Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

debtqueen wrote: »

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.

Hi debtqueen and thanks for your spot.

It’s unlikely that you’ll be forced out of your house, especially if there’s very little equity but they could stop you from selling until they know they will get their money back. It’s also security for them; knowing that they’ll be repaid in full once you do sell the house.

Few judgments result in interest being added after a charging order. The right to add interest after a CCJ depends on the type of judgment and whether the agreement was regulated by the Consumer Credit Act. However, this is a complicated area and I’d recommend that you get in touch so that we can look at your situation in more detail and advise you fully.

If your local advisor has looked at your agreement and explored this fully, he may be right, but we would usually recommend that you attend the hearing. The judge may look upon your situation more favourably and may not even agree to the charge.

Halifax may have taken the debt back from the collection agency, but you would need to contact them to confirm this.

Like I’ve mentioned, we would need some more information to be able to advise you properly. I’d recommend that you book a telephone based appointment by calling our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

System

kev1987 wrote: »

Hi,

I have a big problem.

I am currently a student but on a placement in Germany.
I used to live in a house share with 3 others in Manchester. When our contract terminated we left the house, none of us even thought to cancel the electricity bill.

My old housemate went to pick up a parcel that was delivered by accident to the old house and found that there was a letter from a debt collectors agency 'Morecroft', because we were paying quarterly a bill arrived when we all left.

The sum of the bill seems trivial now, but round abouts £40. But now Eon have passed on this unpaid bill to the debt collectors and has amounted to £1000 +.

I was wondering if there is anything I can do about this matter? Or have any advice?

Because I am in Germany at the moment, I am finding it to deal and sort this matter out.

Please could you help me.

Kind regards.

K

Hi Kev1987 and thanks for your post.

I’d recommend that you contact Moorcroft and come to some sort of payment arrangement with them.

If the bill is in joint names everyone is equally liable for the debt.

I’d suggest that you speak to your old housemates and offer a figure you can all reasonably afford.

It is possible you could offer a full and final settlement of the debt by negotiating with Moorcroft. If you explain the situation to them they may allow you to pay a lesser sum.

I hope this helps

Kind regards
Mat

StepChange_Pavan

clare1510 wrote: »

Hi everyone

I am looking for any help someone can give me.

I got into a lot of debt about 3 years ago through the wonders of being offered credit cards and stupidly not thinking of how to pay it back especially on the salary I was on.

I have received numerous letters over the years threatening action but luckily none has been taken so far. But I really dont want it to get to that stage.

I am currently living on payday loans as when I applied for my first one it took too much of my salary and hence had to reapply and hence the cycle has continued. Therefore I am not able to repay any debt.

Please help me get out of this vicious cycle. My boyfriend and I are looking to the future and I want to be able to get out of debt and plan for a mortgage etc

Thanks very much for any help in advance

Hi clare1510 and thanks for your post.

Once you’re in the vicious circle of payday loans, it can be really difficult to get back on top again.

I’d recommend that you put together a sustainable budget to work out how much you can realistically afford to repay your creditors each month.

You mention that you don’t want it to get to the court stage, although if you have already missed or made late payments this could be a possibility in the future. Making reduced payments to your creditors will also affect your credit rating for six years which could affect any mortgage applications.

If you’d like some more detailed advice, we would need to look at your situation in a bit more detail. To do this 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.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Twins wrote: »

Hi all,

I just wanted to say I made that first BIG step and contacted the CCCS who were brilliant. Really helped me sort out the mess and sort out the figures which I owed. So the recommendation is that I go on a DMP and they also gave me valuble advise about opening a new bank account so that the account I have can't take away my wages (as I owe them overdraft & loan).

I'm very nervous and to be honest embarassed to start down this route but I have to swallow my pride and just do it. I can't afford to go under and let this effect my children and also our lives.

So here goes.......

I am so glad this forum exists otherwise I'd be extinct without it!!!

Keep you posted.

Hi there,

I’m really glad we were able to help. I hope your DMP goes well.

All the best,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

FormandFunction wrote: »

Thank you for your previous help... I have just one more question.

If I go ahead and take the IVA option which is being suggested through the CCCS debtremedy tool, will that prevent me getting a company credit card? The company I work for requires all employees in certain jobs (of which I hope to be one of those in June) to have a company credit card to pay for expenses etc.

Does a company credit card A. Breach an iVA or B. Require a good credit history or is it based on the company and not the individual?

Thanks for your help in advance!
FandF

Hi FandGF and thanks for your post.

It wouldn’t breach an IVA although you would need to check that your employers are happy with this. If they see it as a risk, or if there is anything written into the terms and conditions, they may not consider you for a company credit card.

Generally speaking though, it is based on the company rather than the individual - provided that you are not expected to use your own card and claim it back through the company.

Kind regards,
Pavan

System

lins192 wrote: »

I am struggling with credit card debt. I owe approximately 10k on credit cards but my interest free periods on two cards has elapsed. I meet minimum monthly payments but am now paying high interest fees and thus the outstanding balance is barely reducing. I have attempted to find a "balance transfer" but have been rejected. I have also tried to apply for a loan to pay off the debt but this has also been declined. I have checked my credit rating and it is deemed "excellent" but I am basically credited to the max. Can anyone offer me any advice so I can start to crawl out of this mess??

Hi lins192 and welcome to the forum.

It’s difficult to give advice without knowing your full circumstances.

We don’t usually recommend taking further credit as this can lead to problems in the future.

Even though you state you are still meeting the contractual payments it’s important to put an accurate budget together and we could help you with this.

I’d recommend that you contact us to see what advice we can offer. To do this 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. 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.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards
Mat

StepChange_Pavan

Birdstarr wrote: »

Hello, I was so relieved when Barclaycard accepted me for their 0% interest for 20months card and yesterday I successfully completed three balance transfers to this card (Lloyds TSB credit card, Capital One Credit Card and Dorothy Perkins store card.)

Now I am wondering shall I close these accounts down? I have already cut the cards up but I was wondering for my credit rating is it best to have credit available on these cards or would it be best to close the accounts down?

Thank you

Hi Birdstarr and thanks for your post.

It’s definitely a sensible thing to cut up the cards, although you’re right that this doesn’t necessarily mean that the accounts are closed. You can read more about whether you should do this here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cancel-unused-cards

It is likely that closing inactive cards will help to boost your credit file. This guide gives you more information on how credit files work and how to improve them: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score#improve

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

misstasty

Hi
I have a query ref a DCA ( Fredricksons) who I sent a credit agreement request to. They have now said they have closed the account and have sent it back to the *original* DCA. This would be fine but Fredricksons placed a default on my file. If they are sending it back to the *original* DCA what will happen to the default, can I ask them to remove it....or do I now need to contact the other DCA? Is the new (old) *original* DCA able to update a default???
I just want to clear my credit file, but these people make it impossible!!! ARGGHH!
TYVVM x

summerstreetallotments

Hello I have a question, I have debts of about 15,000 ...I can afford to pay the two smallest at the amount that they want - but not the credit cards so I'm going to write to them on Monday offering a small temporary amount ...is this going to be o.k...or should I offer the small amount to them all or spread it around or not?...I dont have a lot of spare cash but am confident that some of the stuff that I have on ebay will sell well...x

bushpiglet27

Hi,

I'm new to the forum so sorry if this is in the wrong place!!

I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. Myself and my husband took out a loan to pay for our wedding just over 6 years ago. 3.5 years ago we were advised by an independant mortgage advisor to buy a property to do up and sell, which we did. He advised us to take out a 95% mortgage, and add the other 5% to the wedding loan we already had, and put it all as an unsecured loan with the mortgage company (Northern Rock). Unfortunately the housing market crashed a week later. Our house is now worth less than we paid for it and needs renovating (cosmetic). We owe £90,393 on the mortgage, and £20,611 on the unsecured loan.

Since then I have trained as a nurse. I qualified in September and we are now a 2 income family again but, during my training we accrued some other debts (car finance, loan from my mum, and overdrafts to cover childcare). We owe my mum £3000, we have £6000 car finance (including the interest - the actual amount owed on the car is approx £3000), and roughly £6000 in overdrafts.

So - in total we owe approx £35000 (although it would be slightly lower if we cleared some of the debts now due to the interest). We're considering the best options for how to pay this back now that we are both earning again and we're finding it quite overwhelming. We were thinking of taking out a loan to cover the smaller debts (car finance, mum and overdrafts). Another option would be to see if we can get a loan to clear the unsecured loan which runs alongside the mortgage. This currently runs for the mortgage term and we're wondering whether it'd make more sense to get rid of this first.

Another thing which has been suggested to us, but we know nothing about (and terrified us) is filing for bankruptcy. To complicate things we're planning on emigrating asap so I guess we're feeling the pressure to clear things off quickly.

Any advice would be fantastic please!!

Thanks!