I have debts, need some advice as to how I can resolve them

wefmarkc

I'm going to explain things first, then put the amounts I owe after.

OK, basically back in 2003 I had a good job, earning (after tax) £300 per week. Cos of this, I did a foolish thing and got talked into getting 2 credit cards. One with Barclaycard and one with Capital One.

When business dropped in August of 2004, me and a few others were let go to save money. Unfortunately, I then started relying heavily on my CCs to tide me over til I found a new job. I didn't until November of that year, but in that time I had gone over my limit on both cards so was having to borrow heavily from my family to keep me going in food etc.

Eventually, the 2 cards were referred to a debt collection company who began writing to me but stopped in 2008 so I am unsure if the debts have been written off or not, and am too scared to call them and find out in case they haven't!

Since then I have been getting into a tangle with various companies and running up bills that I have no hope of paying off in one lump sum. I am now on Income based JSA; which as you can imagine is not enough to pay debts off to various people then keep me for a fortnight in food, rent, etc. and getting to job interviews. So here is the breakdown of everything I owe, and for a couple the last known figure is quoted as no corrospondence has been sent for months. I've included the TVX debt that I have been lumbered with, as someone used my name and accout details to setup a DD with them which as the account was closed no money could be paid. So I got the debt even though I didn't order it. Police say nothing they can do about it as there is no proof that someone else did it and not me.

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Barclaycard = £950.00
Capital One = £2,500.00
Court Fine = £255.00
Marshall Ward = £470.00
Littlewoods Direct = £525.00
Television X = £125.00

So all in all, I owe £4,825 which I cannot afford to pay off. As I say, the BC and C1 debts I'm unsure of whether they have been written off. Any advice is appreciated. Many thanks for perservering through this.

sofababe

OK, firstly remember this....they can't have what u have not got.

The 2 that have stopped writing to u may be unenforceable, that would explain lack of contact. Normally they would have tried to take u to court for a CCJ by now. Send them a CCA request letter. If they are enforceable then u offer them £1 a month each.

I'm not sure but the court fine might be a different story, can u give more details? But again, they can't have what u haven't got.

CCCS_Sue

wefmarkc wrote: »

I'm going to explain things first, then put the amounts I owe after.

OK, basically back in 2003 I had a good job, earning (after tax) £300 per week. Cos of this, I did a foolish thing and got talked into getting 2 credit cards. One with Barclaycard and one with Capital One.

When business dropped in August of 2004, me and a few others were let go to save money. Unfortunately, I then started relying heavily on my CCs to tide me over til I found a new job. I didn't until November of that year, but in that time I had gone over my limit on both cards so was having to borrow heavily from my family to keep me going in food etc.

Eventually, the 2 cards were referred to a debt collection company who began writing to me but stopped in 2008 so I am unsure if the debts have been written off or not, and am too scared to call them and find out in case they haven't!

Since then I have been getting into a tangle with various companies and running up bills that I have no hope of paying off in one lump sum. I am now on Income based JSA; which as you can imagine is not enough to pay debts off to various people then keep me for a fortnight in food, rent, etc. and getting to job interviews. So here is the breakdown of everything I owe, and for a couple the last known figure is quoted as no corrospondence has been sent for months. I've included the TVX debt that I have been lumbered with, as someone used my name and accout details to setup a DD with them which as the account was closed no money could be paid. So I got the debt even though I didn't order it. Police say nothing they can do about it as there is no proof that someone else did it and not me.

**************************************

Barclaycard = £950.00
Capital One = £2,500.00
Court Fine = £255.00
Marshall Ward = £470.00
Littlewoods Direct = £525.00
Television X = £125.00

So all in all, I owe £4,825 which I cannot afford to pay off. As I say, the BC and C1 debts I'm unsure of whether they have been written off. Any advice is appreciated. Many thanks for perservering through this.

Hi wefmarkc

You can get a copy of your credit file to find out about the two debts you have. I have attached a link to a booklet called ‘Credit Explained’ which will gives the addresses of the three credit reference agencies (Experian,Equifax, and Callcredit)you could write to for the information.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/credit_explained_leaflet_2005.pdf


Put together a budget showing your income and expenditure.
Your court fine is a priority, so this needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.

If there is nothing left after paying all your priorities, then you could offer a £1 token payment as a gesture of goodwill to your credit cards and catalogues until your circumstances improve.
If you would like further help,and to discuss all your options, you can call for an appointment with one of our trained counsellors.
Our free helpline number is 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

Alternatively you can visit our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy would assist you in completing a financial statement and you would be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your situation. This link will take you directly to Debt Remedy www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu

Hope this helps

Regards
Sue

wefmarkc

Thanks for the reply, but am confused as to my court fine. Will that show up on a credit check? As the last I heard, a letter arrived for me at my old address (I lived with my mum until late 2004) and she opened it and it said that bailiffs were now responsible for collecting the fine. That was in August 2005 so surely the police and/or bailiffs would have been knocking at my door by now to collect the money. How would I go about checking whether I still have to pay the fine?

Re: some other debts, I have used annualcreditreport.co.uk (which is free) to look at my file and found that the Barclaycard debt was written off in 2007, however it will remain on file until August 2011. Capital One is still active but is less than I thought. Only £1,466 and will come off the file in July 2011. So some good news for my credit rating but not much. Unfortunately, the Littlewoods and Marshall Ward aren't taken from the file until well into 2015.

HappyMJ

Get your court fine under £200 then go to court on a Friday say you won't pay any more. They'll then sentence you to 7 days in prison but you'll only do half i.e 3 days. They never release anyone on a Monday so they'll lock you up for a few hours and then let you go and write the rest of the fine off. It's not a criminal offence to not pay a fine so only the original penalty will remain on your criminal record.

Or you could just wait and be arrested at any time and if you haven't paid anything you'll be sentenced to 14 days.