Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

haziefantasie wrote: »

I really need some advice. Having worked in property for over 10 years I lost a lot of money in the crash and found myself deeply in debt. I have reached an agreement with most of my creditors and am trying to pay everything back. The RBS turned by loans/overdraft etc into an unsecured loan of 63,000 pounds and after iniital 6 month interest only payment have been paying for the past year sum of 750 per month which is capital and interest. I have been living abroad for the lat 2 years (returning home every 2 months for approx couple of weeks) where I have been working. However now have problems with work permit and can no longer work. I have asked the bank if I can return to interest only for about 6 months but they have refused and I am now with special relationship manager. I have been trying to contact this person for the last 2 months but only when I cancelled the standing order has he been in touch. He has informed me by email that unless I continue paying full amount I will be referred to their debt recovery dept in Telford. He is calling me this week to discuss. Can you please tell me what my legal rights are in all this? The easy option would have been for me to throw the towel in 2 years ago but I really do want to pay off all my debts.

Hi haziefantasie and welcome to the forum.

The only way they can enforce you to pay is through the standard debt collection process, so you’re doing as much as you can if you stick to a realistic payment plan and offer them whatever you can afford.

The best way to work this out is to compile a budget detailing all your income and essential expenditure. You can then offer them whatever money is leftover towards the debt.

If you’d like help in putting a budget together or you have other debts that you’re struggling with too, we can help.

You can visit our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) which will help you compile a budget.

To help you fill in the form, it’s best to gather together information about:
• Your income
• Your expenditure
• The creditors you owe money to

You’ll receive a downloadable advice booklet providing a tailored solution for you based on your current circumstances and advice on ways you may be able to improve your situation.

If you’re not confident with computers or would like to speak to an advisor then you’re welcome to ring our free Helpline on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.

If you phone us 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

System

mum2one wrote: »

Sorry another question, (I will eventually stop dipping my toe, - know next month get no choice).

The query I have got relates to local authority, just when I started the online process it asks do I work for local authority - I don't but I am a school goveneror, know that when I applied I coulnd't be bankrupt, a dmp at first look would take 20 yrs.... too much debt for an DRO, don't want to go down the bankruptcy route, as there be a possibility that my income will increase back to a normalish level (for me), in the next 6 months, its compliacted as its out of my hands, but would an IVA affect the governerors post, I'm not 100% up on an IVA.
(sorry) x

Hi mum2one and thanks for your message.

An IVA, like bankruptcy is a form of insolvency and some jobs and other posts stipulate that the person in or applying for the position cannot be insolvent. It would depend on the individual school themselves.

You would need to check the wording of the contract you have with the school to see if this is the case.

If the contract states that you cannot be a Governor while insolvent you could resign the position and volunteer as a parent helper instead.

As you’ve filled the Debt Remedy form in online you might want to use our Debt Remedy support service as they have access to your details and can talk you through the options available.

If your position is going to change within the next six months you could consider a temporary solution until your income returns to more manageable levels.

I hope this helps

Kind regards

Mat

StepChange_Pavan

The_Babberer wrote: »

Hi.
A friend of mine was in a Debt Management Plan (DMP) Via Debt Advisory Line (DAL). I advised my friend to contact creditors directly and use the monthly fee DAL had been taking to increase the repayment offers.
All Creditors accepted the new repayments except Barclays. First they advised they had only recd advice from DAL that the DMP had ended and they had not recd any letters from my friend.
Further letters were sent, each time with I&E but they keep ignoring the offer adding on more charges and increasing the arrears. They do keep asking for contact to come to some kind of arrangement but every time a letter is sent making a monthly offer it is ignored so no arrangement is made.
The revised offer of repayment is 3 times that what DAL were sending Barclays but they still refuse to accept a DMP from my friend.
The latest offer made is now £20 higher than the original monthly payments from the beginning of the loan to try and catch up the arrears, yet they keep ignoring the letters offering this and keep piling on charges and sending default letters.
I talked my friend into contacting the Ombudsman but their reply was that Barclays were within their right to decline an offer of repayment received directly from my friend and request a breakdown of the financial position from recognised debt counselling.
I believe that my friend has not been treated fairly. The reason is that by using a debt management company Barclays accepted a much lower payment, stopped interest and charges. By getting rid of the debt management company and doing it alone Barclays have declined the DMP and started applying interest and charges.
I now feel guilty as my attempt to help my friend get out of debt quicker and save £20 per month has ended up putting them in a much worse position with this one creditor.

Hi The Babberer and thanks for your post.

You shouldn’t feel guilty as it’s not your fault that Barclays won’t stop the interest and charges. Unfortunately there are never any guarantees that a creditor will agree to do this - even through a DMP managed by a third party.

Your friend could continue to persist and try to send everything recorded delivery so that they know whether they’ve received anything they send.

Alternatively, your friend could use a charity like us that will administer the DMP completely free of charge. This would remove the pressure of having to deal individually with each of the creditors but will still be using 100% of their surplus towards clearing the debts.

If your friend would like some more detailed advice, they can use our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) or call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm. We’ll also explore any other debt solutions that might be available.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

iwillbedebtfreeinmylife

Hi, i have sent a SAR to all my husbands creditors, i have had a letter back from one of them today asking for proof of his address, asking for one of many items like driving license etc. Alittle confused as to why they would do this and are they allowed to do this? starnge as they send all there letters to our address, they dont ask for proof then!

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help

uptohighdoh

Hi there and hoping you can advise....
I have the following debts (tried to do Debt Remedy but wouldn't let me input actual minimum payment amounts for CC debts; they were prefilled with amounts in excess of actual ones)

RBS loan - £16,500 (was £25,000) - 3 years left
RBS CC - £4,300 - pay £105
Santander CC - £6,300 - pay £175
Halifax CC - £8,300 - pay £160
Opus CC - £2,800 - pay £120

I service all my debts and have not missed any payments etc and have a monthly net income of £1874 and outgoings of £1500. I want to pay my debts but am a bit concerned as to the length of time it will take and also the rates on CC's. My own bank phoned me this morning to offer a BT at 0% for 18 months and then declined me due to affordability! I am a home owner with my husband but these are my debts, not his.
Should I look at trying to take loan back to it's original amount of £25,000 but still on the 3 year term? This would allow me to fully pay of 2 cards and soemthing off a 3rd. Are the bank likely to decline me for a loan extension too on the same basis? Any advice gratefully received. I live in Scotland and don't want to go down the dmp (or equivalent) route.
Thanks for reading...

Pigs

Hi

I'd be grateful for some advice regarding a final settlement I am trying to negotiate.

I have sent one of my creditors an offer to pay 25% of the total debt, however my creditor has responded by requesting I complete a new income and expenditure form before they will respond to my enquiry. This new form requests that I provide a lot of personal details like my work address, all phone numbers, my National Insurance number etc which I am not comfortable to do as I don't wish to be contacted at work etc. and I have no idea why they would need my NI number? They have also requested proof of all income and expenditure, which is big concern....I'm not very good at keeping receipts......Do you know what sort of proof they will require?

Thanks,

StepChange_Pavan

iwillbedebtfreeinmylife wrote: »

Hi, i have sent a SAR to all my husbands creditors, i have had a letter back from one of them today asking for proof of his address, asking for one of many items like driving license etc. Alittle confused as to why they would do this and are they allowed to do this? starnge as they send all there letters to our address, they dont ask for proof then!

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help

Hi iwillbedebtfreeinmylife and thanks for your post.

It does seem strange that they are asking for proof of his address. You could query it and ask why they need this when they already send correspondence to the same address. However it’s unlikely that they’ll send you the information you’ve asked for until they receive your proof.

This booklet gives you a lot of information about SARs that you might find useful: http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/introductory/subject_access_rights.pdf

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

uptohighdoh wrote: »

Hi there and hoping you can advise....
I have the following debts (tried to do Debt Remedy but wouldn't let me input actual minimum payment amounts for CC debts; they were prefilled with amounts in excess of actual ones)

RBS loan - £16,500 (was £25,000) - 3 years left
RBS CC - £4,300 - pay £105
Santander CC - £6,300 - pay £175
Halifax CC - £8,300 - pay £160
Opus CC - £2,800 - pay £120

I service all my debts and have not missed any payments etc and have a monthly net income of £1874 and outgoings of £1500. I want to pay my debts but am a bit concerned as to the length of time it will take and also the rates on CC's. My own bank phoned me this morning to offer a BT at 0% for 18 months and then declined me due to affordability! I am a home owner with my husband but these are my debts, not his.
Should I look at trying to take loan back to it's original amount of £25,000 but still on the 3 year term? This would allow me to fully pay of 2 cards and soemthing off a 3rd. Are the bank likely to decline me for a loan extension too on the same basis? Any advice gratefully received. I live in Scotland and don't want to go down the dmp (or equivalent) route.
Thanks for reading...

Hi uptohighdoh and thanks for your post.

When you say that your outgoings are £1500, does this include all of your expenditure including bills, food (etc) and your creditors? If so, this means that you still have a further £374 available to pay towards your debts.

I’m not sure why they declined you on affordability if you showed them a budget that supports this available surplus. It could be a good idea to put a budget together including absolutely everything that you pay out for and see if there are any changes or cutbacks that you can make to free up more money to pay towards your debts.

From what you’ve mentioned it doesn’t sound as though you’re struggling but you’re just looking at ways to improve your situation so that you can become debt free. You could consider applying for a loan extension provided that you work out in advance that you can comfortably afford the repayments. It’s also important that you cut up any old credit cards and resist the temptation to use them again as this could make your situation worse.

You don’t mention any problems with your credit file but you might find his article useful on how to improve it: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score.

You could also ask the bank for more information on why you were declined for the card. This should give you more of an idea on what you can improve or change to increase your chances for the loan.

If for any reason you’re unsuccessful for the loan, the figures you’ve given suggest that you still have surplus money to pay towards your debts. If this is the case, try to pay more towards the debt with the highest interest rate to clear that as quickly as possible.

You could also sit down with your husband to look t the household budget and see what changes you can make – I know you said that these debts aren’t his but there still may be things that you can change without burdening him.

I hope this helps,

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Pigs wrote: »

Hi

I'd be grateful for some advice regarding a final settlement I am trying to negotiate.

I have sent one of my creditors an offer to pay 25% of the total debt, however my creditor has responded by requesting I complete a new income and expenditure form before they will respond to my enquiry. This new form requests that I provide a lot of personal details like my work address, all phone numbers, my National Insurance number etc which I am not comfortable to do as I don't wish to be contacted at work etc. and I have no idea why they would need my NI number? They have also requested proof of all income and expenditure, which is big concern....I'm not very good at keeping receipts......Do you know what sort of proof they will require?

Thanks,

Hi Pigs and welcome to the forum.

It seems strange that they would need all this information. You’re not obliged to give them contact details for your work and I’m unsure as to what they would do with your NI number.

You could ask them why they require this information and explain that you can send them a copy of your budget but you feel uncomfortable sending other personal information that they’re asking for.

Or you could return the forms but only complete the details about your income and expenditure and see what they come back with.

Let us know how you get on.

Kind regards,
Pavan

swords

I have been a fool but I had hit the bottom and DFH were there and I didn't know where to turn for advice.

I have had a payment plan with them for 2 years and now I realise I would be better off going to CCCS.

I had my review with DFH today asked about how much I owed now wouldn't tell me, they also mentioned IVAs but then said I would not be suitable as only have 2 creditors but they could sort that well that rang bells I am not thick. The tehy mentioned equity in my house.

They went through my bills again and said some debtor would class my internet as a luxury, my sons needs it for school , I don't drive so need it for shopping.

So can I get out of this mess and move to CCCS.

Also I asked if Sainsburys had stopped the interest on my loam they said no so how am I ever going to pay this off.

I (we as joint we husband) owe to sainsburys bank for a loan and 2 overdrafts with natwest.

Can anybody please help ?