Need advice please!!!! :(

ilovemyboy

Hi, am really needing some help and advice please. For the past 18 mths i have been slowly sorting out my debts with the help of a debt management company called Churchwood Financial. This was before i found out you didn't have to pay for a service such as this!! Silly me!!

Now my circumstances have changed and my husband has left the marital home. I am a student and only receive an £85 per week wage. I also have a 2 year old boy.

My debts are £1168-25 to MBNA loans and £2104.83 to Santander. I was wondering if anyboby would be able to advise me of what to do now i have cancelled my direct debit with churchwood financial. Would it be best to ask the 2 companies i owe money to if i could set up a standing order every month to pay them or would it be more wise to ask them for a full and final settlement figure (as my mum has said she may be able to loan me the money to pay them). What would you recommend i do? I just want rid of the debt now that i'm on my own and am having to budget.
I would be massively greatful for any help you can give me.
Many thanks.

Tixy

Have you written to inform churchwood you want to cancel your DMP as well as cancelled the DD? If not I would do this asap.

Then I'd probably get some advice from one of the debt charities. On that low an income it might be that you would want to consider a DRO for example. Certainly if mum could afford and is willing to lend you the money you could ask for F&F settlements.
Are your debts still being paid to the original creditors? have they been passed to debt collectors yet? You'll be more likely to get decent F&Fs if they are now with debt collectors. You also might get better deals if you write to your creditors, explain the change in circumstances and your financial situation and offer them a very low monthly payment direct by SO and then make the F&F offers after a few months.

ilovemyboy

Thanks v.much for the advice. I have actually just written churchwood a letter today asking them to cancel my plan. My debts are still with the original companies due to me having the dmp with churchwood. I rang santander to ask if i could 'go it alone' so to speak and they weren't very helpful tbh, they said i would have to fill out an income and expenditure form. I have contacted payplan to get some advice and it is excellent advice too but i have never had to do this myself, (and i am fully aware of how childish and pathetic that sounds), so i feel very naive and unsure of things

Tixy

One of the charities - or payplan - should guide you through it. I'd guess you probably won't have enough income to be able to have them do a managed DMP for you (you usually have to be able to afford £100 to your creditors for them to manage your DMP), but they should provide you with template letters and guidance to help you manage the payments yourself. If doing your own monthly payments then you are likely to need to do an income & expenditure so you can show the new lower monthly amount you are offering is what you can afford now.
National debtline website has lots of template letters, or you might want to try completing the CCCS online debt remedy to put your income & expenditure together.

Usually speaking to your creditors on the phone proves to be little help as you found, generally best to do everything through letters.

If you do end up on a self managed DMP there are several support threads on here where you can just get general support or ask any questions or worries you have once you are in your new DMP. And many of those people also started off knowing very little and being very worried but you'll soon get in the swing of things and you can ask any question on here - no such thing as a stupid question.:)

Finally - if you are not sure about the income & expenditure and what is likely to be acceptable to creditors etc then if you post it on here you will get people both suggesting what a creditor will accept and won't and also tips on keeping costs down, getting things cheaper etc.