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StepChange_James

Alice_in_Welfareland wrote: »

Hi James
I still do not understand why Stepchange allocates payments this way especially when you actually state "It can sometimes work out that payments on our DMPs are more than the contractual payment for a debt, which means interest is often not stopped" but in your Debt Myths thread you said "I’d say that we find the majority of the time creditors are willing to stop or reduce interest. The biggest factor tends to be if they can see that there is a genuine debt problem and the payment being offered is reasonable."

Thanks for the link but that really does not tell us very much about funding, I would like to know more if this is possible? For example on your partnerships page, what does "Any credit organisation dealing with customer problem debt can discuss how to partner with us and explore being part of our unique Fair Share scheme" mean? What is the Fair Share scheme?

Sorry I can not post the links, even in your quotes, because I am new.

Alice_in_Welfareland wrote: »

Thanks James. So Rachel was incorrect? I think Stepchange should ensure that your staff only make accurate posts because this information is very important to a lot of people here. If an incorrect post is made perhaps Stepchange can highlight this and give the correct information in a later post? I will check the link and read that now.

Hi again Alice,

As explained, we divide our clients’ monthly payments between their creditors so all debts receive a proportional share of the funds available. To do this, individual payments are calculated based on each creditor’s contractual repayment figure. As you’ve pointed out, some advice providers base their calculations on the balance of each debt, which is their preference. Neither one is right or wrong. We’re confident our calculation makes sure funds are distributed between all debts as fairly as possible and we’ll continue to use this method to calculate repayment figures. There’s not really anything further I can add. I hope this makes sense.

The “fair share scheme” refers to the way the charity is funded. As you’re aware, StepChange Debt Charity provides a completely free service to people in financial difficulty. Our service is funded by creditors that make a voluntary contribution to the charity so we can continue providing help and support to those who need us. The source of our funding sometimes leads to individuals asking how we can remain objective when providing advice. However, regardless of whether a creditor makes a voluntary contribution to StepChange Debt Charity, our advice continues to be based on an individual’s personal circumstances, not who their creditors are. Creditors don’t influence the advice we give, or the debt solutions we discuss. They continue to fund us in the knowledge that clients receive independent and impartial advice - even if this means a debt solution is recommended, for example bankruptcy, which may mean no financial return to them.

Rachel’s post about credit ratings being affected for 6 years was correct. She was talking about what happens when payments are missed on debts, and replied to say that nothing added to a credit file stays on there for longer than 6 years. I think that might have just been a misunderstanding. More details about credit reference files & how long information is stored can be viewed on the Information Commissioners Office website by downloading their guide ‘Credit Explained’. I hope this helps.

As you’ve raised a few questions and comments about our advice and service, I wondered whether something’s happened to make you concerned about your DMP. We don’t like to disappoint but if you’d like to submit a formal complaint we could then look to address your issues and give you a response. There are more details here: http://www.stepchange.org/Legal/Complaintsprocess.aspx.

Kind regards

James

StepChange_James

kaydizz wrote: »

Thanks for all of your helpful answers James

I did the debt remedy and asked for the application pack.

I did key the information in quite a rush and underestimated one of the creditor balances by about £800, completely missed the box where I have pets and want to reduce the amount I put down for meals at work as I am going to start taking my own when I can to reduce spend, the gas and electric amounts also need a bit of tweaking after reviewing my most recent bills.

Is is ok to do another debt remedy and ask for the application pack on this one

Thanks

Hello,

You could go through Debt Remedy again if you like, but it would probably be easier to give us a quick call on the number in your paperwork. We can then see if we can make these adjustments from our end of things.

Hats off to you for changing to packed lunches, little changes like this can make a big difference when you add them up.

All the best.

James

StepChange_James

nickyg890 wrote: »

I have currently just moved into my first house and am creating a problem for myself.

I really dont no if Im coming or going with money going out my bank account on a daily basis with bills and home essentials/improvents needed.

Along with that I have a serious gambiling problem, but before you judge I only do this to try and get whats needed done and to get me though. I no its not the right way, clearly because its not working. But if only it was that easy to give up.

I am currently £2800 over drawn, with a £1000 bank loan. Oh yes and I did a stupid payday loan of £300. All money I havent really got. I only recive £1600 a month - with mortgage/bills/petrol/food (all essentials) totaling around £1400.
I just havent got any room to breath

I have been in debt for about 6 years and Im only 24. Ive never been in the Black and had money behind me, and I now want this so bad. It would make life so much eaiser and stressless.

Advice please??

Hi Nicky,

We're not hear to judge, so don't worry about that. Obviously stopping gambling will help with your finances but I appreciate that is a very hard thing to do. The NHS has a page about getting help with gambling which might point you in the right direction: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/addiction/Pages/gamblingaddiction.aspx.

In terms of your debts, we can offer advice and support with these. If you're overstretched then it's a matter of working out what your income is, how much you need for your priorities (household bills, food, etc) and seeing what you've left for non-priorities (payday loans, credit cards, overdrafts, etc).

With that information we'll know what options you've got and how much you can realistically afford to put towards your debts. From your calculations above it looks like this would be about £200 a month but it'd be best to put together a detailed budget.

You can do this online using our advice tool, Debt Remedy (http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp) which will guide you through making a budget and give you customised advice.

If you'd prefer to talk you can give us a call (http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx) and an advisor will go through things with you.

Hope this helps.

James

StepChange_James

mandi wrote: »

Hi James.

Looking for some help please .

My son has a gym membership which he has been unable to use since September due to reallocation .

He spoke to the gym early October and they said that if he provided a letter from his employer to state this , they would allow him to cancel .

Because he is away it took several weeks to get the letter which clearly stated his name etc and was signed by his branch manager sating that he has been working away since September .


In the meantime they have continued to charge him his membership and several amount of admin fees .

Today he has received a letter stating that they will not cancel the membership as the letter was not a " formal document " they advise that they will continue with the fee and admin charges , and threatening further action .

What would your advice be please .

Hi Mandi,

Thanks for posting. This does seem strange. I would recommend posting this onto the CAB's disputing debts board on this forum (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=241).

They should be able to tell you what rights your son has in this situation and how best to deal with the gym.

If it ends up that he has a debt to the gym and would like advice on how to pay that back then we may be able to help but given the circumstances you've described I think it'd be better to dispute the debt before thinking about paying it back.

Kind regards

James

BlueBlue_2

Hi,

New to this and I have just set up a budget plan with stepchange.

I was recommended to set up a DMP, and I am pretty sure I understand most of the details and implications, but I have 2 questions if I may:

1) I work for a bank in a senior position. The bank is not on my list of creditors, so do I have any obligation to tell them of any action I am taking to sort out my debts?

2) I am a member of the ACCA, and I note that 3 other Accounting bodies are mentioned in the "are you a member of" section, but not the ACCA. Am I obliged to tell them?

many thanks
Blue

debtfreesoon-yesplease

Hi,

I wanted some advice on what to do next as I cant seem to get a straight answer anywhere.

I had a pile of debt collection letters and, having 'cleansed' them and now filtered out all of the old letters and now just keeping the most recent letter for each debt, I am still no clearer as to what to do next. some of these letters are dated as far back as 2008 and each of the debts are different- ranging from utility bills to credit card debts and anything else in-between.

I have just checked my credit reports/scores via Equifax and Experian and both of these ONLY show 3 debts (both reports show the same) and NONE of the pile I have sat in front of me, I dont know what to do - Do i contact them and see where I stand? Do I just leave them be and let them chase me if the debts are still active or not? and i'm registered on the electoral role at each of my former address'...

As these debts all range from 2008 - to date, and I haven't been chased for most of them AND none of them show on my credit reports can I assume they've been written off?

please help! thanks in advance...

StepChange_James

BlueBlue wrote: »

Hi,

New to this and I have just set up a budget plan with stepchange.

I was recommended to set up a DMP, and I am pretty sure I understand most of the details and implications, but I have 2 questions if I may:

1) I work for a bank in a senior position. The bank is not on my list of creditors, so do I have any obligation to tell them of any action I am taking to sort out my debts?

2) I am a member of the ACCA, and I note that 3 other Accounting bodies are mentioned in the "are you a member of" section, but not the ACCA. Am I obliged to tell them?

many thanks
Blue

Hi Blue,

Welcome to the forum. It would depend on the kind of job you are doing with the bank and what is in your employment contract.

Often employees of financial institutions will have signed something that allows their employers to carry out random credit checks and may also have some stipulations about financial conduct, which require you to advise them if you're having difficulties.

If you have a line manager or HR representative that you can talk to in confidence about the situation then they will be able to guide you.

I've had a quick look online and found this document about ACCA members in financial difficulty: http://www2.accaglobal.com/documents/financial_difficulties.pdf

It seems that bankruptcy would be a problem but an IVA would be OK as long as you told them about it and there is no mention of DMPs at all (which isn't surprising as it's not a legally binding agreement). It may be worth getting in touch with them just to be on the safe side but if they allow members to enter IVAs there should be no problem with DMPs.

Hope this helps.

James

StepChange_James

debtfreesoon-yesplease wrote: »

Hi,

I wanted some advice on what to do next as I cant seem to get a straight answer anywhere.

I had a pile of debt collection letters and, having 'cleansed' them and now filtered out all of the old letters and now just keeping the most recent letter for each debt, I am still no clearer as to what to do next. some of these letters are dated as far back as 2008 and each of the debts are different- ranging from utility bills to credit card debts and anything else in-between.

I have just checked my credit reports/scores via Equifax and Experian and both of these ONLY show 3 debts (both reports show the same) and NONE of the pile I have sat in front of me, I dont know what to do - Do i contact them and see where I stand? Do I just leave them be and let them chase me if the debts are still active or not? and i'm registered on the electoral role at each of my former address'...

As these debts all range from 2008 - to date, and I haven't been chased for most of them AND none of them show on my credit reports can I assume they've been written off?

please help! thanks in advance...

Hello,

If you're in England then debts like these aren't ever really written off, though if you haven't made a payment or acknowledged the debt in six years then it is classed as "statute barred". This means they can't enforce the debt through the courts.

As you've not passed this six year period then these debts would have the same powers as a credit card you spent money on last month. It's quite rare to hear of creditors writing debts off altogether before this six year period has elapsed, though they are often sold on to debt collectors.

We don't recommend avoiding debts, we've a blogpost about it here: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2012/07/debt-avoidance-truth/. For peace of mind it may be worth ringing around the debts you have the details of and see what their current state is.

You may find that it takes some detective work if the accounts have been passed around, but it'll help you know where you stand.

It's strange that these debts aren't showing up on your credit history, often debts are missed but it's unusual for so many not be registered on your credit file. This can be caused by missing previous addresses from the credit file request, but it sounds like you advised Experian and Equifax of these.

Anyway, once you've got the details of the debts and know what you owe we can give you advice on getting them sorted out. You can do this using our online tool, Debt Remedy (http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp) or by giving us a call (http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx).

All the best

James

Alice_in_Welfareland

StepChange_James wrote: »

Hi again Alice,

As explained, we divide our clients’ monthly payments between their creditors so all debts receive a proportional share of the funds available. To do this, individual payments are calculated based on each creditor’s contractual repayment figure. As you’ve pointed out, some advice providers base their calculations on the balance of each debt, which is their preference. Neither one is right or wrong. We’re confident our calculation makes sure funds are distributed between all debts as fairly as possible and we’ll continue to use this method to calculate repayment figures. There’s not really anything further I can add. I hope this makes sense.

The “fair share scheme” refers to the way the charity is funded. As you’re aware, StepChange Debt Charity provides a completely free service to people in financial difficulty. Our service is funded by creditors that make a voluntary contribution to the charity so we can continue providing help and support to those who need us. The source of our funding sometimes leads to individuals asking how we can remain objective when providing advice. However, regardless of whether a creditor makes a voluntary contribution to StepChange Debt Charity, our advice continues to be based on an individual’s personal circumstances, not who their creditors are. Creditors don’t influence the advice we give, or the debt solutions we discuss. They continue to fund us in the knowledge that clients receive independent and impartial advice - even if this means a debt solution is recommended, for example bankruptcy, which may mean no financial return to them.

Rachel’s post about credit ratings being affected for 6 years was correct. She was talking about what happens when payments are missed on debts, and replied to say that nothing added to a credit file stays on there for longer than 6 years. I think that might have just been a misunderstanding. More details about credit reference files & how long information is stored can be viewed on the Information Commissioners Office website by downloading their guide (link removed). I hope this helps.

As you’ve raised a few questions and comments about our advice and service, I wondered whether something’s happened to make you concerned about your DMP. We don’t like to disappoint but if you’d like to submit a formal complaint we could then look to address your issues and give you a response. There are more details here: (link removed)
Kind regards

James

Hello James

I think we will have to agree to differ on the payment distribution as I still believe this is an incorrect system and that it is interesting that only Stepchange operates in this way.

I will also have to still disagree with you about Rachel's post on
"Nothing lasts on your credit file for longer than 6 years." It is fact that arrangements to pay or DMPs can be recorded on a credit file for years then a default is added which stays for another 6 years so how can Rachel's statement be correct.

I am aware of your complaints procedure but thank you for the information. I have no concerns about my DMP as it is in very safe hands now, my own.

Alice

StepChange_James

MadelinesMum wrote: »

Hi, I need some advice about my / our dire financial situation. I hope this is the right place.
It's a long story but the gist of it is:
Property one - £650 per month mortgage, rented out for £575 per month and in negative equity, have tried to sell but no luck.
Property two - £500 per month remortgage
DMP with Payplan - £365 per month for the next 7 years

Property one is a terraced house over 100 years old and not in an excellent condition. We had to fix a bay window roof in August which cost hundreds of pounds now the tenant has complained about the same roof and the lettings agent has forwarded a quote of over £700. This has just floored me and I feel like just melting into a heap. To say I can't cope is an understatement
I've no idea what to do as every option seems to hold even worse side effects.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hi Madeline's Mum

Thanks for posting. What terrible timing for an expensive repair bill to arrive.

It sounds like there are two issues, firstly the immediate problem of the repairs needed on the property you rent out and secondly the bigger issue of how to get out of debt.

I would recommend getting in touch with Payplan and talking to them about the best way to balance the repairs, your priority costs and the DMP payments. There isn't an easy answer but they're the people who'll be able to talk through your options.

The longer term plan is also a complicated issue. Payplan have all your details so they should be able to talk you through other options. You're right when you say that other strategies are likely to have their downside too, it's a matter of weighing up which is best in the long run.

I'd say that talking to Payplan would be the first port of call though before getting too bogged down in what to do next.

Hope this helps.

James