Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

Former_StepChange_Rachel

cheapopete wrote: »

Ah, no, I haven't commenced payments yet, this will be the first, directly after the CCJ arrived. But I don't care about their own payment date, as they'll receive it before that. I intend to pay then in the first week of each month. I'm trying to bring all my outgoings as close to the day after my mortgage goes out.
My tinnitus tends to interfere a great deal with phone conversations. Even the info given me by the nice lady at your office is all gone from my brain. But I asked for the basics in an email I sent as well and was accommodated without problem.

Lowells have a reputation for messing people about and a payment on the 30th is destined to screw up as soon as February arrives.

Hi again Pete

It makes sense that you're trying to keep all of your outgoing payment dates as close together as possible. It makes it much easier to keep track of things. When you send the form back, include a letter stating the preferred payment date and ask them to confirm in writing that they agree.

Best regards

Rachel

Former_StepChange_Rachel

eddie864 wrote: »

I had a Barclaycard Platinum from when I worked and rarely used it. Since going on to EESA and DLA for disability we have used the card and built up a £3000 debt - the max of our limit. I noticed the other day that rather than the 18% APR i thought it had it's actually charging us 29.9%! We are happy to pay off our debt but the interest is running at about £65 a month so we are only paying off £35 with each £100 payment.

Given our credit rating is poor we can't find any means of getting a loan or another card at a better rate to pay this off. I would have liked to have a fixed rate loan to clear it but no one will give us one. I don't want to do anything to damage our credit rating more than it is - I just want to be able to clear this loan!

Hi there Eddie, thanks for getting in touch.

We as a charity would not usually endorse paying one debt balance with another. When a person is struggling with debts they owe, we encourage them to look at realistic, affordable ways to pay the debts based on a realistic budget.

We've written a blogpost offering some advice on debt consolidation if this is an option you're considering:

http://moneyaware.co.uk/2013/01/to-debt-consolidate-or-not-to-debt-consolidate/

Our online advice tool Debt Remedy can tell you anonymously what solutions are available to you:

http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp

There's also a great guide to improving your credit score right here on MSE http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

Hope this helps

Kind regards

Rachel

ChrisMc182

I had posted this on my thread but I'm still trying to decide if this is an acceptable option.

my debt is £4600, I'm setting up a DMP of £101 a month at which will be increased in 3 weeks once I'm back at work.

My mum has offered her credit union for me to use, I pay the minimum payments required to the DMP and any extra i put in her credit union, the logic being once I have enough in the credit union, half savings half loan to pay of the rest of the DMP to do it and keep paying the Credit Union back weekly?

Is that a route anyone has gone down or would yous advise on sticking to the DMP? I'd just like to get out of the DMP as soon as possible and paying £25 a week to the Credit Union doesnt really bother me so much as its something that will always be paid on time.

10000days

Hi. Looking for some advice about how to get started on the road to recovery. Basically I have debt of over £8,000(at last check). Just over 4 years ago I was really struggling with it, charges every week, letters every week. Wages were going. Then i lost my job and was out of work for about a month.

I got a new job and thought it would be a good idea to get my wages paid into my parents account as i didn't want it getting obliterated by charges every month. This was a temp measure, 4 years down the line i'm still doing it. Head buried firmly in sand. Letters ignored. Phone calls ignored.

So now i have no bank account, i tried to get a basic one but it was denied as one of my previous debts link me to a different address. I really need to get this sorted. I would just like advice on a starting point.

I live in Scotland.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mumsiemoo

I'm new to this board but hoping for some advice.
I have two young children, a fixed rate mortgage which isn't a great rate, on maternity leave etc etc so basically I am in a very expensive period of my life.
My eldest will get 15 hours free childcare from the end of this year, I can apply for a new (hopefully cheaper mortgage) and my husband should be getting a decent payrise.
My question however relates to my current debt. I am able to meet repayments but not able to pay any more off at the moment. When my husbands gets his payrise we will be using all of that to start clearing debts but I'm wondering if I should keep them as they are or move them.
Current debts;
2.5k overdraft
3 credit cards (all 0%) totalling around £10k
Should I look at a loan, put them all on one card or just leave as they are?
Many thanks in advance.

StepChange_Private_Messages

ChrisMc182 wrote: »

I had posted this on my thread but I'm still trying to decide if this is an acceptable option.

my debt is £4600, I'm setting up a DMP of £101 a month at which will be increased in 3 weeks once I'm back at work.

My mum has offered her credit union for me to use, I pay the minimum payments required to the DMP and any extra i put in her credit union, the logic being once I have enough in the credit union, half savings half loan to pay of the rest of the DMP to do it and keep paying the Credit Union back weekly?

Is that a route anyone has gone down or would yous advise on sticking to the DMP? I'd just like to get out of the DMP as soon as possible and paying £25 a week to the Credit Union doesnt really bother me so much as its something that will always be paid on time.

Hi,

I’d suggest you get some free, impartial debt advice. You can then be sure you’re choosing the debt solution that will get you debt free as quickly as possible. There may be other debt solutions you are not aware of.

We can help you see what’s best. You can enter your budget details into Debt Remedy for a personal action plan explaining how to deal with your debts. It's free and confidential. Or you can call 0800 138 1111 to speak to a debt advisor.

I wouldn’t recommend paying into your Mum’s Credit Union – it’s not the correct use of the Union and it really is best to be upfront and honest with your creditors about your budget and monthly payments.

Get in touch so you can get the advice you need.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,
Jess

cheapopete

StepChange_Rachel wrote: »

Hi again Pete

It makes sense that you're trying to keep all of your outgoing payment dates as close together as possible. It makes it much easier to keep track of things. When you send the form back, include a letter stating the preferred payment date and ask them to confirm in writing that they agree.

Best regards

Rachel

First payment made on Monday, 4 days before the CCJ requirement.
The lady at Barclays was very helpful. She set up my new Cash Card account, I was then able to pay cash into it straight away, and immediately make a payment to Lowell's solicitor, with the cashier using the sort code and account number that was given as one of the available payment options.
I'm just waiting for the second envelope to arrive with the other half of my card /code combo. I shall then set up internet banking and arrange permanent payments in from my main (HSBC) account and out on the 2nd of each month.
But I will phone the solicitor tomorrow to get confirmation that they received my payment. Barclays cashier said it was an instant payment.

StepChange_James

10000days wrote: »

Hi. Looking for some advice about how to get started on the road to recovery. Basically I have debt of over £8,000(at last check). Just over 4 years ago I was really struggling with it, charges every week, letters every week. Wages were going. Then i lost my job and was out of work for about a month.

I got a new job and thought it would be a good idea to get my wages paid into my parents account as i didn't want it getting obliterated by charges every month. This was a temp measure, 4 years down the line i'm still doing it. Head buried firmly in sand. Letters ignored. Phone calls ignored.

So now i have no bank account, i tried to get a basic one but it was denied as one of my previous debts link me to a different address. I really need to get this sorted. I would just like advice on a starting point.

I live in Scotland.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi there,

Firstly it's worth saying that it's great that you're looking to get back on top of these debts. Making that choice is probably the hardest thing, then it's a matter of following a process to get things resolved.

It seems a bit odd that you were rejected for a basic account because of other debts being registered to old addresses. As a general rule of thumb it's a good idea to keep your creditors informed of your current address, so you know what's happening with the account but I wouldn't expect not doing this to make opening a basic account difficult.

It might be worth trying a different bank. There's more information about basic accounts here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/basic-bank-accounts

As well as sorting out the bank account side of things I'd also recommend getting some help with your debts. If you're not sure what's going on with them then the best starting point would be to get an update. If you know which companies are dealing with them then you could make phone calls and ask for an update from each one.

If this sounds a bit too daunting or you're not sure who's dealing with your accounts then getting an up to date copy of your credit report is a good way to see what's going on. I should add that the information isn't guaranteed to be completely up to date, but it should give you a reasonably good idea of what's happening.

Once you know more about these debts then I'd suggest coming to us for in depth advice on how to sort them out. You can do this using our online Debt Remedy advice tool: http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp.

We'll help you plan out a budget and recommend a solution to deal with your debts based on what you can afford. Then we'll help you through whatever strategy we recommend.

Kind regards

James

StepChange_James

Mumsiemoo wrote: »

I'm new to this board but hoping for some advice.
I have two young children, a fixed rate mortgage which isn't a great rate, on maternity leave etc etc so basically I am in a very expensive period of my life.
My eldest will get 15 hours free childcare from the end of this year, I can apply for a new (hopefully cheaper mortgage) and my husband should be getting a decent payrise.
My question however relates to my current debt. I am able to meet repayments but not able to pay any more off at the moment. When my husbands gets his payrise we will be using all of that to start clearing debts but I'm wondering if I should keep them as they are or move them.
Current debts;
2.5k overdraft
3 credit cards (all 0%) totalling around £10k
Should I look at a loan, put them all on one card or just leave as they are?
Many thanks in advance.

Hi there Mumsiemoo,

Most of our advice is aimed at people who aren't able to afford their payments to their debts, so it sounds like you're not quite in that situation at the moment.

The solutions to deal with unaffordable debts are best avoided if you can keep up with your payments but if you'd like to double check you can manage then our Debt Remedy tool will go through your finances and tell you if you can manage: http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp.

If you can keep up with full payments then it'll be a case of working out which of the strategies you mentioned above works best for you. There are a few factors that make it tricky to know which way to move forward but I'd suggest thinking about:

• Which is the cheapest overall when you add up interest, balance transfer fees and any other charges?
  
• Which is most affordable based on both your current finances and the expected improvements you'll have later on?
  
• Will you be able to qualify for low interest rate debts? (this is a bit of an unknown factor but the MSE guides will often give you an indication)
  
• Have you stopped putting new spending on credit? - as restructuring credit can be risky if you could be tempted to spend again on the old debts you pay off

By answering these questions you should get an idea about which plan would work best for you.

Kind regards

James

kaybee15

kaybee15 wrote: »

Hi James, thanks for your response. The solicitors seemed as baffled as we are (without admitting it), and we've spoken to Excel Counselling who want an appointment, but we fail to understand why they are involved at all.

I shall contact StepChange as you suggest, and again, thank you.

Hi again

I spoke to StepChange as advised, and they were very helpful - the advisor was shocked that the repo order had not been taken up for over a year, as he has never encountered that before. We are now looking to sell our property to one of the 'we buy any house' type companies for a quick sale. Two final questions if I may - firstly, can we sell the property as the repo order has not been enforced? Secondly, should I contact the company (Excel) who have been assigned to our case or deal with the bank directly?

Any assistance again much appreciated.