Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_James

Stephanoir wrote: »

Hi there,

I have had three debts with three different collection agencies a couple of which have been sold on as I am currently on maternity leave and unable to make any payments.

Today I was called by Cabot Financial who asked me a number of security questions before they could provide information regarding the call. When I gave my full name I was told that they had different details as to what I had given and they were unable to speak to me further regarding the matter until I have sent them a copy of my birth certificate or another proof of ID.

I am not really keen on sending this until I know what it's to do with (however I do think it is probably a debt which has been sold on). Could someone please advise on what I should do? Is there anyway I can find out about the matter without sending this information and am I liable for it if they have the incorrect details?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello,

This sounds like a strange situation. If you can work out which previous companies have held this debt you could contact them to make sure they've transferred the correct contact details when the debt was passed on.

Otherwise you could request Cabot deal with you in writing rather than over the phone (which can be a lot less stressful anyway).

If this Cabot call relates to one of the debts you owe then it's unlikely them getting your details wrong will lead to them not being able to enforce the debt. It's just an error that needs to be corrected on their systems by the sounds of it.

If you'd like some more in depth advice about your finances I'd recommend getting in touch with us. Our contact details are in my signature below.

Kind regards

James

Beynonz

Help Please.

Hi all,

I purchased a house with my partner back in July 2014. In doing so, we used all of our funds and savings.
I have two bank accounts (both near max of overdraft) and a credit card which is also near the max.
I have recently had a promotion and in a position to start paying these off.
Does anyone have any idea, the best way to pay these off or how to deal with this situaution.

Finances are tight each month as we have a young family so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Former_StepChange_Rory

Beynonz wrote: »

Help Please.

Hi all,

I purchased a house with my partner back in July 2014. In doing so, we used all of our funds and savings.
I have two bank accounts (both near max of overdraft) and a credit card which is also near the max.
I have recently had a promotion and in a position to start paying these off.
Does anyone have any idea, the best way to pay these off or how to deal with this situaution.

Finances are tight each month as we have a young family so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Hi there,

Great news on the promotion, hopefully you'll be able to start dealing with the debts that have built up.

If the debts have become a problem and you feel like you're going to struggle to make even the minimum payments then this could be a sign that you'd benefit from some expert debt advice. If your budget is already quite restricted then repaying debts might cause you to fall behind with other areas or make cutbacks to essential spending.

You could start by using our free, anonymous online Debt Remedy tool which will ask details about your finances to offer practical advice on how to deal with your debts in about 20 minutes.

If you're able to afford making payments to your debts without it impacting your household bills and living costs then this is all about making sure you keep on top of your budget and payments.

Your first priority is to make payments that are more than the minimum balance. Paying more than the minimum balance each month can save you money. This is because when you reduce the time to pay off your debt, you also reduce the amount of interest and other charges which you would normally pay if you were only making the minimum payments.

Also, shop around to see if you can use different loans and credit cards which offer cheaper rates of interest. But be careful and don't use these to borrow any more new money and always carefully check the terms of the new agreement before signing.

Never be tempted into taking out a large consolidation loan to repay your debts and then start using the existing limits to build up even more debt. Once you have paid your debts off, cancel the agreements and destroy any cards.

To help you find the best way of reducing or paying your debts off, take a look at the main https://www.moneysavingexpert.com website for comparisons or speak to an independent financial advisor.

I hope this helps,

Rory

FairyGiirl

Hi everyone,
This is my first post and I could really do with some advice.
I have been denying my debts for quite a while but I'm struggling. The minimum payments on my credit card, overdraft and store cards are coming to more than I have after I have paid my mortgage and household bills. I'm self employed and really don't know what to do. I've spoken to the people the debts are with because of late payments but obviously they still want paying. Help.... I'm struggling
Thank you in advance

Sazzie23

FairyGiirl wrote: »

Hi everyone,
This is my first post and I could really do with some advice.
I have been denying my debts for quite a while but I'm struggling. The minimum payments on my credit card, overdraft and store cards are coming to more than I have after I have paid my mortgage and household bills. I'm self employed and really don't know what to do. I've spoken to the people the debts are with because of late payments but obviously they still want paying. Help.... I'm struggling
Thank you in advance

Hi I'm not a debt advisor, I just came on the thread to see how things were going and I see you hadn't had a reply yet. In the meantime you could try the Stepchange on line debt remedy, it will give you an idea how much of a problem the current situation is and start you off thinking about how to fix it.

No doubt a debt advisor will be along soon.

sourcrates

FairyGiirl wrote: »

Hi everyone,
This is my first post and I could really do with some advice.
I have been denying my debts for quite a while but I'm struggling. The minimum payments on my credit card, overdraft and store cards are coming to more than I have after I have paid my mortgage and household bills. I'm self employed and really don't know what to do. I've spoken to the people the debts are with because of late payments but obviously they still want paying. Help.... I'm struggling
Thank you in advance

Hi,
I suggest you look on the National debt line website, or the stepchange website.
Both provide free impartial advice on various debt solutions.
One thing you must do is pay your essential bills, mortgage, council tax etc, first, any unsecured credit payments can wait, if there too much for you right now, stop paying, take a step back, and get some expert advice, the world won't end because you don't pay your credit card !!!
Most people find it beneficial to open a new basic bank account, with a bank they have no debts with, then the OD can be treated as just another unsecured debt.

Your creditors won't listen to you unfortunately until you default on payment, there are various options available to you.

rai78

Over around 12 years we built up a lot debt; about £15000. The last eighteen months I've been managing this debt and getting it paid off reducing it from the £15000 to just under £12000. This is made up of just over £1000 in a loan and the rest on credit cards. I've been transferring money between the credit cards when a 0% offer is made and also managing our money better so we don't get in any more debt. I've calculated that if we could keep transferring the money, providing nothing happens, we'd be debt free in about three years.
My problem now is that we're running out of time on the 0% offers and not getting anymore of these offers with our current credit cards. We have 0% chance of getting a credit card using the calculator on here and 0% chance of getting a loan. I applied for a loan with my bank, who we have the current loan with, and they offered me 21% APR.
We currently rent the property we live in but own a house 300 miles away which we rent out. I'm worried about applying for a re-mortgage to pay off our debts as the mortgage we currently have is a really good deal. The way our credit rating looks I'm not sure we'd even be able to get a mortgage! I'm also aware that to re-mortgage to cover our debts would probably mean we'd end up paying more back than if we accepted the 21% offer from the bank.
It's really frustrating because we're finally in a position to get debt free but I feel like we have no options.
Is there any way to have the interest on these cards stopped and a payment plan put in place or does the fact we own a house stop anything like that from happening?
I keep hearing of people who've had the debts dropped but I'm not sure how that works and I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that idea. I feel we should pay back what we've borrowed (which we are now in a position to do) but not if the interest rates are going to cripple us.
I'd really appreciate some option suggestions so I can get this sorted before we start getting hit with the credit card interest.
Thank you.

wigglers

Hi i have now got a plan to get out of debt and finally start saving for a mortgage i work full time and my fiancee part time and although we have two kids as long as we start paying back £400 a month towards debts (which is managable) then we will have every debt paid off in june 2016..

We would like to save for a mortagage and im wondering if after i have finished paying back the credit cards is it best to cancel them fully.. what effect would this have on applying for a mortagage ina few years?

thanx for your help matt

bride2be2012

We are struggling with our debts at the moment.
We have separate finances, mortgage and cars all in my husbands name. His credit file is good, mine is a mess - late payments, one card I've not paid even minimum since July. At the moment my husband helps me to pay my debts but we still struggle. Is it possible for me to have a DMP in my name only but my husband can help me pay it, without affecting his credit rating?

sourcrates

bride2be2012 wrote: »

We are struggling with our debts at the moment.
We have separate finances, mortgage and cars all in my husbands name. His credit file is good, mine is a mess - late payments, one card I've not paid even minimum since July. At the moment my husband helps me to pay my debts but we still struggle. Is it possible for me to have a DMP in my name only but my husband can help me pay it, without affecting his credit rating?

Hi,
Yes of course it is, you can do this yourself without any 3rd party help if your switched on.
Simply write to your creditors, explain your situation, enclose your own income/expenditure, and make each one a pro-rata offer of payment, that you can afford.
Of course you can contact stepchange if you don't feel confident to do it yourself, but it's really simple to do.