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StepChange_Pavan

mikejleeds wrote: »

I have been on a joint DMP with my partner for 9 years, first with the ill fated DCM money solutuions which went into adminisatration taking 4k of our money, and now with another company. There are 5 accounts one joint and 4 in seperate names. I also have a CCJ in my name. They have bounced around several DCA's but still get statments from some of the original companies. I have been made redundant and want to make some Full and Final offers but before i do so i wondered if i could go down the route of asking for proof of the debt and current ownership. I have read topics elsewhere on this forum about this but wondered as the accounts are 9 years old would there be a chance that proof cannot be made. I am not keen on my current DMC dealing with my F & F as they want to charge me 25% of any saving they make if they negotiate it for me

Hi Mikejleeds and thanks for your post.

It’s a good idea to try and negotiate full and final settlements yourself for free rather than paying a company – you can get just as favourable results yourself.

With regards to the agreements, it’s likely that they are enforceable as you’ve been paying them for the last 9 years which confirms that you admit liability. You can still ask them for proof along with current balances.

If you’d like some more detailed advice you 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

mercuryvenus wrote: »

Hi, I will come staight to the point. I've got myself into debt with credit cards which have built up over the last 10 years. My OH recently found out about it after applying for a loan himself. Hes been very good about it and were on the road to sorting it out via a DMP with the help of cccs. I just have a few questions still unanswered and wondered if anyone on here could help. First of all my OH wants to see all my statements going back 8-10 years, as hes going to be helping pay this off I can understand this. Can I get copies going back that far from the credit card companies? Next thing is we share a mortgage and a joint account but as the debts are all mine I would prefer to do the DMP alone so as to protect OHs credit file as much as poss. He is self employed and relies on his overdraft to buy materials etc before being paid for jobs. Could I do it alone? I dont work as I have 3 young children but I get £153 a week tax credits and £188 a month child benefit and my OH will help as well. We can afford the £400 a month that the cccs said would be acceptable but I would prefer to keep his name out of it if at all poss. Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi mercuryvenus and welcome to the forum.

You can write to your creditors asking for statements but you may find that they only keep them going back 6 years and they could ask for a fee. There are more details about how to access your information here: http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/new_pia_handbook_html/access.html.

There’s no need to include your partner’s name on your DMP at all. The budget just needs to show a fair split of the household which we can help you with. If you have any debts with the same bank that you’re joint account is with you may need to change banks – although this will have been explained when you spoke with one of our counsellors.

I’m not sure whether your partner is already named on our system but you can just give us a call and this can be easily changed.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

playing4time wrote: »

Hi, I'm looking for some pointers on how I can best manage my debt repayments whilst i'm out of work. I'm married and a home owner and my wife is just able to cover our household expenses including mortguage but it's very tight.

My debts stem from about 3 years ago I closed my own business. For two years I was able to secure work and had been slowly paying down the debt however that work finished and I've now been out of work for almost 18 months.

During that time I've been able to make payments by juggling debt around on credit cards for 0% rates, selling my car and using up all my savings.

As it stands at the moment I owe approx £9k on each of two credit cards and I no longer have the capability to swap them to other zero rates.
In addition to them I have around £10k outstanding over 2 years on an unsecured loan (originally £20k over 4).

My total outgoings are around £900 per month and I currently have zero earnings. I'm down to my last £2000 of savings and having just got the knock back at the final stage of a job interview I will run out of money in 8 weeks.

I remain optimistic about getting work.

Are there any possibilities to reduce payments?
Reschedule the loan, even though im not working.
Get a reduction/freeze on the credit card interest?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Hi playing4time and welcome to the forum.

There’s no guarantee that your creditors will agree to freezing the interest and charges but if you haven’t got any income at the moment it’s a good idea to make your creditors aware of your situation and offer them token payments until your circumstances improve.

It’s not a good idea to reschedule the loan because from what you’ve said you don’t have the income to afford the repayments unless something changes.

If you’d like some more detailed advice on your options, you can visit our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) or call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 2pm.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

oliel wrote: »

Hi there

Just wanted some advice heres the details

Home value approx 250-300k
Current mortgage £148k - joint - variable rate
Loan £12k
Income
Husband £22k guaranteed £3k not guaranteed but has contsisently had for the last 5 years.
Me £15k

Money is getting pretty tight and we are looking for a way to reduce our outgoings to make life a bit more affordable and try and get some savings together, we were thinking of remortgaging and adding to the term of our mortgage to pay the loan off which would make us about £300 better off a month, but we dont think anyone would lend us £160k based on our incomes? Whilst remortgaging isnt the cheapest long term soloution it seems to be the only soloution we can think of. We really dont want to have to sell up if we can help it but the purse strings can only be tightend so much!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are trying to sort this out as we feel we are in decline if we dont do something now?

Hi oliel and thanks for your post.

We’d need to look at your situation in a lot more detail to be able to advise you on your options. There could be other solutions available to you, but it’s difficult to say without looking at your income and expenditure.

I’d recommend that you 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 and Saturdays 9am – 2pm.

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

andsp88 wrote: »

Could someone please help or be of assistance?

Having had a look around this morning to try and find a loan to re-structure my debt I have come up short. I need to find a way to resolve this issue as soon as possible..

Here is a list of debts I currently owe..

CC - 3000 - 90 p/m
CC - 500 - 15 p/m
PL - 1200 - 73 p/m
PDL - 875 - 875 next month

Not to mention I'm currently on an informal overdraft with my bank at 675.

I could make excuses that I've got into this mess due to the obscene overdraft charges that my bank has been charging me but I know ultimately it comes down to the fact I've just never had a grip on my finances properly. I've been struggling on and off with my finances for years however I have always been able to pay everyone off fine and live a comfortable life, albeit with having to borrow money to do so. But this month is the first time I've missed payments - one to my credit card (which I have since paid off) and now my Personal Loan.

I just don't know where to go next to get out of this without having to involve my family as I just cannot stomach anyone else knowing about this.. ! I'm on an ok wage, I bring home £1200 a month and have very minimal outgoings, at around £500 (if I'm sensible - which believe me, I most certainly plan on being from now on..) for everything other than paying off debts & interest.

Very disappointed that it's taken this long and for me to get into this situation for me to actually try to do something about it. I desperately need help and don't know where to turn.

Hi andsp88 and welcome to the forum.

It sounds as though you have a significant amount of money to offer to your creditors each month but it could be that you’re not budgeting correctly to be able to reduce your debts.

I’d recommend that you open up a basic bank account away from any of your debts so that your income can be paid in to there and it won’t be at risk from being swallowed up by your creditor. Your overdraft can then be treated like any of your other creditors and you can pay it back at a rate that you can afford.

We’d need to look at your income and expenditure in a bit more detail to be able to advise you on your options. I’d recommend that you visit our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) so that we can explore the solutions that are available to you. Alternatively you can ring our free Helpline on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 2pm.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

clgd252 wrote: »

*** HI guys, Mines is just a very quick question. We have been in a dmp with CCCS for a year and now at annual review time. Nothing has really changed I am still not working and apart from the standard small payrise for annual changes hubbys is pretty much the same. Give or take a few quid everything is really still the same. I have received the attachment e mail to complete the budget which I have done and e mailed back. My question is do we need to send all the payslips and everything in again if its pretty much all the same?

Hi clgd252 and thanks for your post.

If nothing has changed, there’s no need to send proof of this. If anything changes or you’ve got any questions, you can send our aftercare team an email or give them a call.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

love-a-bargain wrote: »

I don't know where to turn anymore :-(

We make all our payments on time but not got a huge amount left at the end of the month.

We have £57k worth of debt not including our mortgage

Can't do an iva as £19k of this wa done as additional borrowing on our mortgage to incorporate a loan I had before I met my husband.

Any suggestions? Would love to move home as we only live in a 2 bed house but can't because we can't save for a deposit :-/

Arrrggghhh I hate being a grown up

Hi love-a-bargain and thanks for your post.

It’s difficult to say what your options might be without looking at your situation in a lot more detail.

I’d recommend that you 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 and Saturdays 9am – 2pm.

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

whattodo1967

Hi recently completed debt remedy on cccs website and dmp was recommended. I have not got my new bank details yet, have been told about 7-10 days. So cannot get salary paid into here until 28 may.
Am hoping to then make first payment 28th may. Question is when do I have to get my paperwork to you for this to be possible? And when would my creditors receive their first payment?

Hope this makes sense.
Thanks

StepChange_Pavan

whattodo1967 wrote: »

Hi recently completed debt remedy on cccs website and dmp was recommended. I have not got my new bank details yet, have been told about 7-10 days. So cannot get salary paid into here until 28 may.
Am hoping to then make first payment 28th may. Question is when do I have to get my paperwork to you for this to be possible? And when would my creditors receive their first payment?

Hope this makes sense.
Thanks

Hi whattodo1967 and thanks for you post.

We usually take payments by direct debit on the 1st or the 10th of the month and the creditors receive the payments on the 25th. In your case this would be the 25th of June. You can make token payments of whatever you can afford in the mean time.

Your DMP can be set up within a few days so as long as you get your paperwork to us by mid May you should be fine.

I hope this answers your questions, but just let us know if not. And congratulations on starting your journey to becoming debt free

Kind regards,
Pavan

Greg_S

Hi folks, this is my first post, so please be gentle! I am trying to sort out some debt but really don't know what to do and could do with some help to clear things in my head! Basically I am in a position where I am managing to pay everything without a massive struggle, but it leaves very little at the end of the month. I am really wanting to try to reduce what I pay out to allow me to start to build up some savings.

My bug bears are 2 credit cards, with a combined total of around £14,000 on them. I know thats a lot to have on cards, but I was made redundant about 7 years ago and had to fully retrain, which meant a pay cut while I was retraining, and the debt built up. I make my monthly payments, always try to pay a bit more than the minimum, but because of the interest, the balances just don't really shift at all. I was not overly worried before as I have a decent job, but then a couple of years ago the pay freeze came in, and cost of living went up etc.

I do intend to fully repay these debts, but am trying to find a better way to do so, preferably with a lower monthly repayment. I was looking at a consolidation loan spread over 10 years, but seems they are secured against the house and as we increased the mortgage to extend the house just before the credit crunch and property values dropped, there is not much equity in the house so I don't think I would be able to secure anything as the LTV would be too high.

I am wondering whether a debt management plan may be a sensible option. But my concern with this is whether it would damage my credit rating and, if so, to what extent. My reason for being particularly concerned about this is that I have a joint investment with family members, and I am worried that if I messed up my credit rating too much this could impact on them in the future as there is a connection. If I have read it right, it seems the creditors will still send default notices if I was in a debt management plan, and so I assume each one of these defaults would be noted on my credit report?

Or should I just contact the credit card companies and see if they will agree a plan direct with them? If I do this, what are the implications regarding whats recorded on my credit report?

And can anyone offer any suggestion on how much my repayments may be reduced by, I currently pay about £400 a month.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated!

Many Thanks