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scared1

Just a quick question about mortgages- I have a mortgage and the fixed rate is due to expire in November. At the moment the variable rate would mean a saving and am pleased to be going onto that. I am just wondering though if it starts to rise and i need a fixed rate again would this be something I would be offered with 4 years on a DMP. I have another 5 to go. No CCJs just defaults and obviously the arreas etc. I am worried as my house it the only asset I will have and if I lose the mortgage I can't imagine anybody else would offer me a mortgage.

Thankyou in advance

kaka

Hi
Just wanted some advice for my wife.
She has unsecured debt of £26,340.
Credit cards amount to £14,840.
Hp car £3000
HSBC personal loan £4000
Overdrafts £4500. Total £26,340.

Not behind on payments, but I think she has finally realised she can't go on getting into debt. She has to work extra shifts to break even and I can't help that much because I'm on a low income.

I was just looking at the options available, bankruptcy is out of the question because we would lose our house. If she was to go on a iva or dmp what would happen about the car, would they take that away.

At least one good thing is she has finally realised it is a problem although she is still thinking about getting a loan for £25k to pay her debts off and be left with one payment of £379. I'm against this totally, I keep telling her to go for maybe a dmp and not depend on overtime. Just looking for advice.

StepChange_James

harvey180 wrote: »

Thanks very much James for the reply. Can I check, does the CCJ come off my file 6 years after I receive it or 6 years after I make my last payment.

My concern was that I would have to wait 6 years after my DMP has finished before mortgage lenders would look at me.
By the way, I've let Stepchange know about the CCJ, when I received it.

Thanks,
J

Hi Harvey,

It's six years from the date you get the CCJ.

If you'd like to see what's on your credit report you can get a copy here: https://www.noddle.co.uk/.

Cheers

James

StepChange_James

scared1 wrote: »

Just a quick question about mortgages- I have a mortgage and the fixed rate is due to expire in November. At the moment the variable rate would mean a saving and am pleased to be going onto that. I am just wondering though if it starts to rise and i need a fixed rate again would this be something I would be offered with 4 years on a DMP. I have another 5 to go. No CCJs just defaults and obviously the arreas etc. I am worried as my house it the only asset I will have and if I lose the mortgage I can't imagine anybody else would offer me a mortgage.

Thankyou in advance

Hello,

Thanks for posting.

It's very hard to say what the mortgage market will be like in the future, so it's tricky to give any firm answers.

It's fairly common these days for the variable rates to be cheaper than the fixed rates people are coming off. If things were to change and the variable rate stopped being a good deal then you could look into remortgaging.

You might find Martin's remortgaging guide useful: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/remortgage-guide. Having a not great credit rating will probably make it harder to get the very best mortgage deals but there are a lot of other factors involved in mortgage lending decisions, so it might not be as bad as you think.

Hope this helps.

James

System

kaka wrote: »

Hi
Just wanted some advice for my wife.
She has unsecured debt of £26,340.
Credit cards amount to £14,840.
Hp car £3000
HSBC personal loan £4000
Overdrafts £4500. Total £26,340.

Not behind on payments, but I think she has finally realised she can't go on getting into debt. She has to work extra shifts to break even and I can't help that much because I'm on a low income.

I was just looking at the options available, bankruptcy is out of the question because we would lose our house. If she was to go on a iva or dmp what would happen about the car, would they take that away.

At least one good thing is she has finally realised it is a problem although she is still thinking about getting a loan for £25k to pay her debts off and be left with one payment of £379. I'm against this totally, I keep telling her to go for maybe a dmp and not depend on overtime. Just looking for advice.

Hi there,

It is good that your partner has admitted that she needs debt help. We can give her the help she needs. It’s difficult to give definite advice as the best debt solution for her depends on more factors than the level of debt. We would need to know more about her situation.

To get a personal action plan with clear advice on how to best deal with her debts she could use our confidential online tool – Debt Remedy. Or get in contact to speak to a debt advisor.

If we were to advise on a debt solution things like assets (car, house) would be taken into consideration. But to answer your questions, you wouldn’t necessarily lose the house with bankruptcy though it is a possibility. As an IVA is a form of insolvency like bankruptcy the car would be considered an asset so she could be made to sell it. Both of these things depend on the Insolvency Practitioner or Official Receiver and vary form case to case.

Unsecured debt like the debt you have listed should only be paid from disposable income. This is the income she has left from her income once she has paid priorities like mortgage, household bills, food and living costs. The fact that she has to do overtime to pay all of her debts suggests she cannot afford the payments. With a DMP only her regular income would be taken into consideration – extra shifts can always be stopped with no warning.

If a DMP was the best solution we could work out how much she can afford to pay and how long it would take to clear the debt in a plan.

We wouldn’t suggest taking further credit to pay off her debts. And never be tempted to take a secured loan against the house as you could risk repossession if you miss payments. To get the best solution for you I suggest you try Debt Remedy or give us a call.

I hope this helps,

Jess

wagonwheel0

I owe bills from 5 years ago

They include electric(EDF), water(Southern Water) and council tax

I am afraid to contact the individual companies to sort it out because of legal ramifications

what should I do? I think the total debs are around £2000

StepChange_James

wagonwheel0 wrote: »

I owe bills from 5 years ago

They include electric(EDF), water(Southern Water) and council tax

I am afraid to contact the individual companies to sort it out because of legal ramifications

what should I do? I think the total debs are around £2000

Hi Wagon Wheel,

It can be scary to face up to old debts but it sounds like not dealing with them is worrying you anyway, so you might find the reality isn't as bad as you fear.

You might be able to get details of some of your debts by looking at an up to date copy of your credit history - you can get one for free here: https://www.noddle.co.uk/.

Any debts not listed on there you could always call up and ask them what stage the debt has got to and get an up to date balance.

Once you've got all this information you'll have the details you need to take positive steps to get them sorted out. Our advice tool, Debt Remedy, will be able to give you a personal action plan and recommendations on how to get things back on track. Here's the link: http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp.

We'll help you plan an income and expenditure budget and help you work out practical solutions.

Hope this helps.

James

strangequark

I have just been informed that I owe around £1300 to a student funding body, due to an overpayment that they made to me in 2011.

Over the last year I averaged around £750 a month in post-tax earnings, with less than £50/week left after paying bills and rent. I could repay the debt in full from savings, but I'm currently using my savings to cover me during periods when my freelancing income drops, so I don't really want to hand them over.

Can I plead poverty and ask to repay the debt in installments of a few pounds a month? Can interest be charged on the debt if I do this, and if so, how much? Will repaying the debt slowly affect my credit rating?

StepChange_James

strangequark wrote: »

I have just been informed that I owe around £1300 to a student funding body, due to an overpayment that they made to me in 2011.

Over the last year I averaged around £750 a month in post-tax earnings, with less than £50/week left after paying bills and rent. I could repay the debt in full from savings, but I'm currently using my savings to cover me during periods when my freelancing income drops, so I don't really want to hand them over.

Can I plead poverty and ask to repay the debt in installments of a few pounds a month? Can interest be charged on the debt if I do this, and if so, how much? Will repaying the debt slowly affect my credit rating?

Hi there,

It's probably a good idea to get in touch with the people you owe the money to and discuss your options. I'd have thought that they'd be willing to consider paying the debt back in regular payments rather than a lump sum.

The issues around credit reports and interest would depend on the kind of finance arrangement it is. I doubt a student funding body would report payment history onto your credit report but if they've passed the debt to a debt collection agency then they might. It's probably easiest to ask them so you can be sure.

If you decide to pay it off in one go you might want ask if they'd be willing to accept a reduced settlement offer. They might say no but often companies will reduce the balance if it means getting it paid back all at once (make sure you get written confirmation of any deals before paying though).

Kind regards

James

ideal_knowledge001

Hi there,


One of my uncles is in a serious financial mess and I am not sure what's the best thing to do here.

He has a property valued at £200k with a £170k mortgage. It is an interest only mortgage as that's what he can afford and the mortgage company won't change it to repayment as he is paying off arrears of about £2000.

He also has credit card charges put in place by the court that whenever he sells the property he will have to pay those charges.
the credit card charges are about £10k.

My uncle is really struggling with the mortgage and is looking to sell his property to his son but the problem is the son cannot get a mortgage of more than £150k, the son has saved up £20k for the extra down payment.

Would I be correct to say the best way out of this mess would be if my uncle sells the property to his son say for £180k meaning the mortgage amount will be cleared off aswell as the credit card charges?

This would mean he will have to wait until the son arranges another £10k for the deposit.

Or do the credit card companies usually negotiate say instead of 10k the son/uncle pays them a lower lump sum which would mean they will get their money sooner as my uncle will be able to sell his house to the son sooner?

Or is there another option which may be more beneficial?

Thank you