Help Please!!!

BreakFree_3

Dear All

I feel physically sick and haven't been able to sleep in days. I'm in work and can't concentrate on what I have to do and am in danger of falling apart.

A number of years ago I was in a difficult relationship which ended badly. As a result I was left with a significant amount of debt to pay off - as I had a better job than my partner at the time I borrowed on behalf of both of us. What I thought we would both pay back together I ended up paying, or trying to pay back. Panicking I fell for the "consolidate to clear" promise from all the advertisements. All this meant was that I ended up owing more as I stupidly didn't clear everything.

I'm now with a great girl who knows nothing about my situation and I am terrified of letting her down!

I never really had to face up to the debt I had as the job I am in meant I spent a lot of time travelling and this resulted in significant extra payment each month. Now this travel has come to an end and so to have the extra payments. I have a severe problem in that I pay out significantly more than I bring in.

I had a bit of a surplus from savings and share schemes that allowed my to meet all my commitments but this is running out fast and I don't know what to do.

My current SOA is looks like:

Net Pay : £1650 per month

Commitments :

Loan 1 - £399 - Ends Feb 08
Loan 2 - £272 - Ends Feb 09
Loan 3 - £612 - Ends Feb 10
Loan 4 - £366 - Ends Mar 09
Credit Card 1 - £140 - Balance of £5900
Credit Card 2 - £120 - Balance of £5000
TOTAL - £1909

I have moved home with my parents, have a company car and phone so have no other commitments. I also have no assets!! Wot a waste of a life at 30+

I have an excellent credit rating as I have so far to miss a payment on any of these loans etc. but this will change very quickly as I am going to struggle going forward. I want to be proactive and sort this before I start to get hassled for missing payments.

I have thought about writing to my lenders and asking them to allow me to pay less over a longer period but I'm afraid in case they say no!

I am really reluctant to go down the IVA or BR route.

Please help!

southwester_2

HI and well done for posting, you are on your way.

Other people will be on here advising on the financial situation but I have some sound advice as Ive been there. Do not keep this a secret from the one you love, I did for 2 years and it made me a nervous wreck, they will find out in the long term anyway, believe me. I used to run to the door to get the post, lie and be deceitful, not a healthy lifestyle.

My telling her, which will be very hard, you will be sharing a major problem, you will feel the relief that you are not on your own. Obviously you need to weigh up if you think your OH will support you, only you will know that, this was my main worry but we are working it out together. Dont get me wrong, she went ballistic but once over the initial shock (£27000), we seem to be moving in the right direction.

As I said it was from personal experince and everybody is differant

smashedbooboo

Hi hun and welcome, Are the figures above what you are paying now or what is left on each account, Ie is the balance on your card 5000 or is the lower payment the balance. Sorry dont seem to come across as being thick but if you could clarify it would be great Thanks hun and well done for facing up to things

smashedbooboo

Could you post up your balances etc and the apr on each loan or card. That way someone who comes along and knows more about this sort of thing will be able to give you more accurate advice

chevalier

Hi there
What are the APR's for the debts?
The reason being that you could ask all of your creditors if they will reduce the APR as you are thinking of moving to a better deal. Some of them might say yes, which would save you a bit.

Secondly if your credit score is still good, then perhaps you could apply for one of the 0% on balance transfer cards, and transfer over whichever debt currently has the highest APR. Then you could do minimum payments on the new card, and pay back more off the next highest APR debt.

Have a look at https://www.whatsthecost.co.uk as this has a calculator to show you the way to minimise the interest you pay.
chev

BreakFree_3

Thanks for your initial responses.

The amounts I have listed are the monthly payments I have to make on each of the loans and the dates are when I'm due to finish paying

The outstanding amounts are:

Loan 1 - £3091
Loan 2 - £6021
Loan 3 - £22029
Loan 4 - £9096

I don't have the APRs for any of the loans at hand - I do remember as I got each of them that they were the best deals on the market at the time. Same with the credit cards!

lonely_2

Hi there, who are your creditors? If they are reputable high street companies, and you have an excellent credit history, I'm sure negotiating better payments terms would be possible. Alternatively you could talk to a fee-free company, like CCCS or Payplan, and let them do this on your behalf. This can all seem very confusing at first, but you will honestly feel much, much better afterwards.

BreakFree_3

Would this be like a Debt Management Plan? Is it better if it comes from me or from someone like CCCS?

The loans I have are with:
Northern Rock
Intelligent Finance
Halifax
Cetelem

The credit cards are with Halifax and MBNA.

I bank with Halifax - should I change before writing in case they panic if I was to write to them?

Cheers again for the advice

bandraoi

Do you have PPI on any of them that you can cancel?
I would definitly look for 0% deals, and ASAP, you will soon start missing payments and not be able to get them.

How about salary negotiations with your employers, your lack of travel means you've effectively taken a pay cut, and £1650 is not a very high salary for someone who has previously had the trust of the company to go abroad, and is 30+.

Alternatively a new job may be the answer.

BreakFree_3

I don't think a new job is a possiblity - I really enjoy my job and for the part of the country I live in the salary I earn is quite good. Having a company car add a fair bit to my tax cost each month but not so much as not having the car would cost.

Unfortunately the extra money was a reward for the travel I did. Once the travel stopped so did the money - Just the nature of the business I'm in!

BreakFree_3

I cancelled all of hte PPI last month!