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cwade1981

Advice needed!

My story is quite long and complicated but hope someone can help?

My debts are over 10 years old, the loan was taken out in 2003 and became out of control whilst with my last partner. All the debts were in my name and after finally leaving with our 2 children I also left with all the debt over 23k. I stayed with my mum and dad for 18 months so could continue to pay ridiculous amounts this changed in January 2008 when I finally decided to live on my own. This is when my life took another turn for the worse!!!!!

I managed to get things back under control with a DMP and I've now continuously paid since feb 2009 and have never missed a payment.

Life is a lot better and since got married, had another child and doing really well at work, BUT I still have a loan that has recently been moved on to IDEM and I owe still after all this time 12k. It still rears it's ugly head, so this year I decided maybe I should take control and see if I could negotiate to pay them direct and pay them more to reduce the debt quicker. This has not worked in my favour as they want over £300 a month as this is what the computer says. I can afford to pay £150 without causing any hardship to myself or my children. This will still leave me £150 disposable income to take into account LIFE! I currently pay £66.42 through the DMP.

I currently pay a fee for my DMP and until today didn't realise there were free company's.

I feel I've been punished enough I have no credit and have never had a debt since this awful time in my life in 2006. I believe I've done the right thing by always trying to pay but I want this gone now. I have a default notice on this account since March 2010 from Lloyd's can IDEM put another one on? Can i change DMP companies? Can anyone give me any advice on paying this off? If I continue to pay £66.42 to clear the balance it will take 15 years on top of me paying this balance since 2003. So a total of 25 years for 23k that is more time than mist mortgages.

alm026

Hello,

I have a lot of debt and i have things that are in collections. A lot of my debt comes from student loans. I have about 75K in student loans that are on my credit report that are up to date. I have a student loan that defaulted in collections and i have 2 other private student loans that are in collections for large amount i think a total of 30K. i have a couple other things that are in collections as well and all of this is obvioulsy bringing down my credit score. I would one day like to buy a home. I am not really sure who i should be going to for help. A debt consolidation plan obviously isn't right for me i don't have any credit card debt. Should i seek out a credit repair person that charges money for there help at this point?

Thanks
Amy

harrylee

Hi,
I have approx 20k debt (loans, credit cards, overdrafts). I have approx 40k equity in my house, and I would like to use half of it to pay off my debt. The problem is that I get refused on the credit check for a remortgage because I have used payday loans several times towards the end of last year, and maybe because my 2 credit cards are maxed. All my payments have always been payed on time and it is annoying that I have the equity but cannot seem to be able to release it. Does anybody know of any mortgage lenders that could help with this scenario?
Thanks.

StepChange_James

cwade1981 wrote: »

Advice needed!

My story is quite long and complicated but hope someone can help?

My debts are over 10 years old, the loan was taken out in 2003 and became out of control whilst with my last partner. All the debts were in my name and after finally leaving with our 2 children I also left with all the debt over 23k. I stayed with my mum and dad for 18 months so could continue to pay ridiculous amounts this changed in January 2008 when I finally decided to live on my own. This is when my life took another turn for the worse!!!!!

I managed to get things back under control with a DMP and I've now continuously paid since feb 2009 and have never missed a payment.

Life is a lot better and since got married, had another child and doing really well at work, BUT I still have a loan that has recently been moved on to IDEM and I owe still after all this time 12k. It still rears it's ugly head, so this year I decided maybe I should take control and see if I could negotiate to pay them direct and pay them more to reduce the debt quicker. This has not worked in my favour as they want over £300 a month as this is what the computer says. I can afford to pay £150 without causing any hardship to myself or my children. This will still leave me £150 disposable income to take into account LIFE! I currently pay £66.42 through the DMP.

I currently pay a fee for my DMP and until today didn't realise there were free company's.

I feel I've been punished enough I have no credit and have never had a debt since this awful time in my life in 2006. I believe I've done the right thing by always trying to pay but I want this gone now. I have a default notice on this account since March 2010 from Lloyd's can IDEM put another one on? Can i change DMP companies? Can anyone give me any advice on paying this off? If I continue to pay £66.42 to clear the balance it will take 15 years on top of me paying this balance since 2003. So a total of 25 years for 23k that is more time than mist mortgages.

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch. I'll answer each of your questions using the number order they came in...

1. If you received a default notice through the post then a default would have been noted on your credit file unless you brought the account back up to date within the timescale they'll have requested.

Assuming this happened you're account will be marked as defaulting some time around March 2010 and a new debt collector couldn't change this information or add a new date.

2. You absolutely can change DMPs. There's nothing legally binding about them, you can cancel one and start another one. If you're paying for your current DMP then we'd recommend you have a look at a free one.

Our Debt Remedy tool will take your details and make recommendations based on your circumstances. If a DMP is your best option then it will also give you all the paperwork you need to set up a free one with us. Here's the link: http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp

I should mention that our DMPs have to include all of your debts, so we know that all your creditors are getting a fair and proportionate payment. This makes it easier to get agreements set up with creditors (they're less likely to agree to a lower payment if they think another company is getting better treatment).

3. We can give you advice! The Debt Remedy tool I mentioned above will give you advice based on your specific circumstances. If a DMP is going to take ages to repay your debts then it might be we'd recommend another solution instead.

I hope all this helps but feel free to post again if you've got any questions.

Cheers

James

StepChange_James

alm026 wrote: »

Hello,

I have a lot of debt and i have things that are in collections. A lot of my debt comes from student loans. I have about 75K in student loans that are on my credit report that are up to date. I have a student loan that defaulted in collections and i have 2 other private student loans that are in collections for large amount i think a total of 30K. i have a couple other things that are in collections as well and all of this is obvioulsy bringing down my credit score. I would one day like to buy a home. I am not really sure who i should be going to for help. A debt consolidation plan obviously isn't right for me i don't have any credit card debt. Should i seek out a credit repair person that charges money for there help at this point?

Thanks
Amy

Hi Amy,

More recent (post 1998) student loans wouldn't report through to your credit report and they're usually collected in a similar way to taxes, by making deductions from your pay at source.

If your student loan is from before the change in 1998 or it wasn't a traditional type of student loan (you mention 2 are private student loans) then these might be reporting to your credit file the same way any loan would.

I'd be surprised if any credit repair agency could do anything that you couldn't do yourself for free. This article http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score#improve has some good tips to help give your credit rating a bit of a lift.

The most effective way to improve your credit rating is to bring debts down but obviously this is a lot easier said than done. Keeping up with the payments on the debts should help build up a record of regular payments but having balances outstanding could reduce the amount lenders are willing to let you borrow for a mortgage.

If you'd like more in depth advice then it could be worth speaking to a mortgage broker. MSE have some tips on finding a mortgage broker here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/best-mortgages-cashback#free.

If you'd like more in depth advice on the debt side of things then we can help you there. You could use our online Debt Remedy advice tool (http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp) or give our helpline a call and speak to an advisor (http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx)

Kind regards

James

StepChange_James

harrylee wrote: »

Hi,
I have approx 20k debt (loans, credit cards, overdrafts). I have approx 40k equity in my house, and I would like to use half of it to pay off my debt. The problem is that I get refused on the credit check for a remortgage because I have used payday loans several times towards the end of last year, and maybe because my 2 credit cards are maxed. All my payments have always been payed on time and it is annoying that I have the equity but cannot seem to be able to release it. Does anybody know of any mortgage lenders that could help with this scenario?
Thanks.

Hi Harry,

Thanks for getting in touch.

I've heard it said elsewhere that having taken out payday loans can put off some mortgage lenders. There's an awful lot of other information lenders take into account, so there could be some other factor but the payday loans might be contributing to the overall decisions.

Borrowing against your property to pay off unsecured debts can be risky as it usually means higher payments and an increased risk of repossession. Obviously that's being a bit pessimistic but it's always worth considering the down sides of any solution.

If you'd like advice on ways to deal with your debts that don't involve borrowing against your property then we can give you some advice (our contact details are in my signature below).

If you'd like more mortgage specific advice you might get a good response by copy and pasting your message onto this board of the forum: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15

Kind regards

James

Bluehorizonn

Hi

My husband and I are looking to pay off debts totalling £19k - £14000 are HMRC (from partnership bus inc paye and vat plus self assessment) the rest is £2k very, £3k next and £500 cc. We have had to stop trading and look for jobs - just making ends meet - been talking to step change. We have a car we own worth £8 - we are selling to buy one for £3k and will pay off some debt with £5k.

Should we clear next and very to get rid if two creditors and orotect credit rating? Or pay it off revenue balance. Looking to make payment plans on what's left - no more tax accruing.

Any advice gratefully received.

789caroline

Hi, I hope some one can help.


My husband's work is only paying him £1000 this month when he normally gets above £1500. It is crippling us. We have never missed a bill but I have recently gone part time as it is cheaper on childcare to be at home for two days than to be at work full time. We have tried to get a loan but can't and it may be due to a recent credit purchase for something small. We can't get a re-mortgage. I have received a letter from Tesco saying that I can balance transfer at 0% but I am maxed out on my card. I feel so worried I have never been in this situation before. I have learned so much about budgeting that I didn't know before but it's not going to help me.


This is my first thread. I have three credit cards 1 big one in my name, and two in my husbands they total about £16000. We also have a loan of £12911 (£280 a month), a store card (1390 - 131 per month), car finance (£212 finishes in November but is damaged a little I have GAP insurance).


Please if anyone can help I would be so grateful......I feel sick!

Dontjudgeme

Dear All

In December 2013, I started making payments towards an outstanding overdraft with LLoyds TSB. They had accepted my monthly offer. The account had been passed to a collector as I had spent almost 3 years disputing the amount.

My latest payment was refunded and, on carrying out my own enquiry as to why, was told that LLoyds TSB had withdrawn my account from that collector. The collector does not know why and did not inform me until I asked them and LLoyds TSB has not contacted me either. It has been 6 weeks since they took this action.

They accepted my offer of payment without a income form.


Can anyone shed any light on why LLoyds has withdrawn my account when everything was in order and why I have not heard from them?

Many thanks for any replies.

StepChange_James

Bluehorizonn wrote: »

Hi

My husband and I are looking to pay off debts totalling £19k - £14000 are HMRC (from partnership bus inc paye and vat plus self assessment) the rest is £2k very, £3k next and £500 cc. We have had to stop trading and look for jobs - just making ends meet - been talking to step change. We have a car we own worth £8 - we are selling to buy one for £3k and will pay off some debt with £5k.

Should we clear next and very to get rid if two creditors and orotect credit rating? Or pay it off revenue balance. Looking to make payment plans on what's left - no more tax accruing.

Any advice gratefully received.

Hi there,

Thanks for posting. I'm sorry to hear you're struggling at the moment. I'm pleased that you're in touch with us here are StepChange.

I'd recommend speaking to one of our advisors about the best way to use the money you can raise from selling your car. I can see the advantage of getting the smaller debts clear so you've got less people to deal with but I would recommend taking advice before doing anything as it's important to make sure you don't do anything to upset the taxman.

You mention that you've both had to look for jobs. If you're both out of work then it might be that you need to use some of the car money to support yourself until you're in work. Again, one of our advisors can talk to you about this sort of thing.

Kind regards

James