Starting again, again! Need a little bit of help though..

CherryDrop

Hi everyone!

Have been around the boards for a few months now. Had my lightbulb moment a couple of months back and contacted the CCCS. They helped me with my budgeting etc and I started of sending my letters to my creditors, unfortunately NONE of them accepted my offers of repayment and I continued to pay what I thought was right, sadly though today I seem to have had a second mini lightbulb moment and am starting all over again.

I think I started off wrongly as I sent emails to creditors rather than LETTERS (due to not having any money to actually buy any stamps, come to think of it i still dont ) and I wrote all the letters myself in my own wording. This time I am determined to send them by good old fashioned snail mail and am going to ask if anybody could send me the link for template letter asking for a reduced payment plan? I know there's a few on here but I can't seem to find them.

My partner and I have cut back drastically on everything, to not even going out. I have completed a SOA if anybody wanted to take a look at it for me, we haven't got any saavings and have put nothing towards entertainment as our one "luxury" is our Virgin telephone/cable services. It may look VERY tight but we really don't use money towards anything apart from groceries and Virgin!

I have just signed up for a basic account with Nationwide as I bank with Natwest and want to completely start afresh. It says it will take 7-10 working days for details to be sent out to me for me to sign so it looks like my journey may not be starting until the begining of May but at least i'm getting somewhere.

I just thought i'd post for a bit of support and maybe a few new friends? The boards seem so friendly and it just so happens i'm having one of those down days today and these boards never fail to cheer me up!

As a quick final question - I have received a letter from Westcot today (I have added them to my SOA) how would I contact them to say I am arranging my finances to allow me to pay them? Are there any templates for that as it says I do need to contact them urgently, the letter was also sent to my parents house (I havent live with them for over 4 years!!) and don't want any letters arriving at their address as they will only worry! I really don't want to phone them, would an email suffice regarding the address and then should I send them a letter?

Thank you!!!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1150
Partners monthly income after tax....... 447
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1597
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 625
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 105
Electricity............................. 96
Gas..................................... 21
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 90
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 45
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 19
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 16
Total monthly expenses.................. 1280

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Capital One....................170.......0.........0
Choice.........................60........0.........0
Jacamo.........................384.......0.........0
Westcot........................549.......0.........0
Very ..........................94........0.........0
Scotcall.......................232.......0.........0
Natwest........................500.......0.........0
Littlewoods....................1386......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3375......0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,597
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,280
Available for debt repayments........... 317
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 317
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,375
Net Assets.............................. -3,375
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

GeorgieFTB

CherryDrop wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1150
Partners monthly income after tax....... 447
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1597
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 625
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 105
Electricity............................. 96 - wow this is high, any arrears? If not look to change!
Gas..................................... 21
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25 - contract? Can you go payg for a while
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 90 - I know you said this was your 1 lux, does Sky do a better deal?
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 - high for just the two of you, I've got two growing lads and manage on £150, take a look at the old style board for ideas
Clothing................................ 45 - can you live with what you've got for the moment, or ebay clothes not worn (all of us have clothes with the tags still on when we start this)
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 19 - check on comparision sites, I've managed to get buildings and contents for £20, and got some cash back from TCB
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 16
Total monthly expenses.................. 1280

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Capital One....................170.......0.........0
Choice.........................60........0.........0
Jacamo.........................384.......0.........0
Westcot........................549.......0.........0
Very ..........................94........0.........0
Scotcall.......................232.......0.........0
Natwest........................500.......0.........0
Littlewoods....................1386......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3375......0.........- what are the aprs? You need to know which to pay off first, and you can use the snowball calc to give you your debt free day

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,597
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,280
Available for debt repayments........... 317
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 317

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,375
Net Assets.............................. -3,375
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I have made some comments above, some suggestions where you might save some more money.

Good news is you have some spare cash to pay off your debts, if you don't actually have this then you need to start a spending diary, and correct your SOA when you know where that money is going!

Good luck
Gx

[Deleted User]

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1150 ANy way to increase, or below? Overtime? Second job?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 447
Total monthly income.................... 1597

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 625 Is this competative for your area?
Council tax............................. 105 Are you paying this over the usual 10 months? If so ask your council if you can pay this over 12.
Electricity............................. 96 This is high? Are you in arrears? (If so when will it be fully re-paid?), If you're not in arrears, are you in credit with the company that you can claim back. If neither, then check that you are on the cheapest tariff for your usage (Uswitch), and if switching is cheaper, check the cash back sites(eg Quidco, topcashback, onepoll etc)
Gas..................................... 21 as above (often duel fuel is cheaper)
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25 How many phones is this for? If in contract see if you can reduce tariff, if/when out of tariff look at SIMonly/PAYG deals
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 90 (What does this include - drop pay-for tv - you should be able to get internet and home phone for £20 pm eg talk talk) If stuck in a contract drop to the basic package
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 For two adults this can easily be reduced - drop brands, batch cook, meal plan, shop at cheaper supermarkets (lidl/aldi)
Clothing................................ 45 buy essentials only for now, and wear what you have - have a good clear out and sell what you don't have somewhere like e-bay
Contents insurance...................... 19 For contents only, this is quite high - at renewal shop around
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 never?
Haircuts................................ 0 nothing?
Entertainment........................... 0 nothing?
Emergency fund.......................... 16
Total monthly expenses.................. 1280

Assets
Cash.................................... 0 where's your emergency savings?
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR What are the APR's? minimum payments (are you currently not making any payments? Even token payments?)
Capital One....................170.......0.........0
Choice.........................60........0.........0
Jacamo.........................384.......0.........0
Westcot........................549.......0.........0
Very ..........................94........0.........0
Scotcall.......................232.......0.........0
Natwest........................500.......0.........0
Littlewoods....................1386......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3375......0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,597
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,280
Available for debt repayments........... 317
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 317 I am guessing that this is what you have left for debt repayment? - Do you actually have this? If not keep a spending diary to see where it all goes.

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,375
Net Assets.............................. -3,375

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.[/QUOTE]

Hi,

I have made some comments above, hopefully they will be of some use to you. Also, is it correct that you have no transport costs?

D9

lvm

Hey Cherry!

Well done on trying to deal with your debt again. It actually feels great once you've dealt with everyone and they can stop sending their lovely "we're going to take you to court" letters.

I'm not sure about the template letters however I wrote my own to my creditors as I felt they would appreciate me actually putting my own thoughts and circumstances down rather than just downloading one off the net. Seemed to work as every company accepted.

Just a couple of things I noticed from your SOA:

I have no idea about what the average rent is where you are but I live in Edinburgh and I would be able to rent a central 2 bed flat for £550. £625 for 2 people seems a bit steep.

Is your other half studying? Or working part time? Could he increase hours or get a second job?

And I'll not say much about your Virgin but is this definitely the cheapest you can get it for? I'm guessing it includes sports/films etc but have you checked to see if there are cheaper deal with Sky? Think Quidco are doing quite a nice cashback offer for them too.

Groceries - you could probably cut this a bit. £150 should do both of you quite nicely.

With regards to Wescot - I wouldn't treat them any differently to your other creditors. It's likely they've just sent you a standard "pay now" letter. If this isn't the case, there's no harm in writing saying "I'm in the process of reviewing my finances and will contact you very shortly".

Hope you get things sorted out soon! xx

CherryDrop

Thanks guys, electric and gas is in arrears so those totals include those.

Unfortunately I work in retail and as part of my contract I MUST purchase that company's clothing on a regular basis and 45 is the lowest I can go monthly (I've alreay been asked to buy more but have just had to buy lots of accessories!). Have just had a MASSIVE clearout of my wardrobe and sold loads on Ebay and now only have 2 outfits left..

My mobile is on contract and I still have about 4 months left, after that I will be switching to PAYG.

My partner is trying to get a bit of overtime, about £20 a week and i'm on a fixed contract that won't allow me to be paid over 40 hours so unfortunately none for me I would love to get a second job but I don't have fixed hours weekly, I could work Sun-Sat between 7am-8pm and don't really know until the week before, would like to try Avon or something but don't have the funds to start it.

We are getting by on £150 a month at the moment for groceries but CCCS have suggested £200, will most def have this left over an will throw this at debts ASAP.

We have informed our families of our problems, and they know they will be getting just cards from us for birthdays for a while and I haven't had a haircut since last October! I cut my partners hair (well, try!) and we have no entertainment cost as like I said in my post we use our Virgin TV as our "luxury".

And no, no travel costs, we both walk to and from work and do our shopping online or my mum will pick us up from supermarket if needed.

I'm not 100% on the APRS but I will add the payments that CCCS have suggested, silly me not reading it all..

Thank you for your suggestions!

CherryDrop

lvm wrote: »

Hey Cherry!

Well done on trying to deal with your debt again. It actually feels great once you've dealt with everyone and they can stop sending their lovely "we're going to take you to court" letters.

I'm not sure about the template letters however I wrote my own to my creditors as I felt they would appreciate me actually putting my own thoughts and circumstances down rather than just downloading one off the net. Seemed to work as every company accepted.

Just a couple of things I noticed from your SOA:

I have no idea about what the average rent is where you are but I live in Edinburgh and I would be able to rent a central 2 bed flat for £550. £625 for 2 people seems a bit steep.

Is your other half studying? Or working part time? Could he increase hours or get a second job?

And I'll not say much about your Virgin but is this definitely the cheapest you can get it for? I'm guessing it includes sports/films etc but have you checked to see if there are cheaper deal with Sky? Think Quidco are doing quite a nice cashback offer for them too.

Groceries - you could probably cut this a bit. £150 should do both of you quite nicely.

With regards to Wescot - I wouldn't treat them any differently to your other creditors. It's likely they've just sent you a standard "pay now" letter. If this isn't the case, there's no harm in writing saying "I'm in the process of reviewing my finances and will contact you very shortly".

Hope you get things sorted out soon! xx

Hiya! My partner works 35 hours a week but has a detatchment of earnings on his weekly wage that goes to CSA.. Long story but he's paying around £500 a month towards child maintenance!

Looks like we definately need to move to Scotland! 625 is about right for where we are, we used to live in a studio flat that tried upping the rent from £525 to £600 so we moved into our house! Plus we don't really have the money to pay for a deposit on another place, we have no savings unfortuntaley and are only just starting our emergency fund, .

It sounds silly but I would prefer all of our debts to go to a DCA as then they dont add interest, this is where I felt I wasn't paying anything as it just seemed to be paying off interest and charges!

Thank you for your help!

Hannah_10

Can I just say, I never "ask" for a reduced payment plan. I plain out tell them that this is what I've got and so this is what I will be sending as of now. I enclose the first payment (cheque or Postal Order) and send it signed for. I keep doing this, every month, no matter what they say about not accepting it (they always cash the PO's though I have noticed). I might sound a bit stubborn but the reason behind it is that if it ever goes to court I can show a judge my SOA, show I sent every penny I had regularly, and then the judge is very unlikely to find in the creditors favour. In fact the judge is likely to make the creditor pay costs for being unreasonable in even bringing it to court. Your creditors know this, they just hope you don't. Well you do now. Oh and you can add "postal fees" to your SOA, I do. Those PO's and signed for letters don't come free. This also means later down the line you can send them a letter with words to the effect of- it costs me £4.56 every time I send you a payment, how about we just do this by standing order and my payment rate can go up by that amount.

CherryDrop

Hannah_10 wrote: »

Can I just say, I never "ask" for a reduced payment plan. I plain out tell them that this is what I've got and so this is what I will be sending as of now. I enclose the first payment (cheque or Postal Order) and send it signed for. I keep doing this, every month, no matter what they say about not accepting it (they always cash the PO's though I have noticed). I might sound a bit stubborn but the reason behind it is that if it ever goes to court I can show a judge my SOA, show I sent every penny I had regularly, and then the judge is very unlikely to find in the creditors favour. In fact the judge is likely to make the creditor pay costs for being unreasonable in even bringing it to court. Your creditors know this, they just hope you don't. Well you do now. Oh and you can add "postal fees" to your SOA, I do. Those PO's and signed for letters don't come free. This also means later down the line you can send them a letter with words to the effect of- it costs me £4.56 every time I send you a payment, how about we just do this by standing order and my payment rate can go up by that amount.

That's a brilliant idea.. I have quite a few creditors though so would cost me about £45 a month to post! Should I just send my first payment via post then carry on via standing order?

CherryDrop

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1150
Partners monthly income after tax....... 447
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1597
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 625
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 105
Electricity............................. 96
Gas..................................... 21
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 90
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 45
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 19
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 16
Total monthly expenses.................. 1285

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Capital One....................180.......0.........34.9
Jacamo.........................384.......20........34.1
Littlewoods....................1386......70........29.9
Choice.........................60........33.11.....0
Westcot........................549.......28........0
Very...........................94........5.........39.7
Scotcall.......................232.......12........0
Natwest........................500.......25........0
Total unsecured debts..........3385......193.11....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,597
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,285
Available for debt repayments........... 312
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 193.11
Amount left after debt repayments....... 118.89
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,385
Net Assets.............................. -3,385
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.


Have redone soa- i seem to have lots left at the end but don't really know where that goes! Spending diary here I come!

Hannah_10

I would send the first lot out by post, you can get the postal order fees and the signed-for postage rates off the Royal Mail website. I would make sure I put that amount in my SOA as "postal fees". If I had the hassle of £45 in post office fees each month I think I would put the bit about postage fees and standing orders into the first letter. Some will realise you mean business. Especially if you refuse to communicate except in writing. Be sure to deduct the exact PO fee and signed for rate from each creditors pay according to what they individually cost you. [STRIKE]It upsets them more that way.[/STRIKE] It's important not to favour any one creditor over another and to be fair. :A

snookey

Hi have you tried speaking with your employer regarding your financial position. Maybe if you do they will waive your needing to buy their clothing for a while.
How about your partner doing car boots or a second job delivering leaflets ,ect ,to generate more income.