Help!!!

woodster1

Im after any help I can possibly get.

I have £25k between 4 credit cards. Things got out of control when I was made redundant a few years ago & I started using my credit cards to pay for everything until I found another job.

Im paying around £550 per month between them all however, this is just the minimum payments & over the last 18 months, the balances have virtually stayed the same.

I do make my payments each month & although its very tight, Ive not missed a payment.

I need to clear this debt off once & for all so as to improve my quality of life. I did try & get an unsecured loan from my bank for the full amount a couple of months ago however, they were unable to help (overcommitted).

Are there any other options for me??? I dont want to go down the route of an IVA or bankrupsy as I currently have a good credit rating & dont want this to be affected when getting a new mortgage deal. I dont think there is enough equity in my house to take out a secured loan.

Are there any other options at all as I cant seem to find any???

Hannah_10

Well an option would be a debt management plan, which you could either administer yourself or get one of the big charities to help. (Debt management plans through so-called debt-help companies are not advised as the companies often let you and the creditors down and charge you fees to do so!)

The big drawback of a DMP is it will harm your credit rating, but to be fair nothing like as much as a bankruptcy would. Besides you maybe need to try living without credit anyhow as you've found out the hard way how the interest means you stay in trouble for ages.

If you wanted to post a copy of your statement of affairs then perhaps we could have a look and see if there is a way round it without a DMP (like by cutting outgoings, raising income etc). The link to the SOA calculator is here. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

bottleofred

Hi Woodster,

I could not agree more with the advice posted by Hannah. You could try to struggle on and continue to meet the minimum payments until the day you can't meet the minimum (been there done it and bought several expensive T-shirts!). However, the best course of action does sound like a debt plan. This will have a detrimental effect on future credit/mortgage applications, but it seems to be the only way to clear the credit card debt. Before deciding anything post your SOA and some additional advice can be provided.

NorthernLas

Once you have your figures, you could always put them into debt remedy which is the CCCS on-line tool. It will suggest options for you to consider.

For info on debt options: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/page.php?page=35_options_for_paying_back_your_debts

Better_Off_1983

Do not go with a debt management company, why pay one when you can do the work yourself?

SusieT

Better_Off_1983 wrote: »

Do not go with a debt management company, why pay one when you can do the work yourself?

I would totally agree with not going with a fee paying company, but CCCS and Payplan are 2 that do not charge you, plus the creditors are more likely to accept their offers and stop interest than if you do your own. Telephone calls dramatically reduce and often stop altogether once they are told who is dealing with the debt so it takes most of the worry from the debtor and they can get on with their life.