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qwerty2121

Hi,

I entered details last night based on our current circumstances and the system recommended a DMP. If this is accepted we think this probably is a good idea in terms of both surviving and repaying the debt.

However, my wife is recently pregnant with our first child (due early september) and although we have quite a reasonable household income at the minute, our outgoings are also quite high. We bought our first house right at the peak of the market in 2007 and as a result we're probably in negative equity and stuck with large mortgage payments every month, & pay freezes since 2008 and ever increasing cost of living etc, causing us to rack up around £45k of unsecured debt.

Over this last 6-8months we have cut back as much as we can and still having difficulties getting by, going overdrawn every month, only paying minimum amounts etc. Whilst this DMP would be good at solving these problems, as a result of our impending arrival, we are very aware that our circumstances will soon change dramatically. Obviously we will need to buy items for the newborn, but not only that, when my wife goes on maternity leave, her income will only be around half, and our monthly outgoings will also obviously increase due to supporting a child.

So we are unsure as to how to enter this information so that it is accounted for - obviously we will be new parents and so we can only guess at how much extra we will be paying out. Should we estimate these outgoings and enter those into the system along with the reduced maternity income etc were likely to receive? or should we proceed with a DMP on our current information and then revisit it near september when our circumstances have changed?

Any advice greatly appreciated! Thanks

Voithman

Hi. Hope someone can help. Having moved back with us last year my daughter and son in law moved out about 3 months ago. He has a debilitating disease although not registered disabled,and so finds getting a job difficult. My daughter has a job, and unbeknown to him borrowed on a c card , and has an overdraught. Although he has taken over all their finances, their outgoings overwhelms their income, and probably worse of all are threatening to move back with us! Can you advise them (via me) if they can get help to keep their flat. They applied for housing benefit and got an offer of 77p a week !. As he is unemployed at the moment ( although starting a trial period soon ) he cannot get a low interest loan/ c/card etc. Should I get them to contact CCCS. Look forward to hearing back from you. David

JoInNeedOfHelp

Hi

Thanks for the help previously, think this forum is a great help and need a wee bit more advice.

A couple of months ago I changed bank accounts as I was aware the day may come I might need a DMP, usual cuts at work blah blah. Although I have no overdraft facility with it (but was issued with a cheque book which I have no intention of using) it probably isn't what you would call a basic account. Therefore my question is will this be a problem with my new bank if there is no borrowing?


Also when i input my husband's wage on the debt remedy I did an average earnings as he sometimes gets overtime or shift payment and I am sending the payslips for proof, is this the proper thing to do?

These extra payments may stop soon as well but I assumed I could inform the cccs if this does happen.

StepChange_Pavan

mum2amelie wrote: »

Hi, I'm looking for some advice.

I currently have an overdraft of £3,000 with my bank which I am using in full every month, I also have a loan with my bank with a balance of £545 and a catalogue bill of around £470. I have missed payments and my credit score is at an all-time low.

I tried to obtain a consolidation loan to manage these debts more effectively (the overdraft being my main concern), however was refused - I'm guessing it was due to the high overdraft. I was told that it would be in my interest to sign up to a flexible debt management plan and to open up a new bank account to get my wages paid into. Is it really in my interests to do this? Can I not do this without entering into a debt-management program?

I only owe around £4k - if I enter into this plan, I will be paying back over £6k!

Thanks in advance,

Sam

Hi Sam and welcome to the forum.

It’s important that you open up a new bank account to make sure that you’re income is safe and doesn’t get swallowed up if they decide to reduce your overdraft without notice.

I’m not sure why you would pay £2K in a DMP. You can of course make arrangements with your creditors yourself and hopefully they will agree to freezing interest and charges or we can do this for you completely free of charge.

There may also be other options available to you that you haven’t thought of. If you’d like us to look at your situation in a bit more detail, 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.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

qwerty2121 wrote: »

Hi,

I entered details last night based on our current circumstances and the system recommended a DMP. If this is accepted we think this probably is a good idea in terms of both surviving and repaying the debt.

However, my wife is recently pregnant with our first child (due early september) and although we have quite a reasonable household income at the minute, our outgoings are also quite high. We bought our first house right at the peak of the market in 2007 and as a result we're probably in negative equity and stuck with large mortgage payments every month, & pay freezes since 2008 and ever increasing cost of living etc, causing us to rack up around £45k of unsecured debt.

Over this last 6-8months we have cut back as much as we can and still having difficulties getting by, going overdrawn every month, only paying minimum amounts etc. Whilst this DMP would be good at solving these problems, as a result of our impending arrival, we are very aware that our circumstances will soon change dramatically. Obviously we will need to buy items for the newborn, but not only that, when my wife goes on maternity leave, her income will only be around half, and our monthly outgoings will also obviously increase due to supporting a child.

So we are unsure as to how to enter this information so that it is accounted for - obviously we will be new parents and so we can only guess at how much extra we will be paying out. Should we estimate these outgoings and enter those into the system along with the reduced maternity income etc were likely to receive? or should we proceed with a DMP on our current information and then revisit it near september when our circumstances have changed?

Any advice greatly appreciated! Thanks

Hi qwerty2121 and welcome to the forum.

You’ve done the right thing by entering your current information, but it could be worth getting in touch with us so that we can talk through the possible changes. It could be that you start your DMP now, but there may be a different option that becomes available further down the line.

As we’ve already got access to your details you can contact our support team with your reference number – their details will be in your advice booklet.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Voithman wrote: »

Hi. Hope someone can help. Having moved back with us last year my daughter and son in law moved out about 3 months ago. He has a debilitating disease although not registered disabled,and so finds getting a job difficult. My daughter has a job, and unbeknown to him borrowed on a c card , and has an overdraught. Although he has taken over all their finances, their outgoings overwhelms their income, and probably worse of all are threatening to move back with us! Can you advise them (via me) if they can get help to keep their flat. They applied for housing benefit and got an offer of 77p a week !. As he is unemployed at the moment ( although starting a trial period soon ) he cannot get a low interest loan/ c/card etc. Should I get them to contact CCCS. Look forward to hearing back from you. David

Hi David and thanks for your post.

I’d definitely recommend that they get in touch with us – we can do a full benefit entitlement check and also advise on their options regarding the credit card and overdraft.

They can call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111 or use our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu).

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

JoInNeedOfHelp wrote: »

Hi

Thanks for the help previously, think this forum is a great help and need a wee bit more advice.

A couple of months ago I changed bank accounts as I was aware the day may come I might need a DMP, usual cuts at work blah blah. Although I have no overdraft facility with it (but was issued with a cheque book which I have no intention of using) it probably isn't what you would call a basic account. Therefore my question is will this be a problem with my new bank if there is no borrowing?


Also when i input my husband's wage on the debt remedy I did an average earnings as he sometimes gets overtime or shift payment and I am sending the payslips for proof, is this the proper thing to do?

These extra payments may stop soon as well but I assumed I could inform the cccs if this does happen.

Hi again,

Provided that there is no credit facility on the new account and it isn’t connected to any existing debts your new account should be fine.

We usually recommend that you don’t include any income that isn’t guaranteed as it will affect your budget if you don’t receive it as regularly as expected. If these payments are likely to stop soon, I’d recommend that you give us a call so that we can review your budget to make sure it’s still realistic.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Mrs_Mug

I need some advice - my boyfriend ran up a debt several years ago with a bank, and has never sorted it out. I think it was about £1500 at the time. I'm scared it will now be an unmanageable debt as it was about 10 years ago. What will the bank have done with the debt - is there a specific interest level they will have applied?

one2escape

Hi! Need some advice I have just discovered my house would be valued around £40,000 and we have a mortgage for £100,000 and also have a secured loan for £15,000 so we are in massively in negative equality. This is a massive shock to us and we need to invest into the house as well as we have been struggling for so long it needs to have some things done which dont have the money for. Should be continue to struggle on? We can pay are all out priority bills but everything else is a struggle. This has really shocked me and we have only found out because the house beside us has went up for sale and we seen there asking price.

StepChange_Pavan

Mrs_Mug wrote: »

I need some advice - my boyfriend ran up a debt several years ago with a bank, and has never sorted it out. I think it was about £1500 at the time. I'm scared it will now be an unmanageable debt as it was about 10 years ago. What will the bank have done with the debt - is there a specific interest level they will have applied?

Hi Mrs Mug and thank you for your post.

Unfortunately there’s no way of knowing how much the debt will be worth now without contacting them to find out. It’s likely that it could have been passed on to a different company by now.

However, if it has been over 6 years since anyone contacted him about the debt and he hasn’t had a CCJ, made any payments or admitted the debt within this time they can no longer legally enforce the debt.

This doesn’t mean that the debt is written off as it still exists, but it means that they can’t take court action to collect it. They could still chase him for the outstanding debt.

If he wants to get rid of the debt once and for all, he could contact the creditor and ask for a breakdown of how much he owes. If the amounts added in interest and charges is unreasonable he can challenge this.

I hope this answers your questions but if you’d like any more information, please let us know.

Kind regards,
Pavan