Dealing with debts and debt disputes

icequeen01

Hi,

I was informed a couple of months ago that I had been overpaid council tax benefit over a period of three years (700). They are saying it has to be paid back in one go and I cannot afford this. Do I have any rights in regard to the way I can pay it back. I do work but my income is small and I have to pay full rent/council tax plus usual bills. I receive a small amount of tax credits. I am now worried they will take me to court and then give the debt to bailiffs. This will just make the situation much worse as they will just pile on more charges.
Please help.

els1989

I'm paying a company to sort out my debts. I have 4 credit cards and every month I was paying the minimum amount (amounting to £200 a month altogether) and every month after the interest was added on I was back where I started. I really want to be debt free so I am paying a company to sort my debts for me. Is there a way I can do this without having to pay a third party?
Thanks.

varoma

Hi
I hope you can help.
I took out a loan with Log Book Loans in December 2011. Earlier this year I was advised via letter that they had been taken over by Nine Regions. Several months later, I received another letter saying that Hermes Property Service had taken over my account. Around this time I started on a debt management plan with CCCS. During a very nasty phone call with Hermes I (foolishly) agreed to pay £85 over 3 months as a good will gesture. CCCS were of no help when I advised of the phone call and just dismissed my worries. The last £85 payment was due in October and I wasn't able to pay it, so I emailed and sent a letter to Hermes to advise that I couldn't pay but I have had no reply.
I had subsequently been advised that Agent Field Force UK now had my debt, but at the beginning of November CCCS wrote to me to inform me that Agent Field Force no longer had my account so all payments to this debt have been put on hold as I don't know where the account is and who the payments should be going to.
The loan is secured on my car and I don't want it to be re-possessed but I don't know what to do. I don't know who to contact.
I hope that makes sense.

flyingember

Hello,

I am helping a young relative who has got into difficulty with his money. In short,

About a year ago he took out three "pay day" loans which, due to a change in his circumstances, he could not pay back. The loans, which total around £1500/£1600, have been passed to collection agencies. With my help he arranged for interest to be frozen and to make token payments of £1 per month each, £3 per month in total.

He subsequently become very ill and was in hospital for some months. While he was in hospital the payments were keep up but he stopped making them when he came out and, not surprisingly, the companies are after him for their money. He is in receipt of ESA and attends college part time. He has no assets of any worth and does not own a push bike let alone a car.

He has heard of a Debt Relief Order and would like to get one as he thinks this will wipe out his debt and allow him to start with a clean slate. He feels the stress of this amount of debt while on benefits is not helping his health.

I would like to advise him but do not know the pros and cons of DRO. Is he likely to get one and if so what will be the effect on the debt and on his future abilities to obtain credit should his health improve and he finds a job?

To be honest I don't think it would be a bad thing if he could not borrow money for sometime as I don't think he has had a "light bulb" moment and he may just run up debt again. However, he may wish to rent a flat or get a contract phone.

Many thanks

fe

sbstab

Hi, I loaned a friend £2000 to help with publishing a book of thiers and I paid for a loan agreement contract off of the internet to be made up for us both to sign which stated the monthly amounts to be paid by my friend, the date, the amount and what would happen if non payments were made etc etc I received 3 months payments and now my friend is saying that he cannot pay me the remainder of the loan which is £1400. What can i do? i've looked at making a small claims case but it is going to cost me £80 just to fill in the initial N1 form! i'm worried that i will end up paying allot of court fees which will make the claim for the remainder of the loan pointless and thats if i win! (and my friend actually pays what is owed on demand of the court which i dont think will happen) and i would have to pay the court to appoint baylifts. Do I have any other options? I have the contract and all text messages saved between me and my friend as evidence along with bank transfer statements etc. Any advise would help. Thank you.

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi Disobey, thank you for your query regarding overdraft debt.
If the original charges were caused by a bill coming out of your account twice in one month and it was the fault of Sky I would suggest you initially complain to Sky and ask them to reimburse you the unauthorised overdraft fees you have been caused but what often happens is that if there is not enough money in an account to pay a direct debit and it is returned unpaid it looks like it has come out and gone back in on the statement and then Sky would have been justified to try again within a few days and if you don't pay the amount owed or cancel the direct debt this can go on for some time triggering further charges and resulting in the overdraft spiralling out of control. If you think you informed the bank of your financial difficulties and they did not help in any way (such as suggesting you cancel direct debits you cannot afford to pay to prevent charges) then you could make a complaint to the bank and if you are unhappy with the response you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If you just ignored the debt and did not contact them or give them your current address then the grounds for a complaint will be weaker. This is however a non-priority debt so you can negotiate a payment arrangement and to do this you need to complete a detailed budget and write to them with an offer of repayment you can afford. You can find details on how to complain to a bank and the Financial Ombudsman Service and information on completing a budget and template letters to negotiate repayments with creditors at www.adviceguide.org.uk. If you have other debts which you are struggling to repay I would suggest you seek advice from a debt adviser and you can find your local Citizens Advice Bureau at www.citizensadvice.org.uk.
Hope this is of assistance.

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi icequeen1, thank you for your query regarding council tax overpayment.
If you are not a current benefit claimaint and you owe an overpayment you can complete a budget and make an affordable offer of repayment to them. There is information on how to complete a budget and template letters to negotiate repayments with creditors at www.adviceguide.org.uk. If they decide they cannot accept the offer because, for example, it will take too long to recover then they can take the debt to the county court and you will then be given the opportunity to make an offer of repayment which will be considered by the court taking into account all your circumstances and if you are on a low income and have no assets and your expenditure is within reasonable guidelines it is unlikely the court would not accept an offer of repayment. If you have other debts which you are struggling to repay I would suggest you seek assistance from a debt adviser and you can find your local Citizens Advice Bureau at www.citizensadvice.org.uk.
Hope this is of assistance.

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi els1989, thank you for your query regarding paying someone else to sort my debts.
Firstly it sounds like you have a Debt Management Plan but I would suggest you check to make sure that is the case as if it is a IVA then different rules apply and I would not suggest cancelling it without getting specialist advice first. If it is a Debt Management Plan I would suggest you check the terms and conditions re cancellation and if you can cancel then you can negotiate repayments with your creditors yourself using a budget and template letters you can find at www.adviceguide.org.uk but that will mean having to deal with your creditors directly and making payments to each creditor rather than one monthly payment. There are also some non-fee charging Debt Management Companies including Payplan and Step Change (formally CCCS) who offer Debt Management Plans with no cost to you.
Hope this is of assistance.

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi Varoma, thank you for your query regarding Log Book Loans
If a creditor sells a debt on it should send you a letter of assignment to inform you of this but otherwise a company may just be collecting for that debt and so you can still contact the original creditor to discuss repayment. As your Debt Management Plan is being dealt with by CCCS I would suggest you contact them again regarding this issue and your concerns that the car will be repossessed which is a possibility with a Log Book Loan which is often secured by a Bill of Sale which means the car is the property of the creditor until all the payments have been made.
Hope this is of assistance.

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi Flyingember, thank you for your query regarding Debt Relief Order
A Debt Relief Order is a form of insolvency available to people with under £15,000 in debt, less than £50 per month available income and assets of less than £300. It costs £90 and the payment can be made in instalments before it is submitted. It is an online application which has to be submitted by an Approved Intermediary who is an experienced debt adviser. A Debt Relief Order will put all the debts included (some debts such as student loans, magistrates courts fines and child support arrears are excluded) on hold for 12 months and if the debtor's circumstances have not improved within that time then the debts will be written off. A Debt Relief Order will affect a debtor's credit reference for 6 years and getting everyday type of credit can be difficult so may not be able to get anything more than a basic phone on a mobile phone contract and may need a guarantor if looking to rent privately. A Debt Relief Order can also affect certain jobs such as those in banking, legal or finance sectors or some jobs requiring professional membership or any requiring a credit reference and can also affect if become self employed.
I would suggest your friend seek advice from a debt adviser to discuss this option in full, especially as the amount of debt is relatively small. A debt adviser can also look at other options for example asking for write offs on medical grounds or an Administration Order. You can find your local Citizens Advice Bureau at www.citizensadvice.org.uk. Before attending an appointment with a debt adviser it is helpful to complete a detailed income and expenditure, gather up to date balance and account number for each creditor plus original agreements if you have them, proof of income and a credit report.
Hope this is of assistance.