Major debt problems

needhelpindebt

Hi,

I wonder if anyone will be able to help me / give me advice.

I have gotten myself into a major ammount of debt thrrough online gambling. I owe £30,000 to various credit card and loan companies.

There is no possile way with the wage that i am on that i can keep up the monthly payments to all of these companies.

I have been approached by GP who have told me that they can consolidate these debts into a monthly payment of £300 however this will take me 10 years to pay back. I can afford these payments just about. Is this a viable option in your opinion?

I have also told my parents about this and they are willing to help me. They however believe that if i approach the creditors directly and tell them about my inability to pay back these debts then they may agree to a partial settlement. Is this possible? As they would be able to pay this on my behalf.

I am seeking help for my gamling problem through visiting GA.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

RAS

Hi

You need to talk to one of the debt charities. They offer advice but would not claim 17.5% of your monthly payment as fees as Gregory Pennington probably do.

If you are going to do a DMP, use a charity or self manage so that all you money goes to the debts. See here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

Who ever manages your DMP, you will get defaults on your credit record. Once these are in place and you have paid the DMp for a while, some creditors may accept a full and final settlement (they are legally entitled to mark the account partially settled). NEVER agree to a partial settlement as this allows the creditor to sell the debt and the new creditor can chase you for the whole of the remaining debt.

needhelpindebt

Thank your for your reply Ras.

My preferred option would be to accept full and final settlements with my creditors as i have some sharesave agreements through my job that are due to mature in 3-5 years time. I hope to pay my parents back with these if they can settle the agreed settlement figures.

Would i need to start a DMP before discussing this with the creditors?

RAS

Your chances for getting any sort of full and final settlement until you have defaulted and they understand that you will not be paying the full whack for some time is bordering on nil.

Once they have it in their heads that it is going to take years to get the money back, thety will become more co-operative.

Trollfever

RAS wrote: »

Your chances for getting any sort of full and final settlement until you have defaulted and they understand that you will not be paying the full whack for some time is bordering on nil.

Once they have it in their heads that it is going to take years to get the money back, thety will become more co-operative.

And when the debt has been sold on for say 10p in the pound you will stand an even better chance.

Jimby509

A bit of a side issue but........

Have you checked out the gamblers thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1090463

It has been great for me. Also have you made sure there is an internet block that stops you further losing money on Casino sites?

needhelpindebt

Hi Jimby, yes i have installed gamblock on my PC and have been self excluded from the casino sites that i used. Just wish i did it ages ago. I got myself into trouble about 7 years ago and paid off my debts and had counselling etc. Can't belive i've got myself into the same situation again

Jimby509

needhelpindebt wrote: »

Hi Jimby, yes i have installed gamblock on my PC and have been self excluded from the casino sites that i used. Just wish i did it ages ago. I got myself into trouble about 7 years ago and paid off my debts and had counselling etc. Can't belive i've got myself into the same situation again

I am glad to see you joined the gambling support thread. If you have some free time one eve read through the lenth of the thread. You will read your own story that others have also been through over and again

It helped me come to terms with the anger I had with myself as to why I was in debt. Also it is good to post at any time you feel your resolve slipping or you just feel tired with the situation you are in

needhelpindebt

Hi I'm back again.

After discussing my debt with my parents they have agreed to lend me £20,000 to make offers of full and final settlements to my creditors. This is about 66% of the full amonut that I owe across 3 credit cards and a loan.

I have only had the debt with the majority of these over the past 6 months and have kept up the minimum payments in this time.

What do you think the chances are of the creditors to agree to reduced settlements? And how should i go about doing this?

Any advice would be much apprecited.

podperson

Unfortunately under those circumstances the chances of them accepting lower settlements aren't great.
The amount they will accept obviously varies but it tends to go lower the longer the debt has been outstanding, the longer you have not been making the required payments, or if they have passed it to a dca. It sounds like these debts are fairly recent and you have been making all the payments on them so they are highly unlikely to accept lower settlements when they have no reason to believe they won't get their full money back from you in the regular way.
If you start making reduced payments to them for a period of time they are a bit more likely to accept but then it will affect your credit rating.

DGJsaver

needhelpindebt wrote: »

Hi I'm back again.

After discussing my debt with my parents they have agreed to lend me £20,000 to make offers of full and final settlements to my creditors. This is about 66% of the full amonut that I owe across 3 credit cards and a loan.

I have only had the debt with the majority of these over the past 6 months and have kept up the minimum payments in this time.

What do you think the chances are of the creditors to agree to reduced settlements? And how should i go about doing this?

Any advice would be much apprecited.

Reread RAS`s EXCELLENT advice in the first reply on the thread

full and final settlements whilst you are KEEPING TO YOUR AGREEMENT are not possible (unless you just actually pay the balances)