Have I Messed Up?

braken2000

Hi Guys,

Once again I am trying to sort my debt, and life out!

I have foolishly committed to random payments with several debtors and am concerned that these are not affordable.

Can I "re-negotiate" with them? Or have I truely messed up?

Thanks

Tom

tealady

Hi
What I would suggest is that you send them a SOA showing that you can only afford £x. They can't have what you ain't got! Alternatively contact one of the FREE debt chaities to negotiate on your behalf.
HTH

braken2000

I am going to do the SOA and pay this month what I said, but put in the letter the reason why it has to decrease. :-S

Hannah_10

You can renegotiate, a lot of people are a bit optimistic when they start out and over commit themselves. Don't expect them to be friendly about it, but if you encounter any difficulty send them all letters saying something to the effect of I can't afford anything higher, I will be sending £xx a month/week from now on. You don't have to show them your SOA and to be honest sometimes it's better not to because they'll only find something they don't like and say you're not allowed it.

lvm

How long have you been paying these "random amounts" and how have you been paying them? Are you using credit cards for day-to-day purchases?

Might be worth looking at what you're actually spending each month and what you're spending it on. It could well be that you can afford these repayments but just overspending in certain areas.

An SOA for your own benefit will definitely help.

braken2000

Hi,

Thanks for your help guys. I have done an SOA at work with as much info as I have available at the moment. It is actually not far off what I am paying at the moment. I think it would reduce some of them by £5 and it takes into consideration debt which I am not currently paying off. I am finding it difficult on the SOA to work out my living costs in terms of what I need a week/month for food etc. Never really thought about it.

Do you think it would be wise for me to send the first letter but tweak it to effect of saying something like "I overcommitted without budgetting and considering other debts"? Fortunately one of the debts is "okay" at the momenth in terms of I am paying it off without a DMP.

The other thing is that I have checked my credit reference file, which makes for scary reading, but I have noticed a default on there which I was unaware of. I have had a default from Natwest Credit Cards and they sent a letter that made it clear that this had happened. But I can not remember receiving a letter from Lowell Portfolio I. Can this be challenged?

Sorry for all these questions on a Sunday.

Thanks once again

Tom