Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

chrishep

i explained with them till i was blue in the face i was seeking advice from CAB and also dmp companies and there exact words are we dont deal with them were not interested and would be told politely to keep out of it, this is there words not mine.

mattweeden

I have £3750 on a credit card and around £900 in my overdraft with the same bank. The amount is not going up but only paying of the interst plus a bit more so it is taking an age to pay off. What si your best advice??

bennpa33915

Good afternoon,
I am new to the forum and I wonder if you could help at all?
I was employed by a local council authority until May 2011 and I had a loan from a credit union that was run by staff at the authority. My initial loan was £2000 to which approximately £950 was paid (in salary deductions and £800 that was held in savings by the Credit Union).
I left the LA due to sickness (anxiety related due to person at work) owing the Credit Union £1050. The anxiety was so bad that I am still receiving treatment and have had a terrible time in dealing with anyone from the authority (even friends sometimes), so I left all attempts of contact ignored.
Two weeks ago I contacted the Credit Union asking for confirmation of the amount owed and how I could start repaying the debt, now that I am better placed to deal with my finances.
I received a letter in response stating that as I had refused to speak with them previously a debt collector was now acting for them and all correspondence must be made to the debt collector. They would not tell me the amount owed, only who the debt collector was.
The last letter I received regarding the debt was from 'Corporate and Legal Collections' in January stating the amount owed was £1200. (Also since leaving the authority, the credit union never sent me a statement regarding any charges or interest, nor did I receive any default notice to my recollection).
Last week on arrival home from work, a hand delivered letter was waiting for me from a local debt collector (SSY Enforcement Ltd) who had visited during the day stating the balance owed is £2600
I have no intention of speaking with this debt collector at my home and I certainly wish to dispute how the amount outstanding has jumped from £1200 in January to £2600 in March!

Where do I start in clarifying the amount owed, why the debt is now so high and who should I be paying? I certainly have no issue paying the £1200 off in installments, but I'm not accepting £2600 without concrete proof that interest and charges are justified.

Many thanks!

Ben

mjo3125

Hi Guys - advice needed please - been signed off work and arranged with Firstplus to pay reduced amount each month which I did - Phone them last week to check all up to date and was told all ok and to phone today 24/3/14 to set up a new plan - Just phoned them and told that the debt has gone to a collection agency (redcastle) and I need to contact them now? - Bit hacked off as I had done everything to the letter that Firstplus told me to do! Any help is appreciated!

System

mattweeden wrote: »

I have £3750 on a credit card and around £900 in my overdraft with the same bank. The amount is not going up but only paying of the interst plus a bit more so it is taking an age to pay off. What si your best advice??

Hi,

Welcome to the forum!

The ‘right of offset’ gives any bank the right to take money from your account if you are in debt with them. With that in mind it’s always best to bank somewhere you have no debt with.

I’d suggest you open a basic bank account at a different bank so your income is secure. You would still need to make the interest payment on the £900 overdraft. You then need to build a budget to see how much extra you can afford to pay towards the debts each month. The general advice is to concentrate on clearing the debt with the highest interest first.

Here is an MoneyAware article we’ve written explaining how to build a budget: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/11/dont-fudge-it-how-to-create-and-stick-to-a-budget/

Sign up for our free monthly newsletter and we’ll send you MoneyAware articles with money advice and tips to help you save.

MSE also have a great article on planning for a budget here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning

If you ever struggle to make the payments contact us for free debt advice otherwise it’s budgeting to clear the debts quicker.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,
Jess

System

mjo3125 wrote: »

Hi Guys - advice needed please - been signed off work and arranged with Firstplus to pay reduced amount each month which I did - Phone them last week to check all up to date and was told all ok and to phone today 24/3/14 to set up a new plan - Just phoned them and told that the debt has gone to a collection agency (redcastle) and I need to contact them now? - Bit hacked off as I had done everything to the letter that Firstplus told me to do! Any help is appreciated!

Hi,

The loan can be passed to a collections company if you’ve missed, or made reduced payments, on three occasions. It is annoying that it’s been passed on if you had a payment arrangement in place but nothing has changed. You need to make a payment to Red Castle based on what you can afford. Red Castle have no more powers than the original creditor so don’t feel pressured to increase your payment above what you can manage.

I suggest you contact us for some free advice. We could build a budget and recommend the best way to deal with the debt after your priority payments (rent/mortgage, household bills, food, travel…) are covered first.

You can do this online using our Debt Remedy advice tool or contact us to speak to a debt advisor.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,
Jess

System

bennpa33915 wrote: »

Good afternoon,
I am new to the forum and I wonder if you could help at all?
I was employed by a local council authority until May 2011 and I had a loan from a credit union that was run by staff at the authority. My initial loan was £2000 to which approximately £950 was paid (in salary deductions and £800 that was held in savings by the Credit Union).
I left the LA due to sickness (anxiety related due to person at work) owing the Credit Union £1050. The anxiety was so bad that I am still receiving treatment and have had a terrible time in dealing with anyone from the authority (even friends sometimes), so I left all attempts of contact ignored.
Two weeks ago I contacted the Credit Union asking for confirmation of the amount owed and how I could start repaying the debt, now that I am better placed to deal with my finances.
I received a letter in response stating that as I had refused to speak with them previously a debt collector was now acting for them and all correspondence must be made to the debt collector. They would not tell me the amount owed, only who the debt collector was.
The last letter I received regarding the debt was from 'Corporate and Legal Collections' in January stating the amount owed was £1200. (Also since leaving the authority, the credit union never sent me a statement regarding any charges or interest, nor did I receive any default notice to my recollection).
Last week on arrival home from work, a hand delivered letter was waiting for me from a local debt collector (SSY Enforcement Ltd) who had visited during the day stating the balance owed is £2600
I have no intention of speaking with this debt collector at my home and I certainly wish to dispute how the amount outstanding has jumped from £1200 in January to £2600 in March!

Where do I start in clarifying the amount owed, why the debt is now so high and who should I be paying? I certainly have no issue paying the £1200 off in installments, but I'm not accepting £2600 without concrete proof that interest and charges are justified.

Many thanks!

Ben

Hi Ben,

You can access your online credit report for free at Noddle. That will show who you owe money to and how much.

If that's not clear you can contact SSY Enforcement Ltd and ask them to send you a breakdown of the interest/charges. They are debt collectors NOT bailiffs – so even if they did visit your home they cannot force entry or take goods.

You would benefit from getting free impartial debt advice so you’re offering to pay this debt back in instalments you can afford. You can either use our online Debt Remedy advice tool or contact us to speak to an advisor. We will give you a reference number to give to your creditors so they know you’re getting the help you need and recommend the best way to clear the debt as quickly as is possible.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,
Jess

bettyruth

Well done for almost clearing your debt! I am right at the begining...still unsure about taking out a d.m.p...but realistically no other choice, my debts about 21.000.
can I ask, how has the dmp been for yourself, I am so scared that I will be getting lots of hassell and threats from my creditors... something I am just managing to avoid by making min payments now...
thank you, and well done once again,

joee

Hello there stepchange advisors!

I hope that this message finds you all well!

This is a dipping my toe in the water kind of a post as I am planning on contacting Stepchange officially when I know that full details of what is happening.

I have been signed off by my GP for two weeks but may possibly be three weeks due to an ongoing medical condition related to stress, as a result my pay is likely to be affected. I wondered what action I should take, my first thoughts are -

Speak to my manager as soon as possible to ask what my pay is likely to be and ask if two months of wages will be affected (I am paid monthly)
Phone stepchange to maybe arrange a tempory change of circumstances.

I am really frightened as up until now my DMP has been going relatively well since starting it around June 2012 with payments of around a third of my salary (sorry for being vague i am conscious of my privacy). I am frightened in case my creditors will come calling - I am feeling really vulnerable at the moment

Former_StepChange_Rachel

joee wrote: »

Hello there stepchange advisors!

I hope that this message finds you all well!

This is a dipping my toe in the water kind of a post as I am planning on contacting Stepchange officially when I know that full details of what is happening.

I have been signed off by my GP for two weeks but may possibly be three weeks due to an ongoing medical condition related to stress, as a result my pay is likely to be affected. I wondered what action I should take, my first thoughts are -

Speak to my manager as soon as possible to ask what my pay is likely to be and ask if two months of wages will be affected (I am paid monthly)
Phone stepchange to maybe arrange a tempory change of circumstances.

I am really frightened as up until now my DMP has been going relatively well since starting it around June 2012 with payments of around a third of my salary (sorry for being vague i am conscious of my privacy). I am frightened in case my creditors will come calling - I am feeling really vulnerable at the moment

Hi there,

Thank you for posting.

I'm very sorry to hear you've been signed off ill and hope you are on the mend soon.

Please don't worry, we give our advice with income shocks like this in mind so we'll do all we can to support you. If you could please give us a ring and we'll talk you through what can be done moving forward.

Best regards

Rachel