Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

mrswand

Hi, looking for advice. Not sure where to turn and feel I'm sinking fast.
I have the following debts:
Barclay credit card £8000
Capital one credit card £1000
Natwest credit card £750 (I balance transferred this off the capital one card so this is 0%)
Halifax loan £2700
I can cope with the natwest card bit they wouldn't let me transfer any more than that.
Because my credit is all at max I now have a moderate credit rating. I tried to get a Yorkshire bank loan but I was declined. Ideally I want to loan £12000 to pay it off over 7 years to bring my monthly outgoing down because the repayments are not leaving me enough of my wage to live on. But how can I get a loan with a moderate credit rating. I feel trapped!
Any advice gratefully received :-)

kel78

mrswand wrote: »

Hi, looking for advice. Not sure where to turn and feel I'm sinking fast.
I have the following debts:
Barclay credit card £8000
Capital one credit card £1000
Natwest credit card £750 (I balance transferred this off the capital one card so this is 0%)
Halifax loan £2700
I can cope with the natwest card bit they wouldn't let me transfer any more than that.
Because my credit is all at max I now have a moderate credit rating. I tried to get a Yorkshire bank loan but I was declined. Ideally I want to loan £12000 to pay it off over 7 years to bring my monthly outgoing down because the repayments are not leaving me enough of my wage to live on. But how can I get a loan with a moderate credit rating. I feel trapped!
Any advice gratefully received :-)

Look at the post above yours and follow the links that James has posted. I was like you and kept taking out more and more credit until I just couldn't manage it any more. I contacted SC and have never looked back.

StepChange_James

mrswand wrote: »

Hi, looking for advice. Not sure where to turn and feel I'm sinking fast.
I have the following debts:
Barclay credit card £8000
Capital one credit card £1000
Natwest credit card £750 (I balance transferred this off the capital one card so this is 0%)
Halifax loan £2700
I can cope with the natwest card bit they wouldn't let me transfer any more than that.
Because my credit is all at max I now have a moderate credit rating. I tried to get a Yorkshire bank loan but I was declined. Ideally I want to loan £12000 to pay it off over 7 years to bring my monthly outgoing down because the repayments are not leaving me enough of my wage to live on. But how can I get a loan with a moderate credit rating. I feel trapped!
Any advice gratefully received :-)

Hi,

I think Kel78 has said it better than I could, if you get in touch with us we'll try our best to help you find a strategy to get things sorted out.

We speak to a lot of people who've tried taking out consolidation loans and have found they've made things worse, so Yorkshire Bank not accepting your application could work out to be a blessing in disguise. You can read more about consolidation loans in this article: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2013/01/to-debt-consolidate-or-not-to-debt-consolidate/.

Our contact details are in my signature below. If you get in touch we'll help you take stock of your finances and talk you through the various ways you can deal with debts.

Hope this helps.

James

Ox1987

I have been given some money from relatives to help but on the condition I get rid of the catalogue debts first as paying 4k will reduce it actually by 5.2k as interest is not applied yet

Can I pay this pre the DMP starting and still start by May 1
How do I change the debt position, good news but dont want to confuse the process, but need to go on certain debts.

StepChange_James

Ox1987 wrote: »

I have been given some money from relatives to help but on the condition I get rid of the catalogue debts first as paying 4k will reduce it actually by 5.2k as interest is not applied yet

Can I pay this pre the DMP starting and still start by May 1
How do I change the debt position, good news but dont want to confuse the process, but need to go on certain debts.

Hi Ox,

I'd suggest giving us a call on the number in your advice pack and we'll be able to work out with you how to use this money without confusing the DMP setup too much.

Cheers

James

Rachc88

I'm currently in a position where I am trying to find ways to improve my credit rating. I have two defaults in my name. One is a phone contract I got for my disabled mum. Once opened we changed all details for her to deal with. Halfway through she realised she couldn't keep up with it so se rang and cancelled. They then demanded the rest of the contract. Which is paid, but happened without my knowing, but not before I received a default against my name.
The second was my student bank account overdraft. Once I left university I didn't manage employment straight away but I received an email saying I had to pay it off. This was obviously not possible at the time with no job. But was paid off and again is clear.
I currently have no outstanding bills, have one credit account and I keep up to payments and have started saving. But to no avail.
I really would like some advice on how, if possible, to improve my rating so that I can start planning for the future.
Thanks.

StepChange_James

Rachc88 wrote: »

I'm currently in a position where I am trying to find ways to improve my credit rating. I have two defaults in my name. One is a phone contract I got for my disabled mum. Once opened we changed all details for her to deal with. Halfway through she realised she couldn't keep up with it so se rang and cancelled. They then demanded the rest of the contract. Which is paid, but happened without my knowing, but not before I received a default against my name.
The second was my student bank account overdraft. Once I left university I didn't manage employment straight away but I received an email saying I had to pay it off. This was obviously not possible at the time with no job. But was paid off and again is clear.
I currently have no outstanding bills, have one credit account and I keep up to payments and have started saving. But to no avail.
I really would like some advice on how, if possible, to improve my rating so that I can start planning for the future.
Thanks.

Hello,

Thanks for posting.

You've already done the most important thing with these defaults - which is to pay them off. If you check your credit rating it should be marked next the default that the debt has been repaid.

Having a form of credit that you use and repay most months helps because it builds up a record of responsible credit use (though it's important not to build a new debt!).

Getting yourself on the electoral roll is a nice easy way to give yourself a boost as this is something that most companies check when they credit score you. I don't really know why this is better but I suppose it shows that you definitely live where you say you live.

Making sure you don't apply for too much credit all at once helps too because recent searches show on your credit history too.

You can read more about these tips and get a few more from this article on the main MSE site: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score#improve.

While it won't help things now, and it's a bit cheesy to say it, but time is the best healer with credit files. The default notices should drop off six years from them being entered - but they tend to affect you less the further back in your history they go.

Kind regards

James

Ox1987

If cards are close to limits and interest and charges are applied and then reduced payments are made, surely there is a chance that they will go over the limit.
Is this to be expected and what will happen

Also think I may have asked this one, will my child trust funds be ok left with HSBC and they will not try and attack those...

anne61

Hello,

First post here. I have tried searching for this and can not find an answer...perhaps my search terms were not exact.
Here is my issue; I used a well known name lawn care company and apparently forgot to send in a payment. I did ignore further bills as I knew I had paid. Some months later got a letter from a collection agency concerning this and was angry that my payment went ignored. Come to find out, I did write out the check, but forgot to mail it. So I mailed it and lawn care company cashed the check. Then they called wanting to know if I was going to treat my lawn this year. I told them no. Then I got a bill from them for the same amount (under $200) for payment and it says debt recovery.
What is this? They accepted payment, account should be clear and now "debt recovery" ?
Is this legal or are they scamming me.
Thank you in advance for your answers/advice.

Cenedra41

hello

I posted a while back for some advice and was told a debt mgmt plan would be a good idea as we have some substantial unsecured debts. I'm just a bit confused as to when to speak to step change however. At the moment we are JUST managing to cover minimum payments but with no contingency for anything unusual that comes up eg car repairs etc. I am starting maternity leave on the 10th May and after 6 weeks will be dropping to smp which cuts my salary down by two thirds so there's no way we can cover the minimum payments as they are. I really don't want to wait until I give birth (I'm having twins) before sorting out a plan but I believe I have to wait until I know my new income before anything can be done. My worry is that it will take time to arrange at a time when I'll be stressed out anyway and I'll end up having to stop payments for a period of time until the plan is up and running and possibly have the lenders harrassing me for payment.

Is this correct or can I start to sort something out now with a view to starting the plan as soon as my salary drops? I won't be returning to work full time as child care costs are more than I earn so I'll be dropping down to part time hours after my maternity leave finishes anyway so my pay will be at roughly the same rate (or lower) for the foreseeable future

many thanks and apologies for the rambling!