Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

Jayjay23

Hi,I have recently decided to compile all my debts together with all the payday loan companies I owe money too.
Wonga - £770 ?? (Due 03/03/14, £140 to extend?)
QuickQuid credit - £450 (£117/m)
Zebit - £187 (£50/m)
Pounds2pocket - £350 (£50/m)


I am currently a 20year old student who lives at home with a part time job paying roughly £450/m


As you can see I can barely afford to pay these off. It all started due to my student loans coming through 3 months late and I had to turn to other sources of funding now it is just a horrible circle and i don't know what to do now. I have been in contact with nationaldebtrelief uk and they are saying that I can pay £80/m and they can sort it out. (I will be able to pay like £800 towards these debts when my student loan comes through at the beginning of May.)


I am just unsure how I am meant to live / commute to university till till then. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Josh

StepChange_Pavan

kieba wrote: »

Hi, I really need some help please....

In 2007 I had racked up a lot of debt on credit cards and went onto a debt management plan. Last March (2013) I went into an IVA as I was approached by a sister company of the one I was with for my debt plan and they told me it would benefit me and would be a light at the end of the tunnel.


I now wish I hadn't. It is so restrictive, I can not better myself job wise etc and feel trapped.
I was approached by another company the other day telling me that the IVA is not the best thing for me as I have no assets, I don't own a home or car on HP etc. I was told that I can do a years bankruptcy and will be debt free and able to start getting a credit rating again within two years, rather than staying in the IVA for another 4 and then year to clear my name after.


I just don't know what to do. I am so upset that I done an IVA as it has stopped me being able to rejoin the police etc and feel that I want to get out of this mess asap so I can start living my life properly again and look at getting a mortgage etc, but worried that bankruptcy will effect me further.

Please help

Hi there and thanks for your question.

It’s difficult to say what your best option is without knowing more about your situation. However, if you have been contacted by a company that is advising you to go bankrupt, it is likely that they will charge you for the service when you can do it with advice and support for free. Having said this, the points you’ve mentioned doesn’t necessarily mean that bankruptcy is the better option for you.

As you are already in an IVA you can contact your IVA provider to discuss your options to make sure that it is still the best option for you. If you feel that the IVA was mis-sold to you there’s more information on the Insolvency Service website about how to make a complaint: http://www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency/insolvency-profession/professional%20conduct/how-complain-against-an-ip.

I hope this helps,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Jayjay23 wrote: »

Hi,I have recently decided to compile all my debts together with all the payday loan companies I owe money too.
Wonga - £770 ?? (Due 03/03/14, £140 to extend?)
QuickQuid credit - £450 (£117/m)
Zebit - £187 (£50/m)
Pounds2pocket - £350 (£50/m)


I am currently a 20year old student who lives at home with a part time job paying roughly £450/m


As you can see I can barely afford to pay these off. It all started due to my student loans coming through 3 months late and I had to turn to other sources of funding now it is just a horrible circle and i don't know what to do now. I have been in contact with nationaldebtrelief uk and they are saying that I can pay £80/m and they can sort it out. (I will be able to pay like £800 towards these debts when my student loan comes through at the beginning of May.)


I am just unsure how I am meant to live / commute to university till till then. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Josh

Hi Josh and thanks for your question.

Firstly, if National Debt Relief is charging you for their services you can receive the same support and advice from a free charity like us.

I’d recommend that you get in touch with us so that we can talk through your options – like you mentioned your situation will soon change which could affect the advice.

You can call our Helpline on 0800 138 1111 (free including from mobiles). We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 8am – 4pm.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Casperbear

Hi,

I have debts of around 66k and started a token payment plan in Nov 13 paying each of my eight creditors a £1 a month. They have given me a 6 month period of no interest, but unfortunately I am unable to increase my payments. I may have access to some money from a friend which is around 30% of my debts. Can you advise how long a token payment plan would be allowed to continue for please and should I start trying to agree full and final settlements straight away even though the debts to not appear to have been passed on to a DCA as yet? I do own my own home with my wife which is heavily mortgaged with no real equity so bankruptcy doesn't appear to be an option.
Thank you for reading this and any advice would be gratefully received.

Former_StepChange_Rachel

Casperbear wrote: »

Hi,

I have debts of around 66k and started a token payment plan in Nov 13 paying each of my eight creditors a £1 a month. They have given me a 6 month period of no interest, but unfortunately I am unable to increase my payments. I may have access to some money from a friend which is around 30% of my debts. Can you advise how long a token payment plan would be allowed to continue for please and should I start trying to agree full and final settlements straight away even though the debts to not appear to have been passed on to a DCA as yet? I do own my own home with my wife which is heavily mortgaged with no real equity so bankruptcy doesn't appear to be an option.
Thank you for reading this and any advice would be gratefully received.

Hi there,

When it comes to token payments, it's really at the creditor's discretion how long they will accept them for. The kind of arrangement you have at the moment is usually temporary, and eventually your creditors will start asking for more money each month.

You should only offer full and final settlements if you are able to settle equally on all of your balances. This is because your creditors can see all activity on your credit file, and may feel that they're being treated unfairly if you don't settle across the board. We have a full and final settlement team here at the charity that can advise further on this. if you do decide to settle on any debts, always get the agreed settlement balance in writing before paying a lump sum.

If you've not done so already, I recommend that you get in touch with us. We can go through your whole budget and see what options are available to help manage your debts. You may also find that your creditors are more likely to cooperate overall if they see that you're seeking free and impartial debt advice.

our online advice tool Debt Remedy can help you put together a personal action plan in just 20 minutes: http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp

Best regards

Rachel

12ferrets

Hi, I had a call today from a company called usave (or you save) they said that the government has a scheme to write off up to 75% of debts and that if I had over £6, 000 owing on credit cards and store cards I would qualify, I said I wasn't interested but the caller told me it would not cost me anything and that it was a legitimate scheme. I thought this was far too good to be true but I let the guy go on a bit while I googled this scheme. I couldn't really find anything about it but it sounds like a scam, or something with a big catch in it somewhere. When the guy put me on hold to wait for a 'financial advisor' I hung up and blocked their number. Was this the right thing to do or have I passed up a good thing?

mum2one

12ferrets wrote: »

Hi, I had a call today from a company called usave (or you save) they said that the government has a scheme to write off up to 75% of debts and that if I had over £6, 000 owing on credit cards and store cards I would qualify, I said I wasn't interested but the caller told me it would not cost me anything and that it was a legitimate scheme. I thought this was far too good to be true but I let the guy go on a bit while I googled this scheme. I couldn't really find anything about it but it sounds like a scam, or something with a big catch in it somewhere. When the guy put me on hold to wait for a 'financial advisor' I hung up and blocked their number. Was this the right thing to do or have I passed up a good thing?

Youve done exactly the right thing - if you need debt advice speak to stepchange - they have been brilliant for me x

StepChange_James

12ferrets wrote: »

Hi, I had a call today from a company called usave (or you save) they said that the government has a scheme to write off up to 75% of debts and that if I had over £6, 000 owing on credit cards and store cards I would qualify, I said I wasn't interested but the caller told me it would not cost me anything and that it was a legitimate scheme. I thought this was far too good to be true but I let the guy go on a bit while I googled this scheme. I couldn't really find anything about it but it sounds like a scam, or something with a big catch in it somewhere. When the guy put me on hold to wait for a 'financial advisor' I hung up and blocked their number. Was this the right thing to do or have I passed up a good thing?

Hi 12 ferrets and welcome to the forum.

I agree completely with mum2one, these things are nearly always best avoided. If they were offering something amazing they wouldn't need to cold call people, they'd have people banging down their door.

It's hard to say for sure, but usually when companies talk about government schemes to write of X% of your debt they'll usually be talking about IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangement).

They aren't really government schemes and they aren't new but they are a way to get some debt written off. It's a valid debt solution when it suits your circumstances but it sounds like the company you spoke to didn't know enough about you to know what your best option would be.

I'd recommend you get in touch with us for free advice on what options you've got available. We're a charity, we're impartial and you can go through our full advice process anonymously online using our Debt Remedy tool: http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp.

If you want to get advice from elsewhere then I'd recommend using the list of free advice agencies on the main MSE debt advice page here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help. The places listed there are a much safer bet than getting advice from people that call you up out of the blue.

I hope this is helpful.

Kind regards

James

PikaChew

Hi there,
I have recently graduated in May 2013 with a HND in graphic Design, but because this was my second course i had to pay my own fees, This wasnt a problem for the first year of study, but i wasnt able to pay for the second year, subsequently they are now hounding me for payment.
I was having a look around your site and forum and i now think that because i have an income of 72.40 per week, and this being the minimum required by law for a person to live on, I feel i may have been repaying other debts accrued by too high a rate.
I currently pay £5.00 per week towards saas debts, and also £3 per week towards council tax debts, plus i have the continued threat of the college looking for money also.
I am in all honesty considering entering myself into bankruptcy as my credit rating will already be goosed for the next 6 years due to the saas debt using a decree.
So what i would appreciate if it were possible is some small advice on;
am i paying too much
if i am how do i reduce these payments
is bankruptcy an option for someone whos credit rating will already be in the gutter

any correspondence will be greatly appreciated.

StepChange_Private_Messages

PikaChew wrote: »

Hi there,
I have recently graduated in May 2013 with a HND in graphic Design, but because this was my second course i had to pay my own fees, This wasnt a problem for the first year of study, but i wasnt able to pay for the second year, subsequently they are now hounding me for payment.
I was having a look around your site and forum and i now think that because i have an income of 72.40 per week, and this being the minimum required by law for a person to live on, I feel i may have been repaying other debts accrued by too high a rate.
I currently pay £5.00 per week towards saas debts, and also £3 per week towards council tax debts, plus i have the continued threat of the college looking for money also.
I am in all honesty considering entering myself into bankruptcy as my credit rating will already be goosed for the next 6 years due to the saas debt using a decree.
So what i would appreciate if it were possible is some small advice on;
am i paying too much
if i am how do i reduce these payments
is bankruptcy an option for someone whos credit rating will already be in the gutter

any correspondence will be greatly appreciated.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

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

I’d recommend that you gather details of your income, expenditure and debts and call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111.

Bankruptcy is a serious step and you need to take advice first. We’ll help by looking at your budget and explaining what the best option is for you. There could be other solutions you haven’t currently considered.

I hope this helps.

Mat