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drtommy

Hi, I would really appreciate some advice.

I am in debt to the tune of about £18,000 (about 5000 loans, 10000 credit cards and 3000 overdrafts) exluding all my student loan. Ive tried to keep the credit cards low interest on a 6% barclaycard for life but recently my graduate accounts have started charging high interest for overdrafts.

I got into debt originally during my undergrad days as my student loan didnt cover my living costs etc and my summer job wasnt paid very well, so everything went on credit, and I wasnt any good at budgeting. I now am doing a PhD and get a stipend of 1150 a month (tax free) which would be plenty for me if I didnt have at least half of it going straight out on debt repayments. I dont have any assets or large outgoings, I worked my monthly budget as around 750-800 month for everything (if i didnt have to pay back debt). For the last 3 years Ive just been shuffling debt around, and its not reducing at all, as a lot of the time I have to borrow more to live on. however Ive never missed a payment to any creditor and I recently checked my credit score as 572 (not sure if thats any good).

I am aware of a DMP (I did the CCCS online test and applied for a pack) and think this may be a good thing for me, but I am slightly hesitant because despite struggling with debt havent defaulted ever and dont want to demolish my credit rating further??

I finish my PhD in March 2012, and providing I can get a job expect my circumstances to improve (salary circa 28-30K). My family know Im a 'poor student' but I dont want to ask them for money as I know they dont have any spare. I have told my girlfriend about my situation and we want to move in together in March, just renting, although in a dream world Id like to get a mortgage with her in a couple of years (but am realising that I need to sort my debt out first).

Should I continue as I am, sticking to my tight budget and keeping debt as low as possible, and wait for my income to improve, or just take a credit rating hit and get on a DMP or something else?

I cant thank you enough for any help.
Tom

silverbreeze

Hi

Basically, at the moment I am in a job that is going nowhere but pays me a decent salary. An opportunity has come up for me to take a training position in a career that i have wanted to get into for many years with a very affluent and reliable company. I know they take a great deal of care of their employees as my partner has worked for them for years

The downside of it is that I would have to take a £9k wage decrease but over the 2 years of the on the job training i would increase to around £3k more than what i am on now with the potential for a considerable amount more as i gain more experience.

I have done the calculations and i could afford to do this if i could somehow freeze my debts during my training. I have 2 cc's; one with around £4500 on a low interest rate and the other is around the same on 0% interest. min payments work out to around £150 ( i pay off more though) Is there any way that this can be done if you are furthering your career or any advice of any form would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards

StepChange_Pavan

michelle45 wrote: »

Hi

I have just started a 7 year DMP. However, I have just been informed that I will be receiving some PPI back which will either take a year of my DMP, or could I use it to pay some of the smaller debts off.


Michelle

Hi Michelle and thanks for your post.

You will have to check with your creditor as in most cases they insist on deducting the amount from the remaining balance.

Once you know what they will do, give our support team a call and we will be able to advise you further.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

rubyjam wrote: »

Hi, I hope you can advise me please?

I'm recently started a DMP with CCCS and I don't know what to do about my CC with Mint. The interest rate they are charging me has gone up and is now higher than it was before i started my DMP - the interest alone is more than twice the monthly payment I am paying on my plan. This is really worrying me as I will never be able to pay this debt off if this continues.

I have written to them several times requesting they reduce interest and the only response I have had is a letter saying they couldn't action my request because I hadn't signed my letter.

They want me to sign my name in a box on the bottom of a letter they've sent me and return it to them. I read somewhere that I shouldn't sign my letters. Is this right? What should I do?

Many thanks!

Hi rubyjam and thanks for your post.

It’s difficult to know what they’re asking you to sign without seeing the letter.

I’d recommend that you give our support team a call and they’ll be able to discuss this with you.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

porkpie1981 wrote: »

I was advised to go bankrupt but since i was at uni i was allowed a dmp. Ive been on it for a few yrs now and this year ive missed 3 payments but made 2 of them up. The thing is im sooooo ashamed of myself as I didnt tell the cccs that I had a very account as i thought if i had i would have no option but to go bankrupt and i really didnt want to! I think i had 2 grand on it at the time but now i owe 4 grand as I really couldnt afford the dmp and the heating and electric was killing me (as increasing) so i used very to get clothes for the 4 of us (partner and 2 kids).

Im really thinking that its time to go bankrupt but will they turn me down as i didnt meantion very account.

Also i use the competition forum on here and have won around £3500 in competitions. Will i have to show letters of money coming into my bank?

so ashamed but i think i need to get this done asap

Hi porkpie1981 and thanks for your post.

From what you’ve said, it certainly sounds like bankruptcy would be your best option even before you took out the very account.

I’d really recommend that you give our support team a call – don’t worry they’re not judgemental and they’ll refer you to our specialist bankruptcy team who’ll be able to help and support you through the process.

With regards to the competition money; this depends on what it was used for. You can discuss this in more detail with your bankruptcy advisor.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

jay106 wrote: »

Hi,
I was a customer of DCM who where dealing with all my debt, as you know they went in to administration and left me just as bad as I was in 2002.

Cleardebt who have took control of DCM customer list has advised me to try for a IVA, but am not sure if this is the right way to go. Have just started getting the usual threatening letters and from what I can see my debts would only be about 8K 9k at a push.

From what I can see there is a lot more people worse of than me and manage. I just need help in trying to find out what the best way to go is, do I go for the IVA or do I go it alone and pay of small amounts and then when I can ask for a settlement figure from these collection agencies.

Could also somebody please tell me if its worth trying to get any of my debt statute barred as it was loans took out from 1999 - 2001. As it was a company acting on my behalf am not sure if it still counts as me paying the debt. If it's of any help I just checked my credit file with Experian and Equifax and it doesn't show any unpaid debts against my file. The only thing it shows is searches by Apex and Cabot Financial and the search reason shows Unclassified for apex and Outstanding Debt by Cabot. Which I think is a CCJ.

Thanks in advance for any help

Hi jay106 and thanks for your post.

Firstly, it’s unlikely that your debts will be statute barred unless you hadn’t made any payments whatsoever (making them through a third party does count as making a payment). Also, if you have a CCJ, this means that the debt is enforceable through the courts.

It’s difficult to say whether an IVA is a possible option, although you would need to owe a minimum of £15K so it looks as though it wouldn’t be.

If you’d like some free and impartial advice, we’d need to look at your situation in a bit more detail. There’s obligation and you can use our anonymous online counselling service if you’d prefer.

Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) 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.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

boogiequeenie

CCCS_Pavan wrote: »

Hi boogiequeenie and thanks for your post.

You’re right that making token payments isn’t a long term solution. This should have been explained at his appointment and other options may have been discussed.

It could be that bankruptcy is a better option, but it’s difficult to say without looking at his situation in more detail. (If he doesn’t have a surplus available, an IVA won’t be an option.)


Your finances don’t need to be included, but again, this could have been discussed in his appointment.

If it’s unlikely that there will be any changes in his financial situation we could look at his options now rather than waiting a further 6 months. He’d just need to give us a call.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Thank you soooo much CCCS_Pevan. You really don't know how much good you do posting on here. I know, from experience, how desperate people can get in this terrible situation. It affects all of us, even those who are meant to be hardened to it. ;-)

I have spoken to DH. Like a lot of people he's sticking his head in the sand to a point (although I'm pulling it out by the hair! lol)

He has an ex-marital home that he is looking to rent out. It is already being rented out and he has an awkward tennant that won't leave; has trashed the house; owes him arrears. We are in the process of evicting him. Once it has been rented out there is a chance that he could even make £20-£30pm on it!!

So, I think it may be prudent to go on the DMP for £1pm for 6months. If the situation does not look like it will improve over the next 6months then I shall get him to get on the phone to you and discuss other options.

As for my income, it wasnt mentioned when he called CCCS initially. I was worried that, should he have to go bankrupt, that my income would be taken account. I don't want to be embroiled in bankrupcy when I've already been down that path.

Would you agree with this course of action?

maxandmatty

need some help - have been paying both single and joint debts directly to my creditors for twelve months now after a bad DMP arrangement. The husband and I are now in the process of separation and need some advice - can I pause payments till my benefits are sorted? if so is there a template letter I can use? how do we sort the joint debt - it has a ccj attached to it and is with Link financial and is for £22000.

EmmBee1037

Hi, I'm new so not sure I'm putting my query in the right place! I would be grateful for any help or advice.

I was divorced 4 years ago and the divorce agreement was that my ex would both keep the house, but also responsibility for the debt he accrued in our joint names. I fully understand that joint debt, whoever responsible, would reflect on us both.

I have have chased him repeatedly to remove my name from the mortgage, but have recently discovered that he has been made redundant and has payment plans/missed payments with 3 loans that I am also named on. He has defaulted on one, and the other 2 he has arranged payment plans with, so each month, my credit score is being racked up with 'missed payments' as there is still money outstanding. My credit score has dropped to the lowest level as a result of this and I have been refused for credit that I need to get my own individual finances back on track. Where do I stand with this, what can I do and do I have any reasonable credit options so that I can start to control my finances?