Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

gemmacots

Hello, I have finally realised I cannot keep up with payments to my creditors.
I have been reading these forums and finally gone to citizens advice, I have also filled in the forms with the cccs, who have advised me to offer a £1 token payment to my creditors. I want to pay them all back but am just struggling to keep up at the moment.
My total debt is £37.000 and my outgoings for my day to day living is £500 short per month. I am going to get a job (currently self employed) to try to get the £500 and start to pay the creditors again as soon as we are on our feet.

I currently have a house with a morgatge, my morgatge is for £250.000 and the equity I have in the property is around £100.000.. I have tried to sell for 6 months with no luck. My question is, as long as I agree to pay the creditors monthly payments on a debt plan and keep up with it, can they force me to sell my house as I have equity in the property?

If I were to sell I would have about £100.000 and could pay them off but then I would not be able to buy another house large enough for 3 children to live in.

I really want to pay them off and will, but am worried in case they can force me to sell my home.
Thank you in advance.

wighty30

CCCS_Pavan wrote: »

Hi wighty30 and thanks for your post.

It’s difficult to say whether you have any other options as I don’t have access to your information.

If you contact our web support team though, they’ll be able to fully explain all of your options. If you’d like me to request that they contact you, just send us a private message with your web reference number.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Thank you Pavan, I will contact them and see what they say. I'm very grateful for your advice.
I also have an appointment next Thursday with the debt team at CAB. Thanks again.

jokent

My past spending habits were terrible and i am now left with debts that I cannot manage. I was made redundant a year ago and have been trying to work for myself to pay my debts. this has been going to plan till now, but the work is now drying up. I look after my two small children full time and cannot afford childcare. My partner works and our house is in his name, not mine.

I have a loan of 22000 over 120 months with one year paid off. I also have two credit cards totalling 12000. One of them is interest free and maxxed out. Because i do not work, I imagine that i could not get another?

I am beginning to drown under the worry of trying to meet my payments each month and am not sure how to proceed from here. I have never defaulted on a payment and am scared what would happen.

StepChange_Pavan

sheldorz wrote: »

Hi there,

I was working for a well known credit card provider circa 2004/2005.
I tool out an employee credit card offered at a special low APR.

This company then later fired me (circa 2006) and obviously I was making my payments fine and didnt miss any whilst I was working for them.

Now the problem arises because it was an employee card, I never had statements posted to me. In a period of 3 months, I lost my fiancee, my house (rented) and my new job!

I found another job (anout 2 weeks later) and had to move to a different part of the uk. Obviously through all the stress involved, I had forgotten about the employee card (as statements were not posted to me) and I checked my credit file 2 months ago to see they have filed a default!

What are my rights with regards to removing this default as they never sent me statements, they have never rang me to let me know I am in default and they have never sent me any letters.

Do I call them and ask for a copy of my contract?

Many Thanks

Hi sheldorz and thank you for your question.

Unfortunately because you defaulted against the original agreement, it’s unlikely that they would remove this.

It is possible that they wrote to your previous address asking for you to bring the account up to date, but if you didn’t make them aware of your change of address you might not have received this.

I’d recommend that you write to them and ask them how much is outstanding so that you can make an arrangement to pay.

If you need any more detailed advice, please let us know.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Pam2505 wrote: »

Hi, I tried to PM but I dont think it worked so I'll post my question on here.

I currently have a DMP, and its been running for 2 1/2 years. I have £22'000 worth of debt due to divorce and relocation. I pay £380 a month into the plan to pay them off. I didnt realise until recently that £57 of that monthly amount goes to the company running my plan, as an admin fee. My fault for not looking at things properly I know, but now I'm keen to get rid and sort things myself and pay that £57 towards my debts.

I have two small debts totally just over £500 and I am due to receive £600 in the next two months so I want to pay these off straight away and I will be left with 4 debts in total

I want to go straight to the companies and pay them directly, increasing the amounts they receive now and I've worked out that if I do this I will pay eveything off over 12 months earlier than if I carry on as I am.

My concern is that one of my debt companies is Direct legal & collections and there are forums on here that say that this particular company make threats an pester into increasing payments. At the moment I dont get that becasue my DM company shields me from it.

Is there anyway can arrange the payments direct with the companies, but prevent the treats of baliffs etc. I'm increasing my payemnts to £400 split correctly on a % in relation to how much I owe each company.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Hi Pam,

We did receive your PM and we’ve replied to you.

If you need any further assistance, please let us know.

Kind regards,
Pavan

B17c

Hi there, I have a DMP with CCCS and its seems to be going ok, i have recently moved and my flatmate is concerned that my debt will affect the credit rating for the flat (which she owns), if im registered at this address with the cccs will it affect the propertys credit rating? My mail is being redirected for everything else, including my bank statements etc and obv am not applying for credit. is there anything i can do so her/the property isnt affected?
many thanks!

jokent

Hi, i posted on 16th but have had no response. Am i posting in the right place?

StepChange_Pavan

fight_the_power wrote: »

Hi am after some advice ,i am currently on a payment plan with capital one arranged by the cab and have been since last october and am paying them £142 a month to pay back what i owe in five years , recently i had a ppi claim upheld by them and they took it off the balance that i owe ,i phoned them two weeks ago to say i would be late with my payment and they were saying i should still be paying the £142 can they still demand this even though i have paid a considerable amount off the balance ?? thanks for any help given

Hi fight the power and thanks for your question,

You should continue to maintain your payment as agreed unless something has changed in your budget.

Even though you’ve paid a lump sum through the PPI rebate, your monthly payment should reflect your current circumstances. The amount that they deducted from your balance will hopefully mean that you’ll be debt free quicker if you stick to your plan.

I’d recommend that you send them an up to date copy of your budget, and if this late payment is a one off, you could explain the reason – an unexpected expenditure for example.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

gemmacots wrote: »

Hello, I have finally realised I cannot keep up with payments to my creditors.
I have been reading these forums and finally gone to citizens advice, I have also filled in the forms with the cccs, who have advised me to offer a £1 token payment to my creditors. I want to pay them all back but am just struggling to keep up at the moment.
My total debt is £37.000 and my outgoings for my day to day living is £500 short per month. I am going to get a job (currently self employed) to try to get the £500 and start to pay the creditors again as soon as we are on our feet.

I currently have a house with a morgatge, my morgatge is for £250.000 and the equity I have in the property is around £100.000.. I have tried to sell for 6 months with no luck. My question is, as long as I agree to pay the creditors monthly payments on a debt plan and keep up with it, can they force me to sell my house as I have equity in the property?

If I were to sell I would have about £100.000 and could pay them off but then I would not be able to buy another house large enough for 3 children to live in.

I really want to pay them off and will, but am worried in case they can force me to sell my home.
Thank you in advance.

Hi gemmacots and thanks for your question.

It sounds as though you’re doing everything you can to try and repay your creditors. It’s unlikely that they would force you to sell your house, as they would have to apply for a CCJ and then apply for a Charging Order which would secure the debt against your property. You can read more about the court process on our website: http://www.cccs.co.uk/InfoCentre/EnglandandWales/Creditoraction/Courtaction.aspx

If it did go to this stage, you could put your case forward that you are making regular payments and the house has been up for sale to help your situation too.

When you do get a job, I’d recommend that you get back in touch with us so that we can change your budget and give you some updated advice.

If at any stage you receive any paperwork that you’re unsure about or you need any more detailed advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

jokent wrote: »

My past spending habits were terrible and i am now left with debts that I cannot manage. I was made redundant a year ago and have been trying to work for myself to pay my debts. this has been going to plan till now, but the work is now drying up. I look after my two small children full time and cannot afford childcare. My partner works and our house is in his name, not mine.

I have a loan of 22000 over 120 months with one year paid off. I also have two credit cards totalling 12000. One of them is interest free and maxxed out. Because i do not work, I imagine that i could not get another?

I am beginning to drown under the worry of trying to meet my payments each month and am not sure how to proceed from here. I have never defaulted on a payment and am scared what would happen.

Hi jokent and thanks for your post and I’m sorry for the delay in answering you.

It’s difficult to say what your options are without looking at your situation in more detail. From what you’ve said it sounds as though you’re struggling and you’d benefit from some free and impartial advice.

Have you sat down and worked out a budget with your partner? It could be that if you switched things round and made a few changes to your joint budget you may be able to manage better.

If you’ve already done this or it isn’t an option I’d recommend that you get in touch with us. We can advise you on your options and what is likely to happen.


You can 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 to put your mind at ease.


Kind regards,
Pavan