how can i find out exactly what i owe and to who?? help

mummyindebt

help pls
how do i find out how much i owe and to who?
i have buried my head for so long just throwing letters away ...
please can somebody help.

Tixy

Hi and welcome

There is no one way to find it out. Best bet is to start keeping all new letters (have you got any old paperwork at all).

If you think you may have CCJs you can do a check online at the registery trust online (this is a untraceable check and costs £8 for each address you have lived at that you search), whilst CCJs will appear on your credit file this can allow your creditors to find you.

Do your creditors know where you live? are they currently chasing you?
You could get copies of your credit report from the 3 credit reference agencies (£2 each) and this should give you an idea, and also might well start them chasing you again.

How long would you say you have buried your head? Could any debts be over 6years ago since you paid them? - if so you may want to consider if any could be statute barred before you start contacting your creditors/debt collection agencies.

RAS

How long have you buried your head? more than 5-6 years?

mummyindebt

i have a couple of debts which are about 7 years old,but more recently well about 2 yrs ago i closed down my business which left me in a lot of debt (the amount of which i am unsure, i have moved address a couple of times and thought if i ignored them they would go away(stupidly i admit) there are two
which have now caught up with at my current address, one of which i have been paying £50 a month to even tho i can not afford to as i am now a single mother of two children, they have now asked/told me i have to increase this to £86 a mnth which is impossible and they wouldnt take no for an answer on the phone, this has really upset me and i now want to find all that i owe so i can evaluate my options. i really dont know where to start x

RAS

Hi

The debts that are more than 6 years old are probably statute barred (5 years in Scotland). if there is no CCJ and you have not paid them for that long, or made any written acknowledgement. Even a CCJ could need court permission to pursue.

With respect to the ex-business debts, were you a sole trader or limited company? Did you take the debts out in your own name or offer personal guarantees?

With respect to all creitors, the first lesson is that you do not talk to them on the phone.

You need to do a statement of Affairs, send letters telling the current creditor to stop phoning you and to talk to a debt charity.

Tixy

Hi

Sounds like you need to get advice from one of the debt charities.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2077631

And probably get your credit reports from experian & equifax.
Just a word of caution though - as and when any debt collectors contact you first thing to do is to send a copy of the prove it letter (before you start repaying them), and its always best never to speak to them on the phone, always write.

With regards to the 2 older debts, if anyone starts chasing for those debts before you contact them at all come back on here for advice.

here is the prove it letter template - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=11570893&postcount=2

With regards to the one who wants you to up your payment - tough, they cannot have more than you can afford, ignore them and just keep paying what you had agreed previously until you have got sorted a bit more - after you have a full list of your debts its likely you may have to reduce the offer not increase it.

mummyindebt

thank you to you both you have been a great help and i will be following your advice, as for my business i was a sole trader so everything was in my name, again thanks to you both x