Advice on my finances please!!

bargainbetty

Timmy,

Do NOT go with Pennington. You can get the same thing from CCCS or payplan, with no fees. Any company that demands a fee is just taking money you could be using to pay off debts.... and you are not so far down the road that you need to be thinking about it yet....

Well done on the mobile and Sky - every bit helps! If NTL won't cancel outright, tell them you have a friend who gets her broadband, TV and phone from them for £30 - £15 per month cheaper. You do, 'cos that's what I pay. At least demand that it is reduced to the minimums in every case,and cancel any individual bits you can.

Good luck x

TimmyP_2

Thanks for the advice. I'll rip up the Pennington info when it arrives through the post and tell them that I've decided against it.

Payplan are calling me tomorrow now, as they couldnt get in touch today due to a backlog of calls. Do they offer the same as Pennington?

Verbatim

Better. no fee so all your money goes to the creditors. And, not surprisingly, the creditors prefer this too so are more willing to accept the payments offered .

TimmyP_2

Any thoughts on Bankruptcy - it would clear all of the debt - or should it be avoided?

Payplan sounds good so far, will be interesting to speak with them tomorrow.

donnalove

Verbatim wrote:

Better. no fee so all your money goes to the creditors. And, not surprisingly, the creditors prefer this too so are more willing to accept the payments offered .

although payplan dont charge fee's on iva's, it doesn't mean there is nothing to pay for an iva. All they do is put you in touch with a reputable company that DOESN'T CHARGE UPFRONT FEE'S or MANAGEMENT FEE'S, as those are the ones to avoid.THAT IS ALL THAT IS FREE THERE ADVICE and SERVICE.All your payments will not go to the creditors.
Anyone who enters an iva will pay anything from £6000 up to about £9000 in ip costs.

In our case we had £37000 debt we paid approx £21000 into the iva pot the ip took £8600 the creditors got just over £12000 between them.

I wouldn't really reccomend going this route as you are young with no commitmants, you have a chance of paying this all off if you can cut back and do a bit of tarting.

If you really tried a dmp you could have this paid off in about 5 years thats throwing roughly 415 a month at the debt and assuming you can get the interst frozen.

donnalove
xxx

TimmyP_2

As mentioned, I spoke with Pennington on Saturday as sort of a general enquiry. I now know there are better alternatives in Payplan/CCCS.

However, this morning I recieved a load of documents from GP asking for my first payment on the 24th Aug and to complete all of the forms and get them sent back asap. Obviously I've not signed anything or comitted to anything and in no way intend to pay the first fee so would writing a letter to say I'm not interested (sent by recorded mail) be sufficent to stop the process?

Someone else has recommended bankruptcy to me this morning.....

LollyLou_2

Timmy P

I know it seems like you will never clear your debts but I think the advice that you've been given in previous posts are good and will go along way to saving you £££ every month - what you save you can use to clear your debts )

What you've got to remember is that whilst it is a lot of money that you owe, you can clear it over a period of time and at a level that suits you. I had £10K of debt a year ago and via not going out, switching to 0% Credit cards I now owe less than half this amount and you know what? I'm glad that I have been strong enough to pay it back myself, it gives me a real sense of acheivement.

Obviously if you are really struggling then a payment plan may be the way forward - but give it a go yourself first.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do

bargainbetty

Timmy,

You don't need to go bankrupt. With some clever money management, and honest approaches to your creditors, you will be able to work your way out of this without wrecking your credit damn near forever. You will have to be self-disciplined, but you can do it, especially with the support you could find here. Every penny will get you closer to being clear of debt, and paying off what you owe will help develop spending habits that will stop you getting in trouble again! (At least, that's what I tell myself)

Just call GP and tell them you don't wish to proceed, or tear up the pre-written agreement and send it back to them in their own envelope with 'REFUSED' written across it. You haven't signed anything, so why pay for recorded delivery? Save your pennies....

x

rog2

TimmyP wrote:

As mentioned, I spoke with Pennington on Saturday as sort of a general enquiry. I now know there are better alternatives in Payplan/CCCS.

However, this morning I recieved a load of documents from GP asking for my first payment on the 24th Aug and to complete all of the forms and get them sent back asap. Obviously I've not signed anything or comitted to anything and in no way intend to pay the first fee so would writing a letter to say I'm not interested (sent by recorded mail) be sufficent to stop the process?

Someone else has recommended bankruptcy to me this morning.....

Looks like GP are applying undue pressure on you. If you have not signed anything DON'T. Don't even bother to write to them. If they call you simply tell them that you are considering other options. If they continue to apply pressure they are no better than your creditors - tell them NOT to contact you and that in the unlikely event that you require their services you would contact them.
Now talk to PayPlan or CCCS.

TimmyP_2

Egg have just agreed to give me a three month payment break on my loan. Only saves me £161 over the three months, but the £50 month I'll put extra to my Virgin CC to try and take it down a smidgen. Not a lot I know....but a start.

Also, mate of mine wanted me to book a hotel for him over the web - I did so, and took £10 cashback through quidco! :-)