Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

PaulFrench

Hi,
I hope I'm posting this correctly and in the right place, it is also likely to be quite long and for this I apologise however it's complicated...

I used to have a mortgage many years ago but fell into a troubled period of life culminating in missed payments, a default notice and an unrelated period of imprisonment. This is where my issue lies.

I was arrested and remanded into custody in July 2008, and later convicted and served a total of 27 months in prison. At this time I instructed my solicitor to contact my mortgage company and advise them of the situation. They then sent me a letter to which I replied confirming that I was in prison and unable to make payments for the foreseeable future. I received no response.

I have since been released and begun the incredibly difficult uphill battle of rebuilding my life after the stupid mistakes. Part of this process has naturally been attempting to salvage something from the wreckage of my credit history. Most has been ok however I have received a letter from a company of solicitors chasing an outstanding mortgage balance of over £18,000.

Concerning this figure I have received a breakdown of costs etc. and copies of my credit report from all three main agencies and this information has raised several questions.

1) My report from Callcredit indicates that around the time my mortgage company would have received my letter above the interest charges on the account were suspended. Somehow however in the period between then and sale of the property a further £4,300 seems to have been added to the debt, with no contact between the mortgage company and myself. Can I challenge this?

2) All 3 credit reports report the outstanding balance as £0 and the account as Satisfied or Settled, so how can they demand £18,000?

3) They have a default date of 4/3/2009 given, however I was never sent a letter regarding sale of the property, proceeds, or default of the debt whilst in prison after notifying them I was there and I'm curious to know what position this leaves me in?

There are further points however I think I've rambled on enough. The point is I am now trying to resolve my debt situation and am possibly in a position to make a full and final payment to clear the account however I want to make sure I pay no more than I have to.

Please help! (And many thanks if you do try )

Paul

gunnapaul2

Hi, I need some help trying to find out an accurate report for my credit history and debts, I have signed up with a couple of free-to-use sites (https://www.noddle.co.uk and https://www.annualcreditreport.co.uk) but one of the sites says I owe a debt to a company but the other one states the debt is clear, this is no help at all.

As soon as I can get a true and accurate report of my debts I will start to pay them off and improve my credit score a little.

Any information would be appreciated.

Paul.

StepChange_Pavan

elvis2003 wrote: »

Hi I was wondering if you could read my recent posts and give me some advice I need help with my debts

Hi elvis2003 and thanks for your post.

It looks as though you’ve already had some really supportive and helpful comments on your other thread.

Like a lot of people have mentioned it’s important that you seek advice and support for the gambling as your situation could continue to worse otherwise.

Once you’re in a situation to look at your debt solutions in a bit more detail you can contact us and we can explore all of the options that are available to you.

You can 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 Helpline on 0800 138 1111 (free including from mobiles). 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

pearbox

Hi all, i am a moneysavingexpert virgin have often found these threads informative in the past.

So now its my time to ask for some advice regarding debt. I currently earn 35K a year, have a morgage and the general bills you associate with a family. Money is never really an issue and considering my wife also works we feel comfortable. Or at least have been.

Over the past few years with the kids, home improvements etc we have run up some cards and plus i still have some loans on-going for appox another 2 years.

In total we have about 30K of debt and although we can currently manage, its getting a bit tight and frankly i hate the fact we have X amount of cards and paying X amount of interest overall.

What i could really do with is some advice of how i could get it all consolidated into an affordable payment whereby i am just paying one set of interest (not a rip off amount). I am not keen either to look into secured loan option and when looking at our normal outgoings and monthly income its clear that we can afford a consolidation loan (if the others were consolidated).

Advice would be welcome.

StepChange_Pavan

David1345 wrote: »

Hi - can I ask a quick question too please?

I've been struggling with my debts for ages, and have reached breaking point. In three months time I'll know if I either have a new source of freelance income which will allow me to solve the situation over time, or if I have to ask CCCS for help with a DMP.

In the immediate term though I cannot now afford minimum monthly payments to my creditors, from this month onwards. I want to contract them and ask them to hold action on my accounts for the next three months until I know what the situation is.

I just wanted to ask if that is realistic? Will they be prepared to give me three months breathing space with me making only token payments, if am tell them the situation?

It's so unbelievably stressful, any help would be great! thanks!

Hi David1345 and thanks for your post.

It’s definitely worth asking them to see if they will freeze the accounts but there’s no guarantee that they’ll agree to this.

It’s best to contact them and make them aware of your situation to see what they can do to help. If you’re not in arrears at the moment sometimes there’s nothing they can do until you’re behind with your payments.

However, you don’t have to wait until the situation is beyond your control before you come to us for help – we can look at your circumstances now to see what options are available to you.

You can use our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) or call our Helpline on 0800 138 1111 (free including from mobiles). We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 3pm.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

smarkmith wrote: »

Hi all

Just looking for a few words of wisdom from someone who knows their stuff please.

As far as I'm aware I haven't made a payment to Link Financial Limited for 6 years for a debt owed to Capital One for a credit card I defaulted on.

The history of this has been removed from my credit file as of June 2012.

I am going to send Link Financial the Statute Barred letter template to hopefulyl get them off my case, as I have now received a letter from a solicitor threatening a CCJ. However, I'm not 100% ceertain that I haven't made a payment within the last 6 years. If I had, would the history still appear on my credit file, or does this not affect the default being removed?

In addition, if I have made a payment within 6 years it is my understanding that I can't claim that the debt is Statute Barred. Is this correct? If so, does that also mean that I have to pay them?

I'm due to buy a house within the next 6 months so I don't want a CCJ to screw this up for me. If I have to I'll pay, but I'd just like to know my options.

Thanks

Mark

Hi Mark and thanks for your post.

You’re right that if you’ve made a payment within the last 6 years the debt wouldn’t be statute barred.

You could write to them and ask for details of the last payment you made by making a subject access request: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/personal_information/how_manage/access_info.aspx

I hope this helps, but if you’re in a position to pay the debt and you admit liability it may be best to pay it to avoid any further action – which could in turn affect your mortgage application.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

PaulFrench wrote: »

Hi,
I hope I'm posting this correctly and in the right place, it is also likely to be quite long and for this I apologise however it's complicated...

I used to have a mortgage many years ago but fell into a troubled period of life culminating in missed payments, a default notice and an unrelated period of imprisonment. This is where my issue lies.

I was arrested and remanded into custody in July 2008, and later convicted and served a total of 27 months in prison. At this time I instructed my solicitor to contact my mortgage company and advise them of the situation. They then sent me a letter to which I replied confirming that I was in prison and unable to make payments for the foreseeable future. I received no response.

I have since been released and begun the incredibly difficult uphill battle of rebuilding my life after the stupid mistakes. Part of this process has naturally been attempting to salvage something from the wreckage of my credit history. Most has been ok however I have received a letter from a company of solicitors chasing an outstanding mortgage balance of over £18,000.

Concerning this figure I have received a breakdown of costs etc. and copies of my credit report from all three main agencies and this information has raised several questions.

1) My report from Callcredit indicates that around the time my mortgage company would have received my letter above the interest charges on the account were suspended. Somehow however in the period between then and sale of the property a further £4,300 seems to have been added to the debt, with no contact between the mortgage company and myself. Can I challenge this?

2) All 3 credit reports report the outstanding balance as £0 and the account as Satisfied or Settled, so how can they demand £18,000?

3) They have a default date of 4/3/2009 given, however I was never sent a letter regarding sale of the property, proceeds, or default of the debt whilst in prison after notifying them I was there and I'm curious to know what position this leaves me in?

There are further points however I think I've rambled on enough. The point is I am now trying to resolve my debt situation and am possibly in a position to make a full and final payment to clear the account however I want to make sure I pay no more than I have to.

Please help! (And many thanks if you do try )

Paul

Hi Paul and welcome to the forum.

It’s a good idea to challenge the outstanding amount, especially if it’s more than you expected. It’s likely that they’ve added on some sort of fee but you’re within your rights to ask what it’s for.

It doesn’t necessarily matter what the credit reference agency says but you could query this with the creditor.

Similarly it’s best that you complain to the creditor about not contacting you in prison. If they don’t give you a satisfactory response you can follow this up with the Financial Ombudsman.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

gunnapaul2 wrote: »

Hi, I need some help trying to find out an accurate report for my credit history and debts, I have signed up with a couple of free-to-use sites (www.noddle.co.uk and www.annualcreditreport.co.uk) but one of the sites says I owe a debt to a company but the other one states the debt is clear, this is no help at all.

As soon as I can get a true and accurate report of my debts I will start to pay them off and improve my credit score a little.

Any information would be appreciated.

Paul.

Hi Paul and thanks for your post.

It’s best that you apply to all the credit reference agencies to get a clear picture of your finances. Remember that things drop off after 6 years.

This article gives you a bit more information about how credit files work and how you can improve yours: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

pearbox wrote: »

Hi all, i am a moneysavingexpert virgin have often found these threads informative in the past.

So now its my time to ask for some advice regarding debt. I currently earn 35K a year, have a morgage and the general bills you associate with a family. Money is never really an issue and considering my wife also works we feel comfortable. Or at least have been.

Over the past few years with the kids, home improvements etc we have run up some cards and plus i still have some loans on-going for appox another 2 years.

In total we have about 30K of debt and although we can currently manage, its getting a bit tight and frankly i hate the fact we have X amount of cards and paying X amount of interest overall.

What i could really do with is some advice of how i could get it all consolidated into an affordable payment whereby i am just paying one set of interest (not a rip off amount). I am not keen either to look into secured loan option and when looking at our normal outgoings and monthly income its clear that we can afford a consolidation loan (if the others were consolidated).

Advice would be welcome.

Hi pearbox and thanks for your question.

We don’t usually recommend consolidation loans as they’re not a debt solution as such. You can read more about what you’d need to consider and why in this blogpost: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/04/to-debt-consolidate-or-not-to-debt-consolidate/.

It’s really important that you know you can afford the repayments as it could make your situation worse in the long term if something changes in the future. It’s also worth checking your credit file to see if you can improve your chances of being accepted for a loan if you decide that’s the best course of action for you. This article will help you with credit files: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

gunnapaul2

CCCS_Pavan wrote: »

Hi Paul and thanks for your post.

It’s best that you apply to all the credit reference agencies to get a clear picture of your finances. Remember that things drop off after 6 years.

Hi Pavan,

I have applied to a couple of credit agencies and just waiting for my pin from one of them so hopefully I can get a better picture of things.

When you say things drop off after 6 years does this mean I can't trace them? I presume the debt will still affect my credit score after 6 years?

I'm really hoping to get these debts clear, I've been saving for a while now and feel I have the funds to clear them, my main concern is if I do clear certain debts will this actually improve my credit score or is it possible I could just be paying a collection agency these funds to keep them happy and in actual fact it has no affect on my credit score at all?

Thanks for your info.

Paul.