Help Re: DAS (SCOTLAND)

monday_blues

Cheers Risingfrom the Ashes, it appears to be more guaranteed, as if the creditors say no, if reasonable they insist the creditors accept it. However, lots of questions, hopefully some people will be able to help... Thank you.

monday_blues

Just a wee update guys....I've heard back from the CAB and it looks likely that we'll be accepted for a DAS and they think that is the best course of action for us. Still frightened but more together and realise we have a problem that just needs a solution, and this may just be the solution! Thanks for all the advice to date x

skintandfat

I would really suggest you sort your mortgage out before you give anyone wind of your debt problems as all the shutters will come crashing down

Your property is at the top of the list- sort that and look at everything else then

I will repeat others and contact free advice- your local council should have debt advisors

monday_blues

Thanks SkintandFat, appreciate the advice. Do you think we should fix the rate today and convert back to repayment, or wait till we see the CAB advisor tomorrow and see what he says. Havent done it yet because wanted to ensure we are meet the criteria for the das in the first place and wasn't sure what payments they would dictate to us....therefore didnt want to jump the gun and lock ourselves iinto anything till we were further down the road. However, appreciate what your saying, what do you think : today/over weekend to phone Santander????

monday_blues

I didnt know whether to start a new thread or just add on to this one, so hope some of you kind people will respond ..... Still in relation to going down the DAS route, I have been to see the CAB advisor for a meeting and ran through some options, the DAS being the most suitable for us as we have equity in our home.

I expressed my concerns to him about what happens when my fixed rate is up, will my current lender let us go onto another fixed rate, or will we be stuck on variable rate if the rates are sky high. He more or less said that its up to the lender, but if they did stick us on variable and the payment was high, that we would just contact das and basically need to pay less to our creditors and the plan would take longer to pay off.

In one sense that solves a problem. Really dont want to take severe action like this in an effort to protect our home only to find years later that we lose it as seen as a bad risk.

So while I think DAS is the way to go, it did start me wondering again about whether there was any other way we could do it to protect our home in the longer term i.e. das solo instead of joint. In the short term I know our records will be trashed, but our fixed rates will be up in 2018 (6 years from now) the das is likely to be for 10 years (and dunno if this is right but the advisor said that our credit will be affected for 5 years after it ends????) I thought it was 6 years but maybe picked this bit up wrong.

To summarise, we have the following

Credit Cards in my name amounting to approx £13,000

Joint Loan about £8,600 outstanding ( 2 1/2 years to run)

Credit cards in hubby's name amounting to approx £9,000

I was wondering if it would be an option for me to do the das single name,
and husband to muddle by with his cards and loan as 21/2 years the loan will be paid off, and the loan is the same lender as our mortgage (Santander)

Our current minimum payments are about £750 per month which we cannot meet
The DAS joint is probably going to be about £250 for 10 years
Don't know if my thoughts of single das would be an option, or indeed what the payments would all amount to? REally want to get a grip on this one way or another, but frightened to sign ourselves up to somethiing which may help one problem (debt) but create another (mortgage). Would my suggestion be viable or a good idea?

Please please throw your opinions in, I need others' opinions on this?

rising_from_the_ashes

My own thoughts (and not an expert so bear that in mind) - if you've both debts (as noted above) then bite the bullet and do the joint DAS.

If you do the sole one for your debts with your OH still struggling along with his debts, then I think you'd still be struggling - for me, the "beauty" of any debt management plan, is that your payments are fixed at what you can afford and it should leave you enough to live on - I'd be worried about losing that "security" if doing the sole DAS whilst the other partner still has debts.

Does your OH have missed payments etc already?

With regard to the mortgage .... again, personal opinion, but 2018 is a long time away .... there could be a huge change in your circumstances before or by then which could have a big bearing on this (who knows you may both get better paid jobs and be able to clear the debts before then) and by even having the sole DAS this will affect your credit rating - which will have an impact if it's a joint mortgage.

Food for thought .....

Miss_Poohs

My husband is in a DAS long term, but I'm not. The house we live in is mine and the mortgage is in my name only, so our situation is a wee bit different from yours. The DAS is great in that all interest and charges are frozen and no action can be taken against you so long as you keep to your DAS payments, therefore protecting your home.

2018 is a long time away - so I'd be thinking more about how your husband will cope with hs debts if you take a solo DAS?

Good luck.

MissP

monday_blues

hmmm thanks Miss Poos and Rising from the Ashes, I get where you're coming from, its just the mortgage that's a big concern, and, the fact that this joint loan only has 2 1/2 years to go (was 8 years) which would have made a big difference to overall picture in so much that perhaps situation with other lenders would be in a mess, but with Santander it would have been intact (does that make sense) x

Miss_Poohs

Is your mortgage joint as well?

I'm just thinking that even if you go for your own DAS and leave things as they are with your hubs, by the time the mortgage comes round in 6 yrs you would still be in the DAS anyway which may have an effect on what you will be able to apply for mortgage deal wise if you're in a joint mortgage.

Miss P

rising_from_the_ashes

Is it a joint mortgage?

If so, even having one of you on the DAS would affect your ability at renewal time.

Sticking with my original thoughts .... 6 years until 2018 when the mortgage can be reviewed is a long time and a long time to be struggling.

Even if you did the sole DAS and you still have the joint loan (not sure how that works if one partner enters the DAS & the other doesn't?) 2 1/2 years is still a long time to struggle along.