Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Pavan

LadBroke wrote: »

I have amassed a total debt of £11000 and recently been in touch with CCCS about my situation.
Following their advice I have informed all my creditors in writing that I am about to enter a "Debt Management Plan". A few minutes ago, one of the creditors to whom I had written - "Everyday Loans" - has contacted me, suggesting that it was not worth me entering a "Debt Management Plan" when only three payments were outstanding (which I have not been aware of at all !).
Obviously they are trying to "trick me" into taking a new loan and I am thinking whether it is actually worth doing it ? After all, entering the DMP will affect my credit file in a completely different way, compared to taking a new loan ?

I have not returned my completed documents to CCCS yet and am wondering now what's the best thing to do ?

Hi LadBroke and thanks for your post.

You would need to consider your ability to repay the new loans as well as any other existing debts rather than the impact on your credit rating.

Obviously, if you enter a DMP, your credit rating will be affected but it’s unlikely that you’ll be looking to take any further credit out in the near future if you’re already struggling.

I’d recommend that you read through their offer carefully and only consider it if it’s a long term solution that you can afford in the long term. If not, a DMP could be your best option as it’s something that you can afford and takes your whole situation into account.

I hope this helps but if you’re unsure, just give us a call.

Kind regards,
Pavan

darylt

Hi,

(Don't know if I'm doing this right - here it goes)

I'm in a mess with my finances and getting really stressed. I have been off work since Feb 2012 after having a mental breakdown (I suffer with depression and anxiety), I am taking anti-depressants to get by each day.

I receive ESA/HB/CTB, and have debts I cannot pay anymore [I have made an appointment with the CAB debt advisor for Monday (28thMay)]....any additional advice would be great....

I owe about £6,500 on two CC's (which I can no longer afford to pay), and I have a mobile phone contract that I can now no longer afford...I spoke to the CC companies and one of them is sending me out paperwork for me to fill in about my finances, and the other just said that I need to talk to a debt management company....my mobile provider said that there is nothing that I can do and have to keep paying.

I am trying, I am cancelling all non essential stuff like Sky, but I feel stuck.

StepChange_Pavan

darylt wrote: »

Hi,

(Don't know if I'm doing this right - here it goes)

I'm in a mess with my finances and getting really stressed. I have been off work since Feb 2012 after having a mental breakdown (I suffer with depression and anxiety), I am taking anti-depressants to get by each day.

I receive ESA/HB/CTB, and have debts I cannot pay anymore [I have made an appointment with the CAB debt advisor for Monday (28thMay)]....any additional advice would be great....

I owe about £6,500 on two CC's (which I can no longer afford to pay), and I have a mobile phone contract that I can now no longer afford...I spoke to the CC companies and one of them is sending me out paperwork for me to fill in about my finances, and the other just said that I need to talk to a debt management company....my mobile provider said that there is nothing that I can do and have to keep paying.

I am trying, I am cancelling all non essential stuff like Sky, but I feel stuck.

Hi darylt and thanks for your post.

You’ve already done the right thing by making an appointment with a CAB advisor as they should be able to look at your situation in detail and advise you on the options that are available to you. Hopefully you’re booked in with a debt advisor so they’ll be able to help you there and then.

It’s a good idea to prepare as much as possible for the appointment so they can help you as best they can. You can read our blogpost top help you: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/07/your-debt-help-checklist-4-steps-you-can-take-now-towards-a-debt-free-future/.

If you’d like some more immediate advice you could use our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) or call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

EmmaMc84

Over the past year my husband and I have got married and bought our first house. Before then our finances were in a good state, however we put every penny we had into the wedding and house. Now my debt has started to get out of control and I am paying over the odds in credit card and loan repayments. I have £2500 HSBC CC £3600 Virgin CC £1500 HSBC overdraft (and I have gone over the limit few times which has caused a huge amount of fees) and £5500 HSBC graduate loan.

At the moment I am paying roughly £400 a month in repayments but because my credit rating is very low, I can't consolidate onto a lower interest loan. I am desperate to get out of this situation, our income although not terrible, only just covers everything and I am facing having to work from home with inflating petrol costs. If I can half my repayments it would help a huge amount, but I have absolutely no way of doing this. We are suffering a lot of stress due to this and although we would like to start a family, there is no way we can when we can barely afford to eat! Please can anyone lend some advice? It would really be very much appreciated.

I also make all my payments on time, with the expection of a couple which were due to the banks setting up the payments incorrectly as I recently switched accounts. I think my poor credit rating is down to going over my overdraft limit and the lending against my low wage. We have cut out all non essential items so money is only spend on mortgage, bills, food, petrol.

timboy1984

Hi, first time poster and would just like some general advice.

I have a £1500 overdraft which I have used.

I owe £3500 on my HSBC credit card, I pay minimum payments of 89.00. HSBC usually swallow £68.00 of this repayment on interest charges.

My income is £1246 paid monthly. My outgoings are £1016.

I appreciate this isn't the hugest of debts. What is the best way for me to reduce my debt? As it seems / feels like it will take years to pay of my credit card and overdraft.

I incurred the debt whilst studying at University and moving out for the first time with my girlfriend years ago. I was naive / stupid with money.

Any help appreciated, i'm just trying to become more streetwise with my money.

Best wishes

Tim

Bellarosa

My partner back in 2007 contacted payplan as she was really struggling with her debts and they did her financial statement and arranged a manageable amount of 560 per month repayments to creditors. This include one unsecured loan from Northern Rock for 21k which was the 25% of one of these 125% mortgages (she repaid the mortgage with ERC just to get out quickly), they were giving out at the time. The total amount within the DMP was 48k, the remainder consisting of another loan and the rest credit cards.
She has paid the 560 a month now for five years diligently (apart from one missed payment during the loss of a family member) but recently we have noticed an anomaly with regards the amount payplan are showing as outstanding on the online portal, versus the figures on her statements received. Payplan said at the outset that they request the interest and charges be frozen and after seeing copies of there letters that go with the financial statement they ask each creditor to respond within 21 days if they disagree with a) the payment offer and b) the request to freeze interest and charges.
Now here's the problem - 5 years on the Northern Rock balance outstanding on their statement is currently 18k!!!!! This is after 5 years worth of payments!!!! We feel really aggrieved by this and before this came to light we were thinking that the plan had two years to run at the most. Since speaking to payplan and highlighting the anomaly, there response was "do you want us to adjust the balance on the screen at our end then? " well at this point the last five years just flashed in front of us with a complete sense of disappointment. And then to add insult to injury the advisor suggested my partner perhaps look at an I.V.A!!!! Why now ?

Please help

Thanks in advance:mad:

StepChange_Pavan

EmmaMc84 wrote: »

Over the past year my husband and I have got married and bought our first house. Before then our finances were in a good state, however we put every penny we had into the wedding and house. Now my debt has started to get out of control and I am paying over the odds in credit card and loan repayments. I have £2500 HSBC CC £3600 Virgin CC £1500 HSBC overdraft (and I have gone over the limit few times which has caused a huge amount of fees) and £5500 HSBC graduate loan.

At the moment I am paying roughly £400 a month in repayments but because my credit rating is very low, I can't consolidate onto a lower interest loan. I am desperate to get out of this situation, our income although not terrible, only just covers everything and I am facing having to work from home with inflating petrol costs. If I can half my repayments it would help a huge amount, but I have absolutely no way of doing this. We are suffering a lot of stress due to this and although we would like to start a family, there is no way we can when we can barely afford to eat! Please can anyone lend some advice? It would really be very much appreciated.

I also make all my payments on time, with the expection of a couple which were due to the banks setting up the payments incorrectly as I recently switched accounts. I think my poor credit rating is down to going over my overdraft limit and the lending against my low wage. We have cut out all non essential items so money is only spend on mortgage, bills, food, petrol.

Hi EmmaMc84 and welcome to the forum.

We’d need to look at your situation in a bit more detail to be able to say what options are available to you. Offering your creditors reduced payments could be a solution to ensure that you have enough to cover your living costs but we’d need to look at your budget to be able to say for certain.

The first thing to do is 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 – 3pm.

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

timboy1984 wrote: »

Hi, first time poster and would just like some general advice.

I have a £1500 overdraft which I have used.

I owe £3500 on my HSBC credit card, I pay minimum payments of 89.00. HSBC usually swallow £68.00 of this repayment on interest charges.

My income is £1246 paid monthly. My outgoings are £1016.

I appreciate this isn't the hugest of debts. What is the best way for me to reduce my debt? As it seems / feels like it will take years to pay of my credit card and overdraft.

I incurred the debt whilst studying at University and moving out for the first time with my girlfriend years ago. I was naive / stupid with money.

Any help appreciated, i'm just trying to become more streetwise with my money.

Best wishes

Tim

Hi Tim and thanks for your question.

You don’t mention whether the outgoings of £1016 include your credit repayments or not, but either way it looks as though you have some surplus money available to offer to your creditors.

The first thing I’d recommend that you do is to draw up a realistic budget to see if you can make any changes anywhere – can you cutback on certain expenditure for example?

Once you know how much you can easily afford to pay, try and stick to that each month so it eats into the balances.

A good way of reducing your overdraft is to open up a basic bank account away from any existing debts. This way you can pay towards your overdraft like any other debt rather than it swallowing up your income each month and using it again.

You could also write to your creditors asking if they will consider freezing or at least reducing the interest that they charge. There’s no guarantee that they’ll agree to this but it’s worth asking.

Look at ways you can generate extra income too – every little can help towards becoming debt free quicker. There are some ideas to help on our blog: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/01/need-to-make-extra-cash-in-2011-10-ways-to-increase-your-income/.

Have a look around some of the other threads on here too – there are many people in the same situation and it’s likely that you’ll find some ideas and inspiration to help you.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

davidp62

Hi, I was taken to court two years ago by Mortimer Clark Solicitors on behalf of Marlin for an old car loan. I disputed the amount and the case was transferred to my local County Court. Mortimer Clark attempted to persuade me to sign a tomlin agreement but I refused. They never filed the allocation questionnaire for the court and the case was closed. Recently Marlin have started telephoning me asking to discuss the debt. Is it legal for them to do so bearing in mind that this has already unsuccessfully been brought to court?

StepChange_Pavan

Bellarosa wrote: »

My partner back in 2007 contacted payplan as she was really struggling with her debts and they did her financial statement and arranged a manageable amount of 560 per month repayments to creditors. This include one unsecured loan from Northern Rock for 21k which was the 25% of one of these 125% mortgages (she repaid the mortgage with ERC just to get out quickly), they were giving out at the time. The total amount within the DMP was 48k, the remainder consisting of another loan and the rest credit cards.
She has paid the 560 a month now for five years diligently (apart from one missed payment during the loss of a family member) but recently we have noticed an anomaly with regards the amount payplan are showing as outstanding on the online portal, versus the figures on her statements received. Payplan said at the outset that they request the interest and charges be frozen and after seeing copies of there letters that go with the financial statement they ask each creditor to respond within 21 days if they disagree with a) the payment offer and b) the request to freeze interest and charges.
Now here's the problem - 5 years on the Northern Rock balance outstanding on their statement is currently 18k!!!!! This is after 5 years worth of payments!!!! We feel really aggrieved by this and before this came to light we were thinking that the plan had two years to run at the most. Since speaking to payplan and highlighting the anomaly, there response was "do you want us to adjust the balance on the screen at our end then? " well at this point the last five years just flashed in front of us with a complete sense of disappointment. And then to add insult to injury the advisor suggested my partner perhaps look at an I.V.A!!!! Why now ?

Please help

Thanks in advance:mad:

Hi Bellarosa and thanks for your post.

Unfortunately one of the disadvantages of a DMP is that it’s not a legally binding solution so there’s no way of guaranteeing that the creditors will stop interest and charges. This should have been explained to your partner at the start of the plan.

It’s difficult to say why they’re offering an IVA at this stage when it wasn’t considered before because I don’t know enough about your partner’s circumstances. We’ve written a blogpost about the differences between IVAs and DMPs which might help make things clearer: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/07/12-differences-between-an-iva-and-a-dmp/.

I’d recommend that you chat with Payplan again to see what they suggest as the best solution. If she’d like another opinion she can use our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) for some free and impartial advice. Alternatively she can call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111, we’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 3pm.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan