Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

dakota76

hi - hope ive posted this in the right place. am currently on a dmp with cccs, but am looking at the iva/bankruptcy option. i have about 28k of unsecured debt. the problem i have is that i got divorced in july this year, after being seperted for 2 years, and my ex is currently in the process of remortgageing the ex marital home, so at the moment my name is still on the mortgage and deeds. I relinquished my share of the house when we split up, and this was stated in the divorce. should i wait until she has remortgaged until i proceed with the iva or bankruptcy. i have had some advice from a bankruptcy solicitor who said it shouldnt be a problem, but just wanted some reassurances.

StepChange_Pavan

tony62 wrote: »

Hi, I joined the site today because am worried and need advice. I have an overdraft facility for £5000 with my bank and an outstanding loan of £6000 at 7% which I pay £200 a month and have to pay this for another 3 years. Although not going over the overdraft limit apart from two occasions for a few days the bank now wants it to be paid off. They have given me until the end of Oct to get the overdraft sorted. They have done a budget appraisal with me on the pone and have suggested that they combine my overdraft and loan together , both at a new rate of some 12% so that I would then have no overdrawn money and will have to repay some £270 a month for the next five years. The amount of the loan borrowed would be £11000 and the total amount to be paid would be some £15000.

I am relieved that my overdrawn situation will be relieved but am angry that they are going to change the original loan from 7 to 12%. Is this acceptable or do I have other options? I also have another loan with another bank of £5000 remaining at £230 a month for another 2 years.
I have some £4000 in savings and am not sure how to use this to sort my finances out for the best. Have tried getting consolidations loans but have a bad credit reference for some reason although I have never missed any payment.
My problems started when both houses that I let became untenanted and it has taken 4 months to refurbish and find one tenant and my second house should be tenented in another month or two. Once both houses are tenanted my financial situation is fine. I would like to sell one house but feel the markets are dire at the moment. I am also in the process of raising 6000 from one of the houses to pay of one of the loans but this is still in process and if accepted I may not get the funds until after the end of OCT.
Thanks for this site and hope you can give advice to clear my head.

Tony

Hi Tony and welcome to the forum.

We wouldn’t usually recommend consolidating debts, as like you say, you will be charged more and potentially be paying for longer.

However, as you have a second house and savings you do have a few options.

I’d recommend that you draw up a sustainable budget to work out what you can realistically afford. If you feel you could stick to the new repayment plan, this could be a short term solution until you release the money or you rent the other house out. You would need to ensure that there wouldn’t be any early settlement fees.

You could also consider using your savings to offer a full and final settlement where you offer them less than the total amount owed to settle the debt.

If you’d like more information on this, or you’d like some more detailed advice you can use our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu).

Alternatively you can call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111 to speak with one of our counsellors.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

DebtFT wrote: »

Hi,

My wife went through a nasty divorce back in '05 or '06. Their debts were split between them and I'm aware that she made private agreements with each company to pay them back on a monthly basis (about £5 or £10 per month). She then went through a period of time suffering with depression and lost track of things, and we've since moved address. She didn't give any of them a forwarding address, and I only became aware of these debts when we got letters from two separate companies demanding payment. This was back in '09. I'm now aware of two at the moment, one totalling £2700 and the other £750. I'm wanting to move forward with our finances now, but do not want to make any sort of joint application in case there's any nasty surprises lurking, i.e. more debt that I don't know about. My question is simply this...if I was to carry out a credit check with any, or all, of the three major credit agencies, and there was more outstanding debt in my wife's name(s), would the fact that she's entered our new address alert these companies. I'm all for paying off her debts, but it would need to be at the right time. Now isn't the right time!

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi DebtFT and thanks for your question.

If you were to do a credit check in your own name, your wife’s debts wouldn’t show.

You would need to contact the credit reference agencies direct to confirm whether this would update her creditors or not. However, if 2 of her creditors have already traced your new address, it’s likely that any others could do the same.

It would be best to find out exactly where you stand and your wife can offer anything as little as £1 per month if your situation won’t allow any more at the moment.

If she’d like some more detailed advice she can get in touch with us.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

holli37 wrote: »

Hi
2 years ago my partner lost his job and initially we had to max out our credit cards to survive. He has ben doing a handyman business for the last 18 months which is picking up however the credit cards are crippling us - Vanquis for example we pay £120 ish a month and it never goes down - i have written to stop the payment protection which will help a little. We owe approx £12000 do we sell house, consolidate debt what I am now desperate as we know we are coming up to the quiet time in his business.

Thank you in advcance for any help you may be able to offer.

Holli

Hi Holli and welcome to the forum.

We’d really need to look at your situation in a bit more detail to be able to help you. There could be a number of solutions available but we would need to know more about your income and expenditure first.

Id’ recommend that you call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111 to discuss your situation with us. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.

You mentioned that you’ve cancelled your PPI; have you reclaimed any that you have already paid? If not, this guide will help: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

rock_queen wrote: »

Hi

I have just written to my creditors to offer token payments to be reviewed in 6mths time. I haven't defaulted on any of the agreed payments yet but I'm living in a catch 22 situation where I am meeting the payments but having to live off credit in order to eat and get to work etc. Would it be wise to open a basic bank account with a bank i have no history with and get wages paid into it and only essential DDs eg mortgage and bills etc moved over?

many thanks

Hi rock queen and thanks for your question.

It’s definitely a good idea to move your bank account away from any existing debts. This will prevent them from taking money that you need to live on in order to pay towards the debts.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

GemmaCoventry wrote: »

Hi there, i have just entered into a dmp in july 2011. i have 19 creditors which are credit cards, catalogues, overdraft, and a loan which equals to £15k. Nearly all of my crediors have accepted but i am having alot of trouble from nationwide credit card. Mg dmp company have sent my signature of authorisation and I&E to them on several occassions by post and fax, they have received my signature of authority but say they have had my I&E information even thoigh it was on the same fax and in the same envelope as my sigature of authority. My company keep resending the info to them but i still have several phone calls a day from nationwide credit card saying they still havent received this info and an arrangement cannot be put in place until they recieve this. Im at a loss of what to do as whatever my dmp company do nationwide swear blind they havent had this info and are still applying charges. I currently owe them £1,800. Is his common practice with nationwide i.e. Is this a tactic they use and is this what creditors experience alot with them? what can i do?? many thanks

Hi GemmaCoventry and thanks for your post.

It sounds as though you’re doing everything you can keep them updated about your situation and offering as much as you can afford.

Have you tried sending the information to them recorded delivery so you have proof that they’ve received it?

Also, if you’re paying for the debt management service, your creditors might prefer it if you were to go to a free charity like us. That way all your available surplus is going towards reducing your debts.

I’d recommend that you persevere, as you can’t afford to offer them money that you haven’t got. It could just take a couple of months to settle down.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

dakota76 wrote: »

hi - hope ive posted this in the right place. am currently on a dmp with cccs, but am looking at the iva/bankruptcy option. i have about 28k of unsecured debt. the problem i have is that i got divorced in july this year, after being seperted for 2 years, and my ex is currently in the process of remortgageing the ex marital home, so at the moment my name is still on the mortgage and deeds. I relinquished my share of the house when we split up, and this was stated in the divorce. should i wait until she has remortgaged until i proceed with the iva or bankruptcy. i have had some advice from a bankruptcy solicitor who said it shouldnt be a problem, but just wanted some reassurances.

Hi dakota76 and thanks for your question.

This shouldn’t be a problem. However, you’re already a client of ours, so we can look at your situation and advise you on which is your best option - there are many differences between bankruptcy and an IVA.

We have specialist counsellors for both solutions, so whichever is best for you, we can guide and support you throughout the whole process.

Just give us a call and we can access all your information and advise you straightaway.

Kind regards,
Pavan

binnie

Hi, Can you only go with CCCS if you have money leftover after outgoings every month?
Me and my husband are paying out far more than what we earn and today we have been to the bank and they can't help us as we have about 11 different creditors we owe money to.
They recommended CCCS, but I'm not sure if that would still get us back on the straight and narrow.
We have three mortgages on one property which finish between 2-4 years time and the bank wouldn't put us on interest only as they said it would be very irresponsible of them. They can't do payment holidays and they dont want to loan us anymore, so we are paying out £1.1000 a month just for the mortgage.
We have loans x3 credit cards totalling about £13,500 and a mortgage in spain where we can't sell the propery as no-one is buying them in that area.
The bank worked it out that we would have £28 a month left, but that was wrong as he didnt take into account that we had 2 overdrafts and hadnt costed anything for clothes, repairs on car, home etc, haircuts, presents for birthdays etc.
So really we have nothing left.
I have swapped everything we possibly can and do Ebay, cut down on food, don't go out hardly at all etc etc.

Stone_Fox

Hi, I was hoping for some advice if you would. I got a letter today from a "High Court Enforcement Officers & Certified Baliff" office saying that I've got 7 days to pay £157.00 or they'll come and confiscate my property. The fine is for a driving offence from 2008 that I'd forgotten all about!

The problem is, I'm currently unemployed and simply don't have a penny of it! The thing is, the faq on their website says that they won't give me any more time to pay, it's a case of pay up or lose stuff...

Steamer28

Just started to have problem repaying all my debt. Summary below.
Loan 1 Nat West - £13000 PM 350
Loan 2 Nat West - £12000 PM 240
Loan 3 Tesco - £10000 PM 235
CC1 Nat West - £3500 PM 75
CC2 Tesco - £1500 PM 30
CC3 Mint - £1000 PM 30
CC4 Barclay Card - £3000 PM 60
Other - £2000 PM 90

As most is with Natwest would you advise contacting them first to see if they can help or should I go for a DMP a make the contact more formal?

Thanks