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StepChange_James

chiefsinger wrote: »

Thank you to James and mum2one's replies, which have put my mind to rest to some extent. I guess my main worry was (and remains) what do Arrow get out of buying the debt? Could it be they've bought it at say 25% of the total, and so are looking at the "long game"?
I'll certainly look at stepchange...
One last question: looking a various forums, it would seem the done thing is to send a CCA request to them once I've heard from them - is this correct?
Thank you all again,
Ollie

Hi Ollie,

I'd agree with mum2one, a CCA request is a useful way to force a creditor to prove that you actually owe the debt. It doesn't sound like there's much doubt about that, so I can't see it being all that beneficial.

There are three main ways that debt collectors get involved in a debt. Sometimes they'll be a subsidiary company of the original company, so not really changing hands just going to a different department that specialises in debt collection.

Some debt collectors don't actually buy the debt but will work on a commission basis, where they get to keep a chunk of whatever money they collect. For example they might keep twenty pence of every pound they manage to get back.

Then there are debt purchasers who'll buy up debts for less than the balance. If this is what Arrow did then they're still entitled to the full amount of the debt. I suppose most are playing a long game, in that they'll make a profit if you pay back the debt but they might have to wait a while.

Debt collectors are generally OK to deal with if you're willing to offer an affordable payment and don't let them talk you into crazy payments. If you get in touch with us we'll be able to talk you through the best strategy.

Kind regards

James

chiefsinger

Thanks again to the both of you for your replies.

I've just received another letter from Santander saying that the other CC debt has been bought by Arrow, so I guess Santander are trying to convert their "bad debts" into "cash". Both are being sold on 7th May, so presumably Arrow will get in touch shortly afterwards. No doubt I'll be back here then..._pale_

Iwillresolvemydebt

Hi,

My wife and I run (and always have done) our own finances. What's hers is hers and whats mine is mine... I pay some monthly bills, she pays others. We only have one joint debt (Welcome Finance :mad:) which I have taken on.

My questions is this; I am in a position to make good inroads into my debts at the minute and progress is pleasing. My wife however, is not doing so well and only making minimum contributions on DMP's. Is it possible for her to go for an IVA or other plan on her own, and not taking into account my income or expenditure?

I should also add that it is her idea for us to have our own finances as she had (and continues to have) bad financial experiences from her ex husband 12 years ago!

Regards,

Paul

alib123

Hi,
Looking for advice on the best way to get back in control.
im already on a DMP with a company that i have to pay...by coming here i realised i dont have to! (pay the fee i mean lol)
so thats a good start. But on the other hand i have 2 payday loans that at the moment are being paid on time but for 2 weeks out of 4 i have no money. i cant decide to whether to struggle on until the end of the year when they will of been paid off or add them to a new non paying DMP?
Also can i leave my current DMP without any hassle and go to a free one?

thanks Ali

prayerbear1980

Hi

I had a few credit cards when I was a student (1998-2002). I made arrangements to pay them all and over the years I have pretty much cleared all of them.... apart from one which I think was with Barclaycard (it shows up as aktiv capital which is a debt collector).

The original card balance was less than £2000, I was paying £10 per month for around 5 years and called them a few months back to see what I still owed... they said £5400! They have been adding interest to it all this time!

I stopped paying the £10 a month and have since been getting letters about doorstep collections and taking me to court.

Do I really have to pay them £5400?! Can they really take me to court 11 years later? I could probably find the funds to pay the original debt but not this amount. I am also worried about my credit scoring as I had only got to the stage where I could get credit again a few years ago.

Thanks

beth3735

Ok after another bit of help again. I 99% should have enough on Thursday to pay the whole of my DMP off. I am now unsure what route to take, do i? -

Cancel my CCCS Direct Debit now, and let the CCCS pay my creditors the money they took on the 1st of may, then on the 27th i can pay my creditors myself the last remaining money.

OR

Can i call CCCS on the 9th, pay the CCCS the remaining money via card payment, so that they can give my creditors the full amount each. I would get 100% balance totals to update the CCCS with. Which means i will be debt free on the 27th of May?

I feel the less confusing option would be to cancel the direct debit and deal with the creditors myself, so i know they are 100% paid and i know they are 100% closed. But not sure how lightly CCCS would take to my cancelling after them helping me for so long.

Thank you.

StepChange_James

Iwillresolvemydebt wrote: »

Hi,

My wife and I run (and always have done) our own finances. What's hers is hers and whats mine is mine... I pay some monthly bills, she pays others. We only have one joint debt (Welcome Finance :mad:) which I have taken on.

My questions is this; I am in a position to make good inroads into my debts at the minute and progress is pleasing. My wife however, is not doing so well and only making minimum contributions on DMP's. Is it possible for her to go for an IVA or other plan on her own, and not taking into account my income or expenditure?

I should also add that it is her idea for us to have our own finances as she had (and continues to have) bad financial experiences from her ex husband 12 years ago!

Regards,

Paul

Hi Paul,

Thanks for posting. Apologies for the delay in replying, we've been off due to the bank holiday.

It is possible for your wife to have an IVA in just her name. As part of the process of applying for an IVA she'll have to put together a budget for her share of the household finances. As long as it can be seen that she's paying her fair share of the household bills I can't see a problem.

Obviously you can do a joint IVA or DMP if these options suited your situation but it sounds like looking for solutions as individuals would be your wife's preference, which is fine too.

Our Debt Remedy tool can advise on whether an IVA is suitable. It takes about 20 minutes and provides a personal action plan which covers all the available options: http://www.stepchange.org/msehelp.

Kind regards

James

StepChange_James

alib123 wrote: »

Hi,
Looking for advice on the best way to get back in control.
im already on a DMP with a company that i have to pay...by coming here i realised i dont have to! (pay the fee i mean lol)
so thats a good start. But on the other hand i have 2 payday loans that at the moment are being paid on time but for 2 weeks out of 4 i have no money. i cant decide to whether to struggle on until the end of the year when they will of been paid off or add them to a new non paying DMP?
Also can i leave my current DMP without any hassle and go to a free one?

thanks Ali

Hi Ali,

The best option would be to get advice for all of your debts, including these payday loans. We've got a handy article about what to do if you can't afford payments on a payday loan: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2013/01/payday-loan-debt-help-what-to-do-if-you-cant-afford-the-payment/. It also includes a link to the template letter you can use to cancel payments.

We can have a look at your finances and give you advice about what options suit you best. If a DMP is your best option then we can set up a free one for you.

Moving from a fee-charging DMP to free one is pretty straight forward. The first step is to go through our Debt Remedy tool (http://moneyaware.co.uk/2013/01/payday-loan-debt-help-what-to-do-if-you-cant-afford-the-payment/).

If a DMP is your best option it will then take you through what the next steps are. If it suits you then there's no problem keeping your old DMP up and running until you've got your StepChange one sorted out.

The one thing I'd add is that quite often DMPs aren't the best solution, so I'd suggest going through Debt Remedy with an open mind and seeing what it suggests.

Kind regards

James

StepChange_James

prayerbear1980 wrote: »

Hi

I had a few credit cards when I was a student (1998-2002). I made arrangements to pay them all and over the years I have pretty much cleared all of them.... apart from one which I think was with Barclaycard (it shows up as aktiv capital which is a debt collector).

The original card balance was less than £2000, I was paying £10 per month for around 5 years and called them a few months back to see what I still owed... they said £5400! They have been adding interest to it all this time!

I stopped paying the £10 a month and have since been getting letters about doorstep collections and taking me to court.

Do I really have to pay them £5400?! Can they really take me to court 11 years later? I could probably find the funds to pay the original debt but not this amount. I am also worried about my credit scoring as I had only got to the stage where I could get credit again a few years ago.

Thanks

Hello,

It depends on the circumstances of your account really. If you paid £10 a month from 2002 to 2007 then it is around six years since you made a payment. If this is the case then it may be statute barred (you can read more here: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/08/your-debts-written-off-is-it-too-good-to-be-true/).

If the debt isn't statute barred then they are entitled to enforce the debt but you could then look to query how that balance was arrived at and make complaints about anything that seemed unfair.

It would be reasonable to ask them for a statement that breaks down how they've arrived at this balance and then you can make a written complaint to them about any charges you feel are unfair.

You mention that you might be able to find the money to repay the debt if the balance was lower. I'd have thought you would probably have a good chance of negotiating a lower settlement if you had a lump sum you could offer them (just remember to get everything confirmed in writing if you do come to that kind of arrangement).

So there are a few different approaches that you could take and it depends on your situation which would suit you best. I hope this helps.

Kind regards

James

StepChange_James

beth3735 wrote: »

Ok after another bit of help again. I 99% should have enough on Thursday to pay the whole of my DMP off. I am now unsure what route to take, do i? -

Cancel my CCCS Direct Debit now, and let the CCCS pay my creditors the money they took on the 1st of may, then on the 27th i can pay my creditors myself the last remaining money.

OR

Can i call CCCS on the 9th, pay the CCCS the remaining money via card payment, so that they can give my creditors the full amount each. I would get 100% balance totals to update the CCCS with. Which means i will be debt free on the 27th of May?

I feel the less confusing option would be to cancel the direct debit and deal with the creditors myself, so i know they are 100% paid and i know they are 100% closed. But not sure how lightly CCCS would take to my cancelling after them helping me for so long.

Thank you.

Hi Beth,

Great news! Congratulations on being so close to getting them all cleared off.

I can't see it mattering a great deal which way you clear off the debts. I think most people will leave their final payment to us and we close off the plan but if you'd prefer to do it yourself it shouldn't be a problem.

It might be worth giving us a call in advance though, just so we know not to take your payment as normal and end up paying the debts twice.

Kind regards

James