Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

ineverdid

ineverdid wrote: »

I took out a loan with a UK bank £25000) but i did this while living in jersey. I still live in jersey. I now have no means to make repayment of the debt as I am unemployed. What can I do?


Hi ineverdid, and thank you for your post.

Because your debt was taken out in the UK, we can advise you on your options. However, we would need more details about your situation to discuss these with you, so you would need to call us for an appointment to speak to one of our trained debt counsellors.

You can call 44 113 297 0126 and lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. It would be helpful that when you call you have details ready regarding your income, expenditure and creditors, as this can help speed up the referral process. If you have this information ready it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor if one is available, otherwise we will arrange a time that is convenient for you to be called back for an appointment.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Pavan

But I DID NOT take the loan out in the UK. Jersey is not classed as the UK it is not covered by UK laws.

As the loan was not taken out in the UK, I do not live in the UK I cannot have an IVA or BR so I am not sure what my options are?

Regards,

Andes

I am determined to settle my £20K debts and not go bankrupt as my DMP has long since advised me to do. I now have access to an amount of money to go toward them. DMP said it wasn't enough so I've taken them all back and have written to each of the 7 creditors with full and final settlement offers.

Two (tho same debt agency) I spoke to on the phone, they agreed an amount and I asked them to put it in writing. Verbally they said they'd mark my credit reference file as partially paid but no balance outstanding.

In the letter I received this morning it states:
"We are prepared, without prejudice, to accept £680 in full and final settlement of the above account provided that payment is received by the 24th October 2010".

This amount is just over 20% of the debt. The other letter said exactly the same although for £180.

Now I'm wondering what the 'without prejudice' means in this context. Does stating !!!!!! mean that the debt can't be pursued by anyone else? Can they still sell it on or chase me at a later date?

I understand them marking the file partially satisfied rather than 'satisfied' as I've only paid part of the amount. What I don't want is it being pursued sometime in the future.

Should I get them to put that in writing too or is what I have sufficient?

Many thanks for advice. I'm excited about two down, five to go!

Pappa

Hello

Going through the expenditure forms. A question, why do they ask for the partners income when all the debt is mine and I am the one to repay it?

StepChange_Pavan

LuckyBiscuit wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, I got a copy of my credit report last month and they have all dropped off, all exept a few, which arn't the ones im paying and they should do so in November, according to time scales
Does that make any difference???

Hi Bis,

Did you apply for your file from all 3 credit reference agencies? It might be that the ones you are looking for are registered with ones that you didn’t check?

If you have looked at all 3, it’s a bit trickier. Your debts wouldn’t be ‘Statute Barred’, as you have made payments within the last 6 years.

As you are still liable for the debts, you could either write to the original lenders to find out who the debts were passed to, or wait until they contact you for payments.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

josscotgrave wrote: »

I spoke to you a few days ago regarding bailiffs (penham excel ltd.) and their intended Baliff action (post #913 page 46, #921 page 47). Your help and advice so far has been invaluable and appreciated. They have responded in the following manner:
Please read it i have posted some questions at the end which i could use quick advice with.

Dear Sir/Madam,
(dated 13/10/10)
Re:Council Tax Arrears

With reference to your recent letter, the contents of which have been noted.

I regret to advise you, that we are unable to enter an arangement to pay the arrears at this stage. Before we are in a position to accept an arrangement, we must attend your premises while you are present, in order to levy Distress in respect of these arrears.

If this procedure is not carried out, full payment must be made to this office by 20/10/2010.

A Charge will be made for this procedure in accordance with the statutory regulations Governing the Administration and Enforcement of Council Tax.

Please contact this office on the above number,to discuss a date when our representative may call around to complete this procedure.

If we do not hear from you within SEVEN days then we shall continue action to recover the arrears. Such action may incur considerable additional fees, which will remain due and payable by you as the law directs.

---

Further help is appreciated on the following:

1. I have the first 100 pounds as promised, should i still send it to them? I was planning on doing this registered,by cash today (with my reference number)as I have no bank details for them or other info.

2.the charge they are referring to paragraph 3 what charge is this? and how can they justify adding more monies on top surely this should be capped?

3.What action is it they refer to if (and bare in mind im following advice),i do not contact them yet send them £100 and have no communications from them or let them in my parents residence?

4.Do they deliberately write letters to envoke worry?

A swift reply as to my next step would be appreciated so i can get to the post office before work. Many thanks.


Jon

*edit* due to it starting to get late I have been and sent the sum of £100 to Penham Excel LTD.

Hi Jon and thanks for your post.

I can see from your edit that you have already sent the £100. It is advisable to stick to any agreements even if they weren’t accepted by the bailiffs. This shows that you are serious about repaying the debt and that the offer was realistic and sustainable. I’d recommend that you send postal orders or cheques rather than cash though if you can’t get their account details.



With regards to the fees, there are fixed fees for bailiffs collecting council tax; for example, from 1 April 1998 fees for the first visit by a bailiff are £20 and £15 for a second visit, where no levy or seizure is made.


All bailiff fees (with the exception of magistrates' court bailiffs) can be looked at by the county court to see if they are reasonable or excessive. This is known as a 'detailed assessment'. If you think that the bailiff's fees are excessive you could contact your local county court.


If the bailiffs are not happy with your arrangement, they may continue to visit your parent’s property and add on fees as they mention in the letter.


I recommend that you persist in making the payments that you can afford and continue to let them know that you are paying as much as you can. Also reiterate to them that the house you live in is not yours and that most items belong to your parents. And remember not to let them in to the property at any time.


Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

ineverdid wrote: »

Pavan

But I DID NOT take the loan out in the UK. Jersey is not classed as the UK it is not covered by UK laws.

As the loan was not taken out in the UK, I do not live in the UK I cannot have an IVA or BR so I am not sure what my options are?

Regards,

Hi there,

I’m sorry - I misunderstood because you mentioned that your debt was with a UK bank. Unfortunately, we do not have any debt advisors trained in Jersey debt law.

I recommend that you contact the Jersey CAB for debt advice.

Kind regards
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Andes wrote: »

I am determined to settle my £20K debts and not go bankrupt as my DMP has long since advised me to do. I now have access to an amount of money to go toward them. DMP said it wasn't enough so I've taken them all back and have written to each of the 7 creditors with full and final settlement offers.

Two (tho same debt agency) I spoke to on the phone, they agreed an amount and I asked them to put it in writing. Verbally they said they'd mark my credit reference file as partially paid but no balance outstanding.

In the letter I received this morning it states:
"We are prepared, without prejudice, to accept £680 in full and final settlement of the above account provided that payment is received by the 24th October 2010".

This amount is just over 20% of the debt. The other letter said exactly the same although for £180.

Now I'm wondering what the 'without prejudice' means in this context. Does stating !!!!!! mean that the debt can't be pursued by anyone else? Can they still sell it on or chase me at a later date?

I understand them marking the file partially satisfied rather than 'satisfied' as I've only paid part of the amount. What I don't want is it being pursued sometime in the future.

Should I get them to put that in writing too or is what I have sufficient?

Many thanks for advice. I'm excited about two down, five to go!

Hi Andes and thank you for your post.

The ‘without prejudice’ means that the contents of the letter can't be used against you if the dispute turns into court proceedings. This is standard and you should also use this statement when offering your settlements in writing.

You are right that the partial settlement note is because you won’t have repaid the debt in full. As they haven’t agreed to a ‘fully satisfied’ note, you should ask them to put it in writing that the account will be closed showing a nil balance, and you will not be pursued for the remaining amount at a later date. Keep copies of all the letters that they send.

This way your mind will be put at ease that the debt has been completely written off, and you will have the proof in writing.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Pappa wrote: »

Hello

Going through the expenditure forms. A question, why do they ask for the partners income when all the debt is mine and I am the one to repay it?

Hi Pappa and thank you for your post.

You would only need to enter your partner’s income if you have joint debts and you wanted to include them into the equation.

However, if all the debts are in your sole name only, just include your income and your expenditure (or your contributions towards them) and disregard anything that your partner pays for.

If you are completing your income and expenditure on our CCCS Debt Remedy, make sure you don’t select ‘My partner and I’ when it asks who the Debt Remedy is for at the start.

Hope this makes sense.

Kind regards
Pavan

kingcole

Hello,

I would really like some advice......

About 5 years ago I lost a well paid job and at the time had outstanding credit card bills of c£50,000. I went into default on them. Over the next year I cashed in all my endowments and made full and final offers to them all. There were 6 creditors in total, with debts from £16k to a £1500. With a bit of two and frowing, over the next few months, all were settled at between 35% and 50% of the outstanding balance - all that is bar one!

This one was Tesco bank. I owe them just over £10k and since that day 5 years ago I have been paying just £12.75pm and they have frozen the interest. They are now hounding me for more finacial info. I have sent off a recent buget statement, which still shows that we have zero dispoable income.

However, with job prospects looking a bit better over the next year, my situation could improve.

My two questions are this.... Can they still chase the debt once it is 6 years old? If I start to earn more money and can pay say £50pm, would they be in their rights to start adding interest?

Any help with the best way to proceed would be appreciated. The funds from selling the endowments are long gone.

MiChris04

Hello any help or advice on this problem would be much appreciated
I currently have a mortgage with santander & have had it since 2005 before that it was with britania from 2002
Before that I had some advesre credit but got it sorted I did however get a ccj issued sometime in 2001 or 2002 I thought I paid it off in 2004 but I have recently found it still on my experian file I have got in touch with the court (Northampton) who said they would update the info once I got a letter from SCM (acting for Lloyds TSB) with the date & amount stating that it had been settled I have got this info But SCM say that it I settled it in January 2006
I am currently selling my home & trying to obtain a new mortgage will this info count against me or will staying with santander be a better option?
I am up to date on all mortgage payments & never defaulted & my credit card & bank account are all upto date. Thanks