Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

StepChange_Rachael

Hi

Thanks for messaging.

I’m sorry to hear you’re struggling with debts and finding it difficult to clear them with the added interest and charges.

As you’ve already looked at your options for cheaper credit to find a way of reducing the interest unsuccessfully and the payments are causing you to struggle with general living expenses, then it certainly sounds like you'd benefit from some further advice.

I’d suggest firstly creating a monthly budget so you can see from your income what you need to cover your household bills and living costs. This should then give you an idea of what is left over to the creditors.

By sticking to a budget it can make it much easier to keep an eye on your finances and maintain payments.

Once you've completed an accurate budget, If it shows you’d be struggling to keep up with payments to the creditors after your household bills and living expenses have been made then it’s a sign that further help would be advisable.

You can access Debt Remedy StepChange's online self-help tool here where you can complete a budget for tailored advice regarding the debts.

Thanks
Rachael

damsidebear wrote: »

Hi all I've got myself into a pretty bad debt situation. Long story short I am paying all bills and haven't missed any payments but I know it will take many years to clear my current Credit Card debts due to the amount plus interest!

I currently have 2 credit cards, 1.store card and an overdraft.

Total debt 19k.

Credit cards are sitting at £7,700 & £7,900
Apr on them are 20.9% & 24.9%.
Store Card is sitting at £2,677 at 22.9%
Overdraft is at £1,100 with BOS.

I am now struggling after I pay all the above and household bills, can someone offer some advice?

I tried to take a low Apr loan to address the CC debt but it was rejected. So I'm running out of options.
I've stupidly been in a similar situation many years ago and ended up taking out a trust deed but I've failed to learn my lesson.
Please help.

Eloise999

Ok so in November 2013 I left the UK to visit another country, originally for a month, but that turned into 3 months, turned into 6 months and now here I am 3 years later.

I got residency in this country in April 2014 for two years, and then got a work permit in April 2016 for another year and have been living here the whole time.

When I left, as I wasn't planning on leaving, I didn't really clear up any "outstanding business", I ended up leaving an overdraft of 2500, credit card bill of 2500 and had a phone bill of about 400. I am assuming they will be a lot more now and defaulted etc.

My question - possibly a stupid one - is what should I do? I haven't had any contact with them - the bank still sends 'credit statement' updates to an old email address (though I can't open them as my online accounts have been suspended). I don't have an address in the UK, my parents sold the only home we had in the UK (Scotland) and left the country too. What happens if they have no way to contact me? Should I write to them and set up a payment plan or something similar? If I ignore it enough will it just go away? (Wishful thinking!?). I assume it would cause problems for me if I ever moved back to the UK.

Is there anything else I should be worried / thinking about?

Thanks in Advance!

Former_StepChange_Matthew

Ok so in November 2013 I left the UK to visit another country, originally for a month, but that turned into 3 months, turned into 6 months and now here I am 3 years later.

I got residency in this country in April 2014 for two years, and then got a work permit in April 2016 for another year and have been living here the whole time.

When I left, as I wasn't planning on leaving, I didn't really clear up any "outstanding business", I ended up leaving an overdraft of 2500, credit card bill of 2500 and had a phone bill of about 400. I am assuming they will be a lot more now and defaulted etc.

My question - possibly a stupid one - is what should I do? I haven't had any contact with them - the bank still sends 'credit statement' updates to an old email address (though I can't open them as my online accounts have been suspended). I don't have an address in the UK, my parents sold the only home we had in the UK (Scotland) and left the country too. What happens if they have no way to contact me? Should I write to them and set up a payment plan or something similar? If I ignore it enough will it just go away? (Wishful thinking!?). I assume it would cause problems for me if I ever moved back to the UK.

Is there anything else I should be worried / thinking about?

Thanks in Advance!

Hi there,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.

If you move overseas and leave debt behind, the debt still exists and during this time, interest and charges will probably accrue and will be more difficult (and costly) to pay off.

If a creditor has not applied for court action against you and you have not made any payments or acknowledged the debt in writing within 6 years the debt becomes "statue barred" and becomes unenforceable (for debts taken out in Scotland this term is 5 years and the debt expires by prescription). However, if a creditor applies for court action against you within the 6 year period since you last made a payment or acknowledged the debt, then the debt will no longer become statue barred and will be enforceable until the debt is cleared. This means that if you come back to the UK and this has happened, you will have a debt which you will need to pay and will more than likely be higher due to interest and charges.

In addition to this, if the creditor found out where you were currently residing, they could sell the debt onto a collection agency where you currently are. This collection firm would be bound under the collection laws and regulations of that country.

Because of this, we would always recommend you get in touch with your creditors with the outlook to pay the debt back. If you will struggle to pay the debts back due to financial difficulties it may be worth seeking debt advice.

We can provide you with debt help and advice here at StepChange. As you're currently overseas, I'd recommend speaking to someone over the phone on +44113 297 016 and we are open Monday to Friday, 8am - 8pm (GMT) and Saturday, 8am to 4pm (GMT).

I hope this helps
Matt

Pickles112

Hi there
In desperate need of help! I'm currently going through the court stage with lowells where they have threatened me with a CCJ which filed my defence and had a reply for court say they got it.
I've requested proof on 11th of may. Had a letter back In June acknowledging the request and they would forward me the documents... still waiting for these. Next letter I get from the court is a mediation form.. do I answer yes or no to the questions? Do I say I agree if they forward me the evidence of my debt etc... or do I answer no? Please help!
Thank you.

Pickles112

Sorry the form is a N180 directions Questionnaire x

Former_StepChange_Richard

Pickles112 wrote: »

Sorry the form is a N180 directions Questionnaire x

Hi there

Thanks for your message.

I'm sure you are already aware, but just in case, defending a claim can involve extra costs. If your defence is unsuccessful, these costs will be added to the judgement.

As you will have seen in the form there are a few different sections where you can tick yes or no. Without knowing more about your situation it’s difficult to give advice on how to complete this. I would suggest calling us to discuss this further or seeking legal advice. You can also send us a private message if you want to discuss this further over the forum.

To give you some general information about this part of the process…

On receipt of an N9B with a valid defence, the court will:

• Transfer the case to your local hearing centre and decide a track.
• Send a ‘Notice of proposed allocation (N149A, N149B or N149C) to both parties.
• Send directions questionnaires (N180 or N181) to both claimant and defendant to gather information and decide how to proceed.

The directions questionnaire helps the court decide which process to use from the following:

• Small Claims Track – amount disputed under £10,000 or cases where the amount is over £10,000 with the prior agreement of both parties. This would be heard by a District Judge.
• Fast Track – amount disputed £10,000 - £25000 or complex cases where the amount is under £10,000. This would be heard by a District or Circuit Judge.
• Multi-track – amount disputed over £25,000. This would be heard by a Circuit or High Court Judge only.

On receipt of completed directions questionnaires from both parties, the court may do one of the following:

• If it is clear which track to use, set a date for the hearing
• If the appropriate track is still unclear, list an allocation hearing to decide which track to use (which adds further costs)
• Dismiss either the defence or the particulars of claim and proceed with summary judgment
• Put the claim on hold to allow the dispute to be resolved by other means.

I hope this is of use. Please contact us if you need any further help.
Richard

hipsdontlie

Hi

I recently decided to check my credit report and whats on there recently and found I have a really low score, I've googled around a lot and there is a lot of information out there and some of it contradictory so thought I would ask here as I could just end up googling my life away.

I have one defaulted account for £70 from 3 mobile from 3 years ago but lowell owns the account, from what I understand it is very hard to remove a defaulted account whether it is settled or not, as it is a low amount is there any way to get it removed?
If there isn't a way to get it removed is there much point me paying it to settle the account as in, if I wait 3 years will my credit score still be the same if I settle the account or not as it will disappear?
If it IS better to pay it off should I wait until I receive one of their 50% off letters and then pay that? Will that then start the 6 years again so that it would be another 6 years until the debt is statute barred?

I've read elsewhere to improve my score I can add myself as an authorised user to someone else's credit card in my household (but not use it), does this work? And does it improve it much?
I'm thinking about taking out a credit card in the future just to increase my score, does it matter what one I get, i'm guessing I should get a pretty easy one so it actually passes the credit check?! or is a pay monthly sim a better option than a credit card?

One last thing I am not on the electoral roll as I have been good recently but I have a debt from last year I really don't want to catch up with me, especially not now. Is not being on the electoral roll what has given me such a low score?
The debt from last year has sent one letter to my address which I avoided and not got a letter since, if I register on the electoral roll will that give them more imperative to come after me?

Thanks so much!

damsidebear

StepChange_Rachael wrote: »

Hi

Thanks for messaging.

I’m sorry to hear you’re struggling with debts and finding it difficult to clear them with the added interest and charges.

As you’ve already looked at your options for cheaper credit to find a way of reducing the interest unsuccessfully and the payments are causing you to struggle with general living expenses, then it certainly sounds like you'd benefit from some further advice.

I’d suggest firstly creating a monthly budget so you can see from your income what you need to cover your household bills and living costs. This should then give you an idea of what is left over to the creditors.

By sticking to a budget it can make it much easier to keep an eye on your finances and maintain payments.

Once you've completed an accurate budget, If it shows you’d be struggling to keep up with payments to the creditors after your household bills and living expenses have been made then it’s a sign that further help would be advisable.

You can access Debt Remedy StepChange's online self-help tool here where you can complete a budget for tailored advice regarding the debts.

Thanks
Rachael

Thank you for your reply however it looks like I can manage to pay my current debts off over 62.month thus not effecting my credit file, it'll be a long journey but I'm determined.

Volkswagen69

My car was written off in 2006. The insurance refused to pay out and I was left with £22000 to pay, which up till now has been managed by a credit management agency call BluestoneCreditManagment. They recently contacted me to say my account had been handed back to Volkswagen financial services with £2550 left outstanding.

Am I still liable to pay the remaining debt after ten years? Can I be taken to court for the remaining £2550 after paying more than £19000?

I'm not sure what to do.

StepChange_Rachael

Hi

Thanks for posting.

There are many different things that can affect your credit rating either positively or negatively.

When a default notice is registered on your credit file it will remain there for 6 years before it comes off and stops having an impact on your rating. Over time defaults usually reduce in the impact it’ll have on your file. They can’t be removed before the 6 years are up.

The debt itself could have further impact on your file if it remains unpaid. Once a debt has been paid in full the creditor will make a note on your file that it has been settled which is likely to have a positive impact.

The concern with choosing to leave the debt and wait for it to be removed automatically after 6 years is that the creditor could decide to take the debt through court before this happens.

If the debt goes to a county court judgement (CCJ) this will show on your credit file and this means the creditor has further rights of collection through the court process.

A creditor might send a letter to settle the debt for less than the full amount but they could also decide to take the debt through the court to guarantee the full amount is paid back.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that if a debt is settled for less than the full amount they are likely to issue a partial settlement on your credit file, rather than a full and final settlement. A partial settlement is likely to be less positive than a full and final settlement on your credit file.

Using credit and maintaining the agreed contractual payments can be a good way to improve your credit file as is having direct debits set up to pay contracts like phones and household bills. As long as these payments are maintained and don’t default.

A creditor uses a credit file to see how likely you’ll be to maintain payments and be able to pay the debt back. So anything that shows this will be a positive.

It’s important to remember how much interest you’d be paying on a debt taken out and remain within an affordable limit as interest can cause people to struggle with repayments further down the line.
When you check for eligibility to take our debt it’ll leave a mark on your file. So it’s good to have some idea of what you’d be eligible for although this is easier said than done as you won’t know if you’re eligible until you’ve checked.

This link to the MoneySavingExpert.com page has more information on affordable lending and a eligibility check facility that has a reduced impact to your credit file.

I’m not entirely sure about having a linked debt. Ultimately if you have a joint debt it’s liable to both parties so would impact both credit files. However, being a joint person on a credit card means although a second person can use a card they don’t have any liability for the debt. I’d assume then that it shouldn’t impact your credit file.

Being on the open electoral roll will have a positive impact on your credit file. This does mean that creditors will be able to link a debt to a new address.
I’d advise anyone with debt to keep their creditors up to date on changes of address.
This is because you might not know if a creditor has taken court action against the debt as they’d be sending the letters to an old address. It’s seen as the debtor’s responsibility to keep the creditors up to date on changes of contact details.
As you’ve mentioned they already has your new address I can’t see it having much more impact.

If you’d like impartial advice regarding any outstanding debt your struggling to repay you can contact StepChange here. Our advice is free.

I hope this helps.

Thanks
Rachael

hipsdontlie wrote: »

Hi

I recently decided to check my credit report and whats on there recently and found I have a really low score, I've googled around a lot and there is a lot of information out there and some of it contradictory so thought I would ask here as I could just end up googling my life away.

I have one defaulted account for £70 from 3 mobile from 3 years ago but lowell owns the account, from what I understand it is very hard to remove a defaulted account whether it is settled or not, as it is a low amount is there any way to get it removed?
If there isn't a way to get it removed is there much point me paying it to settle the account as in, if I wait 3 years will my credit score still be the same if I settle the account or not as it will disappear?
If it IS better to pay it off should I wait until I receive one of their 50% off letters and then pay that? Will that then start the 6 years again so that it would be another 6 years until the debt is statute barred?

I've read elsewhere to improve my score I can add myself as an authorised user to someone else's credit card in my household (but not use it), does this work? And does it improve it much?
I'm thinking about taking out a credit card in the future just to increase my score, does it matter what one I get, i'm guessing I should get a pretty easy one so it actually passes the credit check?! or is a pay monthly sim a better option than a credit card?

One last thing I am not on the electoral roll as I have been good recently but I have a debt from last year I really don't want to catch up with me, especially not now. Is not being on the electoral roll what has given me such a low score?
The debt from last year has sent one letter to my address which I avoided and not got a letter since, if I register on the electoral roll will that give them more imperative to come after me?

Thanks so much!