Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

sdsgirl

Hi,

My husband and I had numerous credit card debts run up through costly family legal proceedings for which we ran into trouble paying in 2005. Following advice we sought, we contacted all our creditors and arranged token payment plans. A couple over the last few years offered reduced settlements which we managed to clear with family help. My question is, we have just printed off credit reports (which we have been doing every year so we can see what is settled and what balances are outstanding - psychological thing!) but apart from 1 debt each, the rest have disappeared from our credit report entirely. Does this mean they have been written off and we can stop making our nominal payments and focus on these last two debts? Out of all those there is one which is not showing on my husbands report which does send monthly statements for (RBS MINT), but we have not heard from any of the others since between July and November last year. A lot of these debts had been sold to other companies which previously showed up on our credit report but not any more. Any advice welcomed please as this is the unknown to us again now. Thank you

Cat-lover

I am in urgent need of help. I was left in a financial mess after my divorce 7 years ago. I took the matter in my own hands and wrote to all the creditors and must say that the majority accepted my offer of reduced payments.

Unfortunately things have gone terribly wrong. Firstly I have been homeless for the past year and living day to day on sofas of family and friends as my local council do not consider me a priority.

I am still named jointly on a mortgage for a property that I kept after my divorce as my 2 children were still at home. My ex was ordered to pay the mortgage until my youngest became 21 in order that she could attend uni. This was granted in lieu of any maintenance for either of my children. My daughter was 21 last may. However my ex had defaulted on the mortgage for a period of 18 months prior to that happening. He would make a payment every couple of months to prevent court action. The house was put on the market and as he refused to pay any more of the mortgage after the 21st birthday unless I moved out and we sold the house empty. I put my furniture in storage in April last year and thought I would only be living on the kindness of family and friends for a few months at least.

However once I moved out my ex took changed all the locks, took the house off the market and put tenants in.

This has been the most stressful time and I have lost all control over my debts now. I do not have a permanent address so can only have my post redirected to a c/o address.

What is making things worse is I have a crippling illness that developed following spinal surgery 6 years ago and I live in day to day pain. I have lost everything including my health although I am still in employment. It's a struggle working with my illness but as it is the only thing normal left in my life I am determined to hold onto my job.
I have also had to put my beloved cats into a cat rehoming centre and feel I have nothing left in this life.

I have approached my local cab but unfortunately they were not of much help and implied I need to sort things myself.

I have looked locally for a face to face debt help organisation as I am emotionally fragile and know I could not cope with just a voice on the end of a phone.

I believe I now have between 15 and 20k in debts. Some of which I am still making payments to by direct debit.

I have no one close that I can turn to for help or advice and all debt help seems to be by telephone only.

Please help. I am now at breaking point with everything and feel so alone.

BevieB

Hi,
My self and husband have been on a joint DMP with Step Change since Sept 2011. We have approx 10 creditors and all have stopped interest. However we have a current account with the Halifax. They originally allowed us to set up a repayment plan with zero interest. They wrote to us end of Jan and informed us that the repayment plan was due to end. I contacted them to expain that our DMP will be in force for 7 years. After about 40mins they explained that they needed SC to send them a payment proposal. I then spoke to SC who agread to do this. After a few weeks we received another letter I rang the Halifax again and was told again that they had not received any notification from SC. After 3 attempts we heard nothing so thought all was well.
Anyway I have just received a call from the Halifax asking me what my proposal was???? I expalained again about SC. If I ring SC can they ring the Halifax to discuss as I feel like a piggy in the middle. The Halifax will not take details from me and for some reason do not receive correspondance from SC. They have know informed me that charges re being applied on my OD.
Not sure what to do next. I have made 2 offical complaints (They state they did not receive first) Please do you have any advice for me.

StepChange_James

Ox1987 wrote: »

James/Mat

Do you know if any of them managed to keep working after a bankruptcy.

My situation might improve but I am keen not to just take advice and ignore it if in reality we are a bankruptcy case

I am making all the payments now for this month but the next round will start around the 20th of next month which I was told should be doable.

I am just very stressed about what the future hold especially having 3 beautiful kids.

Hi again Ox,

I think it would depend on whether your trade body would keep you as a member and if your employer would keep you as an employee. The easiest way to find this out is to talk to both of them.

As you’re already a client of ours I’d recommend giving us a call if you’ve got any further questions.

Kind regards.

James

StepChange_James

fatbelly wrote: »

Stepchange will be back on Tuesday but the answer to your question is No.

If the card is in your father's name, even if you are a second card holder, it is his debt and any court action will be against him. He needs to seek advice.

Also you should note that not all threats of court action result in a claim.

Hmm, the original post seems to have been taken down. Regardless, this response is spot on and I don't there's much for us to add.

Cheers

James

StepChange_James

No_bread wrote: »

Hi Have problem with X who would not take my name off bank account. Now he has taken out iva so they are coming after me for around £5000 any ideas ?

Hi No bread,

If you and your ex were both names on the account then you're both liable for the balance unfortunately. If your ex is on an IVA then it means he'll pay some of the debt back via the IVA but that could take up to six years and will only be a percentage of the balance that they'll get.

His IVA deals with his obligation to repay the debt but the bank can still chase you for the rest of the balance outstanding.

If you'd like some in depth advice about how to go about repaying this debt I'd recommend getting in touch with us. You can get advice from us online (http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp) or over the phone (http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx).

StepChange_James

frugalliving wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Has anyone partially satisfied a CC account with MBNA and got written confirmation that the account is closed and later been chased by a DCA for the balance ? or anyone who was satisfied with their settlement with them ?

I am in the process of settling and had confirmation that the account will be closed and marked as partially settled on my credit file but after reading a few different comments on various forums I am confused as to what to do as some people have been chased for the remainding balance even years after the debt was 'settled'.

I really want to pay it off as soon as possible but am scared to think that they will sell the balance to someone else!:eek:

Hello,

There's a good answer to this question here: http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/questions/askjames261.html. To summarise, the partially satisfied marker will show that you've come to an agreement to settle the debt. The information reported to the credit reference agencies shouldn't have any bearing on whether you could be chased for the remaining balance.

The more important thing is making sure the written confirmation you receive about the settlement is clear that they will not chase you for the outstanding balance (or sell the debt to someone else).

If you've got any doubts about the wording of their letter you could always request that they adjust it so there was potential misunderstandings.

Hope this helps.

James

StepChange_James

Abadonian wrote: »

Hi,

Have been offered a largely discounted settlement from Apex that I want to accept. Can anyone tell me if an email received from them saying "Once this payment has been received, your account will be marked as closed, your credit file will be updated to partially satisfied and all collection activity will cease, please be advised this process can take up to 6 weeks." is enough to guarantee they will not sell on the rest of the debt/try and claim it at a later date or if there is anything else I need to get them to do before paying?

Thanks.

A

Hello,

It sounds OK but it's hard to be sure without knowing exactly what the letter says. Generally it's best to have someone on their letter saying that they're accepting your payment as full and final settlement of the account.

If you're unsure you might want to give our helpline a call (http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx).

Kind regards

James

StepChange_James

frugalliving wrote: »

Just a quickie! what is an unenforceable agreement??:o

Hello,

I think this will refer to debts that are statute barred - which means there has been no payments or written acknowledgment of a debt for 6 years or more. This doesn't mean that at debt is written off, it just means that it can't be enforced through the court system.

We've a blogpost with more info here: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/08/your-debts-written-off-is-it-too-good-to-be-true/.

Kind regards

James

p.s. the above is all assuming you're based in England or Wales, let me know if you're based somewhere else and I'll adjust my answer

StepChange_James

callie1982 wrote: »

thanks mat , I have now done this!...so lets see !


I am trying to sort out my last 10 DEBTS stupid girl!!! credit cards and cataloges ! i have asked somewhere else but because they are with debt collection agencies who would i contact for the original agreements i shoudl have signed?? as if i didnt do it online i never signed them and posted them ?? i have just sent debt agencies , settlement figures?? lowell contacted me by email about 75% discount and still pay it off monthly ! so i jusmped at the chance! i have now offered the same discount to all my others at a monthly payment plan!! i am at home with 3 children , so limited income! and my new partner doesnt know about all of them and he will go crazy ! so im stuck with what money i have!! am i ok to try myself and get it all rsovled?? or should i go to cab???, i have had a lot paid off prior to this its now around the 5k mark but im hoping if they accept my offfers it willl ob be only about 1k !! fingers crossed!! i am so mad at myself !

Hi Callie,

It's quite unusual for creditors to agree to write off some of your debt if you stick to monthly arrangements but I've heard of it happening before. I'd suggest making sure you've got something in writing that confirms the agreement, so you've got proof if they try to wriggle out of the deal.

If you can get similar agreements in place with the others then that's great. If you feel confident dealing with your creditors directly then you don't need to use an advice organisation.

The only thing to be sure on is that you're comfortable with how you're planning your finances. Many creditors will try and push you into payments that are more than you can afford, so make sure you've got a realistic budget set up and your payments to debts won't leave you short.

Hope this helps.

James