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StepChange_Pavan

Longships wrote: »

Around 4/5 years ago we came to an arrangement with most of our many creditors to accept very small payments each month. We did contact CCCS at the time but as our income was not even enough to cover our living expenses let alone make any debt payments, a DMP was not an option.

When we completed a full statement of our income and outgoings most of our creditors were prepared to accept small monthly payments rather than nothing. However there were 2 major debts, both with large banks, both for £30,000+ that refused our offer saying it was not acceptable. For a year or two we received plenty of letters and phone calls - then it all stopped.

My question is what has happened to these debts? One was a small business loan and one was a personal loan used for the business which failed. Is there a time limit before they are written off?

Hi Longships and thanks for your post.

I can’t advise you on the business loan as we only deal with personal debt – I’d recommend that you contact Business Debtline for the business loan (http://www.bdl.org.uk/).

Personal loans don’t usually get written off automatically. However, the loan would become statute barred which means they can’t legally enforce it if, after six years

• The creditor hasn’t 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 haven't written to the creditor admitting you owe the debt.

Whilst they can’t enforce the debt, it will still exist and doesn't mean that it's written off.

It could be that your original creditors have sold the debt on, and a collection agency might contact you for repayments further down the line. If this happens you would just need to make them aware of your situation in the same way and offer whatever you can afford.

Please get in touch if you need any more detailed advice.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

kalico wrote: »

I hope someone on here can help steer me in the right direction. The advice is to help a friend, or at least to help me to help the friend, who is in debt and depressed about it (and therefore not addressing the issue).

They are on benefits with £65 per week coming in.

The mortgage (circa £28k outstanding, repayment type) is in arrears by £800 so the mortgage company applied for repossession. A bit harsh in my opinion, but there is lots of equity in the property, so maybe they figured that they had nothing to lose.

The court decided that they could not repossess at that time, but gave a stay of execution whilst an application was made to a local council scheme which helps people in arrears on their mortgage.

Sadly, although the monthly mortgage payments are only £181, the mortgage co have added £658 in legal fees and penalties for taking the matter to court.

It strikes me that this could be a ship going backwards, since even if they had enough to pay off the mortgage arrears, they could keep getting battered by these ridiculous fees.

Question 1: Has anyone any experience in dealing with these situations? Are the mortgage company likely to waive the fees if I lend my friend the money to clear the arrears?

There is also a secured loan, which is at an extortionate rate of interest. She borrowed £5000 and pays it back at £94 per month for 7 years. This loan is behind by two payments. I expect that the loan company will also apply penalties. From what I can determine, there is a huge early-redemption penalty.

Question 2: Is there a way to deal with loans like this? It seems a crying shame to pay £94 for a £5000 loan when the mortgage is £181 for £28k!

I suppose there's an over-riding question of where to turn? I have no experience with anything like this and much as I want to help, it's a worry when they seem unable to take a grasp of the matter themselves (still smoking for example = £18.20 per week)

She has gone to the CAB, but they have only referred her to a solicitor to help deal with the mortgage. I'm not experienced here, but I understood there were schemes that can help people to at least get a grasp of where they are now and where they need to get to. I've even heard of organisations that will write to the various creditors and ask for payment plans and such like. I really don't know if they carry any weight, but I would have thought that CAB is well respected and carries some weight.

Any other pointers of how I might help them?

Thanks for any help.

Hello kalico and thanks for your post.

It’s difficult to give detailed advice without knowing more about your friend’s situation. If she’s happy for you to speak to us on her behalf we can look at her circumstances properly and advise fully.

Depending on her situation, there could many different options available to her, and you’re right that sometimes there are schemes available too. We have a specialist mortgage advice team that will be able to explore all of her options with her.

If you did offer to clear the mortgage arrears, this wouldn’t necessarily be a long term solution, because from the figures you’ve given it doesn’t sound as though she has enough coming in to sustain her expenditure.

I’d really recommend that she gets in touch with us – we also have a specialist welfare benefits team that can check her entitlement to see if she can claim anything extra. We’ll need to go through all her income and expenditure to tailor the advice as much as possible. We’ll also need information about all her debts.

Your friend (or you, with her permission) can call us on 0800 138 1111 and we’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

spaindebt wrote: »

Hi

I'm looking for some Debt Advice

I couldn't get a job at home so I'm living in Spain. I don't earn a lot but I can make my payments every month and have never missed one in my credit history (5 years)

My debt is as follows:

Credit Card 1: £450
Credit Card 2: £580
Credit Card 3: £1800
Credit Card 4: £950

Bank of Scotland Overdraft £3000. This was fine as it was interest free until December 2011 but with the end date soon approaching I can't afford to pay anything towards it, and the interest will be about £45 a month.

I've been in constant contact with the bank since January trying to tell them I wouldn't be able to pay it but they said because I live in Spain they can't do anything to help. I've made sure I've been honest with them from the beginning and they have said "It's fine once your account expires you will default and we'll sort out a payment plan for you." But this doesn't seem right. I've come into around £1600 through tax refund and wondered if I should call and offer a final settlement as they know I won't be able to pay it back?

Thanks

Hi spaindebt and welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately they don’t usually offer any solutions until you’re in arrears. If you do offer a reduced settlement figure, it’s important that you get their acceptance in writing before you pay the money. They would also need to state that they won’t chase or sell any remaining debt once you have paid the settlement.

It’s unlikely that the £1600 will cover all your debts, so if you’d like some more detailed advice on your options (whether you decide to offer them the lump sum or not) you can call us on +44 113 297 0126 to book an appointment with a counsellor. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

skhilditch wrote: »

Hi! I have a CCJ currently against me, the payment for which has already been reduced by half after appeal. I have now lost my job due to long term ill health and am finding even that payment too much for me. I have written to appeal again but the decision remains at £164 a month. The company have refused to halt interest on the debt so it is not going down at all and are now claiming that they can take me back to court and use my house as security for the initial debt. Is this correct please?
Kind regards, Susan

Hello Susan,

It sounds as though they are talking about a Charging Order, where they can secure the debt against your house.

When you appealed after your change in circumstances did you go through the courts? If not, you can apply for an N245 which would ask for the court to reassess your situation and vary the instalment. Also, was it written into the agreement that they can continue to charge interest on the CCJ?

I’d recommend that you give us a call so that we can talk you through the whole process in more detail. We can also look at your situation as a whole to see if there are any other solutions available to you and check your benefit entitlement.

You can call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111 and we’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

penny_farthing

My Girlfriend and I are trying to get on top of our finances (well my finances really). My credit rating is below average but hers is very good. I was wondering is it possible for me to transfer my credit card debt into a 0% balance transfer credit card in her name?

Tixy

penny_farthing wrote: »

My Girlfriend and I are trying to get on top of our finances (well my finances really). My credit rating is below average but hers is very good. I was wondering is it possible for me to transfer my credit card debt into a 0% balance transfer credit card in her name?

Hi

It is possible to do that yes. Although she would become legally responsible for repayment of your debt. If you were unable to repay it, or if you split up and chose not to pay etc then she would need to repay it or risk her credit rating being damaged. If she is aware of that and happy to take the responsibility.

Her card would need to be from a different card issuer to yours (so if you have an HSBC card you couldn't do the transfer from an HSBC card in her name, or if yours is MBNA then she couldn't transfer from a virgin card etc).

The best way to do such a transfer is in the online banking section of her new card once she has it, where they only ask the other account number and amount to transfer, not the name of the card holder.

natty11

Hey!
I have recently applied for a loan and have been turned down.
Because I haven’t had any credit agreements and no missed payments on my council tax or other bills I didn’t understand why.
I ended up buying a copy of my credit report just to be on the safe side and to check my score to see if it was low, as I have had to recently have a credit check to rent where I am living now.
However – there is 4 defaulted payments from 2 different companies on my report taken out in 2007. I have never taken out any credit agreements with anyone in my life. And also in 2007 I was only 17 – they also work for a catalogue company which is shopdirect.
I have never heard of them let alone buying anything from them.
I have rang these companies and explained on the phone – but they was not much help and kept asking me for my card details to pay the settlement!
And also found out that the details they have on me are also incorrect like my date of birth. They have it down as XX-XX-1989 but it is actually XX-XX-1990

Please help, is there any way what so ever that I can get these defaults removed off my report – they are really damaging my profile – I don’t want to end up paying for someone else’s debt that is in my name!! how can I achieve this without having the hassle of getting the police involved as I think I know who it could be..

suze1962

Student Loan now Debt Collectors... Hello I wonder if anyone can help me? I attended University in 1996 and had to take out a small student loan. which i attempted to repay some years after.until 2009 when my life took a turn for the worse. I lost my job home and everything. I am now currently homeless living in a van and have no permenant address i have an arrangement with a little post office where i can collect what little mail i receive when i pass through. I do not have a job nor do i claim benefits i occasionally do some casual gardening work but nothing regular just enough to buy food and bottled gas and petrol now and again. I totally forgot about student loans as you can imagine i just concentrated on surviving. Recently i received a letter from a debt collection agency demanding the total amount which has increased 4 fold now. What do i do? I don't have any income as such have no address and i really do not want balifs turning up at the postal address and upsetting the little lady there. I was thinking i could afford 5 pounds a month but will this be enough i don't even have a phone and internet availability is minimal so im really stuck here when you are surviving even the simplest of things to other people are really complicated... Can anyone help Please?

scotti0208

hi, this is my first time dealing with this so please go easy,
ok here's the situation..

wen i was 18-19 i ran up a few debts by my impulsive nature,
i bought a car i couldnt drive,
and ran up debts on my bank account after i closed it. via check book
the companies have been chasing me and never stopped..

at the time i couldn't explain any reason why i did this i just felt like it,
then back in may i was diagnosed with cyclothmia which is the onset of bi-polar but now i am seeing a psychiatrist as they believe it to be bi-polar as i have been untreated since i was a child this caused the disorder to evolve into full bipolar (unsure as of yet)...
any way, i cannot afford to pay my debts and i wasnt in control of my self wen i created them so i have been running from them ever since.. now i dont know what to do as my credit rating is through the floor and i cannot get an over draft, loan or anything i'm 24 and trying to think of the future but am finding hard as running away from my debts makes me worry and on certain occasions sends me into deprresive episodes..
i have finally decided i need help on the finacial front that is, can any one help me?? i'm desperate now.. one company is threatening litigation and is causing me unnecessary stress which makes my health situation worse..

sue.powell283

I'll start with a bit of background history.
Neither myself or my hubby have ever been particularly good with money- enjoying spending far too much- more than we can afford!.
Anyhow the latest start of events was in 2007 when my mum (aged then aged 75) had a severe stroke, effectively stopping her from returning to her own home and living a 'normal' life. As my dad had passed away 18mths earlier and I was an only child we decided that the best option was to have dad's will changed so that I inherited his money and that we sell our home and mum's and buy one where we then converted the garage into a self contained annex for my mum.(the cost to convert came out of her money and we drew up a contact that said the should she want to move of if we sold she would be entitled to £80k- we bought the house for £280k) She has carers that she pays for her personal care, I do the washing, cleaning etc- the background stuff.
At the time my hubby was on 'garden leave' from the civil service while on the re-deployment register trying to find another job.
In 2009 they decided that there were no jobs for him and in Aug 2009 he took redundancy. Just before he was made redundant we took out a £40k 'mortgage' with the One account to cover some big bills that we had.
My hubby still has not job is suffering very badly with his mental health and depression and alcohol abuse.
We are now seriously struggling and having done Martin's budget we are well over £1k pm overspending. i have now cut out all my non essentials. (altho can't cut our internet as recently upgraded- for cheaper than we were paying and it's an 18mth contract)

My mum is comfortably well off and has said that she will come to some agreement with us whereby she 'own'/ or have a bigger repayment of the value of the property- ie we 'borrow' £40k and we'd have to pay/give her £120k should we sell- her original 80 + the 40. (well this i think would be our proposal- she'd get advice on it from a friend of hers) nb the property deeds are in our name and we're not of a mind to have them changed. I was advised when we did our wills that this was the best option for us and our kids.

However my main worry is that if my hubby doesn't find work or can't because of his health (has other issues as well as the depression- arthritis in knees) then that money will run out and we'll be in a worse situation that if we had to sell, we'd not be able to afford anther property, but have too much in savings to go on a council list.
Not sure whether we'd be better off quitting while we 're ahead & selling up now (mum'd have to go into a home- which is what we'd tried to avoid, or she'd have to buy somewhere and try and be self sufficient- she relies on me for various things etc. also there are is no residential care in our area-so she'd have leave all her friends and commitments that she's made/become part of in the last 4 years)
|'m also concerned that if we left trying to sell the house to the 'last minute' as a last resort and if it months or longer to sell we'd really be up the creak without the paddle.

Not sure on what our best option is.

we have a static caravan that we go on holiday to - we can sell that and get a small sum, but then that means we get no breaks away from home, my mum and her carers.- the thought of which depresses my hubby further and depresses me too. altho I am aware the holidays are a luxury.
we also have 2 boys aged 16 & 18 and 3 dogs. (i'd be more than happy to buy a plot of land and live our static caravan!, but kids'd not be too keen!)
help please.

any advice/suggestions would be of great help.