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StepChange_Pavan

shockindkj wrote: »

My husband is in a DMP and we are fortunate enough to see our finances improving due to giving up various things and me starting work again.

My question is: what would happen if we were to manage our debts ourselves again & pull out of the DMP? We get regular updates from our creditors saying we are so much in arrears, would this become payable immediately?

Thanks for your help

Hi shockindkj and thanks for your post.

There’s nothing to stop you from managing your payments yourself – some people just find it easier to pay one monthly payment rather than lots of individual ones to different creditors.

If you give us a call we’ll be able to talk you through your options and how you can make payments to your creditors. You would just keep making the payments that you can afford yourselves rather than through us – this wouldn’t mean that you’d have to pay the arrears at once.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

confusedaboutdoshhh wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone can give me some advice on some of my money worries!

I am the first one to admit that I spend more money than I have, however any debt I have had in the past has been paid on time and I have never missed a payment or got into any real trouble.

I'm moving abroad for the summer (hopefully longer!) and although I can't get rid of my debts completely, I would like to be able to manage it all a bit easier whilst I'm away. I like the idea of having everything in one place and just having a payment every month to stick to eg. a loan, credit card, but not too sure on what is best for me.

At the moment I have:-

• A loan with Halifax with £1000 left to pay.
• A store card with roughly £500 on.
• A laptop worth £600ish that I have on finance at £28 a month. (bought in November 2011)
• £1,100 overdraft.

My first thought was to top-up my loan to cover everything else and keep paying the minimum payments every month. I really dont like being in an overdraft when I'm away, I'd prefer to be in credit in my current account and just have the loan to think about paying off. I know I won't go in my overdraft when I'm abroad as the cost of living will be much cheaper for me. I am also thinking of getting a credit card to help with purchases I need to make before I go away, but I don't really want a loan AND a credit card. I understand (sort of) how balance transfers work, but unsure whether you can do a balance transfer of a loan to a credit card?

Basically, I'm VERY confused and any help would be amazing!

Thank you!

Hi confusedaboutdoshhh and welcome to the forum.

The first thing I’d recommend that you do is to work out an estimated budget for when you go away. This way you’ll be able to work out exactly how much you can afford to pay towards your debts.

If you do decide to consolidate your debts into one loan, it’s important that the new repayments are affordable and you don’t use any of your old cards again. This blogpost gives you more about information about the points you may need to consider: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/04/to-debt-consolidate-or-not-to-debt-consolidate/.

It’s a good idea to open another basic bank account where your money is paid in so that you can pay towards the overdraft like any other debt. This way, your income won’t be swallowed up every mime it’s paid in and if you open an account with an unconnected bank it also removes the risk of them taking your money towards your debts without your permission.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Craig76

Hi

I've spent the last 2years hiding/avoiding my debts, every letter gets hidden away
or destroyed.

That was until lately, my partner has found some letters and is devistated, I feel aweful, sick and disgusted with myself for letting things get this way.

I know I need help but I havent a clue where to start or what to do.

I have the following

Lloyds tsb £2200 approx on a loan
M&S money £4500 approx on credit card

Plus £250 overdraft, again with lloyds tsb.


I tried to sort this out but I failed and just buried my head again

Not sure what to do anymore:(

I tried awhile back to sort this out but failed and burird my head again

confusedaboutdoshhh

CCCS_Pavan wrote: »

Hi confusedaboutdoshhh and welcome to the forum.

The first thing I’d recommend that you do is to work out an estimated budget for when you go away. This way you’ll be able to work out exactly how much you can afford to pay towards your debts.

If you do decide to consolidate your debts into one loan, it’s important that the new repayments are affordable and you don’t use any of your old cards again. This blogpost gives you more about information about the points you may need to consider:

It’s a good idea to open another basic bank account where your money is paid in so that you can pay towards the overdraft like any other debt. This way, your income won’t be swallowed up every mime it’s paid in and if you open an account with an unconnected bank it also removes the risk of them taking your money towards your debts without your permission.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

I can afford about £130 a month to pay off debts as this is what I managed to do last summer quite easily and didnt struggle.

I already have two bank accounts with halifax. On one of them is just a basis electron account and I have set up a direct debit for my loan from this. This is also where I get my wages paid into. Every payday I transfer my personal spending money (after the loan) into my current account. The current account is the one I have the overdraft in.

I only have the one store card but have maxed it out (the £500) so cannot spend anymore on it anyway and once I go away I wont be able to use it again with not being in the UK.

Do you think I should just top my loan up to cover the store card and laptop and slowy bring my overdraft down?

Thanks again.

darby37

I currently have debts of £50000 in the form of credit cards and loans.I have negotiated reduced rates and payment plans with some of my creditors while still paying the full monthly amount on others.
My income barely covers the monthly outgoings that i have at the moment and my creditors will soon be chasing me for more money.
I currently have a £100000 mortgage on a fixed rate of 5.99% which i will be coming off in November.
The property i own is worth about £220000.
Is there any way that the capital i have in my house can be used to pay off all my debts and will my poor credit rating affect any application for a mortgage if i change provider?
I have cut back on as much as possible but any further help and advice on what to do with this debt would be appreciated.

many thanks

darby37

lippylonglegs

Hi

I’ve got myself into a pretty tricky situation which is entirely my fault but I’d really appreciate some help/advice from a professional as to what the best way to proceed would be.

I have three big loans
Tesco (Approx £10K) ending July 2015 with payments of £245/month.
Sainsburys (Approx £12K ending August 2016 with payments of £234/month
First Direct (my bank) (£5K) ending April 2015 with payments of £140/month.

I also have about £10K in credit cards (on 2 cards) – some of which are interest free. But most of which I start paying interest on in June 2012.

I have not had any problems in paying these debts since day 1 and have not missed any payments and have a good credit rating which I’ve checked via Experian. So no problems there.
However, I am now pregnant and am not entitled to maternity leave and can not see a way in which to cover all these debts when I am not working.

A bit of background: I had to give up my permanent job as my mother got cancer.
I live in London and she lived in Cornwall. I spent most of my time with her, caring for her and continued my work on a freelance basis coming up to London when needed. Working just enough to pay my bills and the rest of the month, taking what time I could to be with my mum. Over this period, me and my now husband got married and I got pregnant which I did not think was possible due to medical problems. You may think this a silly decision but I am 40 and consider it to be my last chance at motherhood. So typically the first time in my life I am not PAYE and considerably low on cash due to caring for my mother for the last 2 years, i find myself pregnant. I have about £1,000 left in savings. Sadly my mother died in January and I am now back living in London full time.

Anyway I know this isn’t relevant and the creditors are not interested in how this happened but it hasn’t just been through negligence.

My baby is due in May and I will be ceasing work at the end of April.
I know I can claim statutory maternity pay which is about £500/month and childcare benefit (£80 /month I think) but I have no way of paying for the loans, credit cards and household bills all which add up to £1,085/month.

My husband and I own a flat together.
My husband pays the mortgage and I pay the household bills.
He has a good job but does not earn enough to cover my debts & bills as well as the mortgage.
All of these debts in question are in my name only.

My first thought would be to write to my creditors and ask them for a payment break of 9-12 months paying the interest only until I am back on my feet and working again. I have no intention of abandoning these debts and will continue to pay them when I am back at work but maybe there is a better way of dealing with them that I am not aware off?

Does anyone have any ideas/recommendations?

Thanks for taking the time to read this...

trevor_john

Hi Are there any stanadrd letter templates that i can use (with my SOA) to send Natwest to get my loan reapayments/interest reduced please ?

StepChange_Pavan

Craig76 wrote: »

Hi

I've spent the last 2years hiding/avoiding my debts, every letter gets hidden away
or destroyed.

That was until lately, my partner has found some letters and is devistated, I feel aweful, sick and disgusted with myself for letting things get this way.

I know I need help but I havent a clue where to start or what to do.

I have the following

Lloyds tsb £2200 approx on a loan
M&S money £4500 approx on credit card

Plus £250 overdraft, again with lloyds tsb.


I tried to sort this out but I failed and just buried my head again

Not sure what to do anymore:(

I tried awhile back to sort this out but failed and burird my head again

Hi Craig76 and welcome to the forum.

You’ve come to the right place for all the help and support you’ll need towards becoming debt free.

I’d recommend that you get in touch with us so that we can look at your situation in a bit more detail and advise you on all the options that are available to you.

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.

Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a financial statement with information on your household, employment, income, expenditure and debts. From this the service will automatically determine your options.

To help you fill in the form, it’s best to gather together information about:
• Your income
• Your expenditure
• The creditors you owe money to

You’ll receive a downloadable advice booklet providing a tailored solution for you based on your current circumstances and advice on ways you may be able to improve your situation.

If you’re not confident with computers or would like to speak to an advisor then you’re welcome to ring our free Helpline on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.

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.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

confusedaboutdoshhh wrote: »

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

I can afford about £130 a month to pay off debts as this is what I managed to do last summer quite easily and didnt struggle.

I already have two bank accounts with halifax. On one of them is just a basis electron account and I have set up a direct debit for my loan from this. This is also where I get my wages paid into. Every payday I transfer my personal spending money (after the loan) into my current account. The current account is the one I have the overdraft in.

I only have the one store card but have maxed it out (the £500) so cannot spend anymore on it anyway and once I go away I wont be able to use it again with not being in the UK.

Do you think I should just top my loan up to cover the store card and laptop and slowy bring my overdraft down?

Thanks again.

Hi again,

It looks like you’ve been given some helpful advice elsewhere on the forum too.

We don’t usually recommend taking out further credit as it can make your situation worse in the long term – you end up paying back more and over a longer period of time.

However, if you’ve carefully considered all the points on the blogpost I posted before and it’s an amount that you can comfortably afford then this may be your best option.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

darby37 wrote: »

I currently have debts of £50000 in the form of credit cards and loans.I have negotiated reduced rates and payment plans with some of my creditors while still paying the full monthly amount on others.
My income barely covers the monthly outgoings that i have at the moment and my creditors will soon be chasing me for more money.
I currently have a £100000 mortgage on a fixed rate of 5.99% which i will be coming off in November.
The property i own is worth about £220000.
Is there any way that the capital i have in my house can be used to pay off all my debts and will my poor credit rating affect any application for a mortgage if i change provider?
I have cut back on as much as possible but any further help and advice on what to do with this debt would be appreciated.

many thanks

darby37

Hi darby37 and thanks for your post.

There is a way of releasing equity from your property but we would need to look at your situation in a lot more detail to be able to advise you on your options. Your credit rating may affect this, but we can discuss this in more detail if you contact us.

I’d recommend that you call our free helpline so that you can talk through the solutions that are available to you. You can call us on 0800 138 1111 and we’re open Monday to Friday, 8am – 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 2pm.

Kind regards,
Pavan