Newbie-about to embark on the CCCS route-advice please?

Jak65

thatsean wrote: »

I was terrified when I made the first call, but it suddenly becomes a lot easier after that, In one week I've sent lots of letters to creditors pointing them to Payplan, and had a massive clear out of old letters, done scanning and shredding. I feel like i'm on top of it all now. There isn't a penny outstanding that I don't know about, and I'm already feeling a lot better.

I used to work for a telecoms firm, and we credit checked employees as we sold insurance, and therefore had to comply with some form of FSA regs. The rules we used were CCJs were fine so long as a payment plan was in place before the employee knew about the credit check, and it was up do date. Discharged BR was fine. Undischarged BR, arrears on court ordered CCJ payments and CIFAS/fraud was not.

Clearly I don't know what your employer is looking for, but I'd have thought they are fairly standard checks, and don't seem too unreasonable - the test seems to be has the person "bitten the bullet" as it were. Perhaps a chat with your HR people might be in order?

No-one can make the decision for you, I did it because I'm an expert in my field of work, I'm not in finance. I'd rather let someone who has arranged 1,000 payment plans before arrange one for me, rather than try on my own.

From what you've posted on here, I honestly believe that entering into the DMP can in the short term certainly not make things worse, and mid to long term give you real optimism about the future.

My thread is "about to take the plunge" in the DFW section, I am sure some of it will resonate with you. Hopefully it helps.

Hi, thank you, yes that does help, thanks for your reply. The work thing was worrying me, but then I thought, what can they do really? We weren't even asked our permission to be credit checked, they just went ahead and did it - is that right? Anyway (up to press!) no CCJs or anything hideous like that, but my credit rating won't make for pleasant reading I'm sure! Well, you have contributed even further to inspire me to go for it and I can't thank you (and everyone else) enough. Now, go and get that shredder oiled :rotfl: and I'll keep you posted. Thanks again. xx

savvykaz

Hi Jak, my DH and I were in exactly the same boat as you, dithering about what to do and DH said he honestly thought we should sell and release all our equity (£70,000) to pay off our debts. Whilst I could see his reasoning I was against it as he's 60 and I know we'd never get on the housing ladder again and I certainly aren't renting for the next 20-30 years :eek:. So, I contacted CCCS, filled in the on-line forms and last Thursday took the pack to the post office and took the biggest step in our lives (second to getting married ) and posted it! Since then I can honestly say DH and I have felt sooo much more relaxed and even laugh together now, before it was all stress over our debts. I'm under no illusion it's going to be an easy ride and I'm sure there'll be times when we ask if we've done the right thing, but one thing's for sure, we could not have gone on as we were.
If we keep to our plan with CCCS and stick to our spending budget we should be debt free in 6 years time
Make the right choice for you but do it now, if you keep stalling you might never do it xx

Jak65

savvykaz wrote: »

Hi Jak, my DH and I were in exactly the same boat as you, dithering about what to do and DH said he honestly thought we should sell and release all our equity (£70,000) to pay off our debts. Whilst I could see his reasoning I was against it as he's 60 and I know we'd never get on the housing ladder again and I certainly aren't renting for the next 20-30 years :eek:. So, I contacted CCCS, filled in the on-line forms and last Thursday took the pack to the post office and took the biggest step in our lives (second to getting married ) and posted it! Since then I can honestly say DH and I have felt sooo much more relaxed and even laugh together now, before it was all stress over our debts. I'm under no illusion it's going to be an easy ride and I'm sure there'll be times when we ask if we've done the right thing, but one thing's for sure, we could not have gone on as we were.
If we keep to our plan with CCCS and stick to our spending budget we should be debt free in 6 years time
Make the right choice for you but do it now, if you keep stalling you might never do it xx

Hi, thank you so much for that. Yes, you're quite right, I have been stalling but have now made a "things to do list" starting tomorrow when I am going to open a basic account, then start composing letters to my creditors :eek: I know this has got to be done, but I feel so humiliated and ashamed I'm finding it really difficult to face up to everything. As you may have seen from my other posts, I am also completely on my own in this and not another soul (apart from the fab people on here!) knows anything about my predicament. Anyway, wish me luck, and I also wish you all the best with everything. Keep me posted on how it's going, and well done. :T

Jak. x

thatsean

Jak, sure you know this - but when you open your new bank account, make sure it's not in the same banking groups that you have debts - eg. Don't go to Lloyds if you have a Sainsbury's credit card etc. There's a god guide on here of the details of the set-off rights, and who owns who so you can work out which bank account to go for.

Well done on getting things rolling!

savvykaz

Jak I totally understand your feeling of shame and humiliation, we were the same; we're two mature adults and we owe this amount of money :eek:, BUT, I do also think the financial organisations have a lot to answer to, yes, no-one made us take on the credit but it was all too easy to acquire and then when things get tough they slam you with all sorts of penalties.

Admitting your debt is the hardest step you've taken and you're wanting to deal with it, so it's onwards and upwards from here. Sort out your new bank account (we went with Lloyds TSB), post the forms off and hold your head up high, you've taken control , I will keep posting and we can encourage each other along the way. Good luck Jak, things are going to get better xx

The_mangler

Jak65 wrote: »

Hi, thank you so much for that. Yes, you're quite right, I have been stalling but have now made a "things to do list" starting tomorrow when I am going to open a basic account, then start composing letters to my creditors :eek: I know this has got to be done, but I feel so humiliated and ashamed I'm finding it really difficult to face up to everything. As you may have seen from my other posts, I am also completely on my own in this and not another soul (apart from the fab people on here!) knows anything about my predicament. Anyway, wish me luck, and I also wish you all the best with everything. Keep me posted on how it's going, and well done. :T

Jak. x

I too understand your feelings. Ive just started down the DMP route, first payment goes out on 1st June but its taken me ages to accept I was in over my head, I now wish Id done this months ago (if not years). The amounts Ive paid in interest payments would have put me clearly back in the driving seat but I was too proud to admit how much trouble Id got myself into, plus I am a treasurer for a couple of local organisations, the thought that this would get out has made me hesitate.

Good luck, as others told me you are now back in control of your debts, look forwards to the future now.

cfc1963

Hi there - reading through these posts has made me feel much better in knowing that I am not alone with my debts. Like Jak, I have contacted payplan and cccs and have all the forms signed and ready to go. I have debts with m&s (loan) sainsburys (loan) and mbna (cc - currently on interest free till Feb next year). The m&s loan in only 9 months old and the sainsburys one 5 months - so am so worried about how they will react to such debt problem so soon into a loan.

I am going to sit down with my husband this weekend to tell him how things stand (up till now he has an inclling that there is a major debt problem but not the full extent).

Can those recently on DMPs please tell me what to expect for the first few months - how it could affect future mobile phone contracts and really how many angry letters I can expect - just so I can present clear cold facts to my other half when we start discussing my options. I know when we discussed these things a few years back he did state that I wasnt going to drag him down the debt route (never been in debt his entire life except mortgage) ....... help and advice for the weekend would be very much appreciated.

thatsean

Hi cfc1963. Welcome! I'm perhaps too new to be able to answer all of your questions - but I'll have a go. When you enter into a DMP, and your creditors accept the offer (lets assume they do for now), it's likely that they will file defaults against you for the amounts, as they are accepting a lower offer of payment than in the contract. So, mobiles, credit cards, car finance probably isn't going to happen.

If you have a mobile now that you're happy with, your account with your provider wont be closed, so you can carry on using it, and adding new lines or upgrading - but it's likely you'll fail a credit check for a new one.

Likewise, if you're used to using credit cards as a fallback, make sure your new budget is optimistic enough for you to squirrel away some cash (and make sure you do!), because Comet won't be interested in you if the washer breaks down!

How bad this is for ypu depends on your circumstances, I'm studying right now, and don't need to run a car, so the fact that my credit is taking a nose dive for the next 6 years isn't as scary as it could be. If you or your husband work in finance or an industry where a credit check is needed you might need to research your options a little further.

There's a lot of support on here, I was astonished by it, and I'm happy to try and answer any question you might have, if I can't - there are lots more knowledgeable people on here!

In terms of angry letters - I've had one so far, I put it in an envelope and mailed it to Payplan - as per their instructions!

Good luck.

cfc1963

thanks thatsean - am really struggling to decide what to do - but i do know if i carry on this way i am going to sink and drown !!! I too am amazed at the support on this site - i think for the last month this has been the only website ive been on - even at work i am trawling through the posts here trying to decide my best route - fortunately no one can see what Im looking at at work

thatsean

No problem, no one can tell you what;s right for you, but you've come this far - I hope you work out what's going to be best. If you go through some of my posts you'll see a bit of a diary that I made only last week when I set up my DMP - i can't describe the feeling of relief!

All the best! :-)