Debt advice needed please

Squirrel82

Hi... I wonder if you might be able to give me the benefit of your advice please?

I have serious credit card debt problems which have been building up over a number of years - and reached crisis point three months ago when I was no longer able to make even the minumum payments.

With debts of 80K, a house in negative equity and no other assets, I contacted the CCCS. The first advisor told me that bankruptcy was my ONLY option - a debt management plan (DMP) would take over 20 years and no companies would agree to that. An IVA was never discussed and I didn't query this, as I thought a DMP was the same thing.

I thought about bankruptcy but really didn't want to pursue this option, so contacted CCCS again. I was told by a second adviser that bankruptcy would be the LAST thing he would recommend, and if I could afford another £100 a month in repayments then I could go on a DMP which would take 15 years to pay off. My budget was already extremely tight - but I wanted to avoid bankruptcy, so I agreed. I was told that CCCS would manage my DMP for me and that they would negotiate with my lenders over freezing interest and charges - which would be absolutely critical to keep the plan on track for 15 years.

The next time I contacted CCCS to get a progress report and see how the lenders had responded to the offer, yet another advisor informed that it was not the job of the CCCS to negotiate freezing of interest etc, and that I had to do this myself. Needless to say, 2 months had passed since my initial contact with CCCS, so I wasn't best pleased with this answer and felt like I'd wasted a lot of time, as i could have approached my lenders directly about this right from the start.

I fully appreciate that my debt issues are my own and it is not the fault of the CCCS that I have problems. However I am having something of a crisis of confidence in their advice, as, honestly, it seems to change quite radically depending on which advisor happens to pick up the phone when I call.

So my two questions are:

1. Has anyone had really positive experiences with CCCS, and I have just been unlucky?

This would really put my mind at rest, as I'm about to start a DMP through them and my confidence in it has been knocked, to say the least.

And,

2. Do you think a longterm DMP is the right solution to my situation?

Several of my creditors have written to me to say that they will accept the reduced payments, but for a short-term period only, and some have already defaulted me - they say the reduced payments of the DMP is the end of our formal consumer credit agreement.

Reduced payments through the DMP will also affect my credit rating for as long as I'm paying them (ie 15 years). One of the key reasons I'd wanted to avoid bankruptcy is because of the adverse affect it would have on my credit rating for up to 6 years from the point of being discharged - which seemed like a lot at the time, but obviously is a lot less than 15 years.

I want to pay back my debt as it's the responsible thing to do and never wanted to consider bankruptcy as an option - but now I'm beginning to wonder if I've made a huge mistake.

Sorry this is so long - but it's great to be able to talk about it.

Any advice or suggestions from you would be very welcome and really appreciated.

Thank-you.

confused76

hi there and welcome

i didn't 'click' with the cccs when i spoke to them, but they have helped plenty of people on this board. i then spoke to the national debtline who were brilliant, gave me my options and sent me some info in the post. personally i went down the br route so can't really help you on the DMP side of things. however, i know a lot of people manage their own DMP.

i would try posting this on the Debt Free Wannabe board as well, as there are plenty of people on there going down the DMP route.

all the best x

Trollfever

One of the key reasons I'd wanted to avoid bankruptcy is because of the adverse affect it would have on my credit rating for up to 6 years from the point of being discharged - which seemed like a lot at the time, but obviously is a lot less than 15 years.

With bankruptcy your credit rating will be trashed for six years.

Many posters on this forum say that they will never obtain credit again.

Sunnylooloo

Hi

I first contacted PayPlan and to be honest I never really had a great experience with them. I never had much to do with CCCS (CCCS do have advisers on this forum soyou might find one of them might respond to you over your issues)

After seeking advice from CAB and National Debtline I entered my own self managed DMP. This has been running for a year now. On one account I have been dafaulted so all interest has been frozen so the amount I pay each month is coming off my balance owed. Another has after a year been passed to their In house Debt Collection Agency and once again interest has been frozen (before that they had stopped charges and I was on a reduced rate. Onehas stopped all charges and have accepted my payments for a year (but said after a year they would need to speak to me) and the last one as reduced interest and frozen charges.

They normally like updates every 3 or 6 months but apart from that calls and letters have stopped.

As confused said check out the other board.

Good luck

confuzzled7

Your credit rating won't be too healthy for 6 years after your bankruptcy as it'll remain on your files for that long. Therefore, if you're looking to obtain significant credit (a mortgage, for example) you're going to struggle.

However, once discharged, you can start to gradually repair your credit rating and clean up your files. There are many examples on here who've gained credit for small things a year or so after they've been made BR. That's if you want credit, of course, but for many people it's a fact of life that they may still need it in one way, shape, or form.

Don't believe all the horror stories about BR and seek advice from other sources as well as the CCCS, especially if you're finding their advice conflicting and unhelpful.