Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

Gym_Addict

0% for 12 months on cc. Hoping my rate will come down even slightly...

rita-rabbit

Is it worth moving some of the balances across to 0% deals whilst waiting for CCCS to start negotiating - just in case they refuse to freeze interest once they realise there is a problem? Have spent ages this morning getting quotes on car insurance (last years was too high but I was in a hurry & not so far in debt - deffo wasn't waiting for autorenewal which would be even higher) & also ages completing the form - outstanding mortgage owed is a figure I am not sure how I will access quickly - I had wanted 2 input figures owed on credit cards but can't get to the next stage!

mum2one

Gym_Addict wrote: »

0% for 12 months on cc. Hoping my rate will come down even slightly...

I would put the min on credit card as youve got 0%, then put the rest to the side, hopefully the mortgage will come down, but keep an eye out for another 0% before this deal ends. x

Red_tiger

Hello everyone

I need some advice, not sure if I am in the correct thread but any help would be so nice.

Basically I ran a small business which ultimately failed. I closed it down but have three loans which I took out to get it started. I have never not paid and as far as the banks are concerned there is not any issue. The loans are thus

£20,000 over ten years with 6 years left.
£15,000 over 7 years with 3.5 left
£10,000 over 5 years with 2.5 years left. Each loan cost me in the region of £300 PCM.

I've also had a battle with nat west as I had a overdraft with the business and although I was a limited company they have data saying I signed a sole trader account. On no paperwork do they admit I was a ltd despite it being on company's house. The ombudsman are involved and I am dreading losing the fight as its another £14,000.

Another thorn in my side is that an ex business partner wants 30,000 from me although I never agreed to pay this back as it was investment into the business. He has a document to say I agreed a loan for £14,000 although I think I can find a set of papers to confirm we wrote this off. What worries me is what if I cannot find them? I was so pleased to end the business I believe that some paperwork has been lost in the process of my clear out.

I am a home owner with a property worth £200,000 and a mortgage of £105,000. No missed payments etc. I've also a secured loan of around £28,000 which I took out six or seven years ago and pay £290 PCM. My mortgage is £750 a month.

I cannot keep going. I am married and have three small children and life is too hard. I really don't want to give up my property either.

My questions are these...

Can I reduce loan payments or find a lower settlement?
If a private person takes legal action against me, and I lose, is any monies owed to them secured against my property. I don't think I agreed to this!
Would I be better in a consolidation programm, remember I have not missed any payments so far but the future looks bleak.
Is it possible to simply remortgage to around £150,000 and pay most things off except the former business guy and try and fight this as the signatures of witness are his staff and were not really privy to what they were witnessing.

Please if anyone could help. I'm in my early 40's and had to take a job earning only a basic amount so money isn't easy. My wife is self employed and does earn a good income but it all seems pointless if it's forever on debt.

StepChange_Pavan

win123 wrote: »

Hi Pavan

Thank you for your reply - just one more question my mum is thinking of going on DMP with CCCS but is on DLA most of this goes on her care etc like someone going with her to do her shopping and extra help at home etc - just a bit worried because of her age being 66 that the cccs wont be able to help her. If you can't help her does anyone know what her other options would be she owes about 6k thanks she is so worried and I am affraid it is making her ill

Hi again,

Don’t worry; like Mum2one has mentioned, as long as there is a justifiable reason for the expenditure this won’t be a problem. Her options will depend on her budget and a DMP may not be the best solution for her – we will look at her situation in more detail when she contacts us and discuss everything’s that’s available to her.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

stickman wrote: »

Hi All,
Son on DMP with cccs,brilliant support/advice from them thank-you.
Question, Son is thinking of going for full and final,now for this exercise say all agree and son pays 10k based on 25p in pound,all well again.
My problem as a Dad is if creditors are willing to accept the 10k in full and final NOW then why not let son continue paying his £500+ a month and clear in 2 years as opposed to current 7 years on DMP. Obviously creditors happy to settle for the 10k so what difference if it's paid immediately or over 2 years.
Bank of mum and dad helping here hence question
Thanks

Hi stickman and thanks for your question.

The aim of a full and final offer is to settle the amount at once. There’s no guarantee that they’ll accept but there’s no reason for them to accept a lower amount over a longer period of time. If it’s paid now, they save money on collecting the debt over the next 7 years. Also, the settlement is usually accepted on the basis that the funds are coming from a third party – if they think that the client can afford the repayments themselves they could continue to chase the full amount.

If you’re in a position to lend the money, it’s a good idea to get some free and impartial advice and we can help with this. He could also consider a lump sum IVA and there’s more information on how these work here: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/05/lump-sum-ivas-an-insolvency-secret/.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Gym_Addict wrote: »

I have a credit card debt of £4300 and have just balanced transferred to a 0% card. My mortgage is £90000 with 13 years to go. It is a repayment mortgage with 2 different rates: 6.5% (this fixed rate deal expires Apr 2014 and 5.6% whihc expires next April. I pay £857/month. I pay around £150 to my cc/month and try to overpay my mortgae by £30-£40 month.
These are my only debts.

Advice needed: should I continue to overpay the mortgage or am I better bringing the cc down?

Thanks

Hi Gym Addict and thanks for your question.

I can’t advise you what to do as that would be financial advice rather than debt advice but I can give you a few points to consider.

We usually say pay towards the debt with the higher interest rate but like mum2one has mentioned this could change if you can’t find another 0% deal in 12 months’ time. Provided that you do get another 0% deal, the difference would mean that you’re paying the credit card for an extra 6 months if you make extra payments to the mortgage so you would need to weigh this up against the difference it would make to the mortgage term.

I can’t say how likely it is that you’ll get another 0% deal so mum2one’s suggestion could be more sensible just in case. It’s also worth thinking about an emergency fund in general if you haven’t already.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

rita-rabbit wrote: »

I have delayed this for some time as I had hoped to get to top of things.

I am a leaseholder of my ex-council flat. Whilst I am not ashamed of this fact I am somewhat peeved that this change has got me into debt - last year after 4 years battles resulted in a week long Leasehold Valuation Tribunal Hearing & am saddled with £6,000 worthless `refubishment' charge - less £300 for substandard work (I do not consider this a priority bill & keep leasehold charges payments completely separate from the `refurbishment charge' as I am hoping that time & community pressure will allow that to be written off)
My income has been unstable over the past few years however it has finally regularised (albeit I am still an agency worker my role is `safe' & I have been applying for fixed term positions as well as permanent: with both guaranteed sick & holiday pay, bank holidays etc all - office roles do not facilitate working then so not getting paid then unless sufficient hours accrued 2 qualify presently). Can I claim backdated benefits from years when there were gaps in employment or I was working part time hours - specifically income support, working tax credit, mortgage relief?
I am also in the process of chasing overpaid tax - I recently received a few £100 for tax years 2007-8 - how long does this take? I had started the process with Unison but they asked for SO much info & they go tired of waiting for all of it (despite charging 40p in every £1 they get for you!).
Over the years to `cover the gaps' I have taken out various credit cards with 0% & juggled them - however got stuck & now owe some £7,000 (I think) as well as as approx £2,000 in overdrafts. I am studying part time & this month is a stinger as the car tax, insurance & MOT are due as well as £1000 for this terms college fees.
NatWest regularly suggest having an account review meeting with them - is it worth it or will they try to sell me consolidation? My main bank account is with them, however I have a Santander current account with a £600 overdrawn.
Prior to buying the flat (I was a council tenant) I got various creditors to agree a fixed sum to clear debts (ie less than the total amount) by contacting them myself directly - is it worth me doing this again?
Lastly anxiety has got me itching to go out & buy some fags! I have started keying in on the CCCS debtremedy website - should I stick with them & will liaison with them affect me being able to move home in the future?

Hi rita-rabbit and thanks for your post.

You’re situation sounds quite complex and as you’ve already started Debt Remedy it’s best that you speak with our support team as they’ll be able to see the figures you’ve entered so far and give you more detailed advice.

We also have a specialist welfare benefits team that will be able to answer your benefits queries so as it’s such a complicated area, it’s best that you speak with them.

Speaking with us for free and impartial advice won’t affect you being able to move home in the future but if you opt for a debt solution, it will affect your credit rating.

It’s best that you speak with us before switching to 0% deals as this may not solve the problem in the long term.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Red_tiger wrote: »

Hello everyone

I need some advice, not sure if I am in the correct thread but any help would be so nice.

Basically I ran a small business which ultimately failed. I closed it down but have three loans which I took out to get it started. I have never not paid and as far as the banks are concerned there is not any issue. The loans are thus

£20,000 over ten years with 6 years left.
£15,000 over 7 years with 3.5 left
£10,000 over 5 years with 2.5 years left. Each loan cost me in the region of £300 PCM.

I've also had a battle with nat west as I had a overdraft with the business and although I was a limited company they have data saying I signed a sole trader account. On no paperwork do they admit I was a ltd despite it being on company's house. The ombudsman are involved and I am dreading losing the fight as its another £14,000.

Another thorn in my side is that an ex business partner wants 30,000 from me although I never agreed to pay this back as it was investment into the business. He has a document to say I agreed a loan for £14,000 although I think I can find a set of papers to confirm we wrote this off. What worries me is what if I cannot find them? I was so pleased to end the business I believe that some paperwork has been lost in the process of my clear out.

I am a home owner with a property worth £200,000 and a mortgage of £105,000. No missed payments etc. I've also a secured loan of around £28,000 which I took out six or seven years ago and pay £290 PCM. My mortgage is £750 a month.

I cannot keep going. I am married and have three small children and life is too hard. I really don't want to give up my property either.

My questions are these...

Can I reduce loan payments or find a lower settlement?
If a private person takes legal action against me, and I lose, is any monies owed to them secured against my property. I don't think I agreed to this!
Would I be better in a consolidation programm, remember I have not missed any payments so far but the future looks bleak.
Is it possible to simply remortgage to around £150,000 and pay most things off except the former business guy and try and fight this as the signatures of witness are his staff and were not really privy to what they were witnessing.

Please if anyone could help. I'm in my early 40's and had to take a job earning only a basic amount so money isn't easy. My wife is self employed and does earn a good income but it all seems pointless if it's forever on debt.

Hi Red tiger and welcome to the forum.

You can reduce payments to any unsecured debts through a debt management plan (http://www.cccs.co.uk/InfoCentre/EnglandandWales/Debtsolutions/Debtmanagementplan.aspx) although I can’t say whether this would be your best solution without looking at your situation in more detail. You could offer lower settlement figures (http://www.cccs.co.uk/InfoCentre/EnglandandWales/Debtsolutions/Settlementoffers.aspx) if you have a lump sum available to offer.

With regards to the money you owe to your business partner; you would need to check the paperwork for the loan to see if it is secured on the property. If not, he does have the option to chase the debt through the county court and could apply for a charging order (http://www.cccs.co.uk/InfoCentre/EnglandandWales/Creditoraction/Courtaction/Chargingorder.aspx) which would secure the debt against your property. Any of your unsecured creditors could do this if you can no longer maintain the repayments.

We don’t usually recommend consolidating debts as it can often make the situation worse in the long term. If you were to remortgage it’s important that you work out that you can afford the repayments comfortably as your house will be at risk if you can’t maintain it.

There could be a number of different options available to you, but like I mentioned we would need to look at your situation in a lot more detail to be able to advise 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 and we’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 3pm).

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

halia

Hi
I recently separated from my husband and I'm trying to sort out the finances. I have around £500 on a credit card and I thought that was all. Now I've realized there was an old joint account with santander- thought we'd closed it and its managed online so no paper statements. There was obviously a payment went out of it at some point for about £50, (I think) snowballing charges etc have now resulted in around £800 in fees being applied.
I have written to them about the charges and also to ask them for new security details because I can't remember the online log ins and they wont' let me talk to them on the phone. Their answer was that they wouldn't' refund any charges and they STILL haven't sent me a statement showing up to date balance.
I'm starting to sleep very badly over this - i am now on benefits trying to support my young son, I have a health problem which is getting worse with the stress.
I want to manage this but I honestly can't afford more than about £20 a month to pay it off, I am very scared it will just keep snowballing.
Someone please talk me through what to do.