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Melody1980

that is meant to say a £1500 overdraft which I live in and am right up to! Apologies!

BrummyBen

Hi There,
This is my first post so please be gentle! I’ll keep it brief to save boring everyone! I was made redundant in December (P45 received in Christmas Eve’s post!). After a month of unemployment I have been temping since the start of Feb. I have been actively seeking permanent work but have nothing as yet. My wife returned to work from Maternity leave in January.
We currently have £2k on an 0% interest credit card through to Janauary next year. We also have £2k on an Amex which needs paying off this month, else it will accrue interest. Our monthly salaries are just about enough to cover our living expenses but certainly don't cover this £2k, and with my temping position finishing at the end of this month, future months could be very tight. We are currently on a fixed rate mortgage with NatWest paying just under £1200 a month. This mortgage product finishes in November this year, where we will be looking to move onto a flexible rate. We currently owe £200k on the mortgage with the property recently valued at £300k, therefore we do have equity in the house.
What I am thinking of doing is moving the £2k amex debt onto a new 0% balance transfer & purchases credit card, and also putting any significant purchases on this card for the remainder of this year. We will then pay off the minimum monthly amount without accruing any interest payments. Then when we arrange our new mortgage in November, I will remortgage at a value more than the outstanding mortgage balance & use the surplus to pay off all the debts. Due to the equity in the house (LTV of 70%), we should still be able to select from a competitive range of products whilst being able to use some of the available capital to clear our debt.
Does this sound sensible to people, or will i be making a glaring mistake?!

Thanks

Pola_2

Hello,

I left the UK about two years ago and now live in Brazil. A friend of mine in the UK who still receives my post once in a while contacted me worried as he had received a letter from Moorcroft. It says that I have a debt of £330. They ask to contact them as soon as possible, if not they will commence legal proceedings.

I checked with my bank and they explained me that I had a small overdraft (which I completely forgot about) but over 2 years it grown into £330 and they sold my debt to Moorcroft. For some reason they asked me if I have any other debt in the UK or any property or mortgage. I said that I didn't. And they said that I can not worry about this debt then. I'm quite confused now.

I wonder what kind of "legal proceedings" they can commence against me. How it can affect me considering I no longer live in the country?

I consider coming back to the UK to do my PhD in the future. Will not paying this debt cause me much trouble if I return?

Many thanks for your help.

scruffness

Gosh...reading some of these posts you debt resolvers have your work cut out! (And I'm going to add to it!)

I'm scared...My partner and I have got into a bit of trouble with debts.

My partner wanted to change his career and earn more money so he got a £1500 credit card to pay for a plumbing course. He didn't get on with the plumbing course so left that (and the credit card payments) and got a driving instructor course on finance. He owes around £3500 on this still and can't afford the monthly payments of £117 month so hasn't touched that for a few months either.

He also had the rear windscreen of his car smashed and insisted on having a £400 alarm fitted and was paying £15 a month for a while but that soon stopped getting paid too so he probably owes more than that now.

He has now passed all his Instructor tests and is a fully qualified ADI and although he is pretty busy, he doesn't earn anything until he has paid over a £1000 to the franchise, car lease and car insurance. Then there's petrol and everything else he has to buy to keep the business running on top, so he's not earning a great deal. He has not kept any books or records on income etc or payed any taxes since he started last year in June. (another thing we're worried about!)

I was working around 17hrs a week earning £300 a month tops until October last year.

I went 'self employed' in October but was working for a lady earning around £500 a month and had a part time job earning about £120 a month. I was working around 28 hours a week, but I didn't inform the tax credits and still haven't yet. *blush*
I did declare myself as self employed on the internet though, and got my national insurance bill recently, which I also haven't paid yet!

My self emloyment has now ceased as I let 'my boss' down 1 DAY as I couldn't get my daughter to nursery (in another town) because I couldn't afford tax and MOT for my car. She told me to get a taxi which I refused as it would cost more than double of what I earn in 1 day...This was enough for her to 'sack' me as it was "pathetic"

So now I have my part time job of about 7hrs a week, which isn't a problem, I can get childcare for my 2 year old for that, but in order to get another job I will have to put my daughter back into nursery. As I owe her nursery £1300, they want at least £500 before they have her back there, so now I can't get another job. (and I can't pay the nursery because of this!)

I don't know where to start, I owe money all over the place and don't have anything to give them.

I'm guessing I was getting more than I should have been off tax credits but even with my wages, we still had more outgoing than incoming (and that was before paying any of our creditors!!) Now I don't have that income and I'm going to have to pay back tax credits and I can't get another job or pay off the nursery or pay off any other debts.

I'm scared that if I update the tax credits now, I won't get enough money to pay my mortgage and other priority bills.

What do I do 1st??

Sorry!
Hope someone can help!

Regards,

Sarah

StepChange_Pavan

Melody1980 wrote: »

Hi there,

I need some help please! I was made redundant on Feb 15th and was on 26k and although I was paying a lot out for my debts, £360 a month, I could cope with that and my bills and rent etc etc. However, I have been struggling to find work and have fallen behind on all the payments as well as my household bills. My partner is paying the rent and bits of bills but I am getting in a pickle. I owe £1400 on a Bank of Scotland card which is a huge 21% and I pay £60 a month, a Barclaycard with £2500 on which I pay the minimum off per month which is £55 ish, an AA loan with about 2k left on which I pay £101, then I got my mum to take a loan out for me which has about 6k left on and I pay £142 a month on. Then I have a £1500 which I live in and am right up to. I have been failing to pay all these things and have had a brief conversation with them all saying I'm struggling and will pay what I can a month. I don't think I can live like this much longer, what can I do? I may have got a job today (fingers crossed) but it will only give me about 1k a month. I should be paying £290 a month for rent, then my council tax is £179 a month which I split with my boyfriend, prob £70 towards bills, then food etc. I need a car for work but cannot afford one since I lost my company car in my redundancy. Its all just a mess at the moment and I need some serious advice!

Hi Melody1980 and welcome to the forum

It sounds as though you’d benefit from some free and impartial debt advice.

Firstly, I’d recommend that you put together an income and expenditure which shows any income you have at the moment and everything you need to pay out for on a regular basis, not including your creditors. Whatever is leftover is what you have available to pay towards your debts.

If you are successful in getting a job, you can review your budget and offer then more if possible.

If you’d like us to help you in putting together a budget and looking at 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. 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,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

BrummyBen wrote: »

Hi There,
This is my first post so please be gentle! I’ll keep it brief to save boring everyone! I was made redundant in December (P45 received in Christmas Eve’s post!). After a month of unemployment I have been temping since the start of Feb. I have been actively seeking permanent work but have nothing as yet. My wife returned to work from Maternity leave in January.
We currently have £2k on an 0% interest credit card through to Janauary next year. We also have £2k on an Amex which needs paying off this month, else it will accrue interest. Our monthly salaries are just about enough to cover our living expenses but certainly don't cover this £2k, and with my temping position finishing at the end of this month, future months could be very tight. We are currently on a fixed rate mortgage with NatWest paying just under £1200 a month. This mortgage product finishes in November this year, where we will be looking to move onto a flexible rate. We currently owe £200k on the mortgage with the property recently valued at £300k, therefore we do have equity in the house.
What I am thinking of doing is moving the £2k amex debt onto a new 0% balance transfer & purchases credit card, and also putting any significant purchases on this card for the remainder of this year. We will then pay off the minimum monthly amount without accruing any interest payments. Then when we arrange our new mortgage in November, I will remortgage at a value more than the outstanding mortgage balance & use the surplus to pay off all the debts. Due to the equity in the house (LTV of 70%), we should still be able to select from a competitive range of products whilst being able to use some of the available capital to clear our debt.
Does this sound sensible to people, or will i be making a glaring mistake?!

Thanks

Hi BrummyBen and welcome to the forum.

We wouldn’t usually recommend turning unsecured debt into secured debt by adding it on to your mortgage as this could put your house at risk in the future.

It’s also difficult to say whether you will be accepted for a 0% credit card. If you are successful, this debt could easily mount up if you add to it with further purchases.

I’d recommend that you put together a sustainable budget to work out how much you can realistically afford to pay towards your debts. If you can’t take out further unsecured credit on a lower interest rate, you may want to consider offering them reduced payments until you get back on your feet. This will affect your credit rating but if you can’t apply for further credit this may be your only option.

I’d recommend that you get in touch with us so that we can look at your situation as a whole and give you some more detailed advice.

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.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Pola wrote: »

Hello,

I left the UK about two years ago and now live in Brazil. A friend of mine in the UK who still receives my post once in a while contacted me worried as he had received a letter from Moorcroft. It says that I have a debt of £330. They ask to contact them as soon as possible, if not they will commence legal proceedings.

I checked with my bank and they explained me that I had a small overdraft (which I completely forgot about) but over 2 years it grown into £330 and they sold my debt to Moorcroft. For some reason they asked me if I have any other debt in the UK or any property or mortgage. I said that I didn't. And they said that I can not worry about this debt then. I'm quite confused now.

I wonder what kind of "legal proceedings" they can commence against me. How it can affect me considering I no longer live in the country?

I consider coming back to the UK to do my PhD in the future. Will not paying this debt cause me much trouble if I return?

Many thanks for your help.

Hi Pola and thank you for your post.

They may have asked you about properties to see if they can apply for a charging order which would secure the debt against your house. However this isn’t possible if you’re not a homeowner.

In your case they will probably follow the standard debt collection process.

As you know that you owe the debt and because you intend to return to the UK, I’d recommend that you put together a budget showing your income and expenditure and offer to pay them a monthly amount that you can afford.

If you’d like some help with this, you can call us on +44 113 297 0126 to book an appointment with a counsellor. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. If you have all your information ready it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor if one is available, otherwise we will arrange a time that is convenient for you to be called back for an appointment.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

JimmyTheOwl

Hello

I'm just under £5000 in debt. The debt is spread out to 6 or 7 different creditors; some debt collection agencies, some the companies I borrowed from. I'm getting loads of phone calls and letters asking for amounts I can't afford.

I'm unemployed at the moment (on job seekers allowance) but would like to get a consolidation loan. Would I be able to get a consolidation loan in my situation? I'm not a home-owner.

I'm starting University in September (providing I get the grades) and plan to pay all my debts off with my student loans/grants (not ideal I know, but at least they'd be out of the way), and I would pay the consolidation loan off in full in september.

I've searched for companies on the internet who do loans for unemployed people, but the companies I've looked at seem a bit dodgy ie:
amateurish websites, poor written english on the websites, not much information given, etc....

Have you got any advice for me?

Thanks
James

honory

Hi, I had a DMP with the CCCS which finished with everything paid off in July 2007. Since then I have an immaculate credit record (i have a capital one cc which i pay off every month) and all other debts are fine. I kept to all agreements with the CCCS and since 2004 when i took out the dmp I have led a strict and unextravagant life!!
We have recently applied for a mortgage through our financial advisor and all was going well. The advisor thought we would encounter no problems and since all the arrangements to pay had actually been settled and cleared since 2007 he thought we would be fine. We applied for our equifax credit file and checked it (as did the financial advisor) and were very ready to proceed so the mortgage application was made and yesterday we received news that the underwriters had declined it. Our financial advisor is following this up but it would seem the problem is a Marks and Spencer Credit Card which is showing as settled in 2007 but it notes a Default (instead of an Arrangement to Pay) for one month is July 2006. It also shows a default/delinquent balance of £4755 at the same time as showing the account settled in July 2007. In fact on the credit record after the default of july 2006 it shows a green S in August 2006 followed by 3 months of U (unavailable data?) and then from there up to July 2007 it shows green in every month up to the final green S in July 2007. From 2004 - 2007 I paid this debt via the CCCS every month. I never missed a payment and increased payments to them as i cleared other debts. I contacted all my creditors when i first arranged the dmp plan and M+S were very agreeable and froze the interest rate and allowed the arrangement to continue until they accepted full and final settlement in July 2007. I am going to contact them to get them to investigate but apart from the last 4 digits of the card which appear on my credit file I have not kept any documents referring to this. Obviously I am hoping that something can be done their end but does anyone have any advice? All other debts that were processed by the CCCS in exactly the same way show AP in red every month of the agreement until the green S of settlement. None of them apart from the M+S card show a default/delinquent balance and none show a Default marker apart from M+S. Does this sound like a mistake?

faekah

Hi

I really need some advice for my parents. They have a small property which they rent out which in turn helps them pay the mortgage on our family house. The tenant initially paid her rent on time, but has not for 5 months now !! This has left my parents not being able to pay their mortgage on time and running of feeds and debt. They were being nice to the tenant and letting her have time as she had to give up her job due to her teenage son being in hospital. However since then she has been saying she is waiting for compensation or their is a problem with the bank account or that she is owed housing benefit and the council are not paying it.
Over a week ago the council admitted to my parents that they have been paying this tenant money for the rent, but she has not been passing this on - effectively stealing it is the phrase they used. She denies this but several people in the council have confirmed. The council have failed to stop payments to her - we asked could it come directly to the landlord - and now she owes my parents a lot! In addition she has purposefully caused damage to the property (pulling a radiator of the wall, breaking the shower, causing damp and water leaks) - we are presuming because she wants to state that the property isn't up to use - presumably because she wants a better one from the council!! We really don't know what to do!! We're shocked a tenant could do such things.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don't know if anyone has had such issues with tenants before?!