Need Some Advice PLEASE!

Techz

Hi all

Yes i am working and yes my money is ok and as far as i know my job is as well

The question and advice i would like is what the best way to get out of debt with cc as im struggling to keep up payments on them and i have a family to look after a wife and 4 children

The reason it has got a bit out of hand is because we got married after 16 years which cost us maybe a little bit more than it should but was well worth it

We have contacted a DMP Harrington Brooks who are willing to help us out the question i would like to ask you all are these people ok to use?

Many Thanks In Advance

Techz

MrsTinks

Techz - why pay an unregulated company to do a job that you can either do yourself for free or use a free reputable charity to do for you? Should you use a fee charging company for a DMP? NO! Should you use THIS company? Pass - I've yet to hear of a good, genuine DMP company that charges for helping you out of debt... doesn't mean they're not out there... but they CERTAINLY are not going it because it gives them a warm fuzzy feeling of helping... they are in it for the cold hard cash.
Sorry.

NorthernLas

The following link has a list of people who you can contact to help with your debt problems https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2077631.

Any company who charges you to sort things out will not have your best interests at heart and will charge you 17 - 20% of your debt for the privledge. If you want to pay your debt off, you would pay it much quicker by using someone who will provide the service for free.

kittiej

If you look at their t&c's they keep the first 2 months payments for themselves, so letters and calls aren't going to stop straight away.

I wouldn't use them as they will take a cut and it will take longer to pay your creditors.

Have you done the debt remedy with CCCS? This is a good starting point.

Hannah_10

Debt Management Plan = generally a good idea.
Paying for it = never a good idea.
Advising you without seeing the numbers = I wouldn't dream of it.

I, for one, would be only too happy to have a look at your situation and tell you if a DMP looks like the right way to go, but unless you post a SOA then it's just guessing, nothing more. (Click *here* for more info about an SOA and a link to a dead simply already set-up calculator thingy.) There are loads of solutions possible, tarting, snowballing, DMP, axe your living expenses and so on, without an SOA though who's to know a DMP is the one?

Well obviously Harrington Brooks do... it's the only mentioned solution that's profitable to them!

Techz

Thanks Hannah 10

I will post back an SOA asap

I just need some help to get it all going :-)

Techz

OK all here goes

Any advice would be great!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1000
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3200
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 745
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 133
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 460
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 45
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 80
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 40
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 2060

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 220000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 224000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 210000...(745)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 210000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
EGG............................10516.....320.......29.9
CAHOOT.........................5000......130.......17
VIRGIN.........................9424......200.......18
NETWEST........................2500......80........15
SANTANDER......................4000......130.......0
ASDA...........................1735......70........0
HSBC...........................1932......50........19
TESCO..........................2572......80........16
Total unsecured debts..........37679.....1060......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,200
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,060
Available for debt repayments........... 1,140
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,060
Amount left after debt repayments....... 80
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 224,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -210,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -37,679
Net Assets.............................. -23,679

Schrodingers_Cat_2

First step would be to get rid of the credit card debts with the worst interest rates. I mean....you are paying 320 a month for 10500 debt with Egg.......yet paying only 200 a month for slighly less debt with Virgin. I'd consolidate the whole lot into a single loan.....with as good an interest rate as you can find. Doesn't need a debt management agency for that.

dancingfairy

The problem with getting a consolidation loan is 1) your credit rating might not be up to getting more credit (at least at a decent rate) and 2) there are so many here that have done that, then built up the credit cards again, secured the debt on the mortgage, back to the credit cards, new loan, etc etc and end up in a far, far worse mess - more credit over a longer period of time is rarely the answer I'm afraid.
A dmp may be the way forward however it would trash your credit rating and may not be worth doing as in theory you should be able to meet all your minimum repayments with a little left over.
Get in touch with one of the free places and see what they suggest for you - try CCCS or National Debtline or your local CAB and if you don't get on with one place then try another.
df

Schrodingers_Cat_2

dancingfairy wrote: »

The problem with getting a consolidation loan is 1) your credit rating might not be up to getting more credit (at least at a decent rate) and 2) there are so many here that have done that, then built up the credit cards again, secured the debt on the mortgage, back to the credit cards, new loan, etc etc and end up in a far, far worse mess - more credit over a longer period of time is rarely the answer I'm afraid.
A dmp may be the way forward however it would trash your credit rating and may not be worth doing as in theory you should be able to meet all your minimum repayments with a little left over.
Get in touch with one of the free places and see what they suggest for you - try CCCS or National Debtline or your local CAB and if you don't get on with one place then try another.
df

Well, the first people I would see would not be debt management agencies but a financial adviser at my bank. Even when I was not in debt.....they certainly helped to organise the finances, sensible things like using the cash I had to pay off the car loan early. The bank can do a financial plan for you just as readily as any debt management agency. And this would make a loan more likely.

Sure, people can ( and do ) abuse even that by building up new debt.

What I ultimately dislike is declaring insolvency. The debtor then gets a bad credit reference for life.....but the illusion that the debt is 'paid off' is untrue....as it's ultimately the rest of us who end up footing the bill in some way.

slummymummyof3

[QUOTE=Techz;35763747}

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1000
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3200
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 745
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 133 Could you pay over 12 months instead of 10?
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 35 is it possible to reduce this?
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 is it possible to reduce this?
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 460 This could be cut quite a bit with meal planning, shopping at Aldi/Lidl
Clothing................................ 60 Not necessary on a monthly basis surely?
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 45 This is quite a horrendous sum! Check comarison sites and cashback sites when due for renewal.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 80 Such as?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 15 Expensive - do you have the crown jewels?
Life assurance ......................... 40 If you have had your policy for some time, they have come down a lot in the last 5 years or so - might be worth taking a look at.
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 2060

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 220000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 224000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 210000...(745)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 210000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
EGG............................10516.....320.......29.9
CAHOOT.........................5000......130.......17
VIRGIN.........................9424......200.......18
NETWEST........................2500......80........15
SANTANDER......................4000......130.......0
ASDA...........................1735......70........0
HSBC...........................1932......50........19
TESCO..........................2572......80........16
Total unsecured debts..........37679.....1060......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,200
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,060
Available for debt repayments........... 1,140
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,060
Amount left after debt repayments....... 80
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 224,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -210,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -37,679
Net Assets.............................. -23,679
[/QUOTE]

Have added some comments in red whcih may help. Any chance your partner could work part time - children permitting?