Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

caroline99

hi sue, thankyou for your reply, very much appreciate it, i seem a bit more clearer now with my DMP, thanks caroline.xx

CCCS_Sue

kaya wrote: »

Hiya, couple of questions if i may
is it true that the cccs service is a charity?
is it true that the charity is set up and funded by creditors?
is it true that after some initial advice you merely refer people to a service owned by one of the creditors who funds the service in order to ensure that the creditors get their money one way or another?
do you reduce the total amount of the initial debt in any way?
do you consider referring people to a different creditor and simply extending the payment period of the origional debt so they are in debt for a longer period of time helping them ?
thanks in advance for your answers

Hi kaya and thank you for your message.

We are the UK’s leading money advice and debt management charity providing free, confidential advice and support to help hundreds of thousands of people and families each year. We help them achieve a resolution to their money worries and a start towards a more secure financial future.
More about who we are and how we are funded can be found on our CCCS website.
http://www.cccs.co.uk/Corporate.aspx (use the menu on the left hand side of the page)
We do not refer our clients to external creditor services once they have had their initial appointment with us. Whatever the outcome of their initial appointment, we would offer help and advice for as long as it was required.

With regard to reducing the amount of initial debt, this would depend on a number of factors and the debt solution offered. Normally, if the creditors agree to consider stopping interest and charges and the payments are maintained, then the debt does reduce. The more a client is able to offer to repay their debts, then the quicker the debt is reduced.

There is much more information on the CCCS website - http://www.cccs.co.uk.

Regards
Sue

CCCS_Sue

Josiah2009 wrote: »

Hi hope this is the right place to ask?

I have two questions;
1) if I use one of the credit check companies, can they pass my info e'g address on to lenders I owe money to and or debt recovery company/ Bailiffs

2) I have some quite old debts that may or may not have turned into CCJ's (ive moved alot so dont know) do said debts stay on your file for 6 years??
and if so what happens to them after 6 years can they still be recovered from you??

.
Hi Josiah2009 and thank you for your message

Credit reference agencies hold information about your credit agreements (including any arrears), county court judgments and the electoral roll.
A lender can only pass on information about your credit agreements with your consent. You usually give this consent when you sign the credit agreement. Credit reference agencies usually provide factual information with your consent, so that a company can make a decision about whether to lend you money

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)


Hope this helps

Regards
Sue

cardiffforthefacup

This is my problem, I got a letter today from SSE gas asking to contact them, basically I owe £637 from November 2008. Don't know what to do or my rights but I am with Ebico for gas which was on a payment meter where I paid weekly approx £3. So this amount is a total shock!!! Anyway the gist of it is an error took place that switched my meter to a credit meter (quarterly billed), I received a letter with a card (prepay) and it said that if I wished to stay as a credit customer to do nothing and they would send bills each quarter. I phoned up at the time to confirm this. However one thing led to another and being depressed never chased them up for bills so today got a letter. so now they want £4 a week (they asked for £15) which I haven't got with all my other bills this would leave me severely short. What is my position, would I be able to get a crisis loan for this amount or am I stuffed. I have a daughter of 15. Can this debt be written off as good will? or am I forced to pay it back despite them not contacting me since nov 2008

datlex

Back in 2002/3 I took out a loan with my bank for about £8,000. I encountered financial problems and came to an agreement with them whereby they transferred the outstanding debt which included preloaded interest to my current account which was about £10000 and an amount was agreed to be repaid of the balance each year with a review of this each year. The account accrues interest at 1% above the base rate on the outstanding balance. I have now paid off enough to cover the initial capital. However, I have still a balance of about £6,000. What I need to know is how much I legally am required to repay. Is it the original loan amount including interest or am I still required to pay off the full remaining £6000 plus any interest incurred?

arichardson9

Good Morning,

I was hoping you maybe able to shed a little light on a query I have. After checking my credit profile on Experian, I now know that there are several defaults (some quite small) on my credit history report. If I were to write/communicate with these companies re paying off the outstanding debts, would they be in a position to wipe the defaults off my profile, or could I negotiate with them to have this done?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

Very Best Regards,

Mr A Richardson

maz1964

CCCS_Sue wrote: »

.
Hi Josiah2009 and thank you for your message

Credit reference agencies hold information about your credit agreements (including any arrears), county court judgments and the electoral roll.
A lender can only pass on information about your credit agreements with your consent. You usually give this consent when you sign the credit agreement. Credit reference agencies usually provide factual information with your consent, so that a company can make a decision about whether to lend you money

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)


Hope this helps

Regards
Sue

hiya Sue

i would like clarification that you say above that as long as you have not written admitting the debt - but what about if you have sent a letter asking for information regarding the debt or for a copy of the credit agreement does that mean it would still be statute barred after 6 years as long as nothing is admitted for the debt?

cheers maz

lookingforthelight

Hello,

I have gone thru my budget with Payplan and have £550 spare to pay to 7 creditors under a DMP.
However, I have mortgage arrears and have arranged with the mortgage company to pay £500 until March 2011. Until then I can only pay token payments to my creditors.
Payplan have advised they cannot take on the DMP until my mort arrears are clear as I don't have enough leftover to pay creditors.

I was hoping to start the DMP with token payments via Payplan then increase payments once mort arrears cleared.

I am now scared the creditors (6 CC's & 1 unsec loan) will cause trouble as they will have to wait another 6 months before getting any meaningfull payment.

Would CCCS also need me to clear mort arrears before arranging a DMP for me?

Thankyou

FormandFunction

Hi there,

I hope it's ok to ask a slightly unusual question here but I'm looking at starting an IVA as I have £40,000 of unsecured debt and changes in circumstances over the past year together with the banks increasing the repayment amounts beyond that I can service (and not accepting reduced payments) mean I'm struggling to pay.

I have carried out the CCCS online tool but did not include the main current account I use although it does have a small overdraft attached to it. If I make separate arrangements to pay this off (I am currently on a step-down repayment with them back to £0 anyway) do I have to include it in the IVA or can I leave it out and as long as I don't request further credit or use the associated credit card (which is on £0 at present and will remain there) that's not a problem for the IVA?

The main reason for wanting to keep the account is it covers my self-employed work, is linked to my partner's account for immediate transfers etc. and is unrelated to any of the unsecured debts I hold elsewhere so wouldn't be prey to "offsetting".

Thanks for your help with this and hope it's not a ridiculous question - it's not the end of the world to keep it but it would be much easier to deal with it separately.

FandF

robwin

Hi, I wonder if you can help?

About 3 years ago my husband had a balance of around £300 outstanding (from car finance, I think) with Black Horse. He changed his bank account but forgot to update the direct debit details with Black Horse. (Obviously this was his fault.) It was several months before he remembered (we assume that BH sent him letters but he had moved flat around the same time) and when he called BH to rectify the mistake he was told the debt had been written off. He was confused by this and ended up offering to pay the outstanding balance over the phone, which they allowed him to do.

The problem is, his credit report now shows the BH account as having been written off as bad debt and as a consequence his credit score is very low. This hardly seems fair, given that he actually paid the balance in the end!! Is there anything we can do about this?

Thanks in advance