Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

Homershairdo

CCCS_Sue wrote: »

Hi homershairdo and thank you for your message


When you owe money, including overdrafts, to the same bank where you have your income paid into, there is a risk of the bank taking money without your consent.
A bank can use their “right of offset” to take money from one account to pay a debt on a different account with the same company. This includes credit cards.
If a bank is concerned you may not be able to repay an overdraft they will often wait until a large credit is made, such as a wage payment, and then remove the limit on the account. This means that you may not have access to money needed for living costs.
To avoid the problems listed above it is advisable that you should change to a basic bank account with a bank you have no debts with. You could ask to remove your name from the joint account, but as you are both joint and severally liable, they would pursue your wife for any outstanding overdraft amount.
When your income is paid into the new account you will have control of your money again and can effectively prioritise. A basic bank account is easier to obtain than a current account and it is not possible to go into overdraft.
If you would like to discuss the options available for your debt situation, you can call free for an appointment on 0800 138 1111.

Regards
Sue

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the response. If my wife banks with the same bank as my debt, will they be able to offset against her sole account? All the debt is in my name (i.e. credit card).

Thanks

H

CCCS_Sue

danuk wrote: »

With a DMP with CCCS can i put all my creditcard debts on the DMP but i have a loan that i can continue to afford and would like to not include this on a DMP is this possible? How does remortgage time impact if you have a DMP?

THanks in advance

Hi danuk and thank you for your message.

If you set up a DMP, then you need to include all your unsecured creditors, so the loan would have to be included.
To only make full contractual payments to the loan would show ‘preferential treatment’ over the other creditors.

On a DMP, any surplus money you have left over, after paying all your priority bills, is worked out on a pro rata basis so that all creditors get a fair share of what you can afford.

I am not able to say how a DMP would affect you remortgaging in the future.

Different lenders have different criteria when considering mortgage applications.

I have attached a link to a booklet you may find useful called ‘Credit Explained’ which gives further details on credit files and how long information is kept.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/credit_explained_leaflet_2005.pdf


Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

Homershairdo wrote: »

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the response. If my wife banks with the same bank as my debt, will they be able to offset against her sole account? All the debt is in my name (i.e. credit card).

Thanks

H

If the debts and the bank account are not in joint names, then she should not be liable for your debts

adsteps

Dear CCCS,

I have a DMP set up with yourselves since May 2009. It absolutely changed my life and made me feel I was getting on top of things once again. However, I have recently checked one of the accounts with Lloyds TSB Credit cards and they have been adding £80 a month interest and late payment charges of £12 every 2 weeks meaning what I thought I owed is now £1500 more than my CCCS statement.

I have contacted yourselves and they adivsed me they had sent me a letter last year to say Lloyds had rejected the payment plan, but I never received this or I would have contacted you asap. In addition, i have had several budget reviews and contacts since and nothing has been mentioned.

I have tried to contact Lloyds several times with great difficulty and I'm at my wits end now and dont know how to sort this because the charges and interest being added increase the balance by way more than what i thought was the agreed payment.

Please help

Adam

roberts516

Hi Im new to all this an apologise now if I make any mistakes! In may 2010 I realised that my spending and debt was getting out of control so I informed my creditors who werent helpful at all. So silly me decided out of desperation to sign up with a Debt Management Company, what a big mistake. They totally mislead me into thinking an IVA would be appropriate and all my problems would be solved. In four months they have recieved nearly £600 out of which they have paid £40 in total to my 4 creditors.They also sent me a letter saying if I introduce a friend I would get £50 unbelievable.They also told me not to pay anything of my debts and not to talk to my creditors.So in may I wasnt in arrears with any creditors but because I listern to stupid advise I accumalated 4 months of charges and arrears. Anyway sorry for waffling on .To cut a long story short I have sacked them and realise that the money I have paid them would have cleared one of my debts. Can I fight for this money back ? I feel very angry now instead of spending 4 months crying not eating sleeping I am determined to sort my own debts out with the help of this wounderful site. Although I know I have a very rough time ahead especially as today my brother has gone to hospital to find out if his lung cancer has spread he feel ill 5 weeks ago and my 76 year old father is going in for a triple heart bypass any day now,whether Im going to be strong enough to cope with all on top of debt is looking doubtful but I dont know what to do or where to turn. I have made some progress with 2 of my debts yesterday I paid £700 of my overdraft, my last statement showed I owed £800 at 17 August but the Bank said it was £981 !! I cant understand why it has gone up so much from the 17/08 to today !! I also made a payment to the Halifax and will ring them asap and explain that I want to resume my payments. I have 2 large debts with Hsbc and the dreaded Mbna . Mbna interest is crippling me.I cannot speak to Mbna as they have made my life hell harrassing me. I have tried to set up a meeting with Hsbc over my loan and coming to some agreement over my overdraft as well, but looks like they are not speaking to me !!Im thinking of offering pro rata payments but dont think they will stop or even reduce the interest. I want to pay and I can pay £500 pm of my debts . Can any one give me some advise please really desperate

nocciola10

I just found out I have a CCJ (was sent to my old address). The debt was settled a year before the CCJ was issued, so today I applied for the CCJ to be set aside. I also sent proof that the debt had been settled (bank statements).

My questions are:
How long does it normally take for this to be resolved?
Are bailiffs likely to turn up? The debt is for less than £600.
As it was issued in error (I believe), will it be completely removed from my credit report?
And finally, as it was in error, can I reclaim the £75 it cost me to apply for it to be set aside, from the Claimant?

Many thanks

Rochdale_Guy

Sorry to post a link, but all my details are in this thread below:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2509367


I can't get online that often, but will try to check tomorrow for any lifesaving advice.

Thank you ever so much in advance.

RochdaleGuy

(or PM me)

CCCS_Sue

adsteps wrote: »

Dear CCCS,

I have a DMP set up with yourselves since May 2009. It absolutely changed my life and made me feel I was getting on top of things once again. However, I have recently checked one of the accounts with Lloyds TSB Credit cards and they have been adding £80 a month interest and late payment charges of £12 every 2 weeks meaning what I thought I owed is now £1500 more than my CCCS statement.

I have contacted yourselves and they adivsed me they had sent me a letter last year to say Lloyds had rejected the payment plan, but I never received this or I would have contacted you asap. In addition, i have had several budget reviews and contacts since and nothing has been mentioned.

I have tried to contact Lloyds several times with great difficulty and I'm at my wits end now and dont know how to sort this because the charges and interest being added increase the balance by way more than what i thought was the agreed payment.

Please help

Adam

Hi Adam and thank you for your message

Unfortunately, the creditors do not always stop the interest and charges.
If you could send an email to me at [EMAIL="contactus@cccs.co.uk"]contactus@cccs.co.uk[/EMAIL] with your client reference number, I will get someone to look into this for you.

Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

roberts516 wrote: »

Hi Im new to all this an apologise now if I make any mistakes! In may 2010 I realised that my spending and debt was getting out of control so I informed my creditors who werent helpful at all. So silly me decided out of desperation to sign up with a Debt Management Company, what a big mistake. They totally mislead me into thinking an IVA would be appropriate and all my problems would be solved. In four months they have recieved nearly £600 out of which they have paid £40 in total to my 4 creditors.They also sent me a letter saying if I introduce a friend I would get £50 unbelievable.They also told me not to pay anything of my debts and not to talk to my creditors.So in may I wasnt in arrears with any creditors but because I listern to stupid advise I accumalated 4 months of charges and arrears. Anyway sorry for waffling on .To cut a long story short I have sacked them and realise that the money I have paid them would have cleared one of my debts. Can I fight for this money back ? I feel very angry now instead of spending 4 months crying not eating sleeping I am determined to sort my own debts out with the help of this wounderful site. Although I know I have a very rough time ahead especially as today my brother has gone to hospital to find out if his lung cancer has spread he feel ill 5 weeks ago and my 76 year old father is going in for a triple heart bypass any day now,whether Im going to be strong enough to cope with all on top of debt is looking doubtful but I dont know what to do or where to turn. I have made some progress with 2 of my debts yesterday I paid £700 of my overdraft, my last statement showed I owed £800 at 17 August but the Bank said it was £981 !! I cant understand why it has gone up so much from the 17/08 to today !! I also made a payment to the Halifax and will ring them asap and explain that I want to resume my payments. I have 2 large debts with Hsbc and the dreaded Mbna . Mbna interest is crippling me.I cannot speak to Mbna as they have made my life hell harrassing me. I have tried to set up a meeting with Hsbc over my loan and coming to some agreement over my overdraft as well, but looks like they are not speaking to me !!Im thinking of offering pro rata payments but dont think they will stop or even reduce the interest. I want to pay and I can pay £500 pm of my debts . Can any one give me some advise please really desperate

Hi and thank you for your message

Sorry to hear of your current situation.

You say they 'mislead you into thinking an IVA would be appropriate'.
Are you currently in an IVA or a DMP?

An IVA is a legally binding arrangement and there would have been a meeting of the creditors before the IVA was agreed.
If you kept to the arrangement, your creditors should not chase you for payment. They should also not add any more interest to your balances unless you are able to pay the debts in full during the term of the IVA.
If this is an IVA and it is still in place, we would not be able to offer you advice and you would need to speak to your insolvency practitioner.

If you are not currently in an IVA, then I would recommend that you call us for an appointment to speak to one of our debt counsellors.
The counsellor will put together a budget with you and then explore all the options available for your situation.

All our help is completely free and confidential.
The free helpline is 0800 138 1111 and the lines are open from 08.00 until 20.00. Monday to Friday.

With regard to you claiming your money back you would need to check your agreement, or you could contact ‘Consumer Direct’ for further advice. Consumer Direct is funded by the Office of Fair Trading and delivered in partnership with Local Authority Trading Standards Services
I have attached a link for you:
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/about/

You could also look at changing your bank account to a basic account elsewhere. This puts you back in charge of your finances and stops the bank taking money from your account to pay off their debts without your permission.

Regards
Sue

mum26

Hi We have a DMP with you, Our car however doesn't seem to understand this, last month I had a small accident (not an insurance matter) which has cost us a few hundred pounds for a bumper and for it to be sprayed, and this morning the car broke down on the school run (luckily we have recovery included in our insurance) and is going to take a garage job to fix it (coming later to have a look and give quote), how do events like this fit in with a DMP as we have no spare cash to cover this situation and are also struggling with all the back to school expense? Advice welcomed