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crystal_pixie wrote: »

Hi,

I have been in a DMP since 2011 and it is doing pretty well.

I will have a bonus at the end of the month that could pay off one of my creditors.

Can I do this and still keep in my DMP? Its the only creditor that is low enough for me to pay the full amount.

Hi and thanks for your post.

Well done on the bonus!

If you’re on a DMP with us I’d recommend that you give us a call and we’ll look into this for you.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

Rosepetal1701

StepChange_Mat wrote: »

Hi and thanks for your post.

I’m afraid if this is in the terms and conditions of the account there is little you can do about this other than complain.

Just paying the minimum payments on credit cards might mean that it takes longer than you expect to get debt free. It’s worth looking at this article had to take the link out
If you need more advice please get back to us.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

Thanks Mat, just to put your mind at ease - I am "snowballing" the repayments .

sile001

Hi. I bank with the Halifax and have CCs/Storecard with them, MBNA, Barclaycard, Debenhams.

I'm on State Pension, a Pension Credit and have a tiny monthly annuity bringing my monthly income to just over £900.

However, owing to a number of family crises, I'm *very* overdrawn, meaning I've little actual cash once bills are serviced.

The bank has suggested I raise a mortgage against my house, pay off all credit bills etc - this would free up £150 pm. The mortgage would run 7-8 years. I've cut up all but one CC and pruned DDs to essentials only. I currently have no mortgage and pay no council tax.

Can anyone advise whether this is the way to go? My current credit score is unblemished.

Thanks for any help.

mum2one

butlerj1 wrote: »

I don't know where to turn my partner works and last year he had his wages lowerd we have a mortgage which we are in arrears with and a secured loan with arrears the secured loan is with picture it is getting harder to make ends meet and with Christmas coming even more stress ahead we have 4 children who can help

I cant help re debt advice, but if you have a look on the festive boards, the ones I use
Santas Challenge
Low Cost Christmas Presents

Theres a lot of suggestions how to do xmas on a budget, from doing home made hampers, how to have the chat to families and friends saying that with xmas etc budgets - just do cards, kids etc

xx

mum2one

sile001 wrote: »

Hi. I bank with the Halifax and have CCs/Storecard with them, MBNA, Barclaycard, Debenhams.

I'm on State Pension, a Pension Credit and have a tiny monthly annuity bringing my monthly income to just over £900.

However, owing to a number of family crises, I'm *very* overdrawn, meaning I've little actual cash once bills are serviced.

The bank has suggested I raise a mortgage against my house, pay off all credit bills etc - this would free up £150 pm. The mortgage would run 7-8 years. I've cut up all but one CC and pruned DDs to essentials only. I currently have no mortgage and pay no council tax.

Can anyone advise whether this is the way to go? My current credit score is unblemished.

Thanks for any help.

I would be concerned with taking a mortgage, - easy for the bank to suggest but that would make it a secured debt, where as at the moment the debts are all unsecured,

I would have a look at the budget info fro Stepchange (theres links in there posts) -it may be a DMP, it depends what the results are, but consider getting a fresh bank account that you dont owe any money to.
Check that the new back is not in the "Family of the places you owe to- eg the halifax, is under the umberella of LLoyds, Bradford and Bingley (think its them).

My main creditors are halifax, (loan, overdraft and cc, 12k) others inc Barclaycard - Argos, Studio etc, so really start at £150 throu to biggest at 8k.

Please seek advice from stepchange before you make any decisions

Going back to bank accounts - i'm now with Natwest - changed online, and my account is with my local branch, doddle to change.

Good luck xxxx

sile001

Thanks mum2one I've already applied for an acct with Co-op bank - waiting to hear confirmation etc. I forgot to mention this in original post. Am considering moving all but one or two DDs over along w/income. I've been in touch with Step Change. Will review my situation when it's not too late in the day tomorrow

mum2one

sile001 wrote: »

Thanks mum2one I've already applied for an acct with Co-op bank - waiting to hear confirmation etc. I forgot to mention this in original post. Am considering moving all but one or two DDs over along w/income. I've been in touch with Step Change. Will review my situation when it's not too late in the day tomorrow

Thats good going, fingers crossed for the co-op, I would take all the Direct debits across, as if you do go dmp route, the halifax will be a debt to you, so really it would be a dead account.

Good luck with it all. Just remember they can't have what you haven't got!! xxx

Kipper63

Hi I'm new to this. My husband has gone in to work today to be told of redundancy.

I'm trying to stay positive, he is 55 years old. We have approx 18k debt. He was with his firm 13 years (says he will get 8k redundancy) 6 months tax free notice. We still have a mortgage. He was the md of the company.

Worried re debt, I was advised by a friend pay off credit card and most of mortgage - but this leaves us with nothing. We will get advice from a financial adviser of course - thought I would ask on here.

Jobs are very hard to find these days.

Do we advise the bank re mortgage now or wait?

Any advice grateful - thank you

StepChange_James

sile001 wrote: »

Hi. I bank with the Halifax and have CCs/Storecard with them, MBNA, Barclaycard, Debenhams.

I'm on State Pension, a Pension Credit and have a tiny monthly annuity bringing my monthly income to just over £900.

However, owing to a number of family crises, I'm *very* overdrawn, meaning I've little actual cash once bills are serviced.

The bank has suggested I raise a mortgage against my house, pay off all credit bills etc - this would free up £150 pm. The mortgage would run 7-8 years. I've cut up all but one CC and pruned DDs to essentials only. I currently have no mortgage and pay no council tax.

Can anyone advise whether this is the way to go? My current credit score is unblemished.

Thanks for any help.

Hello,

I'd echo what Mum2one said earlier, taking out a mortgage on your property to pay off unsecured debts is a big risk. If ever you struggled with the mortgage then your property would potentially be at risk.

I'm pleased that you've already been in touch with us. If you go through our advice process you'll get a detailed income and expenditure budget. We'll also cover potential options to get the debts under control.

Regardless of the route you go down, it's a good idea to be setting up a bank account with a bank you've got no debts with. This will mean you'll have more control of your income.

Please post up any questions you have and we'll do our best to answers them.

All the best.

James

StepChange_James

Kipper63 wrote: »

Hi I'm new to this. My husband has gone in to work today to be told of redundancy.

I'm trying to stay positive, he is 55 years old. We have approx 18k debt. He was with his firm 13 years (says he will get 8k redundancy) 6 months tax free notice. We still have a mortgage. He was the md of the company.

Worried re debt, I was advised by a friend pay off credit card and most of mortgage - but this leaves us with nothing. We will get advice from a financial adviser of course - thought I would ask on here.

Jobs are very hard to find these days.

Do we advise the bank re mortgage now or wait?

Any advice grateful - thank you

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear about your husband's bad news. It's good that you're trying to stay positive, I'm sure that will help you.

It's always quite hard to know how best to use redundancy payments. If your husband was to return to similarly paid work very quickly then using the money to pay debts would probably be a good idea.

On the other hand, it could be a bit of a gamble if he had a period of being out of work and a reduced income.

I think it would probably help you to know what options you've got available if you were to plan out a monthly budget, so see how much you need to cover living costs and essential bills, how much for debts and then look at the income that will be coming in.

We can help you with this. You could either use our online advice tool, Debt Remedy (http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp) or by giving our helpline a call (http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx). Either way we'll plan a budget with you and give you advice about the available options.

Kind regards

James