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StepChange_Pavan

sue.powell283 wrote: »

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.

Hi sue.powell283 and thanks for your post.

You don’t mention whether you have any unsecured debts at all and your post suggests that it’s all secured or mortgage lending.

I’d recommend that you seek some independent financial advice if this is the case, as we’re not qualified to recommend you on your options.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

redglass wrote: »

Hello
This is my first time here. I don't have debts except that I'm in dispute with a phone and broadband company who are charging me £114 for services I cancelled several weeks before they allegedly took over my line. Ofcom has confirmed that they 'slammed' the line and I have also contacted the Communications Ombudsman.
The company have recently been pestering me by email, demanding that I phone them 'as a little chat could sort out this matter' but I have no faith in that (having found by experience that they forget any conversations/agreements that don't suit them) so I replied that I would only discuss it in writing, via email, and there was no need for them to hear my voice: I could attach all the relevant documents and then we would both have a permanent record of our discussion (whereas on the phone, they can record it but I can't). I said this not to be perverse but in the interests of transparency for both sides. They refused to discuss my account by email and when it was clear that I wasn't going to have the 'little chat' I was told my file would be turned over to a debt collection agency. I expect they'll do this and my question is, how soon can they do it and how soon am I likely to see the bailiffs? I am pretty confident that the Ombudsman will rule in my favour but nobody wants bailiffs on the doorstep.

Hi redglass and thanks for your post.

If the debt is in dispute, I’d recommend that you write to them (with the proof they might require) and ask them to put the debt on hold until it is confirmed either way by the Ombudsman.

If they do pass the debt on to a collection agency, you should do the same to make them aware of the situation. Don’t forget to send everything recorded delivery and keep copies of everything you send.

You are entitled to ask them to communicate with you in writing only and they should comply with your request.

If they decide to continue with the standard debt collection procedure, they would need to issue you with a default first. If they aren’t happy, they could apply for a county court judgement (CCJ) which would go through the courts. At this stage, if the issue still isn’t resolved you will have the opportunity to dispute the debt and the judge is likely to put the debt on hold if you have a strong case.

Bailiffs can only be instructed if you fail to comply with a CCJ; so as long as you keep them updated with your situation and respond to any court papers, you won’t get bailiffs at your door.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

DazzaJo wrote: »

Hi. first time poster and wondering if you can help? Not sure if this is the right thread as this cuts across a few subjects -

My girlfriend of just over a year (2 children - 1 18 on apprenticeship and 1 in school so no other income other than wages & tax credit), has debt problems,mostly incurred in her name by an ex partner. She has suffered with depression and has basically ignored everything for a while now,but accepts it's her responsibility. I have recently persuaded her to start to deal with this with my help and support and yesterday we opened 2 years of post!!!! She refuses to deal with the companies as they treat her like dirt so I'm going to try to do on her behalf. A few of the debts were in ex partners name and these have been returned to sender as "no longer at address".

Mortgage payments, secured loan, council tax, TV licence, Gas and electric are all upto date. In fact I recalculated her gas and electric and found she was over £700 in credit. Company phoned and £500 refund on way.

However, this is where I start to get stuck,with the following. Please bear in mind all this was discovered last night -

CCJ granted to MBNA for £3832 in July at £100 per month. Statement of means not completed as only aware of it last night. Nothing paid for CCJ to date and attachment of earnings sent to employer but not yet actioned. Is it too late to approach court to recalculate repayments?

Capital One CC - £1086. this was passed to a DCC, who were prepared in July to accept £543.45 in full & final settlement. This debt was then passed back to Capital One, who last wrote on 25.10.11, for payment of £1086. Is it possible to go back to them to see what they will accept?

Barclaycard - £3244. Currently over limit, incurring charges and making no payments. They have over the last few months been "setting off" money from her Barclays savings acct. Balance on savings acct now zero.

Barclays current account - anywhere between £900 & £2300 overdrawn.

Ikea store card - £800. over limit and incurring charges but being paid by DD when funds in account.

Water - currently in arrears for this year only - £484. I've contacted these who wanted £120 a month but have reduced this to £75 pending me thinking it over.

I discovered last night that her overdraft & Barclaycard include PPI and am thinking of trying to reclaim this. Would reclaiming jeopardise coming to a payment agreement? Would the company fight back by going for a CCJ?
Could I revisit the other debts (CCJ with MBNA and Capital one CC to see if they include PPI, which she may be able to claim back? She is more than willing to pay off her debts no matter how long it takes and will start making payments to these companies, as much as she can afford.

Sorry for so many questions - I know I have to deal with the CCJ first but can the court be approached at this late date?

Many thanks in advance

Darren

Hi Darren and thanks for your post.

Firstly well done to you and your girlfriend for facing up to all those letters – it must have been one mammoth task going through them all!

You’re right that the priority is to sort the CCJ and attachment of earnings (AofE). When the creditor applied for the AofE, your girlfriend should have received an N56 form which asks her to complete a statement of means. She would have been given 8 days to complete this and it’s difficult to say whether this timeframe will have passed or not.

They can’t action the AofE until they get this information from her or from her employer. It sounds as though they haven’t done this yet, so I’d recommend that you get in touch with the courts and send them a completed N56. If you don’t have the paperwork, the form can be found online here: http://hmctscourtfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n56_e.pdf

The court officer will use the information on the form to calculate a payment that will be deducted at source.

With regards to the PPI With regards to the PPI; you can put in a claim against any of the debts. There is a really useful guide on here that will help you: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance.

Any of her creditors could go for a CCJ at any stage, but this would just mean that she would need to respond and offer them a payment that she can realistically afford.

The water is also a priority over her other creditors, so it’s important to offer them something you can afford to get it back up to date within a reasonable timeframe.

She should cancel any direct debits or standing orders to her creditors and switch her account to a basic bank account away from any existing debts. This will prevent them form taking any money for themselves without her authorisation.

With the remaining creditors, she would need to work out how much she can afford to pay them each month. The best way to do this is to draw up a sustainable budget and split whatever is leftover between them.

We can help her to do this and if she’d prefer we can speak to you on her behalf (with her permission). She can visit our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) which will automatically determine her options. Alternatively she can ring our free Helpline to speak to an advisor on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.

It’s really good that she’s up to date with all the ‘priority expenditure’ such as mortgage and bills etc. We can explore all the solutions that are available to her, and the main thing is that she’s facing up to it now and there will be options for her.

I hope this helps

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

darwins_mum wrote: »

Hi, not sure if I am posting in the right place, does anyone have a freedom from harrassment letter that I can send to my previous boradband company who have taken to ringing me constantly over a disputed outstanding balance.
Many thanks in advance
DM

Hi DM and thanks for your post.

You can use the template letter below to help you.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to ask that you no longer contact me by telephone as your calls are causing me considerable stress due to the frequency, and that they are being made at inappropriate times. Please remove my telephone number from your database and send all future communication in writing to my home address.

I have provided the most recent copy of my income and expenditure to make you aware of my current financial situation. I will continue to make my payment of x on the x of every month and will keep you informed of any changes in my circumstances as I am keen to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

I understand that following this request if you continue to call I can contact the Office of Fair Trading to make a formal complaint.

Please confirm in writing that your records have been amended.

Yours sincerely

StepChange_Pavan

klts wrote: »

Hi
We are in debt due to redundancy, my husband has now found another job but on a much reduced income. We contacted all our creditors and made repayment arrangements and these are all being paid so far. My husband has a personal loan with RBS which they have passed on to an agency (Triton), he has made a repayment plan with them and is paying it with great difficulty but they keep ringing every couple of months for a new income and expenditure and they keep asking for higher payments which we cant make. Every time they ring they ask about our property and say they can get the money back from our house. Are they able to do this? The loan is not secured on our property and we have a joint mortgage - the arrangement my husband is paying is only about £40 pm less than the original repayments on the loan.

Thanks very much for any advice.

Hi klts and thanks for your post.

They could be using this as a scare tactic to try and get you to make higher payments. What they’re referring to a charging order where they can apply for the debt to be secured against your property. They would need to apply for a county court judgement first and this link explains more about what a charging order is: http://www.cccs.co.uk/InfoCentre/EnglandandWales/Creditoraction/Courtaction/Chargingorder.aspx.

If you’re struggling with debts and you’d like some more detailed advice on your options and what the creditors can/can’t do, we can help. 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. Alternatively you can ring our free Helpline on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

[QUOTE=scottish_stresshead ]
I have 2 Overdrafts with BOS!

1 for £1,090 I think and the 2nd for £242 ...i can't for the life of me get them reduced by a decent amount..im paying £50 a month each OD as thats all I can afford and because of the charges that they induce for being in a overdraft, im really only paying back £19 a month!

Is there anything I can do to stop the charges or explain to them I have no way of payin it off anytime soon? [IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/pavang/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG]
[/QUOTE]


Hi scottish_stresshead and thank you for your post.

The first thing to do, if you haven’t already, is to move your banking away from the overdraft. That way it’s not as easy to dip into the amount that you’ve repaid every month.

The problem with interest and charges is that there’s no guarantee that your lender will agree to freeze them. The only thing you can do, is to write to them explaining your situation and ask for their consideration in stopping them.

It’s a good idea to include a copy of your income and expenditure to show that you’re repaying as much as you can afford. It will also show that you’re not spending extravagantly in other areas.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

peteraol

Hi,

I owe £12,000 to MBNA/VIRGIN

I am currently unemployed so I followed the CCCS self advice remedy and offered my creditors (all unsecured) £1 a month with 6 monthly revision. They all agreed except MBNA who finally took me to court. The court made the decision in my favor, MBNA objected to the offer but it was set at £1 a month based on my Job Seekers Allowance as my only income.

Two weeks later I got a letter from the court saying it was being transferred to my local court for redetermination and I would hear of a date etc to attend.

Two weeks later I got a letter from my local court to see the judgement had been made to "forthwith". I telephoned the court and asked why I hadnt been informed of the hearing and they told me its the judges discretion as to whether to hold a hearing or not and he decided it wasnt.

They said I need to send in form N245 if I disagree and would send it to me. They suggested I wait until I hear from MBNA as to their intentions before submitting the form.

Today ( 2 weeks later) I received a letter from Restons (MBNA solicitors) and nothing from the court that 2 days after the "forthwith" judgement was made they applied for the interim charging order and it was granted. They have sent me a copy of the ruling and that a hearing for this (specific words are: whether to grant the charging order, vary the charging order or dismiss the order) I also received a letter from the land registry saying MBNA had made an application there too.

My 3 questions are:

My only letter ever from my local court has been the "forewith" ruling. Even the hearing on 19th January was sent by Restons/MBNA. Is this correct.?

I have never been asked to attend at any time except the hearing for the charging order in January. Should I not have been party to these other decisions being decided in my absense.

My intention for the N245 was to attempt to vary the "forthwith" order back to the original £1 a month order as my circumstances never changed since the original judge decided on £1 per month. Now I am have to go and defend the charging order and it seems the original £1 a month order is now forgotten. Is this correct? It seems I am having to defend step 2 when I never got a chance to defend step 1.

Thanks for any help.

StepChange_Pavan

peteraol wrote: »

Hi,

I owe £12,000 to MBNA/VIRGIN

I am currently unemployed so I followed the CCCS self advice remedy and offered my creditors (all unsecured) £1 a month with 6 monthly revision. They all agreed except MBNA who finally took me to court. The court made the decision in my favor, MBNA objected to the offer but it was set at £1 a month based on my Job Seekers Allowance as my only income.

Two weeks later I got a letter from the court saying it was being transferred to my local court for redetermination and I would hear of a date etc to attend.

Two weeks later I got a letter from my local court to see the judgement had been made to "forthwith". I telephoned the court and asked why I hadnt been informed of the hearing and they told me its the judges discretion as to whether to hold a hearing or not and he decided it wasnt.

They said I need to send in form N245 if I disagree and would send it to me. They suggested I wait until I hear from MBNA as to their intentions before submitting the form.

Today ( 2 weeks later) I received a letter from Restons (MBNA solicitors) and nothing from the court that 2 days after the "forthwith" judgement was made they applied for the interim charging order and it was granted. They have sent me a copy of the ruling and that a hearing for this (specific words are: whether to grant the charging order, vary the charging order or dismiss the order) I also received a letter from the land registry saying MBNA had made an application there too.

My 3 questions are:

My only letter ever from my local court has been the "forewith" ruling. Even the hearing on 19th January was sent by Restons/MBNA. Is this correct.?

I have never been asked to attend at any time except the hearing for the charging order in January. Should I not have been party to these other decisions being decided in my absense.

My intention for the N245 was to attempt to vary the "forthwith" order back to the original £1 a month order as my circumstances never changed since the original judge decided on £1 per month. Now I am have to go and defend the charging order and it seems the original £1 a month order is now forgotten. Is this correct? It seems I am having to defend step 2 when I never got a chance to defend step 1.

Thanks for any help.

Hello peteraol and welcome to the forum

This is the standard procedure if the creditor wants to secure the debt on your property through a charging order. If you would like to defend the charging order it’s important that you attend the hearing in January.

If you’d like some more detailed advice on what to do, I’d recommend that you call our helpline and we can explain the process.

Kind regards,
Pavan

fatbelly

peteraol wrote: »

Two weeks later I got a letter from my local court to see the judgement had been made to "forthwith". I telephoned the court and asked why I hadnt been informed of the hearing and they told me its the judges discretion as to whether to hold a hearing or not and he decided it wasnt.

Then my understanding is wrong and the National Debtline factsheet on Responding to a Court Claim is wrong when it says

•If a district judge made the original order without a hearing then the re-determination of your offer must be decided at a hearing.

klts

Thanks very much for the reply Pavan. When we first got into difficulty we got advice from this site and cccs site and we moved our bank accounts to another bank, we also did an income and expenditure form and wrote to all our creditors with an offer which they all agreed to except RBS. They all agreed to stop the interest and charges and we have been making the agreed payments for a few months. The only one we are having problems with is RBS, they keep asking for more, they have even said that according to our I&E statement we dont have enough spare money to make the payments we have already agreed to and they dont think that any of our spending is excessive. At the moment we are just carrying on making the agreed payment of £340.00 pm as we really cant afford any more (at the end of the month there are times I have to walk well over an hour to work because we cant afford petrol). We do have equity in our house but we only have about 6 years left to pay on our 25 year mortgage and dont want to sell if we can avoid it. If they continue to ask for more money I will contact you again if that is OK. I have read the info about charging orders and I feel a bit better as while they may get an order it looks unlikely that we will be forced to sell our home. Thank you.