some genuine help & advice please

charliemonkeyface

i would like some genuine helpfull advice please, even better if it is given from your own experiences. its a bit long so please grab a tea or coffe first.
i am unemployed and live with my partner who works full time although she has just returned to work after being on maternity leave. we have 2 children, 3 years old & 4 months who i look after as i lost my job 3months ago. i owe just under £7000 over 3 credit cards and 3 catalouges which until i lost my job i was paying with no-problems. all of the debts are in my name alone. i explained my situation to all creditors and i have sent them all a nominal offer of £5each with a soa which all refused. i then sent 3months bank statements to prove i have no income with a new offer of £20 each to be reviewed in 6months (we would have caught up on priority debts by then) if they held interest and charges and i am still awaiting a reply. the most difficult and persistant are the catalouges so i requested a cca from the 2 i never signed a credit agreement with. i done this to buy us sometime and give me some leverage with them not to shirk off the debt as i have every intention of paying. today i recieved a notice of default from 1 of the credit cards giving me 1 month to pay.
my intention was to get all to agree to the £20 a month for 6months as they will all be able to see i have no income, and then in 5weeks we would have caught up with our priority debts and will have about £200 a month spare to clear some of the higher interest debts before the 6month review and then resume normal payment with the remaining debts from then.
please, am i going about this the right way?
should i be doing something different? i have an appointment with cab on 27th but i was hoping to have it undercontrol by then.
should i request a cca from the other creditors to buy me more time, even though i did sign a credit agreement with them?
some good advice would be really apprieciated.

RAS

Are any of the cards with a company with which you also have bank accounts?

charliemonkeyface

no, none of them.

podperson

Sounds like you are doing all you can at the moment. Perhaps worth writing to the credit card company that is giving you trouble and saying you are currently seeking debt advice with cab (they might be able to give you a reference number, I know cccs do) but unfortunately the creditors are under no obligation to accept reduced payments and some of them do choose to be gits about it and go for defaults/charging orders etc.
I know when I started a dmp several years ago everyone was fine with it except northern rock who took me all the way to court for a ccj, only to end up with the judge saying that from my incomings and outgoings I had offered to pay them too much and I could do a reduced amount Slight poetic justice there but am still stuck with the ccj.
If you want to post an soa with your debts set out on it then am sure people will be able to offer more specific advice on handling them.

charliemonkeyface

the cc company that are being difficult are capital one, the people on the phone wont communicate properly and stict to a script.
the national debtline have said that as all the debts are in my name my partner is not accountable or liable for any of them. as my bank statements show i have zero income i thought they would jump at the chance of £20 a month over then reviewed in 6 months time.
posting a soa for me would not achieve anything as i have no income of my own.
but thank you for the help.

dancingfairy

Hi. What I would do is st up a standing order for the amount you have offered (not direct debit as they may then just help themselves to your account) - they may not technically accept but if that's what you are offering you need to pay it regardless of whether they 'accept' it or not.
With regards to them being difficult on the phone - 1) stop phoning them as you will have no proof of what they said and they can in some cases lie through their teeth and/or threatens you - stick to writing.
2) there is a letter somewhere to tell them that you will only communicate in writing - send them that and then if they start harassing you by phone you can report them.
With regards to the CCA's you may want to read other threads on that and/or start a new thread - if you have requested this then you can defend any court action (and possibly argue against a default) if they have not supplied the correct information. You may find this useful for all your creditors in case they get difficult at a later date. Also the fact that you have written to them (you have made your offers in writing as well?) with payment plan and stuck to them could also go in your favour even if the credit agreements are sound.
I don't know much about the CCA process - hence I suggest you start a new thread on this .
Good luck with getting it sorted.
df

dancingfairy

Another quick point - are your priority debts going to be paid in 5 weeks or 5 months? If it is 5 months you might be better to just send minimal amounts to the unsecured debtors - ie 5 pounds or even 1 pound and concentrate on getting the priority debts dealt with first.
df

charliemonkeyface

thank you dancing fairy, it seems i am going about this the right way, my priority debts should all be up to scratch in 5 weeks.

charliemonkeyface

has anyone else got advice that could help please

Ames

All I can say is just repeat to yourself that if you don't have it they can't have it. Remember they're trained to try and get blood out of a stone and they don't give a damn about you. So just do whatever is best for you and your family and don't let them get to you. As someone said, make the payments and keep them informed, but make sure you stay firm and in control.

dancingfairy

You say you have no income? I hope you are getting all the benfits you are entitled to inlcuding JSA.
It might be worth investigating whether you have PPI on any of your products and maybe claiming on them? If you have PPI and they won't pay out it would be worth investigating whether it was missold to you - ie if you were self employed and ended up with it etc.
df