Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

qolwillclearmydebts wrote: »

question for you guys. This weekend have just had my real lbm. On the surface have a successful business which has kept my payments going. Have about £40k in personal debts, cards etc and 40k in business debts (self employed sole trader, not limited company. Can I seaprate them and pay debts as normal on my business account to remain on good terms with business bank or do i need to include them all on my dmp.

Hi qolwillclearmydebts and thank you for your post.

I’d recommend that you call our Helpline as we have a specialist self employed team that will be able to look at your situation in more detail.

Normally we wouldn’t advise on showing certain creditors preferential treatment over others. However, in your situation, if including all your creditors on a DMP would hinder your business we would need to take this into consideration when exploring all of the solutions that are available to you.

You can book an appointment by calling our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. If you do decide to call us, please have details ready regarding your income, expenditure and creditors, as this can help speed up the referral process. If you have all of the necessary information ready, it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor for immediate advice. Alternatively, we will arrange for an appointment to be booked at a time convenient for you.

Kind regards,
Pavan

bluemonday3

I am in DMP with CCCS and have been since Sept 2009, I recently had a review but out of the extra I now pay none of it has been apportioned to a unsecured loan which is now a charging order, can you tell me why, as this is still accruing lots of interest?

StepChange_Pavan

JeffMinter wrote: »

An updated query...

A few months ago I made this post

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/38701902#Comment_38701902

I setup the new basic bank account, then wrote a letter to them indicating the possible payments I could afford. As I'm still on JBSA it was a nominal amount, a few quid. I got no reply after a month so I wrote to the Financial Ombudsman 2 weeks ago asking if they could freeze my account/stop the daily overdraft fees mounting up until I was in a position to start paying off the debt sufficiently (ie. more than the debt added every day).

The answer I got from the bank? A letter detailing the Default Notice. It says I have to pay the full amount (which has now gone up to barmy levels, especially as I have ZERO money after living expenses, let alone savings) before the end of the month.

After the date they said they will terminate the account and demand payment immediately through a debt collection agency. They also said I can apply to the court to allow me more time... what action should I take next?

Hi JeffMinter and thanks for your update.

This is all part of the standard debt collection process.

If you have already sent them an explanation of your circumstances and a copy of your income and expenditure to back this up, you have already done as much as you can. Let them know that you will be back in touch as soon as anything changes and you are able to pay more. Continue to make the token payments whether they are happy with it or not.

If they pass the debt on to a debt collection agency, they don’t have any more powers than the original creditor and the interest and charges may slow down or even stop. You would need to make them aware of your situation and start making the payments to them instead.

As Sue mentioned, if you would like further help and assistance with this, you can either use our online facility Debt Remedy, or call free for an appointment to speak to one of our counsellors on 0800 138 1111.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

bluemonday3 wrote: »

I am in DMP with CCCS and have been since Sept 2009, I recently had a review but out of the extra I now pay none of it has been apportioned to a unsecured loan which is now a charging order, can you tell me why, as this is still accruing lots of interest?

Hi bluemonday3 and thanks for your post.

It’s difficult to say without knowing the details of your case. I would assume that you’re paying the unsecured loan directly as it would have turned into a priority once you received the CCJ?

I’d really recommend that you call our support team as they have access to all your information and will be able to advise you properly.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Lalamama

Hello,

Please help. My husband and I owe money and we just don't know which way to turn.

We have the following debts:

£4800 on an overdraft
£1800 on credit cards
£97 invoice to be paid

We have a mortgage on our property but it is in negative equity to the value of -£10,000.

We are up to date on all payments so have no arrears at the moment and have never been late or missed a payment, but it's only a matter of weeks before we would get to this point.

We have spoken to the national debtline but feel more confused than ever. We are on the cusp of being able to pay the money back without affecting our credit score, or offering to pay certain amounts back each month and it affecting our credit rating.

I have been looking into taking out a loan to pay back over 7 years to clear the debt and I am fairly sure that we can pay back the loan at £114 per month. It will be tight but is possible.

We have completed a detailed and very realistic monthly budget, but my problem comes when we have to pay out for large expenses that we cannot save for, eg. £100 car tax due in June. Should we borrow a little more to cover this expense until we get back on our feet? It would make little difference to the monthly repayments?

Our other alternative is to negotiate with our creditors and be a little more comfortable each month, eg by possibly paying less than the loan would cost (if they agree to it of course). Obviously this would affect our credit rating but does this matter? We have a mortgage at the moment and MAY be in a position to get another mortgage and buy a house within the next 6 years. Would the credit rating affect this?

I look forward to your responses as we are getting pretty desperate and sick with worry. We are opening a new bank account today to protect my husbands salary as I'm aware the bank could just take this to pay off the overdraft.

Many thanks

StepChange_Pavan

Lalamama wrote: »

Hello,

Please help. My husband and I owe money and we just don't know which way to turn.

We have the following debts:

£4800 on an overdraft
£1800 on credit cards
£97 invoice to be paid

We have a mortgage on our property but it is in negative equity to the value of -£10,000.

We are up to date on all payments so have no arrears at the moment and have never been late or missed a payment, but it's only a matter of weeks before we would get to this point.

We have spoken to the national debtline but feel more confused than ever. We are on the cusp of being able to pay the money back without affecting our credit score, or offering to pay certain amounts back each month and it affecting our credit rating.

I have been looking into taking out a loan to pay back over 7 years to clear the debt and I am fairly sure that we can pay back the loan at £114 per month. It will be tight but is possible.

We have completed a detailed and very realistic monthly budget, but my problem comes when we have to pay out for large expenses that we cannot save for, eg. £100 car tax due in June. Should we borrow a little more to cover this expense until we get back on our feet? It would make little difference to the monthly repayments?

Our other alternative is to negotiate with our creditors and be a little more comfortable each month, eg by possibly paying less than the loan would cost (if they agree to it of course). Obviously this would affect our credit rating but does this matter? We have a mortgage at the moment and MAY be in a position to get another mortgage and buy a house within the next 6 years. Would the credit rating affect this?

I look forward to your responses as we are getting pretty desperate and sick with worry. We are opening a new bank account today to protect my husbands salary as I'm aware the bank could just take this to pay off the overdraft.

Many thanks

Hi Lalamama and thanks for your post.

It’s not usually a good idea to borrow more money if you’re already struggling. When you compile your budget you need to include putting money aside for priorities that aren’t monthly, such as car tax and MOT.

If you decide to offer reduced payments to your creditors, this will affect your credit rating. However this is less important than not being able to afford your priorities and every day living costs.

It’s good that you’ve already taken steps to move banks away from your overdraft.

If you’d like us to look at your situation in a bit more detail you can either use our online advice facility Debt Remedy, or ring our free Helpline to book a telephone appointment with a counsellor.

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.

Alternatively if you would prefer to talk to a debt counsellor about your situation, you can book a telephone based appointment by calling our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

Kind regards,
Pavan

mrjordan

Hi i need help : ( im 21 years old and did stupid things when i was younger landing me with a really poor credit score and also debt that i need to repay, which at the moment i cant,
I have been sent a letter from NatWest claiming i owe them £1400 in charges from the past two years as i went overdrawn on two accounts and are now charging £12 each day im over drawn obviously i can not pay this and when i did go overdrawn it was only a few pound obviously i only have my self to blame and that im not disputing, on the 4th march i received a letter saying i had 7days to contact or it would be added as a default on my report, so i rang today and they wanting me to pay 80 each month for next year and a half which i can not afford they also recommended a consolidation loan which to be frank was a joke the terms of theys loans being, 3year paying £51.71 each month, 4year paying 42.32 per month, 5year paying 36.79 per month so you can imagine how much i will have to repay back if id did take a loan to cover debt, i have been harrased by phone constantly but have never received any letters which they state they have sent with statements which is a lie, some days calling upto 50times which in the end i had to change number as i could not deal with the constant pressure and harrasment they were giving me,
what would anyone on mse advise for me to do as im completely lost and feels like im banging my head off a brick wall and my debt is just spiralling out of control : ( also have other debt which i have set payment plans up which are not a problem but this one is a nightmare,
i have over £3000 debt and would like to just have in one payment plan and pay each month is this possible and how would i go about doing this?
thank you
would be really appreciated if you could leave me a msg

FormandFunction

Hi there,

I wonder if you can offer some advice. I am looking to have to enter an IVA in order to address my debt given a large change in work and the end of a long-term relationship.

I understand I can normally end my tenancy before the contract end date if I continue to pay rent until the property is relet. However, my contract states the following:

"If at any time:...the tenant shall become bankrupt, insolvent, go into liquidation or enter into a voluntary arrangement...the landlord may give written notice to seek possession of the premises"

Ideally I need to leave the flat as I am now left alone to pay for all the rent and bills and can't do so for long especially given other debts (hence the IVA). If I enter an IVA can I therefore break the contract without penalty and without having to continue paying the rent or losing any of my deposit? I do have a guarantor for the property and of course would also need not to affect them.

Your advice is very much appreciated!

tonybroad

Hi I have a debt for a credit card total amount is 3430, I made arrangements with them to pay£ 60.00 per month and as told on the telephone no interest is charged, this started inNov 2010 and so far I have paid £ 310.00 which shoukld have brought my balance down to £ 3120, but checking my credit reference it is saying my current balance is £ 3283.00 which means is missing £ 163.00 , how can I speak to them to stop charges so that I can get this debt paid or is there a better way in dealing with this please let me know thanks

StepChange_Pavan

mrjordan wrote: »

Hi i need help : ( im 21 years old and did stupid things when i was younger landing me with a really poor credit score and also debt that i need to repay, which at the moment i cant,
I have been sent a letter from NatWest claiming i owe them £1400 in charges from the past two years as i went overdrawn on two accounts and are now charging £12 each day im over drawn obviously i can not pay this and when i did go overdrawn it was only a few pound obviously i only have my self to blame and that im not disputing, on the 4th march i received a letter saying i had 7days to contact or it would be added as a default on my report, so i rang today and they wanting me to pay 80 each month for next year and a half which i can not afford they also recommended a consolidation loan which to be frank was a joke the terms of theys loans being, 3year paying £51.71 each month, 4year paying 42.32 per month, 5year paying 36.79 per month so you can imagine how much i will have to repay back if id did take a loan to cover debt, i have been harrased by phone constantly but have never received any letters which they state they have sent with statements which is a lie, some days calling upto 50times which in the end i had to change number as i could not deal with the constant pressure and harrasment they were giving me,
what would anyone on mse advise for me to do as im completely lost and feels like im banging my head off a brick wall and my debt is just spiralling out of control : ( also have other debt which i have set payment plans up which are not a problem but this one is a nightmare,
i have over £3000 debt and would like to just have in one payment plan and pay each month is this possible and how would i go about doing this?
thank you
would be really appreciated if you could leave me a msg

Hi mrjordan and welcome to the forum.

You’ve come to the right place for help and advice. You can’t offer Natwest money that you haven’t got and it’s not usually a good idea to consolidate debts - as you’ve already pointed out, you’d be paying a lot more back over a longer period of time which can sometime make the situation worse if you’re already struggling.

I’d really recommend that you put together an income and expenditure to work out how much you can realistically afford to pay towards all your debts each month.

If you’d like help with this, we can provide you with the support you need. We will look at your situation as a whole and explore all of the solutions that are available to you. If a reduced payment plan is for you, we can offer this service to you free of charge – where you would pay us one monthly amount and we would distribute this between all you creditors for you.

If you’d like us to look at your situation in more detail, you can either use our online advice facility Debt Remedy, or ring our free Helpline on 0800 138 1111 to book a telephone appointment with a counsellor.

I hope this helps to put your mind at ease.

Kind regards,
Pavan