Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

Former_StepChange_Rachel

Lets_get_sorted wrote: »

HELP....
I have just found out that i will not be working properly for the next 6-7 months due to health .
I run my own bussiness which to be honest has got me into debt .
these amount to £25,000 to MBNA card £5000 nat west bussiness account overdraft and around £5000 with nat west as a loan .
When i shut the firm i will need to get car insurance and tax for two cars ,and if im not working will lose working families tax credit ,i will have an income from another property which will give me around £150 a week to live on after paying my mortgage . I have looked at selling the property but its value is terrible at the moment .
has anyone made offers as final settlements to either of the above ?
any suggestions appreciated .

Hi there Lets Get Sorted,

I’m very sorry to hear of the health problems you’re experiencing right now. The good news is that there’s certainly help available for the debts you have. We help thousands of people every week who go through similar situations to yourself.

I would recommend that you get in touch with us. We can have a look at your situation as it stands at the moment, and when you have a change in circumstances we can give you all the help and support you need.

Give yourself half an hour spare time and gather together any bits of information on your incomings and expenditure. Then, you can try our anonymous debt advice tool Debt Remedy which can give you a solution in just 20 minutes: http://www.stepchange.org/debtremedy.aspx?domain=www.MoneyAware.co.uk


If you’d prefer to talk about this with someone, we have advisors available on our Helpline at 0800 138 1111

Best of luck

Rachel

laneybel2002

HI

I had previously got myself into a lot of debt. I went to Pay Plan – who set up a payment scheme, which lasted over 7 years.

Last August they wrote to tell me my debts were cleared and confirmed the balances were zero. Only two creditiors did not confirm the final balance, but as Pay Plan had a zero balance, they closed my file – I was deemed debt free at last !!

We both tried to contact the two creditors that had not confirmed the balance, but got no reply whatsoever.

One of these creditors was the Halifax.

Having received no letters or anything from the Halifax – I was gobsmacked when yesterday I received a letter from a debt agency on behalf of the Halifax demanding £257.49 – nearly 6 months after my last payment to Pay Plan.

I would like to know where I stand, as far as I am concerned – I have paid everything & I do not think I should be paying any more.

Have they the legal right to demand this ? or can I just ignore it ?

They are even ringing me at home now and on my mobile.

I have been in touch with Pay Plan and waiting for their reply, but I don’t see after all this time they can just start demanding money !

As I haven’t officially been in touch with the Halifax regards my debt, would this now be statue barred ? I thought the worry of all this would be gone, but it seems they just won’t leave me alone.

Sorry for going on somewhat, but if they can do this – what is stopping them demanding more and more.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Former_StepChange_Rachel

laneybel2002 wrote: »

HI

I had previously got myself into a lot of debt. I went to Pay Plan – who set up a payment scheme, which lasted over 7 years.

Last August they wrote to tell me my debts were cleared and confirmed the balances were zero. Only two creditiors did not confirm the final balance, but as Pay Plan had a zero balance, they closed my file – I was deemed debt free at last !!

We both tried to contact the two creditors that had not confirmed the balance, but got no reply whatsoever.

One of these creditors was the Halifax.

Having received no letters or anything from the Halifax – I was gobsmacked when yesterday I received a letter from a debt agency on behalf of the Halifax demanding £257.49 – nearly 6 months after my last payment to Pay Plan.

I would like to know where I stand, as far as I am concerned – I have paid everything & I do not think I should be paying any more.

Have they the legal right to demand this ? or can I just ignore it ?

They are even ringing me at home now and on my mobile.

I have been in touch with Pay Plan and waiting for their reply, but I don’t see after all this time they can just start demanding money !

As I haven’t officially been in touch with the Halifax regards my debt, would this now be statue barred ? I thought the worry of all this would be gone, but it seems they just won’t leave me alone.

Sorry for going on somewhat, but if they can do this – what is stopping them demanding more and more.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Hi there Laneybell2002,

I would recommend that you write to this collection agency and ask them to give you a breakdown of the money they’re pursuing you for. Once they tell you what the amount consists of (ie charges or anything of that nature) you can make them aware that PayPlan tried contacting them to let them know that all of the balances on your plan had been cleared.

If it turns out that by one way or another, you are liable for this amount, then please don’t worry. As an unsecured debt, it will always come secondary to things such as council tax, rent, mortgage, food etc. and you can offer reduced payments if necessary or come to an arrangement with to repay at a level you can afford.

You mentioned that you get alot of phonecalls off this company, and I don't doubt how stressful this is for you. I've included a link to our blogpost on what you can do if the phone keeps ringing: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/06/what-to-do-when-creditors-keep-phoning-you-2/

The debt is unlikely to be statute barred as you’d need to have not made a payment within the last six years.

Please post again if you have any further problems,

Best regards,

Rachel

HumptyDumpty

Hi, I'm looking for some advice. I'm in arrears with Very catalogue for just over £2000, and I've been over the last 11 months been making high monthly payments and incurring charges monthly due to late payment as they've a 28 day policy and my husband doesn't get paid till the last working day of each month.

Every month Very and I have the same old conversation with regards to making my monthly payment and the arrears. Until my circumstances change I'm unable to clear the arrears and incur monthly charges.

So, my dilemma is this; Should I simply allow this to go to their Debt Recover Agency and set up a repayment amount with them instead?

I've been paying this monthly payment, to which they told be they'd not accept anything less even though I told them it'd be a struggle, they inform me that they're there to help the customer, yet over the year of communicating with several of their customer advisors I can confirm that this in fact isn't the case. It's script, policy and stuff the customers loyalty. Although I was offered to take out a loan with then to clear it off and they'd reap a further £3000+ in interest added on. HAHAHA!

I've already paid them over £2,000 over the 11 months of making these monthly payments, I clearly don't want to be giving that over to them again this year!! I don't forsee my circumstance changing anytime soon either, so unless I come up with a solution to this that's what's going to happen.

I cannot acquire any credit due to my credit file being tarnished and of course I'm financially overstretched, and I'm not behind in any of my other financial commitments, it's just this one. And due to circumstances which had a knock on effect over a 3mth period is how I've ended up here in the first instance.
Apologies for the lengthy note. I really only need to know if it's better for me to let them hand it over, as then at least my monthly payments will be going to clear off the debt, surely? I'm not bothered about my credit file, it's way past that anyhow....Any advice I'd be most grateful for, thanks.

StepChange_James

HumptyDumpty wrote: »

Hi, I'm looking for some advice. I'm in arrears with Very catalogue for just over £2000, and I've been over the last 11 months been making high monthly payments and incurring charges monthly due to late payment as they've a 28 day policy and my husband doesn't get paid till the last working day of each month.

Every month Very and I have the same old conversation with regards to making my monthly payment and the arrears. Until my circumstances change I'm unable to clear the arrears and incur monthly charges.

So, my dilemma is this; Should I simply allow this to go to their Debt Recover Agency and set up a repayment amount with them instead?

I've been paying this monthly payment, to which they told be they'd not accept anything less even though I told them it'd be a struggle, they inform me that they're there to help the customer, yet over the year of communicating with several of their customer advisors I can confirm that this in fact isn't the case. It's script, policy and stuff the customers loyalty. Although I was offered to take out a loan with then to clear it off and they'd reap a further £3000+ in interest added on. HAHAHA!

I've already paid them over £2,000 over the 11 months of making these monthly payments, I clearly don't want to be giving that over to them again this year!! I don't forsee my circumstance changing anytime soon either, so unless I come up with a solution to this that's what's going to happen.

I cannot acquire any credit due to my credit file being tarnished and of course I'm financially overstretched, and I'm not behind in any of my other financial commitments, it's just this one. And due to circumstances which had a knock on effect over a 3mth period is how I've ended up here in the first instance.
Apologies for the lengthy note. I really only need to know if it's better for me to let them hand it over, as then at least my monthly payments will be going to clear off the debt, surely? I'm not bothered about my credit file, it's way past that anyhow....Any advice I'd be most grateful for, thanks.

Hello,

Thanks for posting. It's hard to say whether you'd be better off dealing with a debt collection agency or not. People have different experiences with them. More often than not people find it easier to agree lower payments with debt collectors and many are more willing to consider stopping interest and charges.

On the other hand some people find it a struggle to deal with debt collectors. While it would be nice if things were consistent it can be a bit of a lottery.

The important thing is that you should make sure you're paying affordable amounts towards this debt. So if you're overstretched with what you're paying it's better to reduced the payment to what you can manage. If they don't like it then they might pass your debt somewhere else but you can just offer the new people the same payment.

We can help you work out what you can afford to pay towards your debt and give you advice and support to sort this out.

The first thing to do is visit our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp) to help you find a solution to your debt problem quickly.

Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a financial statement with information on your household, employment, income, expenditure and debts. From this the service will automatically determine your options.

To help you fill in the form, it’s best to gather together information about:
• Your income
• Your expenditure
• The creditors you owe money to

You’ll receive a downloadable advice booklet providing a tailored solution for you based on your current circumstances and advice on ways you may be able to improve your situation.

If you’re not confident with computers or would like to speak to an advisor then you’re welcome to ring our Helpline on 0800 138 1111 (free including from mobiles). We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 3pm.

If you phone us it may be possible to refer you directly to a debt advisor for immediate advice. Alternatively, we will arrange for an appointment to be booked at a time convenient for you.

All the best.

James

Vodafone

neo32 wrote: »

iv just had a letter from a debt company saying i owe vodafone money frm 2004!! this was from my ex patner but in my name so never made contact them, but they have found me now ?? is there anything i can do esp as its been so long!!!

Hi neo32,

Thanks for making me aware of this.

As Rachel from StepChange has mentioned this issue may fall under the Limitation Act.

If you'd like me to look into this further could you email me with your details via the link in our profile here?

All you need to do is copy and paste the link into your web browser and it will take you to the Contact us form on our website.

To ensure that it reaches me could you also quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line and once our automated reply arrives update the thread with your email reference number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible?

Thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

chrishep

hi i have a threat by safeloans for £510 and now they are threatning me with court for this, i am currently on benefits and cant afford what they want me to pay back, i want to pay this back but at what i can afford i have 4 young kids as well as a partner to try and support, and now i have this hanging over me i have been putting it off trying to avoid it yes its stupid i know, but now i need to sort it and fast as i dont want to go to court, any advice greatly recieved.

psl84

Help please.

Last week I called my bank telling them to cancel the CPA that the 2 payday loan companies had and now the bank has written to me saying they can't fulfil my request because neither are continuous or recurring payments. What the heck do I do now?

Panicking.

Former_StepChange_Rachel

chrishep wrote: »

hi i have a threat by safeloans for £510 and now they are threatning me with court for this, i am currently on benefits and cant afford what they want me to pay back, i want to pay this back but at what i can afford i have 4 young kids as well as a partner to try and support, and now i have this hanging over me i have been putting it off trying to avoid it yes its stupid i know, but now i need to sort it and fast as i dont want to go to court, any advice greatly recieved.

Hi Chrishep

Please don’t worry, we can help you work out a budget to show to Safeloans and support any reduced payment you’re wanting to give them for the time being. You’re quite right in wanting to prioritise your living expenses, and you should find that once you’ve outlined this to your creditors, they are usually very supportive.

As far as court action is concerned, it’s more likely that Safeloans will pass the debt to a collection agency first. Rest assured that collection agents are NOT bailiffs and do not have enforcement powers such as removing goods from your house. If the collection agency passed the debt to County Court, you would still have the opportunity to work out a monthly payment that’s realistic for you.

From what you’ve told me, I strongly suggest you get in touch with us as soon as you can. We are a registered charity that can give you free and confidential debt advice. We’ll also look and see what can be done to help you long term.

You can have a chat with one of our friendly Advisors by calling our Helpline (free inc. from mobiles) on 0800 138 1111.

Alternatively, you can use our anonymous debt advice tool Debt Remedy: http://www.stepchange.org/debtremedy.aspx?domain=www.MoneyAware.co.uk

Best regards,

Rachel

Former_StepChange_Rachel

psl84 wrote: »

Help please.

Last week I called my bank telling them to cancel the CPA that the 2 payday loan companies had and now the bank has written to me saying they can't fulfil my request because neither are continuous or recurring payments. What the heck do I do now?

Panicking.

Hi there,

This is highly unusual as we’re used to seeing payday loans set up with CPA. I’d recommend that you contact the payday lender and ask them how they plan on taking the money out of your account. If they say by direct debit, then go ahead and cancel it. If they say they have continuous payment authority, then speak to the bank again and tell them it’s definitely CPA and they need to put a stop to it.

If you are still struggling after this, then it might be a good idea to get in touch with us for emergency advice if you haven’t already. You can call our Helpline on 0800 138 1111 or try our online advice service Debt Remedy: http://www.stepchange.org/debtremedy.aspx?domain=www.MoneyAware.co.uk

Good luck,

Rachel