Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

Hi there,

Many thanks for your post.

The CCCS MoneyAware team are out of the office until Wednesday, 28th December. Please accept our apologies for any delay in replying to your question.

You can still receive debt counselling over the Christmas period through our online service Debt Remedy (http://debtremedy.cccs.co.uk) 24 hours a day.

You can also read our short guide to debt help http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/12/christmas-debt-help/.

We hope you enjoy a peaceful Christmas :xmastree:
Kind regards,

The CCCS MoneyAware team
http://www.cccs.co.uk
http://moneyaware.co.uk

bathanwells

i have an issue which has cropped up but now your offices are closed for christmas!

I used the cccs web address for 24 hour support over christmas period will they get back to me today?

Jennyy_2

Thanks For Suggestions.

trueblue22

hi,

i have debt of about 7000 pounds , i am currently on a debt management plan. i have recently started a new job and i am earning more money than before so i would like to start saving for a mortgage , but i am worried that my debt management plan would make it almost impossible to get one !!

would i be better off paying off the debt before by asking the bank if i could settle the debt at a reduced rate or would that make matters worse!!

thanks

System

bathanwells wrote: »

i have an issue which has cropped up but now your offices are closed for christmas!

I used the cccs web address for 24 hour support over christmas period will they get back to me today?

Hi and thanks for your post.

If you have used the online service you should have a dedicated phone number in your pack. You can call this number from Wednesday the 28th onwards if we haven’t got back to you first.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

System

trueblue22 wrote: »

hi,

i have debt of about 7000 pounds , i am currently on a debt management plan. i have recently started a new job and i am earning more money than before so i would like to start saving for a mortgage , but i am worried that my debt management plan would make it almost impossible to get one !!

would i be better off paying off the debt before by asking the bank if i could settle the debt at a reduced rate or would that make matters worse!!

thanks

Hi and welcome to the forum.

If you are on a debt management plan with us I’d recommend that you give our helpline a call so that we can look at your situation.

In most instances you would be better paying off your debt first and then working on improving your credit rating while starting to save.

Settling the debt at a reduction is sometimes possible and we have a specialist team that can deal with this when clients have a lump sum available. This will still have some impact on your credit rating.

The following link on credit ratings and how to improve them is worth reading.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

Chrisblue1962

Hi, just a quick query about DMPs

Lets say that I am on a DMP with CCCS with 6 creditors, all receiving amounts in proportion to amounts owed, lets say £25.00 , £25.00 , £20.00 , £15.00 , £10.00 and £5.00 , total being paid £100.00 per month.

Lets say that the smallest creditor, receiving £5.00, gets their final payment.

My question is: When the smallest creditor is paid off, how is money subsequently allocated to remaining creditors? Do CCCS....

• Just split the payment, £5.00 in this example, equally between five remaining creditors, i.e £1.00 each?

• Do they re-apportion the payment , £5.00 in this case, on a pro rata basis based on remaining debts due?

• Or, do take the whole monthly amount, £100.00 in this example and re-apportion the whole monthly payment pro rata among the remaing creditors based on amounts owing to each creditor?

Thanks for your help

thebrink

Hello i would just like to ask how long a debt relief order takes as i have sent in further information for debts of £8467 mainly credit cards and catalogue mobile phone contract i have a cccs budget plan i receive benefits due to a disability and the stress has had a major impact on my health i have been told that i am eliglible for a dro how long can i expect to receive a reply from sending further information in recently thank you

Jughead

Hi everyone, my wife and I both took out different courses with skillstrain on finance with barclays partner finance in early 2007 I think, I dont think either of us ever handed in an assignment (partly due to the books they left us with being out of date and partly due to us being lazy) but the point is by the time we decided we wanted out it had passed the 14 day cooling off period, we continued paying for maybe the rest of the year before we both canceled our direct debits (stupid, I know), anyway we have had various letters over the years from various company's all "acting" on behalf of barclays, we have never responded to any of them and dont have them anymore, we have moved house once since then but have had another round of letters today this time from a company called capquest debt recovery, I owe £1800 and my wife owes around £900 I believe, we would like to do the right thing and settle up but are unsure of how to go about it as we cant aford much, I'm part time at 2 jobs one of which is minimum wage and the other isnt much better, she earns considerably more but due to my low wage we can barely make ends meet (we have almost £4000 on a creditcard which we are stedily reducing as well), Ive done a bit of research about the company asking for the money now and they dont seem like the sort i want to confirm we live here too so any advice will be welcome

p.s. sorry about the length of this post, its nice to finally talk to someone about it :T

System

Scully38 wrote: »

I'm really struggling at the moment. I've been trying to sell my house, but it's fallen through 3 times and now I can't afford to live here. I owe my sister 45k as part of my mom's will, she's getting antsy and blames me for the house sale not going through, when in fact i'm desperate to sell.

I've been on JSA for 6 months and can't live like this for much longer, this isn't living. I've literally had no food for 4 weeks and have lost nearly two stone this month. I've just been living on coffee to survive and have no strength left to do anything because i've had no money for food. I've had to use all my JSA money for the last two months to pay for my toilet being broken. I've got no family apart from a sister who is taking me to court for the rest of the will money (she's had 30k cash already). She knows i'm struggling but doesn't care.

Because I own my own home (was my mom's), and no mortgage, I don't qualify for any help. I've been to the cAB and they say I fall through all the cracks because I own property. I've got the Gas, Electric, Water and TV licensing people threatening to take me to court as i've not paid them. The TV liensing people are going to take £93 out of my account on the 23rd December leaving me with £27 for two weeks, £15 of that has to pay for train fares and buses to sign on. I can't even feed my 2 cats. I've sold all my jewelery to last me this long and have no savings at all. I'm at my whits end.

Even speaking with the Elec and Gas people said they have to take a minimum of £30 a month,and with it being winter, I have no central heating, only a gas fire. I've been living and sleeping in the living room with blankets and jumpers on, just to stay warm. Now with the snow making it freezing, I just don't know what to do. I've done an outgoings thing and have no money left for food, what do I do? How can I pay for everyday things?

Gas and Elec £60
Water £15
TV Lic £93 then £43
Insurance £20
Phone and broadband to get a job £55
Train £30 per month to get to job center

Total is £273. I only get £230 a month to live on.

How do I survive this winter? I just don't know what to do.

Hi and thanks for your post.

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

The most important thing is to make sure you can pay for essentials like food and heating. We have a specialist advice service that can also double check you are receiving all the benefits you are entitled to.

Depending on your circumstances there could be other avenues you could go down in regards to the house and the money owed to your sister.

I’d recommend that you call our free helpline on our free Helpline on 0800 138 1111.

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. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat