Very, very scared and ashamed.... :-(

WhataFool

Hi all,
Long time 'lurker', first time poster here.

Apologies in advance for the long post, but it's to help me get my head round what's happening as well as letting you all know..
Ok...here goes:

I realised last week that I couldn't carry on as I was as my outgoings were more than my income, so after reading what people had done on here, I contacted Payplan.

I explained my situation and they have come back to me today to advise that a DMP would be advisable.

Brief details on what I owe is:
Tesco Loan - £23, 283
HSBC Bank (Overdraft) - £945 (Limit £1000)
HSBC Credit Card - £9,265.95 (limit £9500)
Virgin Credit Card - £7,293.88
MBNA Credit Card - £2,041.05
HFC Bank (PC World Store loan) - £686
Approx Total - £43,510.88

After paying my "essentials", they have worked out that I have approx £287.28 left each month to enter into a DMP.
"Ok" you're all thinking "what's the problem?"....
Well despite being a big bloke @ 6ft 4", I'm absolutley terrified.

:-(

Payplan have advised me to open another account with a non-affiliated bank (in this instance, I chose a basic Halifax account which I applied for today) and then CANCEL all the direct debits to the creditors and contact them to make a 'token' payment of approx £5 each.

I'm already on anti-depressants due to the stress of my life and the money I owe, and I don't think I can handle "Oi, you scum!! Pay us!!" letters being sent to me....

This may seem really silly to some of you, but I'm really scared...
None of my accounts are in arrears (mostly due to the overdraft as if I didn't have that, I would be!), but I was probably a bit naive thinking that Payplan would sort this bit out for me...it's pretty much "you're on your own til the plan is confirmed, which could take 4-6 weeks).

My head is all over the place and I feel so, so ashamed....
Could anyone offer any advice on what to do next as I've no idea how to proceed...

Thanks for continuing to read (if you've made it this far).... I appreciate it.
WhataFool

dantheman2010

Maybe I have misread something here but your bills equate to £20231.88, so I dont know where the other £23,000 comes from. If I am correct then couldnt you attempt to get a unsecured personal loan for the £20k and just pay that off, over say 7 or 8 years, I know recently I was accepted for a loan around this amount over that period for between £280-320 a month. Is this not an option?

angelicmary85

Hi,

Welcome to the boards!!

You've taken the 1st step to sorting out your situation so a big well done to you for that! :T

We'll need you to fill out a SOA (link below) and post it back here!

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Good luck with your journey,

Angelic x

Pee

Don't feel bad or ashamed or scared. You are dealing with it now. You are doing your best. They might write you letters, but really, what's the worst they can do? They have rules to follow.

You have asked at the right place and others will be along who can help more.

I presume that this is a free service helping you with a payment plan? Otherwise maybe it would make more sense to contact debtline or CAB and go down the free route? (Free advice. you would still need to make a minimum payment.)

angelicmary85

dantheman2010 wrote: »

Maybe I have misread something here but your bills equate to £20231.88, so I dont know where the other £23,000 comes from. If I am correct then couldnt you attempt to get a unsecured personal loan for the £20k and just pay that off, over say 7 or 8 years, I know recently I was accepted for a loan around this amount over that period for between £280-320 a month. Is this not an option?

Consolodation loans aren't always the answer as some people end up worse than when they started by re-spending on cc's, store cards and so on.

You need to be careful if you take this route.

WhataFool

Shows how much my head is all over the place...

Forgot to show the Tesco Loan...

Edited post to reflect this.

:-(

dantheman2010

angelicmary85 wrote: »

Consolodation loans aren't always the answer as some people end up worse than when they started by re-spending on cc's, store cards and so on.

You need to be careful if you take this route.

Obviously this is true, but a debt plan would mean credit rating will be damaged I am guessing?

angelicmary85

dantheman2010 wrote: »

Obviously this is true, but a debt plan would mean credit rating will be damaged I am guessing?

It would be ruined even more so if he took out a massive loan (did you see the edited post? He already has a loan with an outstanding balance of £23k) and then spent on cc's again....he'd be phoning the OR before he knew it!

October-rev101

Hi WhataFool,

Don't worry too much we're all in a similar situation to you - some worse; some better.

You're doing the right thing posting on here and getting advice/views/help from people who are at different stages of the process.

It may seem hard to start with and the only thing on your mind, but slowly and surely it will get better and you will begin to see the light.

If you need to send out token offer letters you will need to firstly complete a personal budget sheet detailing all of your income/outgoings and then send this along with a letter to your creditors with an offer.

I found National Debtline info very useful and it also has template letters to use for token payments.

Hope this is of help and lots of other people will be along soon with more info/advice.

You just have to remember you are not alone on this journey.

Numpty_Monkey

Hello Whata :hello:

Don't worry we all feel scared sometimes, mainly about things we don't understand
fotunatly their are mainly good and clever people on here that will help you:A

Don't worry you are in good place for help and support :T

Some of the letters you might get can be upsetting or frightening, most of us here have had them
it's nothing to be ashamed about
you are doing the right things:T:T

WhataFool

I hope no-one is thinking "What a fool... he has took out a loan of £25,000 and then went mad with the credit cards", I can explain a little...

I was stuck in a dead end job for the company I worked for...I was offered a position approx 100 miles away in Wolverhampton to train as an I.T Professional and then would be employed by the company on a higher wage.

Sounds great, but I couldn't move as my girlfriend lived locally as do my family, so I commuted. 200+ miles a day which cost me vast sums of money to do (I was focused on the end goal of having some bankable skills) so whacked most of the diesel on the credit card.

Naturally doing all those miles and not being able to afford a shiny new car to do them in, I could only buy older cars... x2 cars were 'killed' (despite regular maintenance on them) due to the amount of travel they had to do (in excess of 1000 miles a week).

Also in the past, when my family members were struggling I lent them lots of money on my credit card, yet they were a little 'irregular' on the repayment side. This was to avoid their house getting repossessed.

Obviously I kept up the payments, but it was hard so after loaning money out (as well as taking out a loan myself to get myself a car and things for the house), I took out a consolidation loan of £25,000 and all was well.

The reason the cards have built up is:

A) My generousity (Stupidity!?) in buying things or helping friends out in need (Not really bought anything for myself apart from the laptop)

I commute approx 80 mies (round trip) a day now (having moved positions nearer to my home) so petrol is still a big factor (in fact approx £200 a month in petrol!). I even downsized to a 1.6 fiesta to get better economy.

I'm not perfect, I just like to see people happy and smile, so (stupidly) I'll do anything I can to see that...

I'm not a "Buy loads of stuff, then moan and try to get out of it" person...I'm genuinely trying..

:-(