Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

GenesisTime

Hi,
I’m hoping you can give me some advice on my situation. I recently had a CCJ registered against me and was adviced send a letter to the court to ask for a redetermination of the amount as they wanted me to repay all that I owed (which I have done). I have since received pre-court proceedings from my other creditors. I need help in dealing with a dmp but havent collated all the figures required.
Q. While i await a response, is it worth me conveying this to the other creditors?

Thanks
GT.

CCCS_Sarah

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.

Hello,

It’s difficult to give you detailed advice on your options without knowing a bit more about your financial situation. So we can help you, I think you would benefit from using our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a full financial statement and you will be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your debts. It should take you about 20 minutes to complete and it’s completely free and impartial. To get advice straight away, click here to be taken directly to Debt Remedy.

If you would prefer to talk to a debt counsellor about your situation, you can book a telephone based appointment by calling our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. It would be helpful that when you call you have details ready regarding your income, expenditure and creditors, as this can help speed up the referral process. If you have this information ready it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor if one is available, otherwise we will arrange a time that is convenient for you to be called back for an appointment.

Regards,
Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

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

Hello,

The months he gets a little more, I would recommend that he contacts our client support department and they can take a payment and split it between his creditors equally.

Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

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,

Thank you for your message.

I would recommend that you have a telephone appointment so that we can discuss your options. There is a possibility that you could look into either a lump sum iva or full and final settlements. If you would like an appointment to discuss these then please call our helpline free on 0800 138 1111.

Regards
CCCS

CCCS_Sarah

Anna208 wrote: »

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.

You may wish to seek advice from the Financial Ombudsman with regards the complaint you have.

With regards to your friends credit file, if you speak to one of the three credit reference agencies it may be possible that she could add a notice of correction to her credit file. This is where she can write up to 200 words. This may help but I’m not 100% sure.

CCCS_Sarah

GenesisTime wrote: »

Hi,
I’m hoping you can give me some advice on my situation. I recently had a CCJ registered against me and was adviced send a letter to the court to ask for a redetermination of the amount as they wanted me to repay all that I owed (which I have done). I have since received pre-court proceedings from my other creditors. I need help in dealing with a dmp but havent collated all the figures required.
Q. While i await a response, is it worth me conveying this to the other creditors?

Thanks
GT.

Hello,

Pre court proceedings are just general collections letters. Unless you have a blue and white county court claim forms there is nothing to be worried about. Have you had an appointment with a debt advice organisation and they have confirmed a DMP is your best option?

I would recommend for the moment you just pay what you can as a token payment, this is until you have everything in place for your DMP.

Sarah

Kallam

Hi, I am currently on a debt management plan with CCCS. However, it is looking like there is a chance I maybe made redundant from my job soon. I will probably have to go on housing benefit for a while. I am a bit worried about this. Will CCCS still be able to manage my payment plan for me if I am on housing benefit?

gez500

Hi Sue,

Thank you for taking your time to reply, it is much appreciated.

Regards, Gez

paddyisis

Hi, I have two questions please.

We have been on a DMP with CCCS for 18 months now and have paid around £9,000 but our balance has only been reduced by around £5,000 due to charges and interest, Barclaycard in particular are charging £126 of interest every month on a balance of just over £6,000. I have written to all of the companies who are still charging interest and asked them to stop, can you tell me whether I have the right to ask for interest that has been charged in the last 18 months to be repaid to the account ?

My other question is that we have a Northern Rock Together Mortgage with an unsecured loan of £24,000, CCCS have just advised us that this needs to be added to the DMP. I'm concerned because this is going to almost double our total owed and therefore take so much longer to clear our DMP. Also, I wonder what would happen if we sold our house ? we would have around £20,000 equity, would this be split amongst all companies on the DMP or would it go directly to Northern Rock to clear the unsecured loan ?

Thanks for your help.

MsMac_2

Hi, I am trying to sort myself out so I can get a joint mortgage with my boyfriend, and I am in need of a couple of answers to help,

Firstly, I have a formal overdraft on my account which I use every month, will this be affecting my credit rating or is it only when I go over it?

Secondly, once I have cleared my debts, how long my credit rating affected for?

Thanks in anticipation. :question: