Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

southnorth wrote: »

Hi,

I have a question regarding Northern Rock and DMP.

I have a NR mortgage with about £67,000 outstanding and about £9000 of an unsecured loan as part of the Together package. I am considering entering into a Debt Management Plan and was wondering how NR will treat the unsecured loan.

Will they continue to want full payment or be fine about including it in the DMP?

Thanks

Hi southnorth and thanks for your post.

The unsecured loan will be treated in the same was as any of your other unsecured debts.

They may not be happy about receiving reduced payments, but you can’t give them money that you can’t afford and you can’t show one unsecured lender preferential treatment over another.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

a_quiet_man

Hi. Not been on here for some time but am looking for advice regarding my existing credit card debts.
I have a card with Barclaycard, another with Halifax and another with MBNA. Balances, limits and interest rates detailed as follows:

Barclaycard - Balance £3550, Limit £3600, Rate is 24.9% pa
MBNA - Balance is £800, Limit £800, Rate is 2.592 pm
Halifax - Balance is £1400, Limit is £2000, Rate is 21.9% pa (the account is now closed or inactive but I still need to make the regular minimum monthly payment)

The interest rates on these are really biting away at my ability to pay these off over time and I wanted to ask if it's worth contacting the individual companies to discuss moving me to a better deal?
I've been checking my credit files and although these are healthy and my Experian credit score is now up to 999, I don't think I should be applying for anything new as I was declined for a loan back in Dec 2010. Really think my %age of credit used would stand against me here.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions, I'd really appreciate the help. I've read a piece on Existing Customer Balance Transfers and I suppose this would be a useful start. Just wanted to know if there is a better option so that i can get these interest charges reduced and start to finally get these debts paid off for good!
Thanks.

craigeh123

thankyou for your advice - onwards and upwards

lend_me_a_tenner_bud

Hello this is my first post hope this is the right thread.

Just wanted some advice I sent a letter to Barclays on the 11th of May offering a token payment for my loans. I have still not recieved any reply to my offer by post.

Although the phone is red hot from Barclays Collections :mad:. I read somewhere to ignore these calls if that is right?.

Just wanted to know if anyone had any advice on this, do I send another letter to Barclays or will they ignore it like they have probably done with the last one?

Any ideas, anything that doesnt involve phoning, I hate phoning!!
Cheers

wiston

I contacted Cregory Pennington with regard to an DMP and noted that 15% is taken in fees per month rather than going to pay off debts. When I mentioned that I may use PayPlan or CCCS they said that both are funded by the Credit Industry and will not act 100% in my interest if there are disputes, delays or problems with creditors agreeing to my DMP. They said the fees they charge fund them to act 100% in my interests. But even so, I dont see how they can force a creditor to agree to a DMP. The way I see it the CCCS may be more trusted by a creditor and this in turn help my DMP being accepted. Is this correct?

StepChange_Pavan

mooreboy wrote: »

******hope i in right section*******
hi i have been out of the country for 2 weeks and have received a legal notice from lawton hathaway regarding a debt of 187.02
with more charges due to be placed on if i do not pay in full.

I have tried explaining to them that i can not pay this in full but can offer part payments.

I made a £10 payment before ringing them and a further £20 payment when i put the phone down.

They said that they will only return this money as it is not a full payment.

They do not want my money in part payments but in full what can i do i apparently have 7 days before they start knocking on my door.

Help
regards
shaun moore

Hi Shaun and thank you for your post.

You are right that you can only offer them payments that you can realistically afford.

I’d recommend that you send them a copy of your income and expenditure as proof of the situation that you’re in.

They shouldn’t return the money as you are making attempts to clear the debt at a rate that you can afford. They can follow the standard debt collection process, but it is unlikely that they will send a door stop collector. It’s much cheaper for them to call and write letters but if anyone does come to your door, they won’t be a bailiff and they don’t have any enforcement authority whatsoever.

If you’d like some help in putting together a budget you can use our online advice facility Debt Remedy. 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.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Busybee467 wrote: »

Hi....decided that after a good few years of hiding my debt that I should face up to it....need help on best way forward though. Totalled up all my debt and comes to £26,843......was devasted. Some is HP £4775, a loan £9753, then the rest is made up of 4 credit cards.

I'm just working on a budget at the moment....im not sure which is the best way to turn? I live with my parents currently but do pay rent, i have a goal of moving out soon as I don't get on with my parents but at the moment I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. All my wages seem to go on paying the debt...then I work a shift in a local pub to pay for anything I want to do...its so hard.

I have kept this a secret, no one knows - I'm embarassed, people say that I must have loads of money, working and living at home but it is quite the opposite. It is affecting everything I do now....

Any advice please??

Hi Busybee467 and welcome to the forum.

Please don’t feel embarrassed as this is a common situation and you’re definitely not alone.

It’s important that you draw up a budget so you know how much you have to spend on priorities such as rent and food, and how much you have leftover to offer towards your debt repayments. This will also be useful as you’ll be able to see where your money goes each month and how realistic it is that you’ll be able to move out soon.

Without knowing this information, it’s difficult to give you any detailed advice as I can’t see whether any changes to your budget could improve your situation or whether you would be better looking at a debt solution.

I’d recommend that you contact us so that we can look at your situation as a whole and advise you on your options. 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.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

cazmax

hi my partner and i have around 45k in debt. we were using debt advisory line who really didnt help us and with some of our debts we are worse off then when we started. my husband is self employeed and doing a small part time job to make ends meet. we looked at cccs website and this recommeded bankruptcy which we really dont want to do is there any other solution.
my husband seems to shrugge everything off but i cant and really worry about ours and our childrens future.
please help

StepChange_Pavan

a_quiet_man wrote: »

Hi. Not been on here for some time but am looking for advice regarding my existing credit card debts.
I have a card with Barclaycard, another with Halifax and another with MBNA. Balances, limits and interest rates detailed as follows:

Barclaycard - Balance £3550, Limit £3600, Rate is 24.9% pa
MBNA - Balance is £800, Limit £800, Rate is 2.592 pm
Halifax - Balance is £1400, Limit is £2000, Rate is 21.9% pa (the account is now closed or inactive but I still need to make the regular minimum monthly payment)

The interest rates on these are really biting away at my ability to pay these off over time and I wanted to ask if it's worth contacting the individual companies to discuss moving me to a better deal?
I've been checking my credit files and although these are healthy and my Experian credit score is now up to 999, I don't think I should be applying for anything new as I was declined for a loan back in Dec 2010. Really think my %age of credit used would stand against me here.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions, I'd really appreciate the help. I've read a piece on Existing Customer Balance Transfers and I suppose this would be a useful start. Just wanted to know if there is a better option so that i can get these interest charges reduced and start to finally get these debts paid off for good!
Thanks.

Hi a_quiet_man and welcome back!

It might be worth contacting them to see if they can offer you a better deal, although there are no guarantees and they may also do a credit check on you first.

Have you read this article on how to improve your credit score? http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score
This may help you, but I’d recommend that you keep paying as much as you can towards the ones with higher interest rates.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

wiston wrote: »

I contacted Cregory Pennington with regard to an DMP and noted that 15% is taken in fees per month rather than going to pay off debts. When I mentioned that I may use PayPlan or CCCS they said that both are funded by the Credit Industry and will not act 100% in my interest if there are disputes, delays or problems with creditors agreeing to my DMP. They said the fees they charge fund them to act 100% in my interests. But even so, I dont see how they can force a creditor to agree to a DMP. The way I see it the CCCS may be more trusted by a creditor and this in turn help my DMP being accepted. Is this correct?

Hi wiston and thanks for your post.

Although we are funded by donations from the credit industry we are a completely impartial debt advice charity.

You're right that no one can force a creditor to accept a DMP or stop interest and charges but we have good working relationships with most creditors which certainly helps.

Ultimately we believe that you shouldn't pay for debt advice or services when you are struggling financially.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Pavan