Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

kisle wrote: »

Please can someone help me and give some advice, I am curently on a Debt Managment plan and one of my credit cards have not acepted my payment offer for a year now. I am paying them 7.00 a month but they are adding about 12.00 of intrest a month and I am not getting anywhere with them.
I really dont know what to do as I have written to them loads of times telling them about the intrest and my payments and they just are not doing out or stiopping the intrest. I will never get this paid off

Hi kisle and thank you for your post.

I can understand your frustration with this and you’ve already done the right thing by writing to them and making them aware of your situation. Unfortunately there’s no guarantee that your creditors will agree to stopping the interest and charges but we can ask for their consideration in this.

As you are on a DMP with us, I’d recommend that you get in touch with our support team as they have access to your information and can advise you further.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Needhelpsaving wrote: »

My Mom and Dad split up in June last year, but kept their house to provide stability for my younger brother. However, 5 weeks ago, my dad walked out of his job - he only told my mom yesterday. Basically the bills are due to come in in two weeks time and although my mom has 2 jobs, she can either pay the mortgage and no bills or the bills and no mortgage.

Unfortunatley, I am not in a position to help. My mom doesn't mind losing the house (she can move in with me), but it is not suitable to be sold as it is in a really bad state of disrepair.

The mortgage (joint) is about 85k and she has around 12k of debts herself. What would you advise should be the next steps?

Hi needhelpsaving and thanks for your post.

It’s difficult to give advice about your mum’s situation as we would need more information first.

I’d recommend that she gets in touch with us so that we can look at her situation as a whole and see what options are available to her. It might be an option to move out of the property but we’d need to discuss this with her

She can ring our free Helpline on 0800 138 1111 to book a telephone appointment with a counsellor.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

rachaelfleur wrote: »

I was in a really bad place on Saturday night but I'm slowly realising that's money is not worth takling my life for!

Thank you to d3mon4ngel for your kind and sensible words, you made me cry but in a good way!
#1750


CCCS_Pavan, it's actually only been a few months since my DMP with the CCCS was cancelled. I recently made 2 months payments by standing order which has since been returned to me in the form of a cheque. Is it possible to restart the DMP or will I have to start afresh? Either way I don't mind but I'm definitely not strong enough to deal with it on my own. I want to deal with this and get my life back.

Thanks very much.

Rachael

Hi Rachael,

I’m so glad to hear that you’re ok.

I’m sorry, I didn’t realise that you’d only recently stopped making payments.

In this case, you can call our support team as we’ll still have all your details on file. I’m afraid you will need to explain your situation so that they understand what happened.

I hope this is ok – I can’t access your information I’m afraid but if you’d prefer you can send us your client reference number in a private message and I can arrange for someone to contact you.

Kind regards,
Pavan

AnotherMakes3

Hi I am so worried atm with our finances and our debt and don't know what to do next.

We owe around £8k to various credit card companies but dont have a good credit history due to a few missed payments here and there.

We have never missed a mortgage payment or any normal utility bill and in the last 6-8months we have managed all the minimum payments to credit cards but the debt isnt going anywhere. With the high interest (some are 29%) any payment we make is only just covering the interest. We initially wanted a loan to get rid of the debt, cut the cards up which would give us more money spare per month but no one apart from those 9000% interest places would touch us.

We have a small mortgage (26k on a £135K house) but as my other half earns a crap wage (10k and no chance of a job anywhere else atm) and I dont work we dont think they will lend us any more even though on paper we pay out £220 per month on minimum payments and their loans are half of that over 10 years.

Any ideas how we can start to actually eat away at what we owe properly rather than just keeping them from knocking on the door for payments? With normal household bills etc there is pretty much nothing left and I budget well!

StepChange_Pavan

Twins wrote: »

Hello,

Hoping you can help. I guess I've had a 'lightbulb' moment and now realise I need to sort out my disaster finances and sharpish.

I just don't know where to start or what to do?!

I've got credit cards, overdrafts, loans and am struggling to meet them all every month and have resorted to taking cash out on my credit cards to help me with my overdraft just so that I can pay for food shopping etc!!!

I feel so ashamed that I don't even know the extent of my debt, I've just been burying my head in the sand and let it go on and on and on...... I think I must be in the region of about 25K debt.

So please can you tell me firstly, if I contact CCCS does this go on record with the credit card companies? Will my credit rating be effected? If so, how long does this take to sort itself out? I've been so reluctent to call or use a debt management company as I don't want my credit rating to look so bad although I fear I am already there

Please advise! Thank you!!

Hi Twins and thanks for your post.

Contacting us in itself will not affect our credit file as we are impartial and confidential. However, like you suspect, your credit file may already have been affected.

It’s important that you have enough money to live on and if you are taking money from your credit cards to stay on top of things, this suggests that you’re already struggling.

I’d recommend that you contact us so that we can look at your situation in more detail and advise you further. There’s no obligation to take our advice, it’s completely free and like I mentioned it won’t affect your credit rating at this stage.

To get in touch 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

StepChange_Pavan

hathadave wrote: »

...rather than regret it later!

we're been reacting rather than acting for a while now, and not doing so well, and are now close to maxed out on credit cards and overdrafts etc.

we are hoping for some advice on how to finally get on top of things.

we're reluctant to borrow again to refinance debts (around £25k), but unsure if trying to agree reduced repayment terms with various creditors would affect our credit rating more than taking out another loan? (assuming they'd give us one!)

obviously agreeing a repayment plan is better than missing payments, but is it recorded forever on our credit score?

many thanks,

Dave

Hi Dave and welcome to the forum.

Offering reduced payments would affect your credit file as you would be defaulting against the original agreements. However this would only remain on your file for 6 years.

Taking out another loan could make your situation worse, especially if you are unable to maintain the repayments further down the line. And you’re right that you may not be accepted for a loan depending on your current credit score.

I’d recommend that you get in touch with us so that we can look at your situation in more detail and explore all of the options that are available to you.

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

StepChange_Pavan

Manodio wrote: »

Hi

Story is quite simple, while on full time employment my bank was increasing my overdraft limit on their own accord and when I was laid off I made the mistake of using it to the max. For several years the interest was accumulating and I was able to pay it every month but I was unable to reduce the original overdraft amount.
The situation worsened and 2 months ago I stopped paying and using the account altogether.

I seek to go through the financial hardship route as I am unemployed and I need my benefits to live, if I use my benefits to pay off the debt I got no money left to pay for my living expenses. However that route takes months and the outcome is unknown. As I have no other current account at the moment what are my options? Will I be able to open another account with another bank, building society, even a savings account to have my benefits money paid into them while I try to settle things out with my bank or am I in the red already due to bad credit rating?

As you can understand the situation is a bit desperate and interest is accumulated over the existing debt in the hundreds every month. The bank doesn't seem to be particularly sympathetic to people in my predicament though they were the ones who originally "lured" me into using the overdraft facility in the first place.

Thanks

Hi Manodio and thanks for your post.

We've already answered this in response to the private message you sent us.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

rdchick

Hiya, I'm pretty young at only 22, and I have some quite scary debts after living with someone who couldn't handle their own finances I found myself not only supporting him but also dragging myself into the same situation - thankfully I am in a new healthy loving relationship only he knows nothing of my financial situation. I have just left uni and have a full time job earning around £1000 a month. I have a massive overdraft of £3000 (thanks to being a student and then having Halifax transfer my money into another account that wasn't a graduate one so I now pay interest of around £60 a month (eek)) I also have a loan which was £3500 when I took it out last year and pay around £96 a month for it so it's probably near £3000 now. Then I have a credit card which is only small at £500 but I only manage to make minimum payments on it each month and it's with my bank too. I have a store card of £130 and owe my parents nearly £2000 for a car but they just accept payments as and when I can. I pay around £500 a month for all my rent, bills and food (my Boyfriend pays 2 thirds of the bills as he earns much more than me and there is no way I am going to sponge off him as I know how that feels!) What can the CCCS offer me as I am getting somewhat worried about it all now. Thanks!

sparky1966_2

hi i have no idea if i am doing this right,i am in dire financial straights ,in danger of losing my house and nobody seems able to help me ,after always working i was laid off for over 18 months and as i had to try to pay the mortgage with my redundancy it didnt last long i finally managed to get another job but cannot seem to afford to work anymore no money for diesel and debt up and above my neck,is there really no help out there or am i going to lose everything i have worked for for nearly 15 years

debtqueen

2 questions really

I have 4 creditors, 2 of which I pay a set amount each month directly to them.

My 3rd debt is with MBNA and is with solicitors/court at the moment. I applied to the Court to have the monthly payment (set in Feb this year) reduced as there was no way that I could repay the monthly amount that CCJ ordered. However, MBNA solicitors have responded by asking that a charge be put on the property that I have (mortgaged). There is minimal equity in the property as I tried to re-mortgage initially to cover my debts and this was turned down. The local debt advisor that I have been dealing with has said that having a charge on the property isn't necessarily a bad thing as it will mean that I won't have to repay the debt unless I sell the property and that it won't incurr any interest either. He has also said that I don't need to attend court as it is no longer about the amount of money to be paid, but whether the court agree to a charge on the property - Is this correct?

My 4th debt with Halifax credit card was passed to MDR and from November last year a monthly amount was agreed and has been paid without fail. Obviously I stopped getting credit card statements from Halifax as the debt had been passed on. However this month I have received a credit card statement from Halifax showing the last cheque that I sent to MDR being credited to them (however doesn't show the amounts that I paid since November). Is it likely that Halifax have taken the debt back? as the statement gives the usual pay by date. I've had no correspondence from either MDR or Halifax to say this. (my mortgage is with the Halifax and I recently was credited about £2k to it through their variable rates issue)

Sorry to be so long-winded, but any advice would be appreciated.