Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

wighty30

Hi there, apologies, this is my first time, so a bit unsure what I'm doing!
I have a debt of £7300 and am struggling to make payments although I have not yet missed any payments. My bank, whom I have most of the debt with, will turn it all into a loan BUT I was also considering a debt management plan which means I will pay less per month. This obviously is more desirable as I don't have much disposable income per month. I don't know enough about debt management plans though to make a decision on what would be best, can anyone offer any advice please? Thanks

canuhelpme

Hi there,

Just wondering if anyone can give me some advice. I am currently 40k in debt and have fallen behind in payments over the last 3 months. All my debt is unsecured. I have my house up for sale and should generate about 30k profit after paying off my mortgage. I wish to try and make a lump sum payment to each creditor using this money. Does anyone know if I have to use all the money from my house sale or just a proportion of it. I dont qualify for an iva as I only have £100 disposable income so I feel this is the only way out.

System

fordy1979 wrote: »

Hi all...

Have been involved in a DMP for the last 6 months, I currently pay £704 per month to 8 creditors with starting debt of £25,000...

The service rovided to me has been fantastic and very helpful and informative, my only gripe is with the creditors as they have refused to stop the interest added each month...

I should have paid off nearly £5,000 but it has been less than half which is a little demoralising. I understand this is my fault and that they are well in their right to do this however.

My question is that would an IVA be a better option to me as then I have an official end date?

Many Thanks in advance..

Hi Fordy1979 and welcome to the forum.

I understand your frustration but I’m afraid creditors would not consider an IVA in your situation.

I would recommend you stick to the DMP and keep your creditors updated with your situation to show you are making your best efforts to repay the amounts owed.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

System

mrs_ed wrote: »

Hello. I'm new to this but just don't know which way to turn, hopefully i'll get a wee bit of advice.

I had a ccj 11/7/2000 the judgement value was £7221. I was paying £60 per month but the court set the repayment at £40 per month. Since then i have never missed a payment. I was contacted by Link saying that the ccj had ran out and that the account was being charged interest.Is this possible? I thought the ccj ran untill the debt was paid, is this the case?
I have received a statement stating that my balannce is now £9873. The debt is now more than the original loan.

I have buried my head in the sand over this but i've received another letter saying they had done a credit check and seen that i had settled a debt recently. I had re-mortgaged 3 years ago and paid a few things off but none were a considerable amount of money.

I'm unsure what to do i haven't spoke to the company yet as i feel i have no knowledge regarding the ins and outs of the ccj and the repayments, but i thought they wouldn't be able to charge interest as the court had set the amount that needed to be paid.

I'm at my wits end now and really dont know how to handle this situation any help will be greatly appreciated.

Hi mrsd ed and welcome to the forum.

There could be a number of factors at work here.

I would recommend that you have a word with the court that set the original judgement in regards to this.

I would be very interested to hear what the court says.

Please feel free to come back to the forum or send me a private message regards the outcome.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

System

dally810 wrote: »

Hi not sure if I am in the right place on the forum?
I have been considering a DMP for the last 12 months, but it has got to the point where I have no choice, due to intrest rates and cost of living going up. My total debt is about 27k, I have made an arrangement with MBNA and they have reduced my payments for 6 mths, but still have a Sainsbury Loan, and other CC's like Lloyds and Abbey, I have overdraft at the bank. I have considered a really helpful company to have my DMP with, they charge 35% first mth and second, then 10% monthly, I would have to ay 137.00 per mth into DMP, the debt is all in my name, my partner is not aware, and there is equity in the house so not worth doing IVA. I am looking for the best service, as I am getting really stressed dealing with it on my own, my main worry would be getting a CCJ issued, as our house is in joint name, so this is why I need a good company to look after me, if this should come about. I really need to get this sorted now, so I can move on again, and become debt free eventully

Hi dally810 and welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you would benefit from some free and impartial advice.

We administrate debt management plans free of charge so that all the money you pay each month will go directly to your creditors to help you get debt free quicker.

Neither ourselves or any other debt management company can guarantee that creditors will stop interest and charges as this is entirely up to the creditor.

The first thing to do is visit our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) to help you find a solution to your debt problem quickly.

Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a financial statement with information on your household, employment, income, expenditure and debts. From this the service will automatically determine your options.

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,
Mat

mrs_ed

CCCS_Mat wrote: »

Hi mrsd ed and welcome to the forum.

There could be a number of factors at work here.

I would recommend that you have a word with the court that set the original judgement in regards to this.

I would be very interested to hear what the court says.

Please feel free to come back to the forum or send me a private message regards the outcome.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

Thankyou for getting back to me.

I did send a letter to Uxbridge County Court last year, they did reply. The letter said to look at my original contract as it may state that interest can be added after the judgment has been entered and to obtain leagal advice and detailed statements from the claiment.
I do have the original credit agreement but its all "greek" to me. I can't find the judgment from the court either, can i request a copy of relevant papers from the claiment? Also since i have been paying i have only received 2 statements from them, the first one is dated 13 nov 2008.
Should i go to my local CAB as this doesnt seem straight forward to me.

andiw

Hi, I'm lost. I don't know what to do. I think I am about 10 thousand in debt, I know that is not a huge ammount compared to some but it's really scaring me. Most of it is on credit cards, as I used to beable to cope moving it around on the 0% but over the last few months it seems to have escalated and got out of control and I'm so worried I daren't tell my hubby because he trusted me to keep the household finances under control, and I haven't _pale_
I have tried the budgets and I don't know where I am going wrong as it says we have money to spare each month, but before payday last month I had £13 left for food.
My gut wants to replace it by a loan and know that it is all being paid off, but I'm not sure if that is the way to go. My 0% on the cards run out in october, but panic mode is already setting in.
Some guidance would be greatfully recieved.:embarasse

System

SimpleGuy84 wrote: »

Your advice will be welcome.

Is it better to pay off an overdraft first (thereby getting into the black regularly) or paying credit cards first?

I have a £1450 overdraft facility (of which £200 is interest free, with the rest at 1.17% per month, 14.9% per annum (variable)).

I tend to use up most of this o/d every month but know that from end-September, I'll shave off a bit more every month.

After my bills (inc. rent, taxes, travel debts) etc., I should have some £686.73 to spare (excluding cash withdrawals, lunches here and there).

My credit cards are:
CC1: £2,997.14 @ 24.9% - currently paying £80 p.m.
CC2: £481.68 @ 24.9% - currently paying £20 p.m.

Should I pay off my overdraft first or focus on snowballing my credit cards from September?

Hi SimpleGuy84 and welcome to the forum.

I’d recommend that you firstly open a new basic bank account without an overdraft facility and do you banking from there. You can then steadily pay off the old overdraft and your other debts.

This new bank account would protect you income from unexpected charges on the old account.

I would pick the higher interest, higher balance credit card and make this a priority for your surplus income while maintaing the payments on the overdraft and second card.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

System

bec99 wrote: »

Hi


I have a debt problem and have no clue who to get advice from or what to do about it.


I received a letter today from a debt collection agency advising me that 3 weeks ago they were sold a debt of approx £750 in my name and at my home address for money owing from the period of 1998-2000.


I have spoken to the company who apparently have no further information other than the above details and that it was for a catalogue and for goods ordered in my name and address and delivered to my address.


I have no doubt that it could well have been me ordering from this catalogue but I refuse to believe that I neither paid the balance (considering it is my parents address) or, if I hadn't paid the balance, would have ignored any letters of payment due or even from debt collection agencies nearer the time.


I'm also surprised to believe that they expect me to pay an amount of money this large, with no further information than what I have already been given.


The guy at the company told me I can either contact the catalogue to get more information from them (but will they still have details 11-13 years down the line), or file a police report for id fraud, therefore vindicating one of my family.


I'm am at a total loss of what to do!!


Please help thank you.

Hi bec99 and thanks for your post.

Creditors are unable to legally pursue you for the debt if, after six years;

• The creditor has not already obtained a county court judgment (CCJ)

• You or any one else owing the money (on a debt in joint names) have not made a payment

• You have not written to the creditor admitting you owe the debt

This is known as statute barred and refers to the Limitation Act.
If you believe that the creditor is timed out to collect the debt, you may wish to use the template letter below.

Example letter – limitations act

From:
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Date:
CCCS Client No:
To:
Creditor’s Name:
Account/Agreement No:

Without Prejudice

Dear Sirs
Ref
I do not admit any liability for your claim and will not be making any payment towards it, as it is now more than six-years since any cause of action may have accrued. Any claim would, therefore, appear to be statute barred under section 5 of The Limitations Act 1980 and any court claim will be defended on that basis.
In addition section 2.14 of The Office of Fair Trading Collection guidance states that it is unfair to pursue such claims where, as here, the creditor has made no contact during the relevant limitation period.
If, however, you have substantive evidence that your claim is not statute barred then please supply it to me within 21 days. If you are unable to provide such evidence please confirm that no further action will be taken against me.
Yours faithfully
(Signature)
(Print name)

I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Mat

System

footy_fan wrote: »

Hi wondering if someone is able to help and I'm hoping this is the right place. Opening my post today I received a very confusing letter dated 8th August, saying that an account I had was transfered to a company called MKDP LLP. It also said I owed £53.97. I was a little bit surprised, so decided to phone them, when I got through I was asked how I wanted to pay my debt! I told them I was not phoning to pay but to find out what this debt was. The guy on the other end of the phone told me it was for a items I had purchased from a catalogue in 1993. I told them I would seek advice
This is the first I have heard of this debt.No one has ever contacted me about this before. I've got rid of any paperwork going back 18 years, so I am unable to prove or disprove this debt. Can I be held liable for this after all this time, and would this be the reason I have a poor credit rating?

Hi footyfan and thanks for your post.

Creditors are unable to legally pursue you for the debt if, after six years;

• The creditor has not already obtained a county court judgment (CCJ)

• You or any one else owing the money (on a debt in joint names) have not made a payment

• You have not written to the creditor admitting you owe the debt

This is known as statute barred and refers to the Limitation Act.
If you believe that the creditor is timed out to collect the debt, you may wish to use the template letter below.

Example letter – limitations act

From:
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Date:
CCCS Client No:
To:
Creditor’s Name:
Account/Agreement No:

Without Prejudice

Dear Sirs
Ref
I do not admit any liability for your claim and will not be making any payment towards it, as it is now more than six-years since any cause of action may have accrued. Any claim would, therefore, appear to be statute barred under section 5 of The Limitations Act 1980 and any court claim will be defended on that basis.
In addition section 2.14 of The Office of Fair Trading Collection guidance states that it is unfair to pursue such claims where, as here, the creditor has made no contact during the relevant limitation period.
If, however, you have substantive evidence that your claim is not statute barred then please supply it to me within 21 days. If you are unable to provide such evidence please confirm that no further action will be taken against me.
Yours faithfully
(Signature)
(Print name)

I would recommend that you get a copy of your credit file, you can find out more about how to improve credit ratings by following this link http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score


I hope this helps.


Kind regards,


Mat