Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

boblardo

Hi Wonder if you can help

We were on a DMP with CCCS for around 9 months making regular payments. Got a tax rebate and bonus, so left the DMP with CCCS and paid a couple of the smaller creditors off

Also got promoted and received car allowance as part of the promotion. Got a car on Finance DLC called moaning as they checked my Credit file and felt i should be paying them the money i do for the car.

Wife has returned to work so we have more money to pay creditors and have continued to make agreed payments set by the DMP. Any additional money has been used to clear a further 8 creditors and we are now paying Northern Rock the proper monthly payment (Just need to clear the arrears). Have sent a SOA to DLC with a payment plan stating will increase payments from £142 to £400 as of Nov 1st and will review again in 6 months but hoping to increase by a further £100 in April and then another £100 in October 2011 (although we haven't told them this) which means we clear our debt in just over 5 years. If i include any bonus payments I get usually around £1500 we can further reduce this to around 3.5 years (again haven't mentioned this)

is this acceptable?

I only purchased the car as I received a car allowance to do so as I require a reliable car for work in order to drive around the country visiting sites. (I know it is not good practice to take out further credit when behind in payments) This promotion means more money so helps me to increase repayments and My wife is also back at work. We are trying to repay the money we owe!

StepChange_Pavan

bomechina wrote: »

Hi, I'm having issues with Provident. I was paying a reduced payment of £10 p.w until I started my DMP and now only pay £5. My collector phoned me on Monday to say that she has been instructed by her manager to stop collecting payments. She can only collect if I agree to pay £10 a week which I cannot afford.
Surely they cannot refuse to collect payments, however small. How do I go about paying back this debt if they are not going to take my money? Is there any guideline they need to adhere to regarding collection of payment? I'm really stressing about this. Thanks

Hi Bomechina and thank you for your message.

If you are on a DMP, your DMP provider should have included this debt and they should be making payments on your behalf.

However if you are administering the DMP yourself, you could ask Provident for their bank details so that you can either pay it in at the bank or set up a standing order from your account. Alternatively you could send them cheques or postal orders through the post – although this will cost you extra due to the fees and postage.

Whichever method you choose, you should keep a record of payments. It doesn’t matter whether they accept the payments, you should keep sending them anyway as they have to credit it to your account.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

debtfree2 wrote: »

Hello,

Im having issues with Lloyds TSB. I have an overdraft with them which was originally at about £1,500 and i agreed to pay off £50 a month as that was all i could afford. After the o/d accruing charges it is now at £2200 and still rising and spiralling beyond control.

I have come into a little bit of money (a little bit being £660) approx 30% off the full amount of my o/d and want to send lloydstsb a full and final settlement offer to see if they will accept.

Does anybody know the address i need to send it to please?

Any help would be fantastic!

Hi Debtfree2 and thank you for your message.

The address should be on the top of any statements or correspondence you receive from them. I can’t tell you which address to write to as they have many offices and you need to make sure that you send it to the one that is dealing with your account.

When considering a settlement you must always get written acceptance of your full and final offer before you send any money to your creditors.

If they accept and once you have made the payment, ask the creditor to send a statement showing that the balance has been cleared in full and a zero balance outstanding.

Make sure the creditor agrees to mark the credit reference file ‘satisfied in full’. The creditors should do this because they have agreed to accept the payment as a full and final settlement and are only marking the credit file accordingly. This can be checked by asking the credit reference agencies for a copy of your credit file.

If you need any further advice you can call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111 to speak to one of our trained debt counsellors. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

Good luck with your offer.

Kind regards
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

freesaver123// wrote: »

hi, I am new to this site and have just posted off for your debt remedy, it says if i pay the requested amount it will take 4 years and 5 months to pay off, have you lots of success stories to share of people who have done this? ....................
thanks

Hi Freesaver123// and thank you for your message.

There are a few client testimonials on our Debt Remedy site about how they have found the process which you can read.

Apart from that, we have successfully been helping thousands of clients to find appropriate debt solutions over the last 17 years.

All the best for your new DMP!

Kind regards
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

boblardo wrote: »

Hi Wonder if you can help

We were on a DMP with CCCS for around 9 months making regular payments. Got a tax rebate and bonus, so left the DMP with CCCS and paid a couple of the smaller creditors off

Also got promoted and received car allowance as part of the promotion. Got a car on Finance DLC called moaning as they checked my Credit file and felt i should be paying them the money i do for the car.

Wife has returned to work so we have more money to pay creditors and have continued to make agreed payments set by the DMP. Any additional money has been used to clear a further 8 creditors and we are now paying Northern Rock the proper monthly payment (Just need to clear the arrears). Have sent a SOA to DLC with a payment plan stating will increase payments from £142 to £400 as of Nov 1st and will review again in 6 months but hoping to increase by a further £100 in April and then another £100 in October 2011 (although we haven't told them this) which means we clear our debt in just over 5 years. If i include any bonus payments I get usually around £1500 we can further reduce this to around 3.5 years (again haven't mentioned this)

is this acceptable?

I only purchased the car as I received a car allowance to do so as I require a reliable car for work in order to drive around the country visiting sites. (I know it is not good practice to take out further credit when behind in payments) This promotion means more money so helps me to increase repayments and My wife is also back at work. We are trying to repay the money we owe!

Hi Boblardo and thank you for your message.

It sounds like you’re really getting on top of things and it’s good to see that you have a long term plan in place to get debt free.

Under normal circumstances, you are right that it is not advisable to take out further credit when you are behind with your current agreements. However, because you need a reliable car for work, and because you have a long term plan in place to repay your debts, I would see this as acceptable. Also, the allowance was given to you for this specific reason.

I recommend that you write to your creditors, explaining your reasons and continue to pay as much as you can towards your debts.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards
Pavan

JimSAFC

Hi, was hoping somebody could help out with our problem. We recently arranged reduced cc repayments , via citizens advise. This seemed to be going okay, all cc companies acknowledged and agreed the reduced amounts. Then we started getting letters from one particular card (Barclays) about not paying the original amount (we were paying the lower arranged amount). Got phone calls etc. Each time it was explained and they apologies and said they would ammend the file etc. This happened at least twice, via Barclays and then a firm called Mercers (seems to be Barclays debt dept.). Despite again going down the same line of explaining and even writing a letter etc with the agreement and thinking things had been sorted today we have recieved another letter from Mercers saying the next step is to pass the debt to a local debt collection agency. It just seems like we are going around in circles despite Barclays/Mercers saying everything is sorted/fine when spoken to on the phone. Can anyone provide any advice on what to do as this is really stressing my us, particularly my mother. Thanks, Jim

curly_em_2

Hi
I recieved a letter from Arden credit management company saying that they have been instructed by Lombard Salvage to recover an amount outstanding to them £2,330.97.
I had a loan approx 12 years ago with Lombard and never fully repayed got into debt and used Payplan to help me out which I thought was paying Lombard plus other debts. Having move house 3 times in last 12 years they have tracked me down.
Do I still have to pay this debt off? after all it has taken all these years to find me. Not sure where I stand would like advice before I contact them regarding this debt. Thanks Emma

CCCS_Sue

JimSAFC wrote: »

Hi, was hoping somebody could help out with our problem. We recently arranged reduced cc repayments , via citizens advise. This seemed to be going okay, all cc companies acknowledged and agreed the reduced amounts. Then we started getting letters from one particular card (Barclays) about not paying the original amount (we were paying the lower arranged amount). Got phone calls etc. Each time it was explained and they apologies and said they would ammend the file etc. This happened at least twice, via Barclays and then a firm called Mercers (seems to be Barclays debt dept.). Despite again going down the same line of explaining and even writing a letter etc with the agreement and thinking things had been sorted today we have recieved another letter from Mercers saying the next step is to pass the debt to a local debt collection agency. It just seems like we are going around in circles despite Barclays/Mercers saying everything is sorted/fine when spoken to on the phone. Can anyone provide any advice on what to do as this is really stressing my us, particularly my mother. Thanks, Jim

Hi Jim

Thank you for your message

This sounds like it has been very frustrating for you, especially when you thought that they had agreed to your payment.

If a creditor decides they do not want to deal with a defaulted account in long-term arrears, they can pass the debt to a collection agency to collect.
Collection agencies are companies that specialise in buying and collecting debts. They can either buy the debt from the original creditor or are paid a percentage of the amount they collect.

Once a debt passes to a collection agency you pay them direct and in most cases, the agency can stop interest and charges. There is no guarantee that they will agree to suspend interest and charges.

You can still arrange an affordable monthly payment at this stage and you must stick to any offer you make.

Collection agencies are not bailiffs and they do not have any more legal powers than the original creditor. They can contact you by letter or telephone and in rare cases may call at your home. Collection agencies still have to follow Office of Fair Trading (OFT) guidelines on fair debt collection.
If you are having problems with collection agencies, please call our Helpline or use CCCS Debt Remedy. In just a short space of time we can tell you what options you have, and what we can do to help your situation.

Hope this helps

Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

curly_em wrote: »

Hi
I recieved a letter from Arden credit management company saying that they have been instructed by Lombard Salvage to recover an amount outstanding to them £2,330.97.
I had a loan approx 12 years ago with Lombard and never fully repayed got into debt and used Payplan to help me out which I thought was paying Lombard plus other debts. Having move house 3 times in last 12 years they have tracked me down.
Do I still have to pay this debt off? after all it has taken all these years to find me. Not sure where I stand would like advice before I contact them regarding this debt. Thanks Emma

Hi Emma and thank you for your message

Creditors are unable to legally pursue you for the debt if, after six years;

• The creditor has not already obtained a county court judgment (CCJ)

• You or any one else owing the money (on a debt in joint names) has not made a payment

• You have not written to the creditor admitting you owe the debt

This is known as statute barred and refers to the Limitation Act.
If you believe that the creditor is timed out to collect the debt, you may wish to use the template letter below.

Example letter – limitations act

From:
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Date:
CCCS Client No:
To:
Creditor’s Name:
Account/Agreement No:

Without Prejudice

Dear Sirs
Ref
I do not admit any liability for your claim and will not be making any payment towards it, as it is now more than six-years since any cause of action may have accrued. Any claim would, therefore, appear to be statute barred under section 5 of The Limitations Act 1980 and any court claim will be defended on that basis.
In addition section 2.14 of The Office of Fair Trading Collection guidance states that it is unfair to pursue such claims where, as here, the creditor has made no contact during the relevant limitation period.
If, however, you have substantive evidence that your claim is not statute barred then please supply it to me within 21 days. If you are unable to provide such evidence please confirm that no further action will be taken against me.
Yours faithfully
(Signature)
(Print name)

Regards
Sue

wee_trevor.2

please can you help.my partners bank of scotland credit card keep adding the interest even though he is on a dept management scheme.they have just added 300 pounds. i think he has spoken to the dept management about it before but the bank is still doing it.also would he be able to get that interest backdated since hes been on the scheme.thanks.