Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

CCCS_Sarah

brooks402 wrote: »

Hi

I have borrowed money from my brother to pay off loads of little debts i have and that are now with debt companies. I am paying most of them off a little each month, but have decided that i want to get them all paid off so that i can just pay out one monthly payment.

I know i can offer them less than the full debt to pay it off but can you tell me how much i should be offering? Is there a min % that they will accept?

Many thanks
Lorraine Brooks

Hi Lorraine,

Thank you for your email.

If you are in a position to offer full and final settlements, I would recommend that you have an appointment with the CCCS so we can talk through these with you and send you some sample letters to use.

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

Regards
CCCS

katkins7

Hi,
I have recently set up a DMP plan and have been making my payments to my creditors through this. I have not used my credit cards i have with these creditors and not applied for new credit. However i did have an exisiting credit card with a zero balance which i didnt destroy as not in the DMP.
I struggled with a few unexpected outgoings in the past 3 months and put these on this credit card. I have since read i cannot use any exisiting credit to run up more debt, though on some sites it says you can in emergencys?
It is a small amount and the minumum payment my partner is paying for me. The card is now well and truley distroyed to take away any further temptation to put 'emergency' items on it. Will this effect my DMP? Im scared to inform anyone of what i have done, and am confused if this is allowed or not!! Help

CCCS_Sarah

katkins7 wrote: »

Hi,
I have recently set up a DMP plan and have been making my payments to my creditors through this. I have not used my credit cards i have with these creditors and not applied for new credit. However i did have an exisiting credit card with a zero balance which i didnt destroy as not in the DMP.
I struggled with a few unexpected outgoings in the past 3 months and put these on this credit card. I have since read i cannot use any exisiting credit to run up more debt, though on some sites it says you can in emergencys?
It is a small amount and the minumum payment my partner is paying for me. The card is now well and truley distroyed to take away any further temptation to put 'emergency' items on it. Will this effect my DMP? Im scared to inform anyone of what i have done, and am confused if this is allowed or not!! Help

Hi Katkins7,

Thank you for your message.

I would recommend that you speak to your DMP provider as soon as possible as all debts need to be included in your DMP. If the money has been spent on emergency items, explain this to them.

Sarah

somewhatdamaged

Hi,

I have a reletively modest amount of debt but my work situation is currently shocking and seemingly not likely to change soon. I am currently in receipt of ESA but the amount I receive covers only my Direct Debits/min payments for the month meaning I have nothing to spend on food/petrol etc.

My ESA claim is currently on suspend as I went on a paid course for 6 weeks though I'm told that the decision makers will pass it through and I will receive ESA once my claim is processed again. I have got by so far on the goodwill of family and managed to keep up to speed with payments for the main part but not having anything coming in, I am now starting to miss payments. So far it's just been my last two CC bills but they are starting to get onto me and I could do with some help advice on how to manage it.

I have around 2500 of CC debt, a 2k overdraft and a bank loan on my car which is 65 pcm until March/April 2011.

beckiem

hi
i have a dmp with cccs (lifesavers!!)
my husband is self employed, so when i done my last budget review i was told to estimate his usual earnings so i can make sure i meet the payments every month
my question is.. on some months where hes managed to earn more could i just make a direct payment to one of my debts or would it mess up the agreements with the debt companys?
thanks

gez500

Hi,

I'm looking for some information if you can help please?
I currently owe amounts of £8,000, £6,000 and £5,000 to 3 credit card companies plus a £3,000 overdraft on my bank account.
I can only afford to make the minimum payments on 2 of the credit cards and cannot get out of the overdraft. The £8,000 card has already been cancelled and interest frozen, with £20 monthly payments being made.
A family member has offered to pay off the debt, but not able to pay the full amounts.
Would I be able to write to the credit card companies and the bank and ask if I could pay a reduced amount to settle the accounts for good?

Regards, Gez

CCCS_Sue

somewhatdamaged wrote: »

Hi,

I have a reletively modest amount of debt but my work situation is currently shocking and seemingly not likely to change soon. I am currently in receipt of ESA but the amount I receive covers only my Direct Debits/min payments for the month meaning I have nothing to spend on food/petrol etc.

My ESA claim is currently on suspend as I went on a paid course for 6 weeks though I'm told that the decision makers will pass it through and I will receive ESA once my claim is processed again. I have got by so far on the goodwill of family and managed to keep up to speed with payments for the main part but not having anything coming in, I am now starting to miss payments. So far it's just been my last two CC bills but they are starting to get onto me and I could do with some help advice on how to manage it.

I have around 2500 of CC debt, a 2k overdraft and a bank loan on my car which is 65 pcm until March/April 2011.

Hi somewhatdamaged and thank you for your message

You need to put together a budget and send it to your creditors with a token payment offer of £1. This is a gesture of goodwill until you get back to work, and is better than ignoring the debts and not paying anything.
If you would like some further help and advice on your situation, you can call us for an appointment to speak to one of our debt counsellors on 0800 138 1111.
Alternatively, you can use our online facility Debt Remedy.
Debt Remedy would assist you in completing a financial statement and you would be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your situation. This link will take you directly to Debt Remedy www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu

Regards,
Sue

CCCS_Sue

beckiem wrote: »

hi
i have a dmp with cccs (lifesavers!!)
my husband is self employed, so when i done my last budget review i was told to estimate his usual earnings so i can make sure i meet the payments every month
my question is.. on some months where hes managed to earn more could i just make a direct payment to one of my debts or would it mess up the agreements with the debt companys?
thanks

Hi beckiem and thank you for your message

Any additional payments need to be made through your DMP so that each creditor gets a fair share of any extra money you have.
I would recommend that you call our client support team and let them know you are able to make an additional payment, and they will advise you further.

Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

gez500 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking for some information if you can help please?
I currently owe amounts of £8,000, £6,000 and £5,000 to 3 credit card companies plus a £3,000 overdraft on my bank account.
I can only afford to make the minimum payments on 2 of the credit cards and cannot get out of the overdraft. The £8,000 card has already been cancelled and interest frozen, with £20 monthly payments being made.
A family member has offered to pay off the debt, but not able to pay the full amounts.
Would I be able to write to the credit card companies and the bank and ask if I could pay a reduced amount to settle the accounts for good?

Regards, Gez

Hi Gez and thank you for your message

You could look at opening a basic bank account elsewhere and having your money paid into this account to put you back in charge of your finances.
This also prevents the bank taking money from your account to repay your debt with them, without your permission.
You can then come to an arrangement to pay back the overdraft at an amount you can afford.
Your creditors might accept a settlement offer based on a one-off payment when financial circumstances are such that you are unable to maintain full payments from your income.
If the offer comes from a friend or relative then for legal reasons it is more likely to be legally binding.

I would recommend that you call us for an appointment to discuss your situation with one of our counsellors, so that you can explore all the options that you could consider.

If a full and final settlement was the best option, then the counsellor will give you further help on to proceed.
The free helpline number is 0800 138 1111.

Regards
Sue

Anna208

Hi, Looking for some help here in a totally impossible and confusing situation!

I entered into a mortgage on a house with my friend three years ago - we are joint owners.

After moving into the house, I found myself in £15,000 of debt (credit cards, overdraft and personal loan) which I was struggling to keep up with the payments and interest.
It was at this point that I approached Gregory Pennington, a debt advisory service who entered me into a repayment plan whereby my creditors supposedly froze the interest on my accounts and reduced the payments.

Before agreeing to the repayment plan, I stated to Gregory Pennington that in me doing this, it could in no way affect my friend, who is joint owner of our house. Gregory Pennington were confident that this would not affect her credit score or ability to obtain credit elsewhere. I stated to them clearly that I had a joint mortgage and they were insistent that it was still safe for me to proceed.

A few months later, my friend applied for a credit card and her application was declined. Upon obtaining her Experian report, the reason for declinature was because of her financial link with me. - at this point we had a joint bank account, utility bills and mortgage (none of which have ever been in arrears).

I took the matter up with Gregory Pennington who were still confident that my debt repayment plan had nothing to do with my friend's declinature.

Having lost confidence in GP, I decided to change my debt repayment plan to a friend of the family who does the same sort of thing, but on a smaller scale. He confirmed to me that any financial link I have with my friend does indeed affect her credit score.

18 months later, my friend has returned from a trip to Australia and applied for a store card only to be declined again.

We have discussed breaking this financial link by the possibility of one of her parents paying me off and changing the mortgage into my friends name.

My mortgage is with Nat West and I have spoken to them today to enquire about the procedure involved in doing this. Nat West say this will be possible, but in processing the application, they will have to check my friend's credit and her being financially linked to me will probably result in another declinature.

I am uncertain where to go from here, as the only answer to me getting out of debt and also clearing my friend's credit file would be to remove me from the mortgage.

Please can someone advise me on the best course of action with regard to
a) getting around the mortgage application for my friend so that she can be sole name on the mortgage and
b) maybe getting some sort of compensation from Gregory Pennington for the terribly misleading and ultimately damaging information they have provided me with. Surely this is a valid Professional Indemnity claim if ever I saw one?

Any comments would be appreciated greatly.