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StepChange_Pavan

estoril wrote: »

Hi,

I am wondering if somebody can offer some advise.

My mum let my aunt use her bank account for a direct debit for sky tv many years ago (not sure how many between 6-8 years ago). The bank account went overdrawn and continued to pay the direct debit. The bank was Lloyds. The debt wasn't too grea at the time, a few hundred pounds. All these years later, the debt has been sold on 3 or 4 times. The last she heard was a debt collector in Scotland that was offering deals to settle in 7 days etc. I asked for full details of all information held on my mothers behalf and at this stage all correspondence stopped. This was 2 years ago. I thought after this time that the debt was no longer being pursued.

The debt has now been sold to Mckenzie Hall who are now asking for £389.

Can anybody offer guidance as to how I go about helping m mother sort this mess out. Can they still chase such an old debt?

Thank you in advance.

Hi estoril and thanks for your post.

Although this debt is quite old, because they have continued to correspond with your mum, they can still pursue the debt.

It’s a good idea to offer Mckenzie Hall a copy of your mum’s budget with a sustainable offer of payment. They may be willing to settle the debt for less or reduce interest and charges if she explains the situation.

If you’d like us to help, your mum can use our our online advice facility Debt Remedy or 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

StepChange_Pavan

mikey_badlad wrote: »

Hi

I was after some help, my wife and i have not been very sensible when it comes to spending and saving. We recently got married and bought a house, and felt we needed everything there and then, which credit cards, overdrafts and loans were used. Now we have a lovely house which we're not enjoying as the debt has now got so bad that we are always stressed and feeling down. I know we have no one to blame but ourselves but now when we are earning good money we should be enjoying it. We have about 50k in unsecured and have been paying minimum payment on everything, thus not leaving enough money for the month and having to borrow to survive. This vicious circle has been going on for quite a while but we are now at the stage where we are maxed on everything and can't borrow anymore to consolidate and bring our monthly payments down. We recently contacted CCCS who have been excellent and have advised that provided our creditors stop the interest, we could be debt free in about 3 years which is great. I am currently putting all the info together for them but have hit a problem. We won't have enough to pay the first payment until July( although CCCS want us to start in June) and won't be able to make the payments to the creditors. Would anyone know what to do? I was thinking of compiling everything for the dmp to start in july, and make token payments to the creditors in June. Would anyone know if this is a good or bad thing to do? Please advise as this is starting to affect our marriage and health

Thanks

Hi mikey badlad and welcome to the forum.

It’s a good idea to offer your creditors token payments if you can’t afford to set up the plan straight away – this is definitely better than struggling and getting behind on your priorities.

I’d recommend that you call our support team so that we can update your records and you could send a brief letter to your creditors with the token payment explaining that your DMP will start in July. There should be a DMP notification letter template in your start pack that will help you.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

andyfrank

hi i was wondering if anyone can give me a little advise
my husband recently came out of work , due to the work and the way the current economy is
i have a mail order catalogue called very , and they are puting so much interest on we can no longer afford to meet the monthly demands
we are on jsa and get £200 per fortnight plus child tax cred for 2 children
we have always paid this debt on time and always only bought what we could afford to pay
they are now informing me i need to pay what i cant
my overall debt is £1200 i have offered to pay £30 per month but they refuse and said they will accept £40 per month but interest will still keep going on , i called consumer credit and they told me basically i dont have enough debt to be dealt with , CAB cant see me for 4 weeks , we have kept up to date with all our utility bills
i asked what would happen if i didnt pay and they said it would go to a debt collector (nationwide debt recovery) but they wouldnt tell me if the interest would be stopped , they said the only way the interest can be stopped is if i get a ref number from consumer credit or CAB
the credit advisor i spoke to also informed me the interest is now 39% , i know people have to pay interest but i opened this acc over 12 years ago and cant ever recall paying that interest rate before , she said once you go into arrears your interest rate goes up and charges go on
i did call them the same week my husband came out of work and asked for a reduced payment plan and they told me that until my acc was in arrears they could not help me
and since making that call i have had there sales team on the phone offering me £20 off orders if i place orders when i explained i could not afford anything they then suggested i have buy now pay later !!! .... the credit limit on my account was £5000 which i would never have used , i have used £1200 and that was on 2 household items that we needed quite quickly (cooker , washer )

can anyone advise what to do about this as its worrying me

alexbb_2

Hi I have quite a long story to tell I am hoping someone who may have had the same problems with this type of account to give me some advice. Here goes... When I was 16 I openened this account to have my wages paid in, I was told when I reach the age of 18 this account would be changed to a current account. When I did reach 18 I cant remember exactly what happened but I did get a letter explaining that my adapt account will be closed and I recieved a new current account card ect. Anyway I am now 20 and the account has still not been closed and I have over £300 in overdraft charges. :mad: Towards the end of last year 2010 I was in the bank to close the adapt account and to cancel my current account bank card as I lost it. The woman I spoke to said she will close my account and canceled my card I remember this day quite clearly the lady I spoke to didn't seem to know what she was doing she just sat there typing for atleast 5mins while I stood there then said all done, so after that I waited 2 weeks still no card. I then went into the portsmouth town branch to ask why I hadn't recieved my new card yet and the lady I spoke to was so shocked that the useless woman in the other bank didn't even bother to cancel the lost card nor order me a replacement also didnt do anything to cancel my account nor give me any advice as to what I should do which she should of told me that I need to put this in writing which I just read up on the terms and conditions on the natwest website . I really want to get this sorted Its making me feel sick I already have depression because of never having any money and being in debt I just don't know what to do If I had the money I would just pay these charges that I did not incur just to stop all these debt letters I am a single parent also a student there is no way of me getting this money in full so I would be so gratefull if someone could help me to write a letter to the bank as if I just sent this I would prob get ignored sorry for the rant

HenriettaMartin

Where do I even start?

I have a full time job, my husband is self employed. Both bad with money. My husband owns a house on his own which is currently being rented out, however the tenant is not paying his rent and we are in the process of trying to recover the rent arrears from him. As a result of the tenant not paying the rent my husband confessed to me that he has not been paying the mortgage on this property and is four months behind with the payments. This has gone to a debt collection agency and they have been in touch with us and we have agreed a payment plan with them which is still more than we can afford. The tenant is due to move out at the end of June and the house is currently for sale. If the house sold we would make approximately £20,000 - £30,000 off of it, but the tenant currently living there has been very uncooperative and has not let anyone view the house to buy it.

That is not all. My husband is currently building an extension on the house we currently live in, and the one next door. He has not priced the job correctly for him to be paid enough and the building works are taking longer than expected (as they always do). We cannot afford for him to keep working for nothing and so he is out working on other jobs to try and bring some money in. Because he has not been earning any money he has not been paying the bills from his account (not household bills, but bills for his business like payments on his van, insurance etc), and his bank account is now in an unarranged overdraft of approximately £1,000, as well as him being behind in payments for his van and insurance etc.

Our current joint account has a £1,500 overdraft limit (although we get charged for anything over -£300) and is sitting at -£1000. I currently have £1,000 sitting in my own account which is meant to be money for doing the house up and for things for the baby which we are about to have - sometime in the next five weeks.

I get paid monthly and my wage only just about covers the cost of our household bills and our current mortgage.

I don't even know where to start with sorting out this mess - we desperately need advice on how to deal with this and what to prioritise.

I would be grateful for any advice. Thanks.

StepChange_Pavan

andyfrank wrote: »

hi i was wondering if anyone can give me a little advise
my husband recently came out of work , due to the work and the way the current economy is
i have a mail order catalogue called very , and they are puting so much interest on we can no longer afford to meet the monthly demands
we are on jsa and get £200 per fortnight plus child tax cred for 2 children
we have always paid this debt on time and always only bought what we could afford to pay
they are now informing me i need to pay what i cant
my overall debt is £1200 i have offered to pay £30 per month but they refuse and said they will accept £40 per month but interest will still keep going on , i called consumer credit and they told me basically i dont have enough debt to be dealt with , CAB cant see me for 4 weeks , we have kept up to date with all our utility bills
i asked what would happen if i didnt pay and they said it would go to a debt collector (nationwide debt recovery) but they wouldnt tell me if the interest would be stopped , they said the only way the interest can be stopped is if i get a ref number from consumer credit or CAB
the credit advisor i spoke to also informed me the interest is now 39% , i know people have to pay interest but i opened this acc over 12 years ago and cant ever recall paying that interest rate before , she said once you go into arrears your interest rate goes up and charges go on
i did call them the same week my husband came out of work and asked for a reduced payment plan and they told me that until my acc was in arrears they could not help me
and since making that call i have had there sales team on the phone offering me £20 off orders if i place orders when i explained i could not afford anything they then suggested i have buy now pay later !!! .... the credit limit on my account was £5000 which i would never have used , i have used £1200 and that was on 2 household items that we needed quite quickly (cooker , washer )

can anyone advise what to do about this as its worrying me

Hi andyfrank and thanks for your post.

You shouldn’t be pressurised into making payments that you can’t afford – if you have already worked out that you can afford £30 you should stick to this.

It’s a good idea to send them a copy of your income and expenditure to back this up so they can see your situation and why you can only afford £30 per month.

Hopefully if your husband finds some work you may be able to offer them more and reduce the debt quicker.

Sometimes it can be difficult to speak to these people over the phone as they will continue to ask for more money. If this is the case, it’s best to put everything in writing and ask for their consideration in reducing or stopping the interest and charges. Like you’ve already mentioned, there’s no guarantee that they will do this but sometimes once they pass the debt to a collection agency they are more willing to do this.

If you need some help with putting together your budget you can use our online advice tool, Debt Remedy. If at any point you need to speak to someone, we have an online chat facility or you can give us a call.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

alexbb wrote: »

Hi I have quite a long story to tell I am hoping someone who may have had the same problems with this type of account to give me some advice. Here goes... When I was 16 I openened this account to have my wages paid in, I was told when I reach the age of 18 this account would be changed to a current account. When I did reach 18 I cant remember exactly what happened but I did get a letter explaining that my adapt account will be closed and I recieved a new current account card ect. Anyway I am now 20 and the account has still not been closed and I have over £300 in overdraft charges. :mad: Towards the end of last year 2010 I was in the bank to close the adapt account and to cancel my current account bank card as I lost it. The woman I spoke to said she will close my account and canceled my card I remember this day quite clearly the lady I spoke to didn't seem to know what she was doing she just sat there typing for atleast 5mins while I stood there then said all done, so after that I waited 2 weeks still no card. I then went into the portsmouth town branch to ask why I hadn't recieved my new card yet and the lady I spoke to was so shocked that the useless woman in the other bank didn't even bother to cancel the lost card nor order me a replacement also didnt do anything to cancel my account nor give me any advice as to what I should do which she should of told me that I need to put this in writing which I just read up on the terms and conditions on the natwest website . I really want to get this sorted Its making me feel sick I already have depression because of never having any money and being in debt I just don't know what to do If I had the money I would just pay these charges that I did not incur just to stop all these debt letters I am a single parent also a student there is no way of me getting this money in full so I would be so gratefull if someone could help me to write a letter to the bank as if I just sent this I would prob get ignored sorry for the rant

Hi alexbb and thanks for your post.

It looks as though you’ve already had some really good advice on the main forum.

I’d recommend that you follow copperboom’s advice and speak to someone in branch and be persistent. They have a duty to look into your complaint and cannot ignore you especially if they are at fault.

If they don’t take the matter seriously enough, you may need to escalate the complaint. At this stage I would recommend that you go to your local CAB as they will sit down with you and help you to formulate a letter.

Good luck with this.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

HenriettaMartin wrote: »

Where do I even start?

I have a full time job, my husband is self employed. Both bad with money. My husband owns a house on his own which is currently being rented out, however the tenant is not paying his rent and we are in the process of trying to recover the rent arrears from him. As a result of the tenant not paying the rent my husband confessed to me that he has not been paying the mortgage on this property and is four months behind with the payments. This has gone to a debt collection agency and they have been in touch with us and we have agreed a payment plan with them which is still more than we can afford. The tenant is due to move out at the end of June and the house is currently for sale. If the house sold we would make approximately £20,000 - £30,000 off of it, but the tenant currently living there has been very uncooperative and has not let anyone view the house to buy it.

That is not all. My husband is currently building an extension on the house we currently live in, and the one next door. He has not priced the job correctly for him to be paid enough and the building works are taking longer than expected (as they always do). We cannot afford for him to keep working for nothing and so he is out working on other jobs to try and bring some money in. Because he has not been earning any money he has not been paying the bills from his account (not household bills, but bills for his business like payments on his van, insurance etc), and his bank account is now in an unarranged overdraft of approximately £1,000, as well as him being behind in payments for his van and insurance etc.

Our current joint account has a £1,500 overdraft limit (although we get charged for anything over -£300) and is sitting at -£1000. I currently have £1,000 sitting in my own account which is meant to be money for doing the house up and for things for the baby which we are about to have - sometime in the next five weeks.

I get paid monthly and my wage only just about covers the cost of our household bills and our current mortgage.

I don't even know where to start with sorting out this mess - we desperately need advice on how to deal with this and what to prioritise.

I would be grateful for any advice. Thanks.

Hi HenriettaMartin and welcome to the forum.

Firstly, I’d recommend that you get some legal advice regarding the renting and tenant issue. You could try the Legal Services Commission.

With regards to your debts, we would need a bit more information from you before we can give you some detailed advice. You don’t mention whether your husband owns a company or if he is a sole trader. If he has business debts, he would need to contact Business Debltine for further advice. However if he is a sole trader, we have a specialist self employed team that will be able to help.

I’d really recommend that you give us a call so that we can advise you properly. 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

pinkprincess12

Hello,

I really need some advice. I am in around 8k of debt, some with credit cards / OD, but some is actually payday loans (probably the stupidist thing for me to do). If I was to go on some kind of debt management programme or DRO would the payday loan companies accept this or would they still hassel me to pay them outside of this (which I cant do). The payday companies are Wageday Advance, Payday UK and Lending Stream.

I really want to sort all my debt out and be debt free, after trying to hide from it for so long I'm finally facing it I just dont know how to sort it.

Thank you in advance.

Red9700

Hello

I don't know if I am posting on the correct thread ... or what information is needed..... I am struggling to find an solution to my current money situation..... a little background information...

Following my divorce 3 years ago, as I had no income I went onto income support and during that time needed to set my children and I up in a new home .... ( privately rented) I incurred debts ( credit card, store card, overdraft and catalogue) which now amount to £5500 .... following my youngest child reaching 10, I was advised to go self employed and now earn a ( very ) small income cleaning and ironing .... the debts are getting bigger ( due to interest ) and I have attempted to obtain a loan to clear the debts so they are 'altogether' and with a lower rate of interest... however I have been turned down for this.

I wonder if anyone could help / advise me with what I can do to help to move forward?

Thank-you so much