Feeling Totally Trapped

MattyF

carslet wrote: »

really is a bad position to be in, i know when i had mine, but i stopped going out a i have really cut my spending not as much as i would have liked but drastically from what i was doing.

i would cash in your bonds / shares and pay off these two cards straight away
Opus Credit Card...............1950......72........39.8
Vanquis Card...................1350......54........36

this would now give you an extra £126 to start paying towards your debt, and also try to stop spending anymore and try to cut anything else you can,
it is a long road ahead but you can do it. good luck

Thanks carslet,

I spoke to the people at work today who deal with the shares - there are no hardship clauses that enable me to cash the shares in 'early' - September 2013 is when I can get access, so it's a case of pulling my belt in on the expenses side and getting through until then - and then use that share money to attack the debt.

MattyF

emmaglet wrote: »

About freezing interest...

My Dad has been making his payments on time, etc. but he was forced to retire almost two years ago. I wrote to his two credit card companies a couple of weeks ago, detailing his income, expenditure and debts, asking to freeze interest. One was a very sharp 'NO' but the other company agreed to it. I honestly thought they would both say no, it was just something I'd offered to do for him. I just did a standard letter, no template, etc.

Thanks for your reply,

I'm going to write to each of the card companies this weekend - at the end of the day I can't really lose, although someone has mentioned a potential hike in interest later down the line but they also said that I could opt out of this.

MattyF

Walaboobah wrote: »

I think the only option for you is to go down the DMP route, I too had hoped we could struggle through for another 18 months or so until our loans were paid off and then my plan was to take out another loan to pay off the credit cards.

Guess, how I acquired the one loan in the first place though? Yep, paying off the credit cards and now back to square one with them.

I did try for another loan but just like you I was turned down as my credit level was more than 50% of my income.

I now realise that in most cases, getting credit to pay off credit doesn't work. We've been down that road numerous times over the last 20 years and it always comes back to bite you on the bum and will eventually catch up with you, like it did me and like it has done with you.

You need to break the credit cycle which is easier said than done believe me.

I signed up to a DMP in September with CCCS, everything has progressed smoothly so far and today the creditors received their share of the payment.

I am much happier and we now have a proper budget and regularly check the bank account and know what is going out and when.

The only downside is your credit rating will be totally shot and you may struggle to get a mortgage, I assume from the fact you are living with Dad that you are relatively young and may be looking to purchase at some point in the future.

That said, you are in no financial state to think about a mortgage at this moment in time but the sooner you pay your debts off the sooner you can start to repair it.

From a personal point of view I will never take out another loan or credit card, as soon as these debts are gone, everything I wish to purchase will be saved for, if we don't have the cash, we won't buy it!

Good luck and with your fight with the CSA

Hi Walaboobah,

Thanks for your reply, it's much appreciated.

I'm going to look into DMP's and take it from there.

At some point in the future I would like to be able to go for a mortgage so I'll have to see what effect a DMP would have on my rating and how long this would last for.

Having a proper budget is something that I really need to sort out - as I said earlier, I've buried my head in the sand over the years and to be honest I can't believe what a mess I have got myself into.

However, there appear to be some great people here all offering help and support and I am far more upbeat about things today as I was yesterday when I made my first post.

sefton

MattyF wrote: »

It's certainly something that divides opinion. I had no reason to doubt what I was being told, and had worked out, was the case. Had I had any doubt at the time I would have said something.

I did what I felt was right and that was to provide for the child that I believed I had fathered.

For a considerable part of the time I was paying maintenance the CSA rules were that if it was later found out that you were not the father you would have all money refunded in full.

They claim that they changed the rules in 2008. However, I have a screen capture of their website a week after I disputed paternity that clearly states that I would be refunded in full. They still won't budge.

As an aside, the latest letter I have from them states that if the 'real' father is found the CSA claim against him will only start from the date that he became known to them rather than the date of birth of the child in question.

It is only fair that they cannot backdate the claim against the real father. He is not in hiding or refusing to pay child support, I was actually wondering why you received legal advice the led you to try to get your money back. Are the CSA claiming the page you took the screen shot of was not actually live at the time you say it was. I don't know when the rules changed but it certainly has been the case for a few years that can only get a refund from the date you disputed parentage.

bargainbetty

MattyF wrote: »

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
RBS Credit Card................6550......147.......24.1
Beneficial Finance ............6863......137.......24.9
Opus Credit Card...............1950......72........39.8
First Direct Loan..............2189......274.......12.9
HSBC Card......................4800......125.......24.9
Vanquis Card...................1350......54........36
Capital One Card...............2100......84........32
Next Account...................2395......225.......24
Barclaycard....................500.......12........29.9
Bank of Ireland Card...........2900......73........16.6
Total unsecured debts..........31597.....1203......-

What are the chances of you freeing up enough money to pay off the Barclaycard? Could you borrow it from your Dad for a month or two?

My thought is this - clear the Barclaycard. It is high interest but a low balance. If you have a decent credit limit with tham, call and ask about a low-life-of-balance transfer, not a 0%. With LLOB they still make money, so might be more willing to offer it to you, and it might reduce the interest to 6 or 7%.

Depending on the available credit limit, you might be able to empty the Vanquis or Opus card onto it, massively reducing the interest rate, which would probably drop the minimum payment and would let you throw the extra money at another high-rate debt instead. Clearing Capital One might also be a good option, because they might also offer you a LLOB on the empty card, letting you clear a second card.

I echo the comments about a DMP and definitely a second job, but you might be able to tart the cards you have first, to get some breathing room.

Good luck

[Deleted User]

MattyF wrote: »

£10 of the monthly charge is for Orange care (insurance).

Phone insurance?

£120 pa seems an awful lot to insure a phone?

Must be quite some phone.

Lulu21

I am in similar situation to yours. I have around £20K of debt. Just contacted national debt helpline and their referred my to PayPlan. Just started to sorting things out. No bank wanted to loan me the money and my overall debt was far too high.

MacsReturns

MattyF wrote: »

The second part is a monthly share scheme. I pay about £40 per month into the scheme and for every share that I purchase (currently about £30 each at the minute) the company gives me 2 additional shares for free.

......

I haven't worked the maths out to see if I should throw this £40 per month share payment at a debt or not?

Don't give this up. You are getting £120 worth for £40 - you'll never cut your debt anywhere near this rate. That £40 is the hardest-working bit of your money right now. Put it another way, you can pay an extra £40 towards your debt by reducing your income by £80. NOT a good deal :cool:

One other thing I'd consider - address that £500 on Barclaycard: on all your others just pay minimum with NO overpayments, and put the overpayments ONLY to BC. You might be able to clear it in a month or two that way and it's one off the list (a good psychological boost to know you've killed one monster, at least ) and that interest rate IS a monster...
Good luck :beer:

Boris_Allen

sefton wrote: »

It may well be that as far as the law is concerned it makes no difference if the mother got the paternity wrong or lied about it in the first place. Finding out you are not the father does not in itself entitle you to get any money back. When they come after you is the time to make the noise I'm afraid.

What a disgusting feminist society we live in, where a fraudulent mother can get away with effectively government sanctioned theft of 36k

DebtClearer

Interestingly at a time when child benefit is "apparently" due to be limited to 2 kids I think this the kind of story the press would jump all over, though obviously it may have social ramifications for you. The press would probably sell it as "desperate women tricks man in to £36,000 support payments".

Presumably you thought this kid was yours and so therefore in essence you admitted to the kid being yours. Therefore the CSA havn't really breached any of their own rules for making a claim against you whilst the child was growing up. I actually know someone who went through a similar experience, broke up with gf whilst she was pregnant and he demanded a DNA test before any payments were made. He was the Dad though.

Re the debt it doesn't sound like a managable level. I have been fortunate that my credit history seems good enough to get 0% cards at the moment. I think you need some profesional advice on this as quite simply you can't meet the minimum payments at the moment.

Good luck friend.