Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

realitychick

Hi, apologies in advance if this has been covered before - I've had a look but haven't found anything that answers my question.

I'm self-employed, recently lost my main client, and as a result have only £500 p/m coming in at the moment. That's not as terrible as it sounds, as my husband is fortunately able to cover all the bills at the moment, but as I have a bank loan and car expenses it's making it impossible for me to stay on top of my credit card payments as well. My husband is already helping me as much as he can afford to; I'm therefore in the process of talking to the card companies to try and negotiate reduced payments or similar.

Just been offered a 'hardship plan' by Barclaycard and had the ins and outs explained to me. I think unfortunately it is the route I need to take, but here's the thing: I'm aware it will affect my credit rating and I can live with that, but I'm wondering whether a 'black mark' would remain on my credit file for a long time even if I subsequently was able to pay the full amount off? The thing is, although I have very little to manage on at the moment, just one or two new business clients would probably put me in a position to be able to clear my debt to Barclaycard in full. I'm not sure how soon that will happen, given the economy, but sooner or later I am hoping to be back on my feet so my question is this:

Hypothetically, if I opted for this hardship plan and then was back up and running in, say, six months' time and was able to pay off the outstanding amount, would I be likely to still have a black mark on my credit file for years and years to come?

Any advice would be much appreciated - thanks!

StepChange_Pavan

clarenic wrote: »

Hi all

I'm in a total mess moneywise. I've managed to arrange payment plans with all but one who took me to court. Judgment was made against me on 16 Jan for £620. They'd agreed an instalment plan of £25 a month. I read in the leaflet that I could have the CCJ removed if I paid within 28 days of judgment. I just phoned the solicitors to try and pay it off. They insisted on putting me through to Capquest who have said I have to pay £750 to clear it! The total on the judgment is £500 plus £120 costs but they are saying it won't be cleared unless I pay £753. I don't have that much.

Can they do this? Why have that figure on the judgment if it's not correct? I'm confused and gutted because I thought I was going to be able to pay it off today and it's suddenly jumped up :-(

I would be really grateful for any advice you could give me.

Thanks

Hi clarenic and thanks for your post.

You would need to check the terms of your original agreement as it can be written in there that they are allowed to add interest and charges. You could also query it with the court.

If you’re unable to pay it in full you can still come to an arrangement to pay it at a rate that you can afford.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Leeds_Lass wrote: »

Hi there,

Any advise would be more than greatly received.

My situation at present is as follows.

1 month arrears on Mortgage from October - All other payments have been made - Have sent a letter to mortgage company asking for a short term payment holiday. Are they likely to accept. Where do I stand in relation to 1 months arrears?

Debts - Virgin CC 3743.75
M&S CC 2058.92
Vanquis CC 1480
Next 592.51

Total 7875.18

Currently pay £611 per month.

I have around £400 per month free once all my expenses for the month have been paid. However, I feel a little overwhelmed by the mortgage arrears, and also council made a mess of council tax so I am having to pay extra per month - £ 200.

Thanks for any help


Any help how I can deal with this situation would be fantastic.

Hi Leeds_Lass and thanks for your post.

It looks as though you’ve already had some useful budgeting advice on another thread.

It’s important that you prioritise your mortgage and council tax payments and try to make an arrangement with these even if it means offering your creditors reduced payments.

It’s definitely worth asking your mortgage provider for a payment break – there’s no guarantee that they’ll agree but if you can show them a copy of your budget to prove how it will help you get back up to date, they might be more willing.

If you’d like some more detailed advice on your situation, please give our free helpline a call on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday, 8am – 8pm.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

leeanne32

Hi
Not sure if posting in correct post, 1st post.
I have a debt being managed by HFO Services, My debt is on my credit report as being defaulted on October 2006 - which i agree with, therefore is will be leaving my credit report in Oct of this year.

I have been paying 30 pound per month since first defaulting and my current balance is 1302 pounds.

I have just had a phone call from HFO - first one since agreeing to pay my amounts. Saying that they are offering me the chance to settle my debt at a reduced fee.

He said if i paid 700 - 800 pound the debt would be erased? And it would be took off my credit report? it will do anyway this October

Is this possible?
Why would they do this now?
Is it because my 6 years of it being on my credit report is up?
What happens to the debt once the 6 year period is up if there is still money owing?
Should i pay now or remain in installments?
Am i obliged to still pay when it has been removed from my credit file?

So many questions..........can anyone help/advise me ?
He is ringing me back on the 14th to see what i want to do ?

StepChange_Pavan

edlondon wrote: »

Hi

I need some advice about 'linked addresses'.

I am in the process of cleaning up my credit report (have been using Experian).

On my report I have 42 entries for linked addresses. These relate to past applciations I've made.

I am worried because although credit applications / searches drop off the report after 12 months, linked addresses do not. Will this therefore have an effect on my credit rating?

I made the mistake of doing a flurry of applications last year (before getting advice not to on here!), so I'm waiting for these to drop off my search history but concerned that all the linked addresses will give me away.

The linked address entries all relate to the three addresses I have lived at and all have been registered on the electoral roll, but also one address I lived in for only 4 months so does not appear on my file anywhere else. Will this have any damaging effect?

I can confirm that I have never had any credit problems (defaults, late payments etc) against any address I have ever lived at.

Thanks for your advice.....

Hi edlondon and thanks for your post.

I can’t imagine that this will affect your score too much but lenders may question why there are so many linked addresses which could affect their decision to lend to you.

I’d recommend that you contact Experian as they should be able to give you more of a definitive answer.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

jonny6969 wrote: »

I started a DMP with CCCS in December 2011, (first payment on 1st January)
I have sent numerous letters to all creditors about being on DMP with cccs. Virgin and sainsburys accepted the cccs offer for credit cards. For loans i am with sainsburys and TBS, who haven’t accepted.
Last week I got a letter from TSB collections department requesting money (arrears). I sent them another letter about DMP and to contact CCCS if they need to.
I have just got a default letter in the post this morning from TSB saying i am in arrears of 275.69 and i must pay it by 27th Feb, otherwise they will take action by recovering the whole balance from any account i have with them (which I don’t), or by a debt collector or take legal action.
It also says if i am in difficulty, then i should seek advice from a solicitor or court.
Should I just ignore it? Is it standard?

Hi jonny6969 and thanks for your post.

SAAC has already given you some really good advice. It does sound as though these are just standard letters that form part of the debt collection process. You can read our blog for more information and this should help to reassure you: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/08/you%E2%80%99re-in-debt-but-what-can-your-creditors-actually-do/.

If you are particularly worried, like SAAC mentioned just give us a call and we can talk you through the process.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

realitychick wrote: »

Hi, apologies in advance if this has been covered before - I've had a look but haven't found anything that answers my question.

I'm self-employed, recently lost my main client, and as a result have only £500 p/m coming in at the moment. That's not as terrible as it sounds, as my husband is fortunately able to cover all the bills at the moment, but as I have a bank loan and car expenses it's making it impossible for me to stay on top of my credit card payments as well. My husband is already helping me as much as he can afford to; I'm therefore in the process of talking to the card companies to try and negotiate reduced payments or similar.

Just been offered a 'hardship plan' by Barclaycard and had the ins and outs explained to me. I think unfortunately it is the route I need to take, but here's the thing: I'm aware it will affect my credit rating and I can live with that, but I'm wondering whether a 'black mark' would remain on my credit file for a long time even if I subsequently was able to pay the full amount off? The thing is, although I have very little to manage on at the moment, just one or two new business clients would probably put me in a position to be able to clear my debt to Barclaycard in full. I'm not sure how soon that will happen, given the economy, but sooner or later I am hoping to be back on my feet so my question is this:

Hypothetically, if I opted for this hardship plan and then was back up and running in, say, six months' time and was able to pay off the outstanding amount, would I be likely to still have a black mark on my credit file for years and years to come?

Any advice would be much appreciated - thanks!

Hi and thanks for your post.

First of all it’s important that you’re clear about what Barclaycard are offering you – will they be charging you more interest and if it’s more of a consolidation loan this may not affect your credit rating. We can offer you some impartial advice on your options, but it’s likely that whichever solution is recommended, it will affect your credit file.

In answer to your question; anything that’s on there will remain for 6 years. This is to give an accurate picture of everything that’s happened. However, if you manage to clear it in full you can have a satisfaction note put on to explain to any future lenders that the debt was repaid.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

sickasachip13 wrote: »

Hi Pavan and Matt,

I read the article in The Guardian online today about the day in the life of CCCS:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2012/feb/07/cccs-callers-60m-debt-mountain

And I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your help and thank goodness that CCCS is there!!

SAAC

Hey SAAC,

Thanks for your kind words; it’s good to know how much we’re able to help. I hope your plan is going well.

And thank you for the ongoing support you provides to other posters – it’s very much appreciated


Take care,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

leeanne32 wrote: »

Hi
Not sure if posting in correct post, 1st post.
I have a debt being managed by HFO Services, My debt is on my credit report as being defaulted on October 2006 - which i agree with, therefore is will be leaving my credit report in Oct of this year.

I have been paying 30 pound per month since first defaulting and my current balance is 1302 pounds.

I have just had a phone call from HFO - first one since agreeing to pay my amounts. Saying that they are offering me the chance to settle my debt at a reduced fee.

He said if i paid 700 - 800 pound the debt would be erased? And it would be took off my credit report? it will do anyway this October

Is this possible?
Why would they do this now?
Is it because my 6 years of it being on my credit report is up?
What happens to the debt once the 6 year period is up if there is still money owing?
Should i pay now or remain in installments?
Am i obliged to still pay when it has been removed from my credit file?

So many questions..........can anyone help/advise me ?
He is ringing me back on the 14th to see what i want to do ?

Hi leeanne32 and thanks for your post.

It looks as though you’ve already had some useful advice on a previous thread too.

It’s not unusual for collection agencies to offer settlements. However, it’s unlikely that they’ll remove it from your credit file – but like you mention this will happen in October anyway.

If you are in a position to pay the amount that they’re asking for, it’s really important that you get their acceptance in writing. Even though they are offering it to you, they can still sell the remaining debt on to another agency unless you get their agreement in writing. If they sell the debt on, you could still be chased for the debt further down the line and it could escalate with charges.

If you can’t afford the settlement, you can continue to pay as you are – you have no obligation to pay them the amount especially if they won’t agree to put the arrangement in writing.

I hope this helps, but if you’d like any more detailed advice you can call our free helpline on 0800 138 11141.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards.
Pavan

clb020

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone can give me any information on the following. I was recently in a lot of debt and entered a DMP. It is now finished and I am debt free!:j However, I am now checking my Credit Report and seeing how to improve it. It isn't as bad as I thought it would be but I have noticed something with I think shouldn't be the case. All creditors accepted my revised payments and everything was going fine with payments being made on time every month to the revised amount. However, one account has logged every payment that I made as missed. I contacted them and they said that since it was lower than the minimum payment (not by much) it goes down as a missed payment and there is no way to change it. Yet all my other creditors added that I was in a DMP but that the payments I made were on time and not regarded as missed payments. I've contacted the company and they are saying that they are in the right and won't change the credit report but I think they are in the wrong. Surely they should just have noted that there was an arrangement set up but that the revised agreed payments were made.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.