Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

CCCS_Sarah

Reggie256 wrote: »

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!

Hi Reggie,

Thank you for your message.

I would recommend that you try and get a letter from Barclaycard confirming this and then send this to first credit.

In the meantime I would write to first credit and explain the situation and ask them not to contact you. You could quote the debt collection guidelines set out by the OFT, section 2.4f states - Examples of unfair practices are as follows “pursuing third parties for payment when they are not liable”

Hope this helps
Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

Dinosnore wrote: »

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

Hello,

You could have an appointment with the CCCS, we can then help you complete a detailed financial statement and look at your options. If you would like an appointment, please call our helpline free on 0800 138 1111.

Regards
Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

billy. wrote: »

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

Hi Billy,

Thank you for your message.

A default notice will usually only be removed if this was added in error or the creditors fault. One thing you could seek advice about is that you have not been receiving regular statements. I would recommend that you speak to Consumer Direct about this and if you can prove that you have not received anything then you may have grounds to have it removed.

Consumer Directs number is 0845 04 05 06.

Hope this helps
Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

marky0077 wrote: »

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.

Hi Marky,

Thank you for your message.

I would recommend that you don’t let the creditors know about the money at the moment and have an appointment with the CCCS so that we can look at all your options. We would be able to help you complete a detailed financial statement as this will be needed for any negotiations.

If you would like an appointment, please call our helpline on 0800 138 1111.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

karenann wrote: »

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.

Hello,

I would recommend that you have an appointment so we can help you complete a detailed financial statement and look at your options.

In the meantime, you will need to open a basic bank account at a bank where you have no debts and arrange for your income to be paid into this account. This will then stop the cycle of charges and then you can just come to an arrangement over the outstanding charges.

If you do not have enough to pay everyone what they are wanting, make reduced payments to your debts until you have had an appointment. This is just as a goodwill gesture until we get chance to look at your long term options.

If you would like an appointment, please call our helpline free on 0800 138 1111.

Sarah

CCCS_Sue

Dan4d wrote: »

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

Hi Dan4d and thank you for your message

You can get a Certificate of Satisfaction to show that the CCJ has been repaid.
Your credit file will be amended to show the judgment as satisfied. This will stay on your credit file for six years from the date of the judgment.
There is a charge for this which is £15.
I have also attached a booklet called Credit Explained which also explains what you should do if you think information on your file is incorrect, and also gives other advice you may find useful.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/credit_explained_leaflet_2005.pdf

Hope this helps

Regards
Sue

wildthing12

Hi,

I currently have a debt management plan with 11 creditors that i am paying back a reduced amount.
Why is it, that only 3 of them have filed a default notice on my credit report?

Thanks

nolumfc

I have used the debt remedy tool on the cccs website and it recomends a DMP.
It also says that i should set up a basic bank account so i/we have control of our money.

A couple of questions i hope you can answer for me please.

As the remedy was completed for myself and my wife, we both have debts in ourt own names and jointly, would i need to set up the basic bank account in joint names or /should i set one up in just my name?

Another question is to do with direct debits, all our payments at the moment come out of our seperate accounts and we are both incurring charges for late or non payment from the creditors and we are also getting charged by our banks for not having enough funds to cover the direct debit requests.
When i cancel the direct debits with my bank and the creditor attempts to draw from my account will i still be charged by my bank as well as the creditor ?

Thanks in advance

Nolumfc

D2THEJ

Apparantly its gone up to £55 now, thats it im sending the letter and bringing out the big guns, i didnt realise how much tiscali are doing the exact same thing to other people, its like reading my own story over and over, i smell a scam! Perhaps they get a bonus. Thankyou and i will let you know

cccs_sarah wrote: »

hello,

sounds like you are having a nightmare! It’s not the point that it’s only £30, you should not have to pay for something that you don’t owe.

i have attached a letter below that you could use to send to the collection agency.


send that and see how you get on.

sarah

example letter – request for creditor information

from:
name:
address:
postcode:
date:
to:
creditor’s name:
account/agreement no:

without prejudice

dear sirs
with reference to the above account
please will you send me a true copy of the original signed agreement together with an up to date statement of the account showing all transactions, including interest and charges, and a copy of any other document referred to in the agreement.
i understand i am entitled to this information under ss77-79 of the consumer credit act (cca) 1974.
i also understand that this information should be sent to me within 12 working days of you receiving this letter. The cca states that creditors are unable to enforce an agreement until this request is complied with.
i am enclosing the £1:00 fee, payable under the consumer credit act 1974, for each account.
yours faithfully
(print name)

Ellieseleven

Over the last two years we have accumulated a lot of credit card debt which we are now finding difficult to keep up with. My OH lost his job 4 years ago and set up as self-employed gardener but things have been very tough and we found ourselves using credit cards more and more to live on. This got to a stage last year where we were struggling to keep up with payments and in January this year I took a portion of my pension to try and get back on track. We are not in arrears with anything but we have now used up my pension money and nothing has really changed although my husbands business is now starting to take some money.

I don't think that I can keep this up for much longer and have read on these forums about entering into a pay plan which I think is our only alternative. We have a loan with our existing bank but also our business account is with them too. My question is if we move banks and enter into a debt management agreement what do we do about the business account? We use the business account to accept cheques from customers and also to pay for business insurance and advertising.

I am at a loss as to what to do next and any advice would be greatly appreciated