Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

System

jasperconran wrote: »

hi,

I would like to ask a CCCS debt advisor a question. I started my dmp (again!) lol last month first payment went out on the 10th. this month I will be sorting out creditors on my own (CCCS know about this) and then CCCS will start paying my creditors again out of my new bank account on the 10th November. phew think thats right.

anyhow, I have been getting pestering letters from HSBC/D & G solicitors their in house peeps and I cant seem to find my template letter to send to them again. could anyone send me one?? pretty please? thanks. am sick of telling them the same thing over and over again!:mad:

Hello,

Here’s a template letter to request your creditors stop calling you: http://moneyaware.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Reducing-creditor-calls.pdf. You might need to adjust the wording slightly to match your situation, as the letter says you have offered them a payment, this needs changing to saying you are on a CCCS DMP and we will be in touch shortly.

This letter is designed to try and stop creditor phone calls, we also have a handy inforgraphic of steps to take to deal with this sort of thing http://www.cccs.co.uk/Infographics/Debtcollectorphonecalls.aspx.

Hope this helps.

Mat

System

reckyroo wrote: »

I am not working at the moment and haven't done for the past 10 years. I have brought my family up, but for the last 2 years, have been trying to find employment without success. I have about 15k in credit card debts and have negotiated with one who have frozen the interest and accepted low monthly payments for the forseeable future (until I can find a job)! BUT, one will not respond to any of my letters until I tell them my husbands income. He refuses to disclose this information to them (he has his own cc debts and we are behind with the mortgage) as the cc's are in my name. Technically he is not responsible, but the cc company won't listen and refuse to co-operate further until I give them this information (without my husbands consent)! I have always managed to pay off the minimum payments every month, but contacted them as soon as I knew I was going to struggle. It's been a battle ever since. They have threatened to put a charge against my house but if I had known this would happen, I would simply have added an extral little onto the mortgage and paid 3% interest all those years ago (I haven't spent on the cc's for years but due to high interest rates, the amount has barely reduced) - are they allowed to do this - I though credit cards were purely non-securable debt - hence the high interest rates? I'm struggling to function with dread at the postman calling each day. Any suggestions would be great. p.s. my hubby refuses point blank to go to a debt help company.

Hi,

Thanks for posting. If the debt is in your name then you don’t need to give details of your husband’s income as the debts aren’t his responsibility. Often creditors prefer to see joint budgets in these situation to be sure that the household finances are being fairly shared between you both, but you don’t have to agree to this.

A creditor can only apply for a charging order once they have obtained a county court judgment (CCJ) and it doesn’t sound like the debt is at this stage. So it is possible to secure a credit card debt against a property but only once they have taken out a CCJ. Most creditors avoid CCJs as the courts are willing to set very low monthly payments if they believe you can’t afford to pay anymore.

If your husband doesn’t want to get debt advice you could get help for just your side of the finances. Just go to http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu and follow the instructions but answer the questions for only your income, expenses and debts.

Please get back in touch if you have any other questions.

Mat

StepChange_James

mum2one wrote: »

in on a dmp with cccs, 1st payment is being pd this month, but have recieved a letter from a debt collectors for full payment of 8k, yet the bank had previuosly said yes to repayment, don't know what to do?

Do I ignore it, do I ring them and explain, do I write to them or do I ring CCCS and shout help! xx

Hi mum2one,

Debt collectors often send out letters asking for the debt to be repaid in full, which I’m sure you would be happy to do if the money was available.

It seems strange that the bank accepted the payment offer and then immediately transferred the debt to a debt collector. They are allowed to do this but I don’t see why they would if they were happy with your payment offer. You could contact the bank and ask them to clarify what has happened, it could be that they have mistakenly passed your debt on.

Debts being passed to debt collectors isn’t the worst thing in the world. We sometimes find that they can be more willing to listen to reasonable payment offers. I would suggest giving us a call and giving us details of the debt collector involved. If the debt has changed hands we will send out the DMP paperwork to the debt collector and look to set up the payment with them.

So to clarify, you could contact the bank to try to work out why they passed the debt on if you like but you don't have to. All you need to do is get in touch with us and we can arrange for the debt collector to be sent your DMP paperwork.

Hope this helps.

James

aldix

How does the Money Adviser write letters to his clients and write case notes from teleconversations? I am asking you to be really specific. It is really important to me. Are you following any list of points?

Thank you very much.

mum2one

CCCS_James wrote: »

Hi mum2one,

Debt collectors often send out letters asking for the debt to be repaid in full, which I’m sure you would be happy to do if the money was available.

It seems strange that the bank accepted the payment offer and then immediately transferred the debt to a debt collector. They are allowed to do this but I don’t see why they would if they were happy with your payment offer. You could contact the bank and ask them to clarify what has happened, it could be that they have mistakenly passed your debt on.

Debts being passed to debt collectors isn’t the worst thing in the world. We sometimes find that they can be more willing to listen to reasonable payment offers. I would suggest giving us a call and giving us details of the debt collector involved. If the debt has changed hands we will send out the DMP paperwork to the debt collector and look to set up the payment with them.

So to clarify, you could contact the bank to try to work out why they passed the debt on if you like but you don't have to. All you need to do is get in touch with us and we can arrange for the debt collector to be sent your DMP paperwork.

Hope this helps.

James

James, you are an absolute gentleman thank you, i'll ring the bank and ask,

What I think it is, the DMP starts Oct, but when I rang them to pay something for Sept they wouldn't accept any money as it was with cccs, so I think they were expecting you to pay in Sept.

Thank yoo thou you have put my mind at rest, will ring them as need to know whats going on x

StepChange_James

aldix wrote: »

How does the Money Adviser write letters to his clients and write case notes from teleconversations? I am asking you to be really specific. It is really important to me. Are you following any list of points?

Thank you very much.

Hi Aldix,

I'm not sure I fully understand your questions, but I'll try to answers as best as I can.

We write quite a lot of different letters to our clients, so it would be hard to say how we write letters as everyone is likely to be different.

In terms of case notes, if someone rings us we will usually but a brief note onto our computer system so the next advisor knows what has happened.

I hope this answers your questions, if not please post again and I'll have another go.

Regards

James

aldix

Thank you for the answer about the case notes - I understand that you just write EVERYTHING that was said during the conversation so that everybody could know what has been said.

But the letter cannot be just the facts and advice. How do you show in a letter the interaction with the client and put the client in the centre of the case?

Thank you.

mum2one

Thought I would update after my major panic earlier!! (and incase anyone else in same boat)]
I rang Halifax - they then transferred me to the debt collectors (which are their inhouse collectors) - they told me that the account had been passed to them, they have no other details sent with the account, just my name, adddress and the fact that I defaulted on loan.

I explained I was with CCCS gave them my client number - they explained they would be collecting the money, and offered me some payment schedules (which i didn't agree to anything)

Rang CCCS and told them, the lady was really helpful and was able to put my mind at rest, and they would contact the debt collection agency for me and go from there,.

So I have gone from the headless chic to relieved, thank you to all at CCCS xx

StepChange_James

aldix wrote: »

Thank you for the answer about the case notes - I understand that you just write EVERYTHING that was said during the conversation so that everybody could know what has been said.

But the letter cannot be just the facts and advice. How do you show in a letter the interaction with the client and put the client in the centre of the case?

Thank you.

Hi again Aldix,

I’m not sure I really understand the question. Could you perhaps tell me a little bit more about what you are trying to find out? Then I will hopefully be able to give you a full answer.

Many thanks

James

StepChange_James

mum2one wrote: »

Thought I would update after my major panic earlier!! (and incase anyone else in same boat)]
I rang Halifax - they then transferred me to the debt collectors (which are their inhouse collectors) - they told me that the account had been passed to them, they have no other details sent with the account, just my name, adddress and the fact that I defaulted on loan.

I explained I was with CCCS gave them my client number - they explained they would be collecting the money, and offered me some payment schedules (which i didn't agree to anything)

Rang CCCS and told them, the lady was really helpful and was able to put my mind at rest, and they would contact the debt collection agency for me and go from there,.

So I have gone from the headless chic to relieved, thank you to all at CCCS xx

Good news, I'm glad it is all on the way to being sorted out.