Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

mum2one

Helpme75 wrote: »

I am in a mess financially follwoing my marriage break up over 5 years ago, myself and my XH were in debt, hardly any equity in the house and I left the marriage with nothing but debt in my name only, anyway I have managed to keep going on by having a second job but ill health and family problems mean I can no longer work in the evenings or weekends, so I am doing only my day job.
I earn a good wage 25k but I am in about 30k worth of debt accross 7 credit cards and can no longer manage my payments without robbing Peter to pay Paul. I live in rented accomodation and have no savings, I own my own car worth about 3k but need this for work as I do not live on a bus route, I want to pay my debts but I cannot afford the minimum payments which are about £700 a month! I am so stupid and scared I will be taken to court.
I have read about DMP's, is this the way forward or do I owe too much?
I would be very grateful of any advice you can offer me. Thankyou

You've taken the first and hardest step, have you looked at the debt management tool (theres always a link in any stepchanges posts), this goes through your incomings v outgoings, put in your debts, as total owed plus monthly payment, etc and once completed the result tells you what would be best for you whether that is a dmp plan.

I'm on a dmp plan, kept my car, infact I had to change it this yr - takes about 20 ish mins to do the debt remedy - but it will give you an idea,

Good luck, your get there xxx

fatbelly

kimmy393 wrote: »

Hi please can you help. My bf has been on the dole for around 4 years , and he is struggling to keep control of his debts. One of his debts in particular is his Barclays cc . He owes £1500 to them but the interest is 27.9%. All he can afford to payoff is the min . So he is getting nowhere with the debt .. his nearly £40 each month is all interest. He is so down about it. And I myself a student am not in a situation to financially help him . Is there anything he can do to get a his debt frozen or a % taken off it cause he been on jsa for so long. I am so worried about him.

StepChange_Rachel wrote: »

Hi there

It definitely sounds like your boyfriend would benefit from some free and impartial debt advice from us.

With him being on JSA, it goes without saying that he’s limited on what he can afford to pay to his debts at the moment. It’s therefore important that he puts together budget to show to his creditors so they can understand what his living costs are. His living costs such as food, clothing, household bills and transport expenses will always be a higher priority versus things such as loans, credit cards, overdrafts etc.

Once his creditors understand what he’s dealing with, they’re much more likely to accept smaller payments and make things easier until your boyfriend finds himself in a better position financially. They may even reduce or freeze interest if they know he’s getting free and impartial debt advice.

I suggest he takes a look at our anonymous advice tool Debt Remedy that can provide a solution in just 20 minutes – http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp

Please reassure your boyfriend that we'll do all we can to help.

Best regards

Rachel

And I'm sure if a Debt Relief Order was appropriate, StepChange would be delighted to assist.

Former_StepChange_Rachel

Lightning1 wrote: »

Hi I hope you can give me some advice.

I have approx £14k credit card debt with 2 providers I pay the minimum payment to each which comes to around a total of £250 per month I also have a loan which I pay back £250 per month.

I have just had a baby & am on statutory maternity pay of £136 per month and I am struggling to afford to pay the debt & live off my money.

I am in Scotland, my sister had a debt management plan done through citizens advice and I wondered if you would recommend it for me and advise how to go about it and the pros and cons? I am married but my husband has debt too although not as much as me.

We are council tenants and at some point in the future if we are ever debt free would like to look into buying our house so Im worried if I do a debt management plan my credit would be affected & I wouldnt get a mortgage.

Thanks

Hi there,

Thanks for posting today.

We can certainly have a look at your situation and see if a DMP is the best solution for you. We would need to have a good luck at your budget in order to give you advice specific to your needs.

One of the benefits of a DMP is that it's very flexible. The payment you make is based on what's left over after your priority living expenses are covered such as rent, council tax, food, utilities etc. We don't charge any fee for our DMPs as we're a charity, so you would have peace of mind that your payment each month was going towards your debts alone.

If you give a payment on a debt that's lower than the minimum amount, this will be logged on your credit file as a default. However, if you're making consistent payments this should also be reflected positively on your credit file. Any defaults you get will also drop off your credit file after a period of six years.

It's not set in stone that you must have impeccable credit to get a mortgage. Lenders vary in how strict their criteria is, so don't be disheartened! The most important thing now is to ensure you have enough money to pay your bills and look after your family's needs.

to find out if a DMP is right for you, I recommend you try Debt remedy, our anonymous debt advice tool that can provide a solution in 20 minutes: http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp

Best regards

Rachel

Former_StepChange_Rachel

Helpme75 wrote: »

I am in a mess financially follwoing my marriage break up over 5 years ago, myself and my XH were in debt, hardly any equity in the house and I left the marriage with nothing but debt in my name only, anyway I have managed to keep going on by having a second job but ill health and family problems mean I can no longer work in the evenings or weekends, so I am doing only my day job.
I earn a good wage 25k but I am in about 30k worth of debt accross 7 credit cards and can no longer manage my payments without robbing Peter to pay Paul. I live in rented accomodation and have no savings, I own my own car worth about 3k but need this for work as I do not live on a bus route, I want to pay my debts but I cannot afford the minimum payments which are about £700 a month! I am so stupid and scared I will be taken to court.
I have read about DMP's, is this the way forward or do I owe too much?
I would be very grateful of any advice you can offer me. Thankyou

Hi there

Thanks for posting today (and thanks as well to Mum2one for her great response)

I'm sorry to hear of the difficulties you've experienced since leaving the marriage and the health problems you've been dealing with. It certainly sounds like you would benefit from some free and impartial debt advice.

Please don't worry about your creditors taking you to court. Creditors only usually escalate to County Court when a person has made little to no effort to offer payment on a debt or consistently neglects to pay anything. Also, if a debt did get as far as County Court, it doesn't mean you'll get hauled in front of a judge. Often what happens is that the court will write to you and ask you to make an offer of monthly payment you can afford, even if it's £1 per month. As long as you respond in a timely manner (usually within 16 - 19 days) the court are very understanding. They'll just put the payment plan in place and as long as you stick to it, there shouldn't be any more problems.

What you must focus on now is your health, and working out a budget that caters to your most important expenses such as food, petrol, utilities, rent, council tax etc. These are the priorities that have more severe consequences if you miss payment on them.

We can help you with your situation. We're a debt advice charity and we can advise on whether a DMP or some other debt solution is suitable for you. All we need to do is have a good look at your budget.

our online anonymous advice tool Debt Remedy can provide a debt solution in just 20 minutes http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp

Hope this helps. Write again if you have any further questions

Best regards

Rachel

Puzzcat

Hi,

I am in the process of setting up a dmp with Stepchange. Quick question...

I do mileage for business purposes which I pay for then receive back the following month in my wages (£60ish). I have currently left the amount I receive back in my wages off the income part of the debt remedy and put an allocation in the fuel allowance section (80) to represent the part I pay for personal milege/petrol.

I spend approximately £140 a month on fuel and receive approximately £60 back through work, the rest is personal mileage.

Obviously it will show on my wage slip as mileage but will make my monthly income total look bigger than it really is..

Any advice as to how I should do this before I press the send me a pack button?

thank you in advance...

Aldebaran81

Hello,

I have a quick question please. I have been really struggling with debt for over a year, I tried to obtain a DRO but because I have assets worth too much registered in my name, I didn't qualify. (They are contract phones used by 3 family members of mine, there's no way to cancel them and the contracts don't run out for at least another year, so DRO is not an option for me till then)

I don't have any disposable income, we even struggle to buy food, so as a last resort I sent my budget sheet to the debt recovery agents and told them I am unable to make any payment either now or in the foreseeable future. Some of them did not reply and have not contacted me since (it's been several months now), some of them said they will put my account on hold for some months, and one of them said they can accept a goodwill gesture payment from me as 1 pound per month! They didn't say anything else, for example how long will they accept it and what will follow, and now I'm really not sure how to proceed. Although I truly don't have any spare money, I could probably sqeeze out a pound per month, but I don't know if this is what I should do? I mean, is the agency more likely to pursure me more if they see I can pay them this amount, or what shall I do?
Honestly I'm not trying to avoid my debts but I got into a situation that I cannot pay and it's not likely to change any time soon, at least not for the better.
Many thanks for the advice in advance.

Kind regards

Kat

Rayeasom

Not sue if this is posted in the right place but here goes

My stepmother recently took me to court for money I owe her, after refusing to give me additional time to pay. I was ordered to pay her nearly £2000 by a certain date, I could not afford to lay the whole lost and she refused to accept instalments. Obviously the ccj defaulted and I had a warrant of execution issued
I applied to the court for an instalment order and the warrant to be suspended.
I took all relevant copies of bills bank statements and pay slips with me to the hearing, the judge didn't look at anything other than my pay slips and the court paperwork I had submitted, he never once looked at my bank statements of proof of outgoings.
After finally getting my average pay correct (on the third attempt), the judge concluded that on average I had about £140 per moth disposable income, he said he would normally set a repayment schedule of one year on debt this size, so he ordered me to pay £130 per month and gave me just over 3 weeks to get the first payment to my stepmother.
I explained to the judge that if can not afford this repayment amount, although I had £140 a month on paper, I rarely had this in my hands.
The judge recognised that I was upset by this but issued the order anyway, I then told him that I could not get this money together so he may as we'll send his bailiffs now. As I could not live on £2.50 a week as he was suggesting.

What are my options.... I can appeal to have this amount lowered but if I get the same judge I have a feeling that he won't budge and doesn't really care that I can't afford this. I feel he was under the impression that I was claiming I paid out more that I do.. I have been honest with the figures and took documents to prove it. I accept that he said sky tv was a luxury and have took steps to cancel it, but I have to give notice and this would save me £35 a month.

Thanks for any advice in advanced.

Former_StepChange_Rachel

Puzzcat wrote: »

Hi,

I am in the process of setting up a dmp with Stepchange. Quick question...

I do mileage for business purposes which I pay for then receive back the following month in my wages (£60ish). I have currently left the amount I receive back in my wages off the income part of the debt remedy and put an allocation in the fuel allowance section (80) to represent the part I pay for personal milege/petrol.

I spend approximately £140 a month on fuel and receive approximately £60 back through work, the rest is personal mileage.

Obviously it will show on my wage slip as mileage but will make my monthly income total look bigger than it really is..

Any advice as to how I should do this before I press the send me a pack button?

thank you in advance...

Hi there,

There’s two ways you can address this:

You can input the fuel costs as an expense and then list the fuel allowance you receive as an additional income, or you can work out the net cost and then just put that figure into Debt Remedy. Either way is fine.

Best regards

Rachel

System

Aldebaran81 wrote: »

Hello,

I have a quick question please. I have been really struggling with debt for over a year, I tried to obtain a DRO but because I have assets worth too much registered in my name, I didn't qualify. (They are contract phones used by 3 family members of mine, there's no way to cancel them and the contracts don't run out for at least another year, so DRO is not an option for me till then)

I don't have any disposable income, we even struggle to buy food, so as a last resort I sent my budget sheet to the debt recovery agents and told them I am unable to make any payment either now or in the foreseeable future. Some of them did not reply and have not contacted me since (it's been several months now), some of them said they will put my account on hold for some months, and one of them said they can accept a goodwill gesture payment from me as 1 pound per month! They didn't say anything else, for example how long will they accept it and what will follow, and now I'm really not sure how to proceed. Although I truly don't have any spare money, I could probably sqeeze out a pound per month, but I don't know if this is what I should do? I mean, is the agency more likely to pursure me more if they see I can pay them this amount, or what shall I do?
Honestly I'm not trying to avoid my debts but I got into a situation that I cannot pay and it's not likely to change any time soon, at least not for the better.
Many thanks for the advice in advance.

Kind regards

Kat

Hi Kat and welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you would benefit from some free and impartial advice.

A £1 monthly payment to each creditor is a good idea. All you can really do at the moment is pay what you can afford, even if it is only £1 per month to each creditor. By showing the creditors an accurate budget you’ve proved you can only afford this amount and in these circumstances your creditors know there options are limited.

A £1 per month payment is sometimes known as a token payment, it shows that you’re acknowledging the debt. Some creditors may put you on temporary arrangements while you pay a token payment in the hope that your circumstances will improve in the future. This may cut down on calls from collectors, and is seen in a better light by most creditors.

Even if the DRO isn’t an option at the moment there could be other options for you to consider, if you haven’t spoken to us already I’d recommend that you give us a call for some additional advice.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

StepChange_James

Rayeasom wrote: »

Not sue if this is posted in the right place but here goes

My stepmother recently took me to court for money I owe her, after refusing to give me additional time to pay. I was ordered to pay her nearly £2000 by a certain date, I could not afford to lay the whole lost and she refused to accept instalments. Obviously the ccj defaulted and I had a warrant of execution issued
I applied to the court for an instalment order and the warrant to be suspended.
I took all relevant copies of bills bank statements and pay slips with me to the hearing, the judge didn't look at anything other than my pay slips and the court paperwork I had submitted, he never once looked at my bank statements of proof of outgoings.
After finally getting my average pay correct (on the third attempt), the judge concluded that on average I had about £140 per moth disposable income, he said he would normally set a repayment schedule of one year on debt this size, so he ordered me to pay £130 per month and gave me just over 3 weeks to get the first payment to my stepmother.
I explained to the judge that if can not afford this repayment amount, although I had £140 a month on paper, I rarely had this in my hands.
The judge recognised that I was upset by this but issued the order anyway, I then told him that I could not get this money together so he may as we'll send his bailiffs now. As I could not live on £2.50 a week as he was suggesting.

What are my options.... I can appeal to have this amount lowered but if I get the same judge I have a feeling that he won't budge and doesn't really care that I can't afford this. I feel he was under the impression that I was claiming I paid out more that I do.. I have been honest with the figures and took documents to prove it. I accept that he said sky tv was a luxury and have took steps to cancel it, but I have to give notice and this would save me £35 a month.

Thanks for any advice in advanced.

Hello,

Thanks for posting.

I can see your point, that an appeal may result in the payment staying the same if you provide the same information.

It's hard to be sure, but it sounds like the main problem is being able to show your actual spending on paper. You're certainly not alone in this, making a realistic budget is often very hard to get right.

You might find it useful to get in touch with us, as we've got lots of experience of helping people to plan out budgets and work out the right amount they can afford to pay towards their debts.

You can do this online, using our advice tool Debt Remedy - http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp. It takes about 20 minutes and will guide you through creating a budget, as well as giving advice on the options available.

Alternatively, you can give us a call and one of our debt advisors can help you plan out your income and expenditure. Here are our contact details: http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx.

Once you've got a budget in place I'd expect you'll then have a better idea about how best to deal with the courts decision about this debt.

Over the longer term I'd recommend keeping a spending diary, so you can track everything that your money goes on. This is usually a fairly boring job but it's incredibly useful for comparing your budget to how you actually spend your money.

Kind regards

James