Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

natty09

Hi,

Wondering if someone can help me with something. Due to a significant decrease in my hours at work I am unable to pay a large BT bill that has amounted over the past 3 months. I have explained to BT that I was trying to find the money to pay this but am unable to do so.

I rang and asked them if I could arrange a payment plan. They agreed but said I would have to pay £100 to set this up. I explained I could not afford anywhere near this amount. They refused to help me unless I make this payment.

Can they do this? I need to get this sorted and pay the money, but need to spread the bill, before it gets worse.

Natty

em80

Hi

How long does it take to find out if my debt relief order has been successful? Also would a student grant for £275 for books and materials count towards the £300 in assets?

Thanks

TherealMandM

Hi,
I followed the advice on here after recently recieving a letter asking from money that was owed 8 years ago for £1702.87. I replied with the letter that you can print out from various sources. I have today recieved a reply from Rockwell Debt collection on this letter it states

"We acknowledge that your account is statute barred. However, this does not make the agreement void. Whilst we are unable to take legal action to enforce the balance this does not effect the validity of the underlying debt; therefore as the debt still exists we are entitled to carry out any actions that do not amount to enforcing the Agreement including the following
- Demanding payment
- Charging interest
- Transfering the debt to a third party
- Registering the debt with a credit reference agency issuing a default notice
In respect of any claim that this debt is in 'dispute', we agree that the agreement is unenforceable in a court of law as explained above however the money lent to you has not been repaid to date. As neither of these facts are in dispute, we consider this matter resolved. However, our client is willing to consider a significant reduction to the outstanding balance, in order to bring this matter to an early and amicable conclusion. We can consider any offer.
On your current outstanding balance we can guarentee a massive 70% saving leaving you to pay £511, but dependent on your individual circumstance, this could be much better. Call us immediately on the number to find out more.
If no further contact is received within the next 14 days further collection activity will continue."

any spelling mistakes is probably copying it.

Where do i go from here?

thanks,
Mat

brandybum

Hello,

I am trying to help my partner with his financial status and need some advice.

He has about £34,000 of debt that was racked up with his ex wife - they are not yet divorced... He wants to go bankrupt, but is saying it is best to do so after the divorce in case she lands any more debts on him that she has accrued since they split (as they are married he will be liable for them?)

So he has not been working, or paying these debts (not claiming benefits either) he is worried that if he starts earing, the debtors will see this and pounce on him with ccjs and then he cant go bankrupt.

I said, if they do see he's working, they will contact him and ask him to pay a certain amount, to which he can reply with a breakdown of incoming and out goings and offer them a good will payment of £1 a month as that is all we can afford. and they cannot turn it down or take him to court. We then bide our time and wait for the divorce after which he can go bankrupt as cannot afford to pay these monterous debts!

Does this sound right? Am I right or is he? I really need to get him into work as we are really struggling just on my wages, he's just so scared he will have to pay all these debts off that his ex was the one who get them in the first place!

Really appreciate a response, thank you!!

System

matmidgley wrote: »

Hi,
I followed the advice on here after recently recieving a letter asking from money that was owed 8 years ago for £1702.87. I replied with the letter that you can print out from various sources. I have today recieved a reply from Rockwell Debt collection on this letter it states

"We acknowledge that your account is statute barred. However, this does not make the agreement void. Whilst we are unable to take legal action to enforce the balance this does not effect the validity of the underlying debt; therefore as the debt still exists we are entitled to carry out any actions that do not amount to enforcing the Agreement including the following
- Demanding payment
- Charging interest
- Transfering the debt to a third party
- Registering the debt with a credit reference agency issuing a default notice
In respect of any claim that this debt is in 'dispute', we agree that the agreement is unenforceable in a court of law as explained above however the money lent to you has not been repaid to date. As neither of these facts are in dispute, we consider this matter resolved. However, our client is willing to consider a significant reduction to the outstanding balance, in order to bring this matter to an early and amicable conclusion. We can consider any offer.
On your current outstanding balance we can guarentee a massive 70% saving leaving you to pay £511, but dependent on your individual circumstance, this could be much better. Call us immediately on the number to find out more.
If no further contact is received within the next 14 days further collection activity will continue."

any spelling mistakes is probably copying it.

Where do i go from here?

thanks,
Mat

Hi Mat and thanks for getting back to us.

Everything in the letter is legally correct.

The company can still charge interest, they could default you (although it is likely this was done a long time ago already) and they can continue to send letters to you chasing the debt.

However, the debt is legally unenforceable as they admit, so while you might get a few letters from the original creditor or other collection companies they have no power to take any further action.

The creditor has offered you a reduced amount to make a full and final settlement, if you wish to accept liability on the debt and pay this amount you need the company to confirm in a separate letter that the amount you are paying is in full and final satisfaction of the outstanding debt. You must then keep this letter for your records.

It’s entirely up to you whether you want to do this should have access to the funds.

If you don’t take this opportunity to clear the debt they can continue to chase you for it but not legally enforce it.

Bear in mind if you make any payment the debt will no longer be statute barred.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

trish67

Hi, I moved house last August, I informed my gas company of this, and had everything transferred into my name at my new address, then much to my horror I received a final gas bill for my previous address for £2875.57, it has got me worried sick as I had no idea about it for over a year! I contacted them immediately about it, and I need to arrange to pay it off, I'm currently receiving employment and support allowance at the assessment rate, I have two children and cannot afford to make large monthly payments off this bill, can you tell me if there would be a minimum amount that I could pay off every week or month as I am worried sick over it.

Thanks.

System

markos01 wrote: »

i have just been made redundant in scotland i also have been paying for over 3yrears intrest on 2 credit cards mbna and virgen both still have balances of £5800 each on a 6k limit.i have written to them to offer £2k on each one settlement as a one off payment off my £6k redundancie they have told me today its too low ,i have 2 young children and my husband is in a scottish trust deed i now have to claim incomesupprt what can i do i just want to get rid of this debt please any info would be so helpful

Hi Markos01 and thanks for your post.

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

It can sometimes be easier to negotiate full and final settlements when the debt has been sold onto a collection company.

I’d recommend that you contact us so we can look at your full situation, there could be more specific advice we could give and we could also assist you in looking at other benefits you may be entitled to.

You could try our online debt counselling 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

lellybean

i need some advise as over 3 year ago i signed up for buy bye credit to help me with my credit card as they said they could get it settled as i had beeen misold PPi. they said i needed to pay £1050.00 as a fee but if they did not win i would recieve the money back on my card, they passed it to a solicitor called watson solicitors in Llandudno. whilst i was trying to contantly ring buy bye credit and getting no where i was then approached by a firm called CMC who saidthat MBNA had passed the debt to them and they wanted the money back i told them of buy bye credit and they informed me that they are rogue traders and that i should be settling a payment scheme with CMC to pay my debts off. i told them that Watson solicitors are dealing with it as they were ringing 4/5 times a day with threats. when i trid to speak to watson solicitors andrew waton was always busy and never returned my calls, ANDREW WATSON an experienced solicitor with a broad range of knowledge who specialises in litigation with the main focus being on the Consumer Credit Act.
he said eventually when i did speak to him because i had been missold PPi that it had been passed from buy bye credit i would have a case??? i did not hear anything for ages
now in the past month CMC have called to ask for my address, dob, surname as the said they have not heard from watson solicitors and when they have tried to ring watsons its a dead line. i have called watson solicitors and left again messages for andrew to call me back and guess what? it hasnt returned any of them. i dont know what to do as am being called agian 4/5 times a day from CMC debt management and in the same predicament i was in 18 months ago and lost alot of money becuase of the scam i fell for with buy bye credit !!!

System

natty09 wrote: »

Hi,

Wondering if someone can help me with something. Due to a significant decrease in my hours at work I am unable to pay a large BT bill that has amounted over the past 3 months. I have explained to BT that I was trying to find the money to pay this but am unable to do so.

I rang and asked them if I could arrange a payment plan. They agreed but said I would have to pay £100 to set this up. I explained I could not afford anywhere near this amount. They refused to help me unless I make this payment.

Can they do this? I need to get this sorted and pay the money, but need to spread the bill, before it gets worse.

Natty

Hi Natty and welcome to the forum.

It’s important to put together an accurate income and expenditure budget. That way you can work out how much you can afford to pay.

If you can’t make the agreed payment with BT they will suspend your phone services until you bring your account back into line.

I’d suggest asking BT if they can block or limit outbound calls but leave inbound calls on until you have the debt back at reasonable levels. This could cause inconvenience but it’s better to pay priority bills such as rent/mortgage, council tax and food before the phone.

If you are struggling to budget generally and have credit debts you might want to try our online counselling service Debt Remedy.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

Darren65_2

Hi There,
I've just joined this forum and I'm after some advice from people who have pushed the next button on the CCCS website and set up a DMP , I'm really struggling with debt both mentally and physically, I've always been hopeless with money and the last few years I've been sticking my head in the sand and hoping it would go away, which everyone on this site knows it wont. Its now got to the point where I cant afford to buy basics. My main question is what happens when I set up the DMP? will i be bombarded with letters asking for money and will once the creditors don't get their money will I be took to court and have what little I have taken from me. Should I transfer ownership of expensive goods or would that be too obvious, I'm house sharing at the moment will the other person have any bad credit against them because of me, how long will my credit be bad, but most of all I'm panicking about courts and bailiffs, that scares the living daylights out of me, I really don't know what to do at the moment everywhere I turn there's someone wanting money, should I carry on and struggle for foreseeable future or should I press the button?