Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

one2escape wrote: »

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.

Hi one2escape and thanks for your post.

It’s probably best to get a valuation of your own property before thinking about your options as your house may be different to your neighbour’s.

Once you have more of an idea of how much your house is worth, you could give us a call so that we can look at your income and expenditure and assess your situation as a whole. We’ll be able to explore all of the solutions that are available to you.

You should be able to get a free valuation from a local estate agent which might help put your mind at ease. It might be that your house is in negative equity but less than what you think. Either way it’s worth finding out, and if you are struggling with non priorities I’d definitely recommend getting in touch with us.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Lilith4

Hi, i hope someone can advise me or just give their opinion.

I am aware of the other forums on this but want a proffesional persons view. I suppose it is just to confirm what i already know.....
I had a flexi loan for 7000 in 2003 with Cahoot. It went to Santander in 2006/2007 ish. I called up last year asking for a balance. It was 6500. Last week when i checked it was 7100!!!! How on gods earth can i pay around 19225 over the last 9 years to that account and be over my original limit? I know it is flexi but seriously i think someone is pilfering the cash! ? Apr went from 6.9 to 21.6 and is currently sitting at 20%.

I have sent a letter to try and claim back the interest and am awaiting a reply, if not satisfactory i will go FOS. But am i going mad or it this how they keep you in debt? I have cleared all my other debts but this is beginning to get me down.

Any views welcome.

Many thanks.

Mrs_Mug

CCCS_Pavan wrote: »

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

Thank you! At least now we have a starting point for sorting it out

owessomuch

Hope someone can give me some advice?

I have a debt originally with Barclaycard who have now sent this on to Cabot Financial and I make a regular monthly payment to them.

I was single when I got into this debt and also when I arranged the repayments, however I now have a partner and child and wanted to know if they can take my partners wages into account now?

ab1975

Hi,

Do the CCCS have any knowledge/experience of any of their users who have encountered halifax offseting from accounts held at Lloyds TSB? I'm due to be paid next wednesday (have a new basic account with Lloyds) but owe £5k to Halifax (being chased by a DCA). Can they take the money out as soon as my salary is paid in? Or will I have time to transfer? Or are Halifax and Lloyds treated as separate entities for the purposes of offsetting? thanks

catey2day

Hi,

I am trying to deal with my debts which have become overwhelming since January. Thankfully I am already getting help to make minimum payments offer to ccs from the CAB. I am also wondering if I can get DRO at the same time? or is the fact that i am making some payments against that?

Thanks for your help.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information

Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax................ 128 (part time work)
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 162 (JSA taking p/time earnings into account)
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 290
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments............0
Rent.................................... 0 (HA rent is fully covered by HB)
Council tax............................. 0 (Receive full CT Benefit)
Electricity............................. 44
Gas..................................... 44
Water rates........................... 30
Telephone (land line).............. 14
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 16
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 (covers me and my cat)
Clothing................................ 10 (payment to catalogues)
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40 (live in a city, need to travel to job interviews etc.)
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 4 (Mainly Paracetamol!)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 4 (for a professional cut every 6 months)
Entertainment........................... 4 (subscription being cancelled)
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 324

Assets

Cash.................................... 320 (in current bank account)
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0

Total Assets............................ 320

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

(Amounts are being reduced to minimum pro rata payments of £1 each by agreement with CAB)


cc1............................1900......20........0
cc2............................1900......20........0
cc3............................820.......20........0
cc5............................90........ 5.........0
cc4............................185....... 5.........0

cat1 150 8
cat 2 110 6
cat3 30 14 (2 payments remaining)

Total unsecured debts...5189......98........(in fact payments now amount to 34£ due to CAB advice)

There is also a sum of £2,000 owing to Coop Bank for a Career Development Loan which will not accept reduced payments because my sister has been paying it for me.

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 290
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 324
Available for debt repayments........... -34

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 98
Amount short for making debt repayments. -132 (see above on reductions made)

Personal Balance Sheet Summary

Total assets (things you own)........... 320
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,189
Net Assets.............................. -4,869

[Deleted User]

Hi,

I have a debt of roughly £22,000 broken up as follows:
£13,000 Loan
£5,000 credit card (paying interest)
£1,500 credit card (paying interest from April)
£2,500 credit card (o% until October)

I am also owed £7,500 in unpaid commission from my current employer which I am currently fighting for.

I don't know where to start dealing with this and if I need to do a DMP or something similar, I want to do the option that affects me the least ie how long will it be on my record/will it affect me getting a mortgage/will my bank refuse my business if I am on a DMP??

Any advice would be greatly received
Thank you

StepChange_Pavan

Lilith4 wrote: »

Hi, i hope someone can advise me or just give their opinion.

I am aware of the other forums on this but want a proffesional persons view. I suppose it is just to confirm what i already know.....
I had a flexi loan for 7000 in 2003 with Cahoot. It went to Santander in 2006/2007 ish. I called up last year asking for a balance. It was 6500. Last week when i checked it was 7100!!!! How on gods earth can i pay around 19225 over the last 9 years to that account and be over my original limit? I know it is flexi but seriously i think someone is pilfering the cash! ? Apr went from 6.9 to 21.6 and is currently sitting at 20%.

I have sent a letter to try and claim back the interest and am awaiting a reply, if not satisfactory i will go FOS. But am i going mad or it this how they keep you in debt? I have cleared all my other debts but this is beginning to get me down.

Any views welcome.

Many thanks.

Hi Lilith4 and thanks for your post.

This does sound excessive but you would need to read the terms and conditions of your loan to determine whether you agreed to these charges or not.

Once you’ve check the conditions of the loan and you’re not happy with it, you could report it to the FOS and they will look into it for you.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

owessomuch wrote: »

Hope someone can give me some advice?

I have a debt originally with Barclaycard who have now sent this on to Cabot Financial and I make a regular monthly payment to them.

I was single when I got into this debt and also when I arranged the repayments, however I now have a partner and child and wanted to know if they can take my partners wages into account now?

Hi owessomuch and thanks for your question.

Your partner doesn’t have to pay towards your debts, but your budget will need to show that you’re both making a fair contribution towards the household.

For example, it wouldn’t be fair if you were paying all of the bills leaving you with no surplus if your partner was also earning and not paying anything towards the bills.

I hope this makes sense, but it’s best to put together a budget showing who pays what – you don’t have to include his income and the amounts that he pays, it just needs to show a fair split.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

ab1975 wrote: »

Hi,

Do the CCCS have any knowledge/experience of any of their users who have encountered halifax offseting from accounts held at Lloyds TSB? I'm due to be paid next wednesday (have a new basic account with Lloyds) but owe £5k to Halifax (being chased by a DCA). Can they take the money out as soon as my salary is paid in? Or will I have time to transfer? Or are Halifax and Lloyds treated as separate entities for the purposes of offsetting? thanks

Hi ab1975 and thanks for your post.

They are connected so they could potentially take your money. You should have enough time to transfer the money but if you have any problems, you’d need to speak to the bank.

Kind regards,
Pavan