We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

Options
12728303233399

Comments

  • ursh
    ursh Posts: 4 Newbie
    Hi guys,

    My situation is quite complex, i bought a flat with a good friend of mine, however I got into a bit of money troubles and ended up with 4 credit cards and struggled to pay them off each month, after discussing with her I consolidated them into 1 secured loan with Northern Rock in Nov07 - my friend agreed to this as a short term messure to get the amount down so I could apply for a personal loan and then take her name off my debt.

    We have since moved out and are renting our flat to tennants (no bad feelings or anything)

    I have now got my loan down to 12k and am finding it really hard to get a personal loan, I would like to get one to pay over 5 years @ £250 per month but have been declined by 2 companies 6 mths ago, I am in the process of getting my credit rating checked.

    I have 2 credit cards (Virgin & Barclaycard) with a credit limit of £8,000 between them I could use and then try and get a personal loan for the £4,000 but I dont want to get myself stuck but I need to get out of having the homeowner loan on both our names when its my debt... any advice welcome???
  • mommyof3
    mommyof3 Posts: 15 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Thank you, Sarah:)
  • Ed20_3
    Ed20_3 Posts: 1 Newbie
    Hi,
    I have a question relating to estates in Scotland; Myself and my brother moved into a rented flat that previously my mother had lived before she had passed away (we had been living in nearby flat to care for her so the move just made sense).

    On moving in I discovered that the no gas account was set up, I notified the supplier who was Eon and they set up an account for us, I enquired if anything was due in my mother's name and they said they would be in touch.

    Over a year later I received a letter from Phillips & Cohen a debt collector specialising in 'deceased account care' requesting payment for my late mothers gas bill in excess of £1100.
    My question is; are utility debts enforceable over a year after the estate has been fully settled? Or what are my obligations to them as a beneficiary of the estate?
    I think they probably are, but just wanted to check really.
    It's ironic that I notified them of the issue and had we not moved into the same flat Eon et al would not have had the opportunity to claim this debt. It also frustrated me that I asked at the time and its took this long to sort it all out.
    Thanks for your help.
  • Reggie256
    Reggie256 Posts: 160 Forumite
    edited 9 June 2010 at 7:19PM
    Hey there

    Looking for advice about what to do about 1st Credit ltd.

    Some time ago I was wrongly pursued by them for a debt I didn't owe to Barclaycard. I raised a dispute (thought continued to receive correspondence from 1st Credit) and Barclaycard eventually wrote to me admitting an error on their part and confirming that the debt wasn't mine, and that I had been chased due to an error with their person-tracing service. I subsequently sent a copy of said letter to 1st Credit and asked them to confirm that they matter/account was closed. Unfortunately they never did.

    Anyway, received a letter from 1st Credit today, chasing me for the same debt. Aside from sending them yet another copy of the letter I received from their client (Barclaycard), is there anything more I can do to stop them from chasing me for this???

    Any advice MUCH appreciated!
  • Dinosnore
    Dinosnore Posts: 15 Forumite
    Hi there

    I was hoping to get some advice regarding my debt and my options to get out of it.

    Over the past year I have managed to get myself into a crippling debt position, in particular because of payday loans.

    I have become stuck in a vicious circle where the mounting interest of the loans is wiping out all of my income, therefore I have had to take out more to cover that.

    My income is reasonably good and I could afford to pay a decent amount off each month.

    But I wonder where to turn to sort this out. I see debt management plans online but many places, especially here warm us off the ones that charge.

    Are there any out there that would be able to help me out? Because of the nature of the loans they are taken automatically so I don't know how to stop this cycle.

    Your help would be greatly appreciated
  • billy.
    billy. Posts: 3 Newbie
    Hi, I really hope someone can help and really appreciate any advice.

    Here goes...

    I am currently applying for a mortgage to buy the house im renting from my parents. It was all going fine until a bad debt from the past snuck up.

    As a student I had a Natwest student account with a £600 o/draft. This was an ongoing overdraft. After moving in Jan 07 I altered my address on my online banking to my new address. Natwest never sent me any correspondance until Jan 2009 although I was still using the account right up until then. I then received a latter from a debt collection agency informing me I had to pay (the usual stuff). Natwest had never told me the o/draft would be cancelled so I was shocked to say the least. The agency (I believe it was Triton Credit Services) offred me a reduced payment and told me that would be the end of it. I paid straight away as I've always paid all my other debts and I thought no more of it. They never mentioned there would be a balance still affecting my credit rating.

    Ive since discovered that they have been putting a default against my credit rating for 18 months now and I cannot get my mortgage with that on the file. I am calling them back tomorrow to pay the £165 balance and settle the account, although I was under the impression that the matter was closed and I wouldnt have any credit issues.

    The lady said that if i pay it I will get my mortgage but I'm sure i need to have my credit file amended to get this. Do you think Triton will be willing to amend my credit file and is there anything I can do to help my case?? Im hoping to appeal to their better nature (if one exists). Without this default on my credit file I have a near perfect credit rating and if I dont get this mortgage I will lose my home as my parents have to sell.

    Please, any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks you,

    Billy
  • marky0077
    marky0077 Posts: 22 Forumite
    Hi,

    I have debts of around £35K in the form of 3 personal loans and 3 credit cards (which I frequently have to use). My business is slowly growing but the repayments are growing faster than I'm able to deal with.

    I'm in a very fortunate position in that I am due to receive an 'advanced inheritance' from the sale of some land. The amount I am due to receive will not only wipe out my debts but take a sizeable chunk out of my mortgage. The problem is time. This is not likely to happen for at least 3 months, maybe even 6 months.

    My question is this: Can I contact my lenders (Santander and Barclaycard) and ask them to defer or reduce some payments in the light of the above information? If they agree, will they freeze my credit cards (which I won't be able to function without). Are they likely to disagree as they will soon be losing out on interest?

    Or will they just laugh at me?!

    Very grateful for any advice.

    Mark.
  • karenann
    karenann Posts: 9 Forumite
    Hi

    I have got in trouble as a result of going to part time work in 2007. When I returned to work after having my son I asked if I could go to 4 days per week and my employer offered me a new role but this meant I lost nearly £9,000 per annum. I accepted this because I was desperate to spend a day at home per week with my children. Unfortunately this has resulted in me getting deep in debt.

    My problem is the bank charges that we receive every month means that I have less and less of my money towards my debts every month. I have been struggling to meet the minimum payments on my debts over the last few months but have managed not to miss any payments although they have been late on occasion. Anyway this month my car failed its MOT and have had to pay out over £300 getting it repaired and this along with paying one of last month's payments and the over £200 per month the bank is taking from us means that I can't make any of my minimum payments this month and I now don't know what to do.

    In September my employer has agreed that I can go back to full-time work and also my youngest starts school so my monthly income will go up by about £650 per month and will mean that I can pay all my commitments and also start to reduce the debts slowly and get out of my overdraft so that the charges stop.

    Is there anyway that I can write to my creditors to ask that they freeze payments and interest until 1 October when I can start paying back at a normal rate as I don't want to enter into a DMP when I know in a few months that I can start to pay back what I owe.

    Is there any chance that lenders will accept this arrangement if I write to them. I suppose it is a bit like a payment holiday which I am not sure they are very keen on but if it helps me to get straight and I can then pay them back much more quickly is there a chance they will agree?

    Thanks for any help you can give.
  • apologies if this is in the wrong place
    Hi all

    Was just wanting some advice about a CCJ issue I had last year, apologies for the length of this message, not sure what info is really relevant.

    My debt record has never been great but I have been rebuilding it over the past few years and trying not to avoid the errors I made as a student. I had done reasonably well as when we applied for mortgage with Halifax we were accepted, they even sent the surveyor round to the house we were buying.

    Then two days later got a phone call saying they had declined my application because of a historical issue on my account, when I had applied I given an old address as I was 2 months short of the 3 years needed or something like that, wish I had just given my parents address now as I normally did for ease, but with it being for a mortgage I felt I better be more precise, obviously if I knew I had something to hide I would have definitely not given that address.

    I then went on to Equifax and found a CCJ which had been added to my account from this old address I had given, the CCJ was for a £50 debt from the open university which I had thought I had paid, it was via a solicitors called fennemores, I had arranged a payment plan with them after falling into arrears, I looked into my old accounts to check the dates and noticed that my direct debit/standing order hadn’t come out of my account on the day it should have done, the money was there on the day but hadn’t been there at 9am as my money wasn’t paid in till around lunchtime so assume that’s why it didn’t go out(this was end of sept 2006). I know I should have checked that at time but didn’t, I moved house around that time and I think I had a new mobile number but was back in 2006 so a little but hazy with the exact dates etc… but im sure they could have contacted me, the open university had my email address for starters, they obviously felt it was easier to just take me to court in October 2006.

    Anyway I cleared this debt instantly by paying about £150 to the relevant people, it didn’t help me with our mortgage issues sadly as it didn’t matter to them that I didn’t even know about the court date, and as it was after 30 days my payment made no difference, we got the house but in my girlfriends name only which was a massive hassle and annoyance but that’s another long story.

    The advice I need is, is there any way to get this CCJ removed from my account? Is it worth contacting open university? Or is it fennemores who have complete control now?

    If the CCJ must stay on my account, I read somewhere I can attach a note onto this CCJ, how do I do this and does it make any difference?

    I am wanting to apply for a career development loan and I am worried this might be blocked because of the CCJ

    Any advice would be greatly appreciated


  • CCCS_Sarah
    CCCS_Sarah Posts: 1,555 Organisation Representative
    Ed20 wrote: »
    Hi,
    I have a question relating to estates in Scotland; Myself and my brother moved into a rented flat that previously my mother had lived before she had passed away (we had been living in nearby flat to care for her so the move just made sense).

    On moving in I discovered that the no gas account was set up, I notified the supplier who was Eon and they set up an account for us, I enquired if anything was due in my mother's name and they said they would be in touch.

    Over a year later I received a letter from Phillips & Cohen a debt collector specialising in 'deceased account care' requesting payment for my late mothers gas bill in excess of £1100.
    My question is; are utility debts enforceable over a year after the estate has been fully settled? Or what are my obligations to them as a beneficiary of the estate?
    I think they probably are, but just wanted to check really.
    It's ironic that I notified them of the issue and had we not moved into the same flat Eon et al would not have had the opportunity to claim this debt. It also frustrated me that I asked at the time and its took this long to sort it all out.
    Thanks for your help.

    Normally all outstanding debts would be settled by an estate prior to any monies being paid to beneficiary. As the total debt for the gas was unknown prior to settlement, but there was an indication that a debt existed, then I would suggest that the debt does need to be settled. With regards to the timeframe involved I am unsure whether there is a 'cut off'' period for claims on a deceased estate.

    I would suggest you contact the solicitor who dealt with the finalising of your mother’s estate.

    Hope this helps
    Sarah

    I am a Debt Counsellor that works for the CCCS and have specific permission from Martin, to post on these boards to try and help those in debt. Read more information on the CCCS and what it does in the Debt Problems: What to do and where to get help article.

    CCCS is a registered charity, and there is no charge whatsoever for any of the services we provide to our clients. We take great pride in offering first class help and advice, but we only offer this where we have been able to fully explore and understand your circumstances with you. We want to help you understand these choices and their possible implications but not make them for you.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.9K Life & Family
  • 257.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.