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System

leecthompson wrote: »

Hi, sorry I posted a thread on this before I read this one! I'll paste my awful predicament below...

First off, I'm an idiot. I went to StepChange a few months ago and had a massive weight lifted off my shoulders. However the weight of Christmas and some money I owed to a friend lured me, stupidly, into taking out payday loans to tide me over. It was a desperation move really because I have no way of repaying them (all of my disposable goes into my DMP!) and now in hindsight after doing some research I realise I've broken the terms of my DMP which I've only been on for 3 months. Will StepChange kick me off my DMP? What can I do? Help!!!!

Hi there,

The best thing to do is to call us so we can talk about it with you. You’re aware you shouldn't take more credit while you’re on a DMP but if you have we need to have a chat, update your budget and see what’s best going forward.

Give us a call – the number should be in the correspondence we've sent you.

Thanks,
Jess

System

NWAD wrote: »

Hi,

I need advice, my business rent for the next 3 months was due 25th dec and I so far have no money to pay. I have a coffee shop with a lease that runs until Sept 2015. I approached my landlord/spoke to a solicitor in sept to ask if I could assign my lease which they agreed to but they want me to pay all their legal fees and I have now waited since sept for a quote and no response (have sent and received several emails and made phone calls). I have since discovered by chance that my landlord is selling my shop via an auction. I need advice on what to say in an email to my landlord & what steps I should take. I have already filled in the Stepchange debt remedy and am in the middle of completing forms with local authority to claim housing allowance and council tax help and am writing to my credit card companies x4 to pay minimum payments for now. Really don't know what to do. If I lose shop I will be putting myself and my chef in a position of not having jobs. We keep the shop open 7 days but just not taking enough money as the town is so quiet.

Many Thanks if anyone out there can help Thanks

Hi and thanks for your post.

If you’ve already done Debt Remedy you’ll have been given a contact number to call in so we can help further.

We’ll be able to assists with your personal debts such as credit cards and loans and we give some advice regards some business debts but you might also need to contact Business Debt Line http://www.bdl.org.uk/index.asp depending on how any business debts or possible business debts are made up (are you a sole trader or a limited company?)

You can find out more about business debts on the self-employed section of our website http://www.stepchange.org/Selfemployed/Selfemployeddebtadvice.aspx

As you’ve mentioned we can also help check for any further benefits you’re entitled to.

You might also want to try your local CAB office who may be able to offer some free legal advice in regards the landlord.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

leecthompson

StepChange_Jess wrote: »

Hi there,

The best thing to do is to call us so we can talk about it with you. You’re aware you shouldn't take more credit while you’re on a DMP but if you have we need to have a chat, update your budget and see what’s best going forward.

Give us a call – the number should be in the correspondence we've sent you.

Thanks,
Jess

Thanks for your reply Jess, I know now that I've done the wrong thing absolutely to the extent where I'm embarrassed to ring up and face the music. I had a car repair that cost more than it was supposed to as well as a family member I owed money to in a desperate situation. The result was around 1500 worth of payday loans with about 5 different companies and I was so ridiculously desperate that I carelessly signed up to some stuff where 'brokers' have taken money from my account too without even offering me a service, so I'm having to try and arrange refunds from these companies as well as cancelling my debit card to ensure no more is taken (not that there's anything left to take). Is it likely that StepChange will ditch me for this? I'm really trying my best to not bury my head in the sand and face up to this but I literally haven't left the house or responded to any family members calls since Xmas eve because of the anxiety all of this is causing

bix1966

Hello everyone
we are new to this and have just spent the day working out our debt, doing the step change online thingy and talking to a step change advisor. A DMP seems like a great idea (the only option really) but the thing that really worries me is what happens if something goes wrong, like the central heating breaks next week and we have no way of getting any credit to pay for it?
We are trying to pluck up the courage to send the DMP application off!

System

leecthompson wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Jess, I know now that I've done the wrong thing absolutely to the extent where I'm embarrassed to ring up and face the music. I had a car repair that cost more than it was supposed to as well as a family member I owed money to in a desperate situation. The result was around 1500 worth of payday loans with about 5 different companies and I was so ridiculously desperate that I carelessly signed up to some stuff where 'brokers' have taken money from my account too without even offering me a service, so I'm having to try and arrange refunds from these companies as well as cancelling my debit card to ensure no more is taken (not that there's anything left to take). Is it likely that StepChange will ditch me for this? I'm really trying my best to not bury my head in the sand and face up to this but I literally haven't left the house or responded to any family members calls since Xmas eve because of the anxiety all of this is causing

Honestly leecthompson, please don’t worry. You’re not the first person to make the mistake of trying to borrow your way out of a situation.

If you’ve given your bank details to these payday lenders you can cancel the payment arrangement and prevent them from taking money from your account. This article clearly explains how http://moneyaware.co.uk/2012/07/how-to-cancel-a-continuous-payment-authority-cpa-on-a-payday-loan/

We just need to speak to you to see the best way to deal with everything now. You shouldn’t be at the point where you’re shutting yourself away. Please give us a call and we’ll go from there.

Thanks,
Jess

gw23

I wonder if anyone can answer what I hope is a fairly simple question (!)....I am disputing a catalogue debt - I agree I owe them something like £23, and have even offered to pay them £50 for them to leave me alone - and they are saying I owe them £103, but will accept £85. The charges have accrued due to them first, not crediting a payment last year, and then mis-informing me about the account status when I tried to sort out the missing payment. I have told them I have lodged a complaint with FOS, but they are still relentlessly phoning & texting me, even though I have requested (in writing) that they do not phone me and do everything in writing. What do I do whilst I am awaiting the outcome of my FOS complaint?

System

bix1966 wrote: »

Hello everyone
we are new to this and have just spent the day working out our debt, doing the step change online thingy and talking to a step change advisor. A DMP seems like a great idea (the only option really) but the thing that really worries me is what happens if something goes wrong, like the central heating breaks next week and we have no way of getting any credit to pay for it?
We are trying to pluck up the courage to send the DMP application off!

Hi there,

The monthly DMP amount we’ve suggested will be the most you can afford to clear your debt as quickly as possible. There are amounts set aside in your budget for sundries and emergencies. If you’ve got any other worries, feel free to give us a quick call and we’ll talk through them with you.

Cheers,
Jess

System

gw23 wrote: »

I wonder if anyone can answer what I hope is a fairly simple question (!)....I am disputing a catalogue debt - I agree I owe them something like £23, and have even offered to pay them £50 for them to leave me alone - and they are saying I owe them £103, but will accept £85. The charges have accrued due to them first, not crediting a payment last year, and then mis-informing me about the account status when I tried to sort out the missing payment. I have told them I have lodged a complaint with FOS, but they are still relentlessly phoning & texting me, even though I have requested (in writing) that they do not phone me and do everything in writing. What do I do whilst I am awaiting the outcome of my FOS complaint?

Hi there,

You’ve done the right thing by asking the company to correspond to you in writing. In future you could send any letters recorded delivery so you have proof of delivery. As you’ve escalated it to the FOS the best thing to do is keep a log of the unwanted contact you’re still receiving. Note times and dates of calls and keep any letters. This can all be provided as evidence to the FOS. You could try sending another complaint letter to the catalogue company stating that you’re waiting in the decision of the FOS. Be sure to send it recorded delivery.

I hope this helps.

Good luck with it,
Jess

lovefromcharlie

Hi,

I've unintentionally racked up around 7.5K in debt across various credit cards and an overdraft. I know it doesn't seem like much, but as I don't earn very much it seems very daunting.

I am meeting my monthly repayments (just!) but am often finding that I am having to respend on these credit cards in order to see me through to the end of the month.

I have a poor credit rating (did the free Experian trial to find out) and as such can't get any new cards or any decent interest rates on personal loans. However, I am lucky in that I have 0% interest on two of these credit card debts, but obviously this is not forever and I've worked out I won't be able to clear these fully before the period is up.

I'd really appreciate some advice on the best way for me to clear this debt, should I take out a personal loan to consolidate the repayments? Is there any way I can work around this? What should be my approach to paying off this debt? Pay the biggest debt first or the ones that I can more easily afford to (but they may also be interest free?)?

Here's a breakdown of my debt:
£2051 0%APR until nov 2014 (credit card)
£2900 19.32% APR (credit card)
£1418.92 0% APR until march 2015 (credit card)
£268 23.2% APR (credit card)
£1500 16.5%APR (overdraft)

I'd really appreciate any advice anyone can offer to help me tackle this debt. I'd love to be making serious headway at chipping away at this over 2014.

Thanks!

bix1966

StepChange_Jess wrote: »

Hi there,

The monthly DMP amount we’ve suggested will be the most you can afford to clear your debt as quickly as possible. There are amounts set aside in your budget for sundries and emergencies. If you’ve got any other worries, feel free to give us a quick call and we’ll talk through them with you.

Cheers,
Jess

thank you - did anyone else feel really nervous when committing to a DMP?