broken

avizandum_2

Financial pressure's been building for some time and today something snapped. Long story short.. I left my employment 3 years ago to study law. Got my LLB and a post grad legal qualification. Have been unsuccessful in getting full time employment in legal post since qualifying. Still applying but market isn't great at the moment. Even crawled back to my former employer for work. Told was no longer suitable (they thought I wouldn't stay which was fair enough).

Have been stealing from Peter to pay Paul and it is not sustainable. Cannot meet minimum payments on cc's and personal loan. Paid my mortgage up to date by the skin of my teeth. (have had to rent my place out and move in with relations) Called John Lewis FS, Natwest etc to ask to pay lower than minimum repayments and they were very threatening and quite abusive. (Amazing how they change when you cannot pay the full whack each month) In short I got nowhere and they left me feeling angry and upset.

Called a debtline who said I should write to them (they said never call with a proposal)
My qu's are
1) Can they refuse to accept a lesser payment? And if so can I appeal?
2) If they accept payments lower than the minimum payment what are the implications for me, i.e. in regard to my credit file? (I asked the debtline guy but he wasn't sure)

Any help would be much appreciated. I am being driven insane with the creditors calling me constantly and with their bullying tactics. The threatening letters have added to this. I have had enough and I cannot go on like this. I want my life back.

Two9A

Didn't want to "read and run", so a couple of things:

- See if you can put together a Statement of Affairs, to work out how much you've got coming in, and where it goes. There's a link to an SOA calculator in the sticky topics at the top of this forum.
- Try calling one of the debt charities (CCCS, Payplan, etc) and see if they've got any ideas. Generally they'll ask for an SOA so they can work out how you can proceed.

If you can work out where you are at the moment, then you can work out where you're going.

DizzySpell

Just a quick reply to say you are in the right place to get all the help and support you need. Someone with more knowledge and experience will be along shortly to start going through SOA's and template letters to creditors etc with you but - You are not alone and we will be here to support and advise as long as you need it.

Chin up hunni

DGJsaver

If you dont keep to your contractual obligations , ie your credit agreement , you will eventually get a default , that will set you back , credit-worthiness wise , for 6 years
And yes they can refuse , but that shouldnt stop you WRITING to them recorded delivery with your outgoing and income breakdown , and your offe of payment ,even if its only £1 a month

HappyMJ

Are you working at the moment? If not and are claiming JSA you have only a limited income each week of probably £65.45 so you need to spread that around and most of it will be going on living expenses then a £1 per month token payment goes to the creditors. They can't have what you don't earn so don't borrow from elsewhere to make full minimum repayments if you don't feel up to juggling any more.

Your credit will be destroyed...sorry but you would be in default of the credit card agreement so they will register that. If it gets that bad that you don't want credit any more then a few defaults shouldn't matter too much.

So get some advice from a credit charity and relieve some of the pressure...

And...don't call creditors they'll say anything always write to them.

NorthernLas

In answer to your questions

1. Yes they can refuse to accept a lower payment (but you can still make it). You can only pay what you can afford and as long as you can back this up, then you are paying what you can.

2. If you do not pay the minimum payments, your creditors will add late payment markers and may add defaults to your credit file. These will make getting credit more difficult.

National debtline website has a very good sample letters section.

avizandum_2

Thanks everyone.

Don't think I can get benefits due to rental income (£700) (?)
SOA will be the next hurdle. Know I'm credited up to my eyeballs and then some.
I was offering payments around the £25/30 mark on cc/loan amounts of around £4k, not sure if this is enough but can't afford more.

P.S. Really glad to get your support as I can't talk to anyone close to me about this. Too worried / ashamed / down to tell them how bad it is.

drusilla

I was in a similar position to you. I rang consumer credit council after finding info on here. 1 year in on a DMP and life is much more positive. I used to dread the post and not want to answer the phone.

I couldn't care less about getting credit again. I can also plan budget for things that I want instead of just buying and worrying later on.

Ring someone up, in the debt industry - they were really nice and even made me laugh when I wanted to cry. They really seem to care about their clients unlike the nasty threatening people who want to get your money off you.

Good luck. You aren't broken - just cracking a bit under the pressure. You just need to take the first step. Don't hide like we all seem to have done.:D

avizandum_2

Thanks Drusilla
Glad things are working out well for you.

I also accumulated piles of unopened post. Forced myself to open them yesterday. Strangely I feel less afraid now I've opened them.
I wanted so much to at least pay the minimum so that I wouldn't default. Just can't do it any more.
I am afraid of not having credit for 6 years. Feel like I'll be trapped. Limited.
The whole thing feels horrible but I think a big part of this is not having work - Lost a LOT of confidence and combined with the money stress I have become a bit reclusive. Have stopped socialising completely and even find some everyday situations that I would not have worried about before, completely stressful.

Sure it'll work out though - Darkest hour before the dawn an' all that

goingforward_3

I'm just starting out on my DMP... and it is strange not having a credit card there as back up.

My daughter starts secondary next week so we've had a lot of expense with uniform.. so i've had to stop and think before buying it to make sure we have enough money for petrol and shopping as well etc.. But at the same time i feel so much better paying for everything outright and having a positive (yet small) bank balance.

I dont want credit ever again... if i want something i want to be able to pay for it... and if that means saving a bit longer than well thats what i'll do..

Things will get better for you xx