Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

cho78in

Hi,

I just tried to make a balance transfer with my barclaycard but they said There wasn't any offers available?

Is this because my credit rating is poor??

Thanks

Dave

reecemoore

Good Afternoon,

I have a serious issue. I know I'm in a serious mess with debt. I estimate atleast £4000 in debt that I need help managing. What would be my first point of action?

hollyblue

Hi

I wonder if you can help.

I am 36 and have accumulated £20,000 of debt with credit cards and loans.

I am able to make my minimum payments and have not defaulted on any of these debts. However, my credit scare is poor. I believe it is due to 1. an account with the 3 network for a £5 pm internet dongle I had and stupidly cancelled the DD after the 12 month contract was up thinking this would cancel it. Sadly I moved at the same time and didn't know they were sending me letters threatening court action for the missed payments. When they caught up wth me I promptly paid the debt but it is marked on my credit file as a 'paid' default and 2. because I use credit cards throughout the month so I can use my wages to pay a larger sum off one of the crredit cards each month in a bid to reduce the one with the most APR, so consequently looks like I need credit each month to get by (this is according to what the credit agency website said).

My monthly income is £2200 p.m. and I live with my BF now and only pay £200 by way of board. However, I do not seem to be able to make any significant reduction to my debts.

In meeting minimum payments I spend about £700 p.m. But I try to pay an extra £200/300 p.m. off the highest APR card which I owe £6000. This seems to be taking forever!

I'd like to be able to take a loan to consolidate all debts into one monthly payment of around £700 p.m. and thereby reduce the amount of wasted money each month on interest, however, when I have recently applied to Sainsburys and Lloyds TSB for a loan I have been rejected.

Do you have any suggestions please?

I fear that if I don't get on top of this now I will never be debt free (

StepChange_Pavan

cho78in wrote: »

Hi,

I just tried to make a balance transfer with my barclaycard but they said There wasn't any offers available?

Is this because my credit rating is poor??

Thanks

Dave

Hi Dave and thanks for your post.

I can’t say for certain why your balance transfer wasn’t accepted but you can ask Barclaycard for a reason.

You might also find this article useful as it gives you tips on how to improve your credit file: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

reecemoore wrote: »

Good Afternoon,

I have a serious issue. I know I'm in a serious mess with debt. I estimate atleast £4000 in debt that I need help managing. What would be my first point of action?

Hi reecemoore and welcome to the forum.

We’d need to look at your situation in a bit more detail to be able to advise you on your options - but don’t worry, we can help.

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 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.

You’ve taken the first step to sorting out your money worries and we can support you with free and impartial advice along the way.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

hollyblue wrote: »

Hi

I wonder if you can help.

I am 36 and have accumulated £20,000 of debt with credit cards and loans.

I am able to make my minimum payments and have not defaulted on any of these debts. However, my credit scare is poor. I believe it is due to 1. an account with the 3 network for a £5 pm internet dongle I had and stupidly cancelled the DD after the 12 month contract was up thinking this would cancel it. Sadly I moved at the same time and didn't know they were sending me letters threatening court action for the missed payments. When they caught up wth me I promptly paid the debt but it is marked on my credit file as a 'paid' default and 2. because I use credit cards throughout the month so I can use my wages to pay a larger sum off one of the crredit cards each month in a bid to reduce the one with the most APR, so consequently looks like I need credit each month to get by (this is according to what the credit agency website said).

My monthly income is £2200 p.m. and I live with my BF now and only pay £200 by way of board. However, I do not seem to be able to make any significant reduction to my debts.

In meeting minimum payments I spend about £700 p.m. But I try to pay an extra £200/300 p.m. off the highest APR card which I owe £6000. This seems to be taking forever!

I'd like to be able to take a loan to consolidate all debts into one monthly payment of around £700 p.m. and thereby reduce the amount of wasted money each month on interest, however, when I have recently applied to Sainsburys and Lloyds TSB for a loan I have been rejected.

Do you have any suggestions please?

I fear that if I don't get on top of this now I will never be debt free (

Hi hollyblue and thanks for your post.

It sounds as though you have a good amount of money left over after you’ve paid you’re priorities so you’re not struggling to make minimum payments which is good.

It’s unlikely that you’ll get accepted for credit if you’ve recently been refused so I’d recommend that you put together a budget to see if you can make any changes.

List all your expenditure each month so that you can see exactly where your money goes. Try to budget so that you can afford to pay extra as and when you can. If you look at ways of improving your credit file at the same time you may be able to access a 0% interest deal in the future. (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score).

If you’re happy to, you could post a budget on here and other readers will suggest ways to improve your situation.

You could also look at ways of maximising your income so that any extra money you make can go towards clearing your debts quicker. There are a few ideas on our blog: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/01/need-to-make-extra-cash-in-2011-10-ways-to-increase-your-income/.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

realitychick

Hi, just a really quick question. I've recently run into financial difficulties and am attempting to negotiate reduced payments directly with my creditors. I know it is possible to do this through CCCS and similar, and in fact I have obtained some advice from CCCS and completed Debt Remedy, but prior to doing this I had already managed to come to a satisfactory temporary reduced payment arrangement with several creditors and these arrangements are working out well, so I don't want to 'rock the boat' so to speak, if it can be helped.

I have yet to have my payment proposal accepted by two of the creditors I contacted. I have sent them income/expenditure details, but they also want me to tell them the balances I still owe to other creditors before they can tell me whether they will accept.

I know that it is important not to 'favour' any creditors and to make payment offers proportionate to what each creditor is owed, and I have been careful to structure my offers accordingly. However, I wanted to check whether their request is standard, as I am wondering whether they are actually going to contact my other creditors if I comply with their request, to verify the balance details I give them. All info I am giving is truthful and I have nothing to hide, but I'm still not entirely comfortable somehow with the thought of creditors getting in touch with each other and 'comparing notes' so to speak! Are they allowed to do that? And is it standard practice for creditors to ask for balances on other accounts? (not with the same bank or finance group, I mean)

Any advice you can give would be much appreciated... thanks

StepChange_Pavan

realitychick wrote: »

Hi, just a really quick question. I've recently run into financial difficulties and am attempting to negotiate reduced payments directly with my creditors. I know it is possible to do this through CCCS and similar, and in fact I have obtained some advice from CCCS and completed Debt Remedy, but prior to doing this I had already managed to come to a satisfactory temporary reduced payment arrangement with several creditors and these arrangements are working out well, so I don't want to 'rock the boat' so to speak, if it can be helped.

I have yet to have my payment proposal accepted by two of the creditors I contacted. I have sent them income/expenditure details, but they also want me to tell them the balances I still owe to other creditors before they can tell me whether they will accept.

I know that it is important not to 'favour' any creditors and to make payment offers proportionate to what each creditor is owed, and I have been careful to structure my offers accordingly. However, I wanted to check whether their request is standard, as I am wondering whether they are actually going to contact my other creditors if I comply with their request, to verify the balance details I give them. All info I am giving is truthful and I have nothing to hide, but I'm still not entirely comfortable somehow with the thought of creditors getting in touch with each other and 'comparing notes' so to speak! Are they allowed to do that? And is it standard practice for creditors to ask for balances on other accounts? (not with the same bank or finance group, I mean)

Any advice you can give would be much appreciated... thanks

Hi realitychick and thanks for your post.

When we send DMP proposals to creditors we do include a list of creditors with current balances so it’s not an unusual request.

If you’ve worked everything out fairly it’s worth sending them a copy to prove that you’re not hiding anything. It’s unlikely that they’ll contact your other creditors but if they wanted confirmation they could check your credit file anyway.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

realitychick

CCCS_Pavan wrote: »

Hi realitychick and thanks for your post.

When we send DMP proposals to creditors we do include a list of creditors with current balances so it’s not an unusual request.

If you’ve worked everything out fairly it’s worth sending them a copy to prove that you’re not hiding anything. It’s unlikely that they’ll contact your other creditors but if they wanted confirmation they could check your credit file anyway.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Many thanks, Pavan. Yes, that's helpful - I just wanted to make sure there was nothing 'untoward' about what they were asking for.

wigglers

Hi I have a fiancee and 7month old daughter I get paid £1280 a month but have a £1200 overdraft we live in and also a HSBC.card with 950 on it a.capital one card with 200 outstanding and a barclaycard with 1000 I pay a consolidation loan at £250 a month and we have an option to put all the debt of the cards
onto a 5% balance transfer with virgin 0% for a year. The bills without the cards now.add up to 1180 but we want to start saving for a deposit for a house also I have.£200 given for our daughters christening is it worth paying some.of my overdraft with that or should I just put it into her account? I don't know weather to do a.balamce transfer or what to do to get out of this please help!!!