Help, what should I do?

gershwin_mcginty

Newbie MoneySaver

Hello. I've not done this before so please bear with me. My husband is £104,000 in debt to about 11 credit cards.(Although my mother has given us £20,000 and I've used it to pay off the 3 highest rate ones- one of which was Monument) He earns a good wage but has been living beyond his means for a long time. Now I'm involved and want to sort it out. I've written to the credit card companies, have worked out a budget and a pro-rata offer but egg have taken that to mean we want to default. Which we don't. We just want to buy some time while I look for work, we switch our service providers (thanks already to this site!) and try raising some cash.

Egg say they're going to issue a default notice if it accepts our offer of payment which works out about half of what they'd actually want. It doesn't seem fair. Is there anything we can do?

I intend to apply for the M&S card (no idea if I'll get it) and transfer the mint balance cos of the high rate, and a bit of the virgin balance because it's so high (£13371) cos even a smaller interest rate seems to add up on such a large balance.

And my mother is hoping to help us some more with some of the other 19% baddies =Barclaycard and the Yorkshire bank Visa. I reckon in a few months we'd be not exactly on top of it but more in control than we are now, and it seems a shame to default when we're not ACTUALLY defaulting.

Can anyone help me? Please.:o

immoral_angeluk

If you don't pay the contracted minimum payment the creditors will issue a default automatically, it doesn't matter what your circumstances are. I personally don't think it's a good idea for you to take out a credit card to pay off your husband's debt. What kind of mentality is your husband in with regard to the debt? Meaning what would happen if you transferred the balance onto one of your cards (Making the debt legally YOURS and not his anymore..) and he was to then go and max out the cards again? You'd be stuck with double the debt ....

roswell

What sort of income does he have i would have thought you need a fair big wage top get 11 card to mount upto 104 K, First stops shoudl be citizens advice and CCCS

tyllwyd

Before your mum lends you any more money, I agree with roswell, you should talk to Payplan or CCCS and get some impartial advice. £100K is more than a lot of people's mortgages, and is going to take years to pay off. It may be that an IVA or bankruptcy is a more suitable option than a debt management plan.

Pinklepurr

If you haven't done so already, cut up all the cards so they cannot be used again. 104k is a shockingly high figure and almost as much as my mortgage. How does your DH feel about the debt? Is he as concerned and determined enough to sort it out? You need to seek professional help as quickly as possible. I wish you the best of luck.

gregrichards

I'm sorry but this is an awful lot of debt to be in and surely alarm bells should have been going off a long time ago that your were living well above your means.

I am not judging you both but I dont think it's fair for your mum to be paying debt that your husband has stupidly ran up. You must have assets that you can sell off from the £104 grand that has been spent.

Cars, tvs, clothes etc that can be sold should be. You have to downsize your cars and stick to an appropriate budget that you can live on so you can afford essentials.

I dont know if you can remortgage your house if you own it or sell it and move to a more affordable place. The same applies if you are renting.

I dont think I could sleep easy at night with a quarter of the debt your husband is in, you need to take control of the family finances so this situation improves and never happens again.

I may sound harsh but you could end up losing your home, having all your possesions taken from you and unable to get credit.

And a message to everyone including yourself DONT EVER GET A CREDIT CARD LIKE A MONUMENT ONE NEARLY 30% APR IS OUTRAGEOUS AND I DONT KNOW HOW THE COMPANY IS ABLE TO OPERATE. ALWAYS CHECK THE APR BEFORE YOU SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE.

bikerqueen

I'm sure if you dont pay them the minimum you are actually defaulting i'm afraid

james32_uk

There's some great advice in the above. The thing to understand is that at £100k it's going to take a long time to pay off. Defaults/bankruptcy/IVAs etc will only last on your credit history for 6 years and then drop off and it'll take longer than 6 years to pay it back. Therefore you shouldnt necessarily look upon them as bad things. If your husbands debts get defaulted they will soon get sold on to Debt Recovery Agenciess which in your situation is more likely to be a good thing! These DRAs will have paid peanuts to buy the debts and this makes them far more open to ceasing of interest, repayment plans that you can afford, and even final settlements that can be as low as 50% of the outstanding debt.

I strongly advise your HUSBAND (not you, but with your support) contacts someone like CCCS or Payplan. These are both charities who will give you your best options based on your circumstances - other debt management companies are out for themselves and will fleece you. Dont go to them!

Good luck and listen to what people say on here. Experience is a wonderful thing and there is shìt-loads of it here!

furrypaws_2

I hate to say it, but you need to admit you are in a position where you simply cannot take out any more cards or loans, even it it is to reduce your interest rates. I totally sympathise as I've been in the same situation too (currently waiting for a DMP to be set up on my £64K debt my ex hubby left me in). I did exactly the same thing you are and believe me, it doesn't help. I felt so much better after I went to National Debtline.

Red_Fraggle_3

I really would be against taking out things in your name (if you could get them) I have been stuck with that one by my ex

Do you have stuff you can sell or has he spent it on hols, eating out etc ?

He has to make the effort - do you think he is ? sorry of that sounds harsh

livinginhope

Evening GM

Just want to echo what others have said in that if you pay less than the minimum payment each month,then you are defaulting and a default notice will be issued,we were told that interest and charges can be stopped after the default notice,which is what happened.
I know exactly how you are feeling with a stupidly high debt,but it is there and has to be sorted,try not to worry,things will get sorted,but I think your husband has to take responsability for the problem and make sure it won't continue.
I also agree with the posters who said don't take on his debt,by getting a card yourself,you are in fact freeing up credit for him to use and unless he addresses the reasons for spending in the first place,he will spend it!
It is going to take a VERY long time to pay off this debt via a DMP,mine is 58 years,if you have a high income,maybe you should talk to CCCS about an IVA.
LIH