I don't see any light at the end of this tunnel!

GMFlash

Good afternoon,

Firstly, I will appreciate anyone's advise - I am not looking for things to be done for me and I am fully aware that I have let things get too far and I take full responsibility.

That said I could really do with the Forum's time and advice.

I have contacted CCCS to try and sort out some payments to various creditors. In order to know the exact amounts I have ordered my Credit Report (£2) option from Equifax as a first line of checking. I just need to send them a copy of my bank statement and ID so they can open my account etc.

I have discovered a CCJ for £800 odd and will tomorrow confirm a payment for £20 per month to pay back the CCJ which will be reviewed in 6 months apparently. My funds from work (£13,500pa or so) are limited after bills and rent etc so I am trying to keep it a realistic payment.

I have had notification as well that CapQuest are no longer handling my Capital One account and it has gone back to Capital One after they were constantly harrassing and threatening me.

Is it always the case that I can deal directly with my creditors? I'd rather know my money is definately going to them!

In addition to this, I have got a few debts from students days that are still enforceable and I want to clear so that I can rebuild my history, I have been terrible at handling my finances and deserve the pressure coming my way but want to pay back what I can and find a way out without worrying at night etc.

Whilst the totals are not big (in relative terms less than £15k total if not much less) I don't know where to really start and fear I will be now in this state of minimum repayments for years meaning that I will have this noose around my neck for a good while to come.

What is keeping me awake though is the letters that have come through from HFO Services with a much inflated amount owed to Barclaycard. I had this card in 2003 and I believe the last payment was made in 2005. The original limit was about £3000 and now they are threatening legal action and baliffs to reclaim £6000 odd. I am looking to check everything on my credit file that I have and when the last payments were received etc, is this right?

I know this is my fault and don't want sympathy but we all have our reasons for burying our heads or hoping it'll go away - I am ashamed to say that I have done this for far too long but want to sort my life and finances out but just not sure on the best approach. I really do not want visiters to the home I rent a room in and want to avoid other CCJ's after the first one was actioned unbeknown to myself last year to a previous address.

Please advise if you feel you can. Thank you for not judging and in advance for any help.

DawnW

I am not an expert (as in my debt was paid off some years ago, when things were different to now, not because I am so rich or perfect that I have never been in debt!), but wanted to bump your post so that it doesn't get overlooked in the evening rush!

Normal advice on here is to contact one of the free debt charities for advice - CAB, CCCS or Payplan. Also to do a statement of affairs which details all your expenditure and incomings. This will help in your discussions with the debt charities, and is a good first step. There is a link on here somewhere to a template that most people use. Somebody will come along in a minute who knows where to find it!

Once you have done this (it takes a while) the knowledgeable people on here will come along and offer suggestions for how you could cut back.

Good luck x

GMFlash

Thank you Dawn - I appreciate you taking the time to pass on some advice

Hopefully others will be able to offer assistance too.

Cheers.

Tixy

Hi GM and welcome

You say you have contacted CCCS, where are you with that? did they suggest you could do a DMP through them or do you not have enough money spare monthly to do this.

Good idea to get your credit reports but don't trust that the balances on them are always up to date, as they aren't always.

Sometimes your creditors will pass on collection activity to a debt collector but retain ownership of the debt, but often they eventually sell on the debt to a third party debt collector and once that happens you will no longer be able to deal with them (and the money wouldn't be going to them).

Obviously I don't know how much money you have for debt repayments a month but perhaps you could look into whether you would be eligible for a DRO and if it would be appropriate.

Regarding your HFO debt - it sounds like it might be a way off being statute barred yet. If they are threatening legal action and bailiffs you might want to look into whether the agreement is enforceable (requesting a copy of your credit agreement), if it happened not to be at least that would rule out court action.

If your creditors start hassling you a lot there are template letters you can send to request all communication is in writing (to stop phone calls) and even ones to say they cannot send debt collectors to your house (although this does not include stopping bailiffs visiting for the debt with a CCJ).

Good luck with sorting it out and if you have specific queries people should be able to advise and support.

GeorgieFTB

Tixy has pretty much covered all the bases I was going to cover.

To do an SOA, satement of affairs, go to http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html and fill out everything you can, at the end there is a format for MSE button, press it then post it on here if you want detailed advice. There are many people that can help your budget to pay more than token payments.

Gx

May2013

Hi GM and welcome….you’ve come to the right place!!!

Unfortunately I can’t answer the specific questions you’re asking as I have no experience in these areas but it looks like Tixy is on the case!

As GeorgieFTB says it might be worth posting your SOA on here, there are loads of hugely experienced and supportive people who will make suggestion on how to make your money go further.

My tip – I see it a bit like a game of chess…the money lenders v little ‘ol me….it’s all about being one move ahead and staying in control….hahaha and I don’t even play chess!

I can tell from your post that you mean business...make a plan and stick to it.

Good luck

GMFlash

Thank you for taking the time to write back Tixy, GeorgieFTB & May2013.

Firstly, Tixy what is a DRO?

I need to find out the totals owed to my creditors first. I figured that my credit report would be a good place to start. I have this morning confirmed a £20 a month payment to CK Edrupt & Co to start paying off my CCJ owed to Provident. I have also confirmed my details with Equifax and should gain access to my credit report just after the weekend.

I received a letter from DLC this morning stating they were trying to ascertain if this was my address in relation to my HSBC debt which has now escalated according to them to £4738.85 so I need to confirm the amounts and look to look after that debt too.

Once I have got the amounts sorted I can then contact CCCS and speak to one of their councillors to sort out the best method for clearing this.

Is this the right thing to do?

I am also really worried I am going to get people knocking on my door in relation to HFO and their persuit of my Barclaycard debt - please can someone help me with what I need to send them to put the ball back in my court and take a breath whilst I work out how much to pay them if I do in fact need to.

Also, as they seem so dodgy would it be wise to pay them anything at all?

Thank you for your support so far - I will go onto the SOA calculator once I have my amounts owed confirmed.

I appreciate this guys thank you - I can see that this is going to take a while but the hardest part for me to see past right now is getting the amounts owed to whom correct and getting HFO to back down with their legal threats.

Tixy

Hi

A DRO is a debt relief order - its like a mini bankruptcy suitable for people who owe less than £15k and who have, after living expenses less than £50 spare a month to pay towards their creditors.

Getting your credit report is a good starting point for looking at the balances but you may find when creditors actually update you with the latest balance there could be more charges/interest added etc.

Yes once you have a better idea of your debts and your finances and how much you can afford then talking to CCCS is a very good next step.

HFO and the barclaycard debt - assuming there is no CCJ for this debt then they cannot send bailiffs round. The only people they could send to your door are field agent debt collectors. Its unlikely they would do this but just in case you need to know these people have no rights to take anything, enter your property etc etc. Just tell them you want them to leave and they will.
Also remember DCAs threaten legal action all the time but actually take legal action far far less often. Whilst thats not to say you don't need to worry about it I wouldn't take the threat too seriously. Should they actually send court papers to your address then at that point it is more serious and you do need to act straight away.
If you want to send HFO anything at the moment I would send them the prove it letter which asks them to prove you owe the amount they say you do. That should give you a few weeks to sort out your finances, see your credit report and come up with a plan with CCCS.

Prove it letter template - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=11570893&postcount=2

fomirster

Regarding HFO. If you last made payment in 2005 then the debt is statute barred this year (if it isn't already) unless your in Scotland then it is already SB.

Don't fall for any HFO tricks in trying to get you to pay £20 or something in the promise they will ease off or reduce the balance. The moment you pay something the Statute clock will restart.

It is common for HFO to add interest and charges that they are not entitled to, so don't worry about it, you won't need to pay them.

HFO purchased loads of old Barclaycard debts which mostly are unenforcable due to the credit agreement (yours is possibly only an apllication for credit from 2003). Sending them a CCA request will reveal what they have in terms of agreement and a statement of account.

A CCA request will stall them for a while as they will have to get this from BC. have you ever received a notice of assignment from HFO. When do they claim they purchased the debt? Which company do they claim bought it, HFO Services or HFO Capital. These are important facts, which I won't go into right now.

You need to send your CCA request off recorded delivery and retain proof of posting. The likelyhood is HFO will send you a questionaire in response, do not fill this in.

GMFlash

Thank you for all the help so far - I will send HFO a CCA request this week.

I am not sure on whether they have sent a notice of assignment or not I will check the paperwork I have got.

I have got access to my credit report online with Equifax and there is mention of four things. My current account which is all green and good. The Orange mobile phone contract I have had since 2006 which shows a few late payments but no defaults or anything of the sort. My Capital One account which is defaulted - current balance on there is £540 with the actual limit at £500. This is marked as defaulted.

Then there is mention of my HFO (Barclaycard) ordeal with the date last delinquent set at 05/05. What does this mean? It is marked defaulted and was started on 27/02/03. It has a current balance of £3,536 and a default/delinquent balance of £3,420. Does this mean I have to pay back both and deal with HFO with regards payment? Also the last update date was the 24.08.10. Well at least according to Equifax.

Strangely there is no mention of my CCJ on the report I have from Equifax - a decision from September 2010. Does this mean it doesn't appear on all credit reports?

I will contact Capital One directly in the next few days and see what options I have. I'll also explain that I am planning to use CCCS if I can.

One last question, should I contact DLC about the HSBC account and play ball with them - their only letter to date is to see if I live at the address I do?? I want to get things paid back and into order but don't want them chasing and threatening now they know I definately live here.

I'm still more than a little lost but have really appreciated all your help and encouragement so far. I hope the weekend has been kind to you and I look forward to hopefully seeing a quick response to my latest ramblings and questions. Again you are all really helpful. Thank you.

fomirster

It looks like the HFO/Barclaycard debt is very close to being statute barred if you haven't paid it since you defaulted in May 05. Do not acknowledge this debt by making a payment.
If you haven't paid it since defaulting you are literally weeks away from it being statute barred. This will mean that they will not be able to take action to recover the debt, although it will still exist.

Get your CCA request off to them ASAP this will delay any possible action and you will be able to put the account in dispute if they don't comply in 12+2 working days.
You could try rining Barclaycard and ask them when you last made payment on the account, they may tell you. Also ask them who they sold the debt to and when. There are some serious ownership issues with HFO accounts which I won't go into right now