Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

hereshoping2014

Hi,

I am looking for some advice. We currently have a dmp running with Payplan which has been active for 4 years, we still have 11 years left on the plan and owe around £24k.
We are currently in the process of selling property we had been clinging on to and plan to use any money we make to pay off our debt. However the equity will only be around 15k and so will fall very short or the final balances.
My question is, is there any way on this earth that if we were to contact each lender they might let us make a substantially reduced settlement payment. We are so fed up and want to be rid of this debt once and for all. Mostbof the debt we have had for almost 10 years and I feel that making the reduced payment would be more sensible than continuing to pay at such a reduced rate for another 10+ years!
Has anyone any experience of this, I have repeatedly asked my debt advisor at payplan but all they advise is not to favour one lender over another as this may upset the other lenders?!
Please help!

Former_StepChange_Laura

Brad1991 wrote: »

Hi all new on here !

I'm after some advice.

I'm currently on a DMP with StepChange and they have been great even when i had a bad few months and they reduced the payments which helped me, now im back on track with my full payments which im happy about.

The question i have is that i've just got back from working away and recieved a letter from DWF saying they are collecting on behalf of a client missed payments from a contract i had for my laptop via currys. They state on the letter i need to make the payment of £347.57 by 26/10/14 and if the payment isn't made court action will be taken.

Now i don't really want to reduce my november payment from my DMP as i've already made a few reduced payments to my DMP but i was thinking if i could reduce my food/transport in order to pay as much as i can towards my DMP aswell as paying the balance from DWF. I tried contacting DWF to see if i could arrange a small payment i.e. minimum payment but they refused due to the late contact ?

I don't know what really is the best ?
Should i contact StepChange and inform them whats happened and inform them that i'll do my best to pay my DMP payment ?

Some good news though is that i've been informed by my boss a bonus will be paid to us before xmas which i would use towards my DMP when i receive this shall i contact Stepchange to make a payment to them to divide between my creditors ?

Sorry for the long message i'm just stuck and i feel like i'm messing StepChange about recently

Hi Brad1991,

Thanks for your message. It’s great to hear you’re feeling back on track!

I think the best option would be to give us a call and let us know what’s happened as it could be something we could help you with. You could also have a chat with the advisor about the bonus you expect to receive and how that could be used. You can get in touch with our client support team on 08442 643 643. The line is open from Monday to Friday from 8am until 6pm.

Please don’t feel like you’re messing us about, it’s what we’re here for!

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Laura

StepChange_James

hereshoping2014 wrote: »

Hi,

I am looking for some advice. We currently have a dmp running with Payplan which has been active for 4 years, we still have 11 years left on the plan and owe around £24k.
We are currently in the process of selling property we had been clinging on to and plan to use any money we make to pay off our debt. However the equity will only be around 15k and so will fall very short or the final balances.
My question is, is there any way on this earth that if we were to contact each lender they might let us make a substantially reduced settlement payment. We are so fed up and want to be rid of this debt once and for all. Mostbof the debt we have had for almost 10 years and I feel that making the reduced payment would be more sensible than continuing to pay at such a reduced rate for another 10+ years!
Has anyone any experience of this, I have repeatedly asked my debt advisor at payplan but all they advise is not to favour one lender over another as this may upset the other lenders?!
Please help!

Hello,

I suspect the difficulty your advisor at Payplan will have had is that there’s no certainties when it comes to agreeing reduced settlements with your creditors. It’s safe to say that it definitely is possible to agree reduced settlements in certain circumstances but I couldn’t say what’s likely to happen in your situation.

Once you’ve got a lump sum available and you know how much it is you’ll be able to get more of an idea about how willing your creditors are to negotiate.

Most creditors will consider what happens if they don’t agree a settlement, and in your case the alternative seems to be another 11 years of reduced payments. So their decision will be whether to take a smaller percentage up front and get rid of the debt or get all of their money but have to wait a long time for it.

Unfortunately it’s hard to know what decisions they’ll make but if you have a dig around these forums you’ll probably be able to find other people who’ve been through similar experiences and find out how they got on.

I hope this helps and all the best with your house sale.

Kind regards

James

hayleymcbayley

Hi there,

I have two credit cards which are both no longer 0% (after I did balance transfers to them a while back) - one credit card (M&S) is at £2910 and the other one (Halifax) is at £1100.

I was wondering if there is a decent 0% on balance transfers credit card that I could transfer both of these amounts over to so my debt is in one place. I am scared to apply in case I don't get approved and my credit rating gets affected. I am also worried that I won't get a high enough credit limit to move it all over.

I earn around £900 a month and have never missed a payment on either of my credit cards. I try to pay over the minimum payment, even if just by a little amount. I just feel like I'm getting nowhere after the interest gets added. etc.

I would be grateful for any advice, thank you.

madcyril990

StepChange_James wrote: »

Hi there,

It's normally part of an IVA arrangement that you have to notify your IVA company if you come into any windfalls (such as a PPI refund) and sometimes they'll expect this money to be paid to them.

A lot depends on what you've agreed to when you took out your IVA. So the first thing I'd suggest would be digging out your paperwork and reading up on anything in your agreement about assets and clauses about unexpected money or specifically PPI.

That should give you a better idea of where you stand.

Kind regards

James

hi James thanks for the reply and apologies for the delay in responding.i have spent the last week going through the reams of paperwork trying to find the answers.there is no mention anywhere regarding ppi,the only thing i can find is them stating i would need to remortgage to release equity in the 54th month of my iva agreement.this hasn't happened as im in negative equity to around £22000.
i do have a letter a letter from the iva company dated october 2012 regarding ppi.one passage in the letter reads as follows-

'for the avoidance of doubt,any and all ppi claims MUST form part of your iva estate and cannot be claimed outside of the arrangement'.

is this saying they will be claiming on debts within the iva arrangement only.

madcyril990

madcyril990 wrote: »

hi James thanks for the reply and apologies for the delay in responding.i have spent the last week going through the reams of paperwork trying to find the answers.there is no mention anywhere regarding ppi,the only thing i can find is them stating i would need to remortgage to release equity in the 54th month of my iva agreement.this hasn't happened as im in negative equity to around £22000.
i do have a letter a letter from the iva company dated october 2012 regarding ppi.one passage in the letter reads as follows-

'for the avoidance of doubt,any and all ppi claims MUST form part of your iva estate and cannot be claimed outside of the arrangement'.

is this saying they will be claiming on debts within the iva arrangement only.

further to this i recently received a letter from a company acting on behalf of my iva company(although they do share the same office space it would seem)stating they intend to investigate all debts i have held.can they do this even though there is no mention in my original agreement.

suzie1977

Hi

I have just had a CCJ awarded against me to a company that purchased an old M&S credit card that I had defaulted on. When I got the documentation I filed my defense stating the debt was statute barred as the last payment was in 2007, and when I received a letter from the court with a date I called as I was unable to get the time of work and they said this hearing was not the court date but for the company to confirm why my defense should be thrown out and that I need not attend, this was wrong and it appears this was the hearing date. They are asking for £5k to be paid by 6th October which I don't have please could you give me some advise ?. I am also fighting another potential CCJ for an old loan that I took out in 2005. My credit rating until 2007 was really good and I then purchased a business became self employed and it all went wrong I would have made myself bankrupt if I had the £600 required, but am trying to re build my life, any help would be much appreciated.

thanks

Sue

Former_StepChange_Rory

hayleymcbayley wrote: »

Hi there,

I have two credit cards which are both no longer 0% (after I did balance transfers to them a while back) - one credit card (M&S) is at £2910 and the other one (Halifax) is at £1100.

I was wondering if there is a decent 0% on balance transfers credit card that I could transfer both of these amounts over to so my debt is in one place. I am scared to apply in case I don't get approved and my credit rating gets affected. I am also worried that I won't get a high enough credit limit to move it all over.

I earn around £900 a month and have never missed a payment on either of my credit cards. I try to pay over the minimum payment, even if just by a little amount. I just feel like I'm getting nowhere after the interest gets added. etc.

I would be grateful for any advice, thank you.

Hi there,

If you’re looking for advice on finding a better deal on credit cards then the main Money Saving Expert page should have tips on finding the best deals. Shop around to try and find a better deal but make sure you read any advice on balance transfers before committing.

If you do apply and you're rejected then this can leave a mark on your credit score, but like most things this won’t show forever.

Sometimes just paying minimum payments or interest can be can be a warning sign that your debts are becoming a problem. If you’re concerned then why not use our 60-second debt test to see if you’d benefit from more advice from us?

I hope this helps,

Rory

Former_StepChange_Rory

suzie1977 wrote: »

Hi

I have just had a CCJ awarded against me to a company that purchased an old M&S credit card that I had defaulted on. When I got the documentation I filed my defense stating the debt was statute barred as the last payment was in 2007, and when I received a letter from the court with a date I called as I was unable to get the time of work and they said this hearing was not the court date but for the company to confirm why my defense should be thrown out and that I need not attend, this was wrong and it appears this was the hearing date. They are asking for £5k to be paid by 6th October which I don't have please could you give me some advise ?. I am also fighting another potential CCJ for an old loan that I took out in 2005. My credit rating until 2007 was really good and I then purchased a business became self employed and it all went wrong I would have made myself bankrupt if I had the £600 required, but am trying to re build my life, any help would be much appreciated.

thanks

Sue

Hi Sue

Welcome to the forum,

Our advice would be to speak to the court at the earliest opportunity to find out what your options are. Without knowing exactly what’s happened and what defence had been filed it would be difficult to offer a full answer.

If you were told wrong information by the court and you weren’t able to defend the CCJ then let the court know that this has happened and explain why you didn’t attend the hearing.

Once you’ve spoken to the court you should have a better idea of what you need to do next.

I hope this helps,

Rory

StepChange_James

madcyril990 wrote: »

hi James thanks for the reply and apologies for the delay in responding.i have spent the last week going through the reams of paperwork trying to find the answers.there is no mention anywhere regarding ppi,the only thing i can find is them stating i would need to remortgage to release equity in the 54th month of my iva agreement.this hasn't happened as im in negative equity to around £22000.
i do have a letter a letter from the iva company dated october 2012 regarding ppi.one passage in the letter reads as follows-

'for the avoidance of doubt,any and all ppi claims MUST form part of your iva estate and cannot be claimed outside of the arrangement'.

is this saying they will be claiming on debts within the iva arrangement only.

Hi there,

From the section of your letter you've quoted above it seems pretty clear that your IVA company expect any PPI claims to be claimed as part of the IVA, which I'd assume would include PPI relating to debts that aren't part of the IVA like a secured loan or mortgage.

Whether they are allowed to do this or not is tricky to answer. The conditions included within IVAs vary as time goes by and between one company and the next.

The Involvency Service might be able to give you a clearer idea of what your IVA company are allowed to do. Their contact details are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/insolvency-service#org-contacts.

If you find yourself in dispute with your Insolvency Practitioner then you can make a complaint by following the instructions here: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-insolvency-practitioner. But it doesn't sound like it's got to that point just yet.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards

James