Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

nicrobx4 wrote: »

Just quick question to those in the no please
Our DMP is set up the first payment goes out on the tenth :0)
Both my children are adults that live at home, they are not aware of our DMP.
My question is, will it affect them in any way, for example, apply for back account, mortgages, credit cards etc ...
We obviously don't advocate debt especially because of the mess we are in, but if they do need anything does our debt history affect them.
Cheers
Nik

Hi Nik and thanks for your post.

Your credit rating won’t affect them unless you have any joint finances.

If they currently don’t have a credit history, they would need to build one in order to improve their ratings.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

secretshopper75 wrote: »

Just wanted to ask if we change our direct debit to the 10th of the month rather than the first does the payment still go to creditors on the 25th? Many thanks in anticipation

Hi secretshopper75 and thanks for your post.

All our payments are made on the 25th. You’d just need to contact us to let us know that you want to change your payment date.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Sheldor wrote: »

I'm sure this has been asked umpteen times before but nothing came up in my search.

I'm trying to help my niece who at 31 years old is about 20k in debt - just through constant overspending.
She earns a reasonable salary and presently doesn't pay rent (although this will change soon).
Having spoken to her about how she's managed to get in this deep, I think that what she really needs is someone to help her address the emotional reasons why she constantly overspends and to help her regain control and start living within her means, in addition to advising her about the quickest/cheapest way to pay the debt off.
Is there anyone or an organistion that provides this sort of service? (based in London)
Any helpful advice here would be much appreciated.

Hi Sheldor and thanks for your post.

From what you’ve mentioned, it doesn’t sound as though she’s struggling with her repayments (if she was, we would be able to help).

It sounds as though she would benefit from some budgeting advice and learning how to manage her money better. I’m not sure of any organisations local to you but there are many useful resources online that she can use to help her.

With regards to paying her debts off quickly she would need to work out which debt was charging her the highest interest and focus on repaying that one first. She could also consider switching to a 0% interest card to reduce the amounts she’s paying in interest – she would need to make sure that she closed the old account once it was cleared.

This forum is really good for advice and support so you could suggest that she signs up here. There’s also the Money Advice Service website which has lots of useful tools and advice: http://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/.

And we also have a blog where we write about all sorts of money related topics: http://moneyaware.co.uk/.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

greebouk

Hi, just wanted to ask a quick question about Lloyds/Halifax and freezing interest. i am just setting up a DMP with CCCS. On the forum lots of people seem to have real trouble with them refusing to do so. I am getting worried that if they refuse to do so, we will never be able to repay the debt as we will only be paying them about £40 per month instead of £100 plus. Thanks

Debtfree2012_2

OK,

Sadly I have about £12k in debt accumulated from uni days and living well beyond my means at university! I am now 28 and have been trying to deal with these debts!

BarclayCard - £4500 -18%
Capital One - £800 - 30%
Vanquis - £1500 - 39%
Barclays Overdraft - £3000 - £31 a month interest
Natwest Overdraft - £1700 - 18% however I have an arranged payment plan £100 a month.

Some months I do struggle to make the payments on time however I always make my payments and pay out around £400 a month my credit rating is probably very bad due to late payments also.

I am self employed some my monthly income varies and is quite low at the moment as business has slowed down, something that most people are reporting.

Can you offer me any advice as to the best way to get debt free and is there any products available to me that can roll everything into an easy one off monthly payment that could possibly reduce the interest if not freeze it??

Thanks In Advance

StepChange_Pavan

greebouk wrote: »

Hi, just wanted to ask a quick question about Lloyds/Halifax and freezing interest. i am just setting up a DMP with CCCS. On the forum lots of people seem to have real trouble with them refusing to do so. I am getting worried that if they refuse to do so, we will never be able to repay the debt as we will only be paying them about £40 per month instead of £100 plus. Thanks

Hi greebouk and thanks for your post.

Unfortunately there’s no guarantee that they will agree to freezing interest and charges. However, we will do all that we can to prevent them from continuing to do so.

If you’re concerned, just give us a call and we can talk you through the process.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Debtfree2012 wrote: »

OK,

Sadly I have about £12k in debt accumulated from uni days and living well beyond my means at university! I am now 28 and have been trying to deal with these debts!

BarclayCard - £4500 -18%
Capital One - £800 - 30%
Vanquis - £1500 - 39%
Barclays Overdraft - £3000 - £31 a month interest
Natwest Overdraft - £1700 - 18% however I have an arranged payment plan £100 a month.

Some months I do struggle to make the payments on time however I always make my payments and pay out around £400 a month my credit rating is probably very bad due to late payments also.

I am self employed some my monthly income varies and is quite low at the moment as business has slowed down, something that most people are reporting.

Can you offer me any advice as to the best way to get debt free and is there any products available to me that can roll everything into an easy one off monthly payment that could possibly reduce the interest if not freeze it??

Thanks In Advance

Hi Debtfree2012 and welcome to the forum.

We’d need to look at your income and expenditure in a bit more detail to be able to determine your options. I’d really recommend that you call our free helpline so that we can discuss your situation and explore all of 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

Plcsbe

If on a DMP and come into some cash from a relative to help clear debt. Do the CCCS provide a service where they help achieve F&F settlements or would they cease DMP whilst i try to achieve settlements.

Have heard also that you transfer money to CCCS first. Is this true and are you obliged to go through with settlements if not all creditors accept.

scared-sick

Was hoping you could explain something for me please.

I have a credit card debt for £11000. I filled in the cccs form online and when it came to this debt, the form automatically filled in that I pay £330pm. I actually only paid £130 pm.

Now my dmp has been set up and cccs are offering them £116pm. The minimum contractual payment on this was £120pm

I dont understand why the form filled this bit out itself and now that is what the offer seems to be based on. It also means that this creditor is getting paid the most when it is not the largest debt. It also means that in a couple of payments, I will effectively be paying more than the minimum repayments so they are unlikely to reduce the interest.

Any ideas why this has happened?

Thank you.

lorton

hi...I am looking for a bit of advice regarding capitalization of my mortgage arrears and hope someone can help!! Does anyone know, if I capitalize my arrears will it be reported on my credit file????

thanks everyone!