Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

helpus45

Hi,

Over the last few months myself and my partner have been struggling to find the best way to clear our debts, these amounted over the few years with both of us going through divorces and other family events! Brief overiew of these are:

1.Secured loan, on my property that is rented out.
2.We have 6 credit cards with debt amounting to £40k
3 Overdrafts on accounts amounting to £3k.
4. Partner has his own mortgage where we live, approx £90k equity.

As you can see we are in a bit of a mess. We pay everything every month, all accounts up to date but would just love to actually start clearing debts. We feel our outgoings are not extravigant, we have learnt to live within our current means but struggling to pay off debts. We investigated several options,

1. remortgage his house to raise the money, we believe this was refused due to my secured loan
2. looked at a debt plan with Payplan, looked good but as we always met our minimum payments which we can afford we were not confident that the credit agencies would consider our request to freeze interest or agree a new payment.
3 Also with the payplan we were advised to open another account so we could disassociate ourselves from our current accounts. We were advised to get an account but this was refused. I suspect it was because we were asking for a debit card, but we could not live without having a bank card and it is not always best to carry cash.

What can we do now, we do not know where to turn to, any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks

TherealMandM

CCCS_Pavan wrote: »

Hi matmidgley and welcome to the forum.

I’d recommend that you get a copy of your credit reference file to see how much you owe and who to. This link gives you more information about credit files and how to access yours

Once you have this information you can come back to us for advice on how to go about repaying your debts.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Hi, its taken a few days as had to send photo proof to equifax of address and name etc. but i now have the statutory credit report.
not entirely sure what im looking for,
so il just let you know as they appear on the pages

Financial Associates - No data
Electoral Role - 2 years at current address
Credit Agreements - Current account, all green and up to date since 2004
Court information - i have 1 entry here NORTHAMPTON CCBC CCJ for £991 from the 5/8/2010 filed against my previous address(which i was not in at the time as i was at my current address since 1/5/2009)but it doesnt tell me who i owe it to
Previous searches - Credit Searches - None
Other searches - Me for the credit file
A clothes outlet did a search for some reason
Previous Address Credit Search - Fredrikson international debt collection 6/7/2010
Previous Other - Me again for the credit file

I would guess it was the Fredrikson debt collection that did the CCJ as they are a month apart?
I am also more than sure that i have had other debts, i had a car taken away and credit cards/over drafts with another bank which then had the account closed. But none of these are on the file. these would be going back 6years or more

System

rainbowfairydust wrote: »

Hi
Hope someone from CCCS can help me if possible.. i am currently on a DMP and have been for approximately 10 months now. Last month i received a letter from HMRC advising that i have been overpaid in tax credits and i owe them £277 which breaks down into a payment of around £23 per month. A couple of days later i then received a letter from the HB office advising me that i have been overpaid in HB as well .. the figure being just short of a grand.. HB are expecting me to pay £87 a month to get this paid off in 12 months .. the £23 i could just cope with but the £87 is far too much
So my question is would it be possible for CCCS to add these debts to my existing DMP ? I know that technically im not allowed to add on more debts but both of these are completely out of the blue & unexpected.. not sure what i should do ?? Please advise?

Hi rainbowfairydust and thanks for your post.

As you’re already a client of ours I suggest you get in touch as soon as possible.

As these debts are ‘out of the blue’ so to speak we would have to look at your situation again.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards
Mat

System

helpus45 wrote: »

Hi,

Over the last few months myself and my partner have been struggling to find the best way to clear our debts, these amounted over the few years with both of us going through divorces and other family events! Brief overiew of these are:

1.Secured loan, on my property that is rented out.
2.We have 6 credit cards with debt amounting to £40k
3 Overdrafts on accounts amounting to £3k.
4. Partner has his own mortgage where we live, approx £90k equity.

As you can see we are in a bit of a mess. We pay everything every month, all accounts up to date but would just love to actually start clearing debts. We feel our outgoings are not extravigant, we have learnt to live within our current means but struggling to pay off debts. We investigated several options,

1. remortgage his house to raise the money, we believe this was refused due to my secured loan
2. looked at a debt plan with Payplan, looked good but as we always met our minimum payments which we can afford we were not confident that the credit agencies would consider our request to freeze interest or agree a new payment.
3 Also with the payplan we were advised to open another account so we could disassociate ourselves from our current accounts. We were advised to get an account but this was refused. I suspect it was because we were asking for a debit card, but we could not live without having a bank card and it is not always best to carry cash.

What can we do now, we do not know where to turn to, any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Hi Helpus45 and welcome to the forum.

It’s difficult to give advice without knowing you full situation.

With a debt management plan no company can guarantee that your creditors will freeze interest and charges. It’s entirely up to the creditors themselves. What is important is to put together an accurate income and expenditure budget that shows the amount you can realistically afford to pay.

If you are currently using a current account that is connected to any credit card or loan that you may start to make reduced payments to then it is wise to open an alternative account to do your day to day banking. This is to avoid any creditor ‘dipping in’ to a connected account.

If you feel you are begining to struggle to maintain the payments then opening a non connected basic account is good advice. You can open basic accounts without overdrafts that will come with a card that you can pay for day to day goods on. The majority of retailers now accept these types of cash cards.

I’d recommend that you contact us so that we can take a detailed look at your full situation and advise on the best solution available for you.

To get in touch with us you 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.

Kind regards,
Mat

GOLFER

Hi

Looking for some info please

Im currently struggling to repay my debt.

mainly credit cards and two loans. Im married and have a mortgage etc and a secured loan. My wife doesnt know about my debts.

I was looking on some info on asking my creditors to accpept reduced payments and how i go about that.

Also if i offer this do i ned to offer to all my creditors and will my house be at risk. If the truth was too appear im sure id lose the wife and my kids.

I know this would affect my credit file but I do want to pay back the money. I had wanted to take out a loan to pay all these but i will not get any loan and i would need it over about 10 years.

Is there any way i could approach creditors and get them to freeze interest and reduce payments or turn the debt into some sort of loan that i could repay back.

thanks

System

matmidgley wrote: »

Hi, its taken a few days as had to send photo proof to equifax of address and name etc. but i now have the statutory credit report.
not entirely sure what im looking for,
so il just let you know as they appear on the pages

Financial Associates - No data
Electoral Role - 2 years at current address
Credit Agreements - Current account, all green and up to date since 2004
Court information - i have 1 entry here NORTHAMPTON CCBC CCJ for £991 from the 5/8/2010 filed against my previous address(which i was not in at the time as i was at my current address since 1/5/2009)but it doesnt tell me who i owe it to
Previous searches - Credit Searches - None
Other searches - Me for the credit file
A clothes outlet did a search for some reason
Previous Address Credit Search - Fredrikson international debt collection 6/7/2010
Previous Other - Me again for the credit file

I would guess it was the Fredrikson debt collection that did the CCJ as they are a month apart?
I am also more than sure that i have had other debts, i had a car taken away and credit cards/over drafts with another bank which then had the account closed. But none of these are on the file. these would be going back 6years or more

Hi matmidgley and thanks for getting back to us.

As Pavan has answered your initial query I shall direct your question to her when we return to the office on Tuesday 26th of April.

Sorry for any delay this may cause.

Kind regards

Mat

System

The CCCS MoneyAware team are now out of the office for Easter until Tuesday 26th April. Please accept our apologies for any delay in replying to your question.

In the meantime you can still get debt counselling through our online service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu), 24 hours a day.

Regards,

CCCS_Mat

DrakesheadLabs

I dont know where to go from here. My marriage broke down 18 months ago and I am left with the house to maintain. After my marriage broke down my spending went mad. I have continued spending and cannot say "NO". I have constantly overdrawn and have to rob Peter to pay Paul and pay back again with interest. My credit card has gone over the limit and I have two loans. I am extremely worried and scared and have suffered with mental health issues for almost 3 years. I suffer from depression and anxiety. I am absolutely at a loss at to what to do. I work hard but for what?

soulangel125

I recently received a letter from a collections company. From an O2 simplicitry contract i took out last year. I stopped using the phone after a month and forgot about it. Which was a stupid thing to do, but i have always buried my head in the sand in the past, hoping things would just go away. So the collection agents have sent me a letter and i called them, because they text everyday. Arranged a payment plan as i had just started work afterbeing unemployed for over a year. In my xcitement i said i would pay 79 pounds on payday, little realising that housing benefit would suspend my claim while waiting for TWO payslips (thats a different story).
So i pad my rent knowing that in time my claim would be backdated. But then defaulted on my payment plan with the collection agents. Now they WILL NOT accept a plan even if it is by direct debit, and they are threatening to send bailiffs round. This is causuing anxiety and uneeded stress.

I recieved an email today saying they have refused 50a month and that included a budget laid out by CCCS and list of my other creditors. I have also put information in a written letter to them as well and they still refuse.


What are my next steps? Can i petition the original court where the judgement was made as the case was judged in my absence initially?

DrakesheadLabs

Golfer

Please please please talk to your wife. You will be amazed!! Its difficult I know but I had to go and speak to a Financial Advisor recently and I was mortified but got through the meeting with lots of tears and he was a stranger. My estranged husband does not know about my situation but then again we are separated and my spending debt etc went off the rails thereafter.

It may benefit you and your good lady to speak to someone together? Neutral ground? Hope all works out for you.