvana.

Hi farradn and thanks for your post.

I can understand why you’re a little confused so I’ll explain what you should do and in what order – but if it doesn’t help, it’s best to give us another call so we can discuss it properly over the phone.

You need to cancel any NON PRIORITY payments (such as credit cards, unsecured loans etc) as soon as possible. If you leave this until Monday, it will be too late.

If you’re unable to cancel payments such as the payday loan, and this causes fees to be charged to your account, this can be classed as an overdraft and added to your list of creditors on Tuesday.

You must ensure that your priorities are paid – as you will have cancelled any direct debits already, phone them to make payments as soon as you can.

Take out any spare money on Monday so you have enough to pay for food and your daily living costs.

It doesn’t matter if your creditors are not paid in full this month – your priorities are more important at this stage. Just offer them token payments and explain that you’ve got an appointment with us and you’ll be back in touch once you’ve been given some detailed advice.

I hope this all makes sense and confirms what you were thinking


Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Xsive wrote: »

I'm losing it. LOL

Dear Wendy,

I am currently in talks with my partners bank about an oustanding account of £5,800 pounds. My partner froze the account (it's a joint name flex account) when she split up with her husband. The Nationwide informed her that the account was frozen but the Husband continued to write a total of 37 cheques. Not for any massive amounts but nationwide are chasing her for the debts. This was 5 years ago btw.

Would you be able to tell me if it's a black and white as to whether my partner is liable for this debt?

The husband has buried his head in the sand and is full of false promises etc.....

Regards Nathan

Hi Nathan,

Unfortunately as it’s a joint account, they are both joint and severally liable. This means that if her ex is not responding to the bank or not making any payments, they can chase your partner for the full amount.

The Nationwide may not have fully frozen the account as they may have needed instruction from both parties to do this.

I hope this answers your question.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Xsive

Not what i wanted to hear but thanks.
Can't you lie to me?
Please? Oh go on!
:A
Keep up the good work!

Queenbelbake

Hi, was just wondering how long it actually takes to set up a DMP? The reason I ask is because I am in the process of setting one up and understand that I should continue to make payments I can afford to my creditors until the DMP is set up. What happens though if I make payments to them and then a payment to CCCS goes out of my bank within a week or so? As the payment to CCCS is my leftover money if I am making a succession of payments within a short period of time I will be struggling straight away. Could you please advise? Many thanks.

reidy100_2

Hi, I am unemployed atm but have a pension which I pay the Mortgage, Council tax, car insurance and one CC. My wife works full time and pays for food car tax /fuel, elec and gas, I am currently dependant on her for us to last the month on whats left after paying for the above. OH pays out 350 approx a month on unsecured loans bank accounts catalogues etc. Can she go for a single person DMP based on solely her income and expendature and her debts.?? Reason I ask is that when I start work I do not want my income to be spread amongst her creditors. I can understand If I contribute an amount to her income once working this would be spread amongst the creditors but would not want all my wages to be considered as it almost defeats the point of me working. They are debts solely in her name. I am not being selfish, I am helping her atm but not sure why I should be held partly responsible for her debts.

In a nutshell can a married person in a family household have an individual DMP.

Cheers

StepChange_Pavan

Queenbelbake wrote: »

Hi, was just wondering how long it actually takes to set up a DMP? The reason I ask is because I am in the process of setting one up and understand that I should continue to make payments I can afford to my creditors until the DMP is set up. What happens though if I make payments to them and then a payment to CCCS goes out of my bank within a week or so? As the payment to CCCS is my leftover money if I am making a succession of payments within a short period of time I will be struggling straight away. Could you please advise? Many thanks.

Hi there and thanks for your post.

The time it takes to set up a DMP can vary depending on how quickly you send your information and consent form to us.

If you haven’t sent us anything already, it’s unlikely that it will be set up in time for the 1st of March. Provided that we have everything we need by mid March, there shouldn’t be any problems with starting for April. If you’re unsure, just give us a call once you’ve posted off your information and we’ll be able to confirm whether we’ve got everything we need and when your start date will be.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

reidy100 wrote: »

Hi, I am unemployed atm but have a pension which I pay the Mortgage, Council tax, car insurance and one CC. My wife works full time and pays for food car tax /fuel, elec and gas, I am currently dependant on her for us to last the month on whats left after paying for the above. OH pays out 350 approx a month on unsecured loans bank accounts catalogues etc. Can she go for a single person DMP based on solely her income and expendature and her debts.?? Reason I ask is that when I start work I do not want my income to be spread amongst her creditors. I can understand If I contribute an amount to her income once working this would be spread amongst the creditors but would not want all my wages to be considered as it almost defeats the point of me working. They are debts solely in her name. I am not being selfish, I am helping her atm but not sure why I should be held partly responsible for her debts.

In a nutshell can a married person in a family household have an individual DMP.

Cheers

Hi Reidy100 and thanks for your post.

Your wife can have a sole DMP and you’re not obliged to include your income.

However it’s advisable to show that you are contributing towards the household costs. For example if you pay the council tax, she would just need to insert a comment next to it such as ‘husband pays in full’. Or if you contribute towards certain expenditure, insert ‘husband pays half’.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

poorgrad

Hi,

Can anyone advise what is the minimum payment accepted for a DMP? My OH and I are in the process of setting it up with CCCS, when I did the online forms I put in my normal salary, but I am due to go on mat leave soon so we will only have something between £90 and £100 surplus for 9 months. Would £100 be ok for the two of us? Or does it need to be £100 each? When I go back to work we will have £400 surplus to pay. Is it possible to set it up so that we pay a small amount for 9 months then increase it? Or will we just end up having to go it alone for now?

Thanks

hillbees1_2

I owe £8,300 on a personal loan to Lloyds Bank, and my wife has a loan in her name with the same bank of £9,000 approximately. I have a Lloyds credit card which I owe £2,800 on. Our personal account is overdrawn by £900 with a £1,000 overdraft facility on it. That overdrawn amount of £900 never changes. My only income is £130.90 a fortnight in contribution based unemployment benefit. That goes in to our personal account and comes out straightaway for living expenses.

I also owe the vat man £2,400 because my last business crashed. I was as a "Thresher" franchisee and as a result of them going in to administration it had a knock on effect. Also owe £600 on the Thresher credit card.

My wife has a small business as a sole trader and has an overdraft facility of £4,000. It is always £3,000 overdrawn. The only income from it now is £1,010 per month inclusive of VAT. Bank charges on that are around £40 to £50 per month. The expenses of the business are such that the business makes no profit after expenses are taken out. Income from it is probably in the region of £40 per week. She has two employees and their combined salaries are around £500 per month. They have been there over two years, so it would be difficult to get rid of them and do the work ourselves.

My house is worth 190k and the balance is £159k. None of the loans are secured on property. Trying to get mortgage Interest Relief is proving to be a nightmare. Sadly I remortgaged the house in 2006 to the tune of 60k in order to become a "Thresher" franchisee. Of course that amount will not be taken in to account when assessing what benefit I am entitled to.

Any help or recommendation of a company to assist us would be appreciated. Thank you,

StepChange_Pavan

poorgrad wrote: »

Hi,

Can anyone advise what is the minimum payment accepted for a DMP? My OH and I are in the process of setting it up with CCCS, when I did the online forms I put in my normal salary, but I am due to go on mat leave soon so we will only have something between £90 and £100 surplus for 9 months. Would £100 be ok for the two of us? Or does it need to be £100 each? When I go back to work we will have £400 surplus to pay. Is it possible to set it up so that we pay a small amount for 9 months then increase it? Or will we just end up having to go it alone for now?

Thanks

Hi poorgrad and thanks for your post.

The minimum amount usually depends on the number of creditors you have and how long it would take you to repay your debts at that rate. In your case, if your income will go back up again once you go back to work, the smaller surplus would be for a short period of time. This means you can go on a low-start DMP until you can afford more realistic payments.

I’d recommend that you call our Debt Remedy support team, as they have access to all your information and will be able to advise you in more detail. They will also be able to make the necessary amendments.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan