Struggling to understand, any clues?

Jim-Bob_7

I'll try and keep this as brief as possible, I have a tendancy to ramble but I'll do my best to avoid it.

I've been out of work due to illness for quite a long time, over 2 years now, and throughout this time I've been strugging with debts, badly. Fortunately I found some good tips from here which have helped, but I've pretty much hit rock bottom now and need a few tips.

I have no outstanding red letters or court proceedings or suchlike, the two remaining creditors I have are fully up to date with payments, even though it has about crippled me to keep up. One creditor has kindly accepted a voluntary payment plan as of about a week ago which has saved me £150 per month, but the other is being confusing, and this is where I need help.

I owe Lloyds TSB around £7000 on a credit card. On the advice of CAB I wrote to them to explain the situation, including a budget, and offered a payment of £50 monthly instead of £150 monthly. (I've been told since I was over generous, but that's past now) After hearing nothing for about 2 weeks I went to online banking to find that the account was closed and with payments still set at the £150 level. After a seriously confusing and frustrating call with card services Indian call center I learned that the account was closed to freeze the interest (good news) but they had rejected my offer of £50 as they didn't think I could realistically afford to pay it, even though they were more than happy to leave the regular payment in place of £100 more. After getting no sense from the person I was speaking to, being denied a supervisor or speaking to another department, I hung up and went to my local branch. (Literally shaking at this point, I have mental health problems and don't deal with stress well at all, also as not being as sharp as I once was). My Branch Manager kindly rang the same twits and could get no more sense out of them than I had, which reassured me at least that it wasn't just me being stupid, so she suggested writing a new offer of only £10 monthly and see what results. This was over 2 weeks ago, with no reply and no changes showing online.

I'm hesitant to ring the card services line again as they were very little help the last time, but at some point I suppose I will have to.

My concerns right now are the following, mostly:
If they don't accept the £10 offer then the whole voluntary payment plan goes out the window, as it only balances up if BOTH the creditors agree. I don't know if they're being purposefully slow, or ignorant, or if it's just normal, but it's not helping. In another 10 days/2 weeks the next payment of £150 is due, which is going to hurt a lot, so I'm tempted to cancel the direct debit. But I guess this will hurt my standing as I'll have defaulted a payment, and I don't want things to escalate any worse than they already are, too many sleepless nights without that.

My total debt is around £30k. I have no cash assets, I already sold my home, no stocks or shares, no obvious way to go next. CAB suggested looking at Bankruptcy, but I'm scared of the part of the wording about claiming my assets to balance debts, as I don't know what this might include. Car? TV? Computer? Books? DVDs? I had to move back to my parents so 90% of the furnishings aren't mine, but there's 30 years of 'stuff' that might be worth something to someone. How far will a baliff go? If I never get back to work of course then I'm looking at something nuts like 18 years before they were both to get paid off, even with frozen interest, but I'd rather have years of living like a human being than going bankrupt and having to live like a caveman.

It drives me (even more) crazy to think that a creditor I had very little history with was sympathetic, fast, and pleasant in accepting my offer within probably 5 days of the letter, whereas the bank where I've been for over 20 years and who hold my current account are the ones causing problems for a month and counting.

I hope this isn't too long winded or confusing, and hopefully some of it will blow over, but you people here seem knowledgable and sometimes it's good to just get things out there for a second opinion.

Thanks for your time in reading this.
Jim.

seven-day-weekend

Hello, just to say you have done the right thing by posting here and although I can't offer any help at the moment, I just wanted to encourage you and say that the very knowledgeable day shift will be here later with advice for you.

Jim-Bob_7

Thank you, that's as appreciated as anything. Just because I sometimes think better at night doesn't mean the rest of the world does too

tealady

I wont say I'm that knowledgable but this is my gut reaction. Just keep paying the bank what you can afford. Write to the Head Office (keeping a copy) to request 1) That your offer be accepted and 2) That the confirm that in writing. I would also consider making a formal complaint to the bank (it shows what a rubbish service they have if even their own staff can't get any help). As long as you are paying the bank something that will always be a point in your favour. Once the bank have replied you will know where you stand. Good luck, I'm sure there will be some fantastically knowledgable MSE'rs along soon to tell you about the pros and cons of this idea.

smashedbooboo

Morning and welcome to MSE hun. I would suggest you have a look over at the bankruptcy forum. There are loads of lovely peope on there who will be able to give you some advice on bankruptcy. Please dont worry about living like a caveman. Its not like that anymore. But i know you dont want to go down that route. So. Does the credit card have any charges on it that can be reclaimed. Do you still have any of your statements. If you do have any charges then these could reduce the debt. Also speak to the national debt council or ccc. You ahve offered to pay what you can afford. So i would cancel you D/D and set up a new one for revised amount. Keep posting and let us know how you get on.

hypno06

I would cancel the direct debit and set up a standing order to the same account of £10 as suggested by the bank manager.

Keep a record of what you have done to try and sort this out, including details of the meeting with the local bank manager who can always back you up if needed.

You are making all reasonable efforts to do this, so the ball will be back in their court, but you need to make some sort of payment to prove that you are making the effort, so a cheque, in-branch payment or standing order, but not the direct debit as you are not in control of the amount paid.

Someone with far more knowledge of this sort of thing will be along soon, I'm sure!

peb

<Bump>

As this was early this am anyone else able to help the OP?

I think Hypno's advise is spot on

southernscouser

Jim-Bob wrote: »

so I'm tempted to cancel the direct debit. But I guess this will hurt my standing as I'll have defaulted a payment, and I don't want things to escalate any worse than they already are, too many sleepless nights without that.

My own opinion is that you should cancel the direct debit straight away.

You are going to be defaulted anyway even if Lloyds agree to the lower monthly payments so all you are doing at the moment is delaying the inevitable.

They will soon contact you when the DD doesn't come out! :rolleyes:

In the mean time just offer them token payments. This can be as little as £1 if that is all you can afford. Do not, give them more than you can afford because you feel obliged to. You will find yourself in a worse situation which could ulitmately lead you to borrowing again! :eek:

As for bankruptcy. Go and visit the bankruptcy board. Get to understand what is involved. For instance even once you have been declared bankrupt you may still have to make a set monthly payment for maybe a year or more before you are fully discharged.

Also give these guys a ring for some impartial free help.

To be totally honest with you and without knowing all the facts and figures but just going by what you have said I think bankruptcy is a real option that you shouldn't dismiss. Don't be afraid of the 'stigma' of becoming bankrupt. Sadly it is happening more and more in this country.

Good luck.

Jim-Bob_7

Thank you all for your advice, it's much appreciated. Nothing new in today's post so no news to report unfortunately, and not surprisingly. :mad:

As suggested by so many, I'm going to have a read through the Bankruptcy forum later, when my head starts working again It sounds like it's a strong option financially, especially getting a semi-clean slate to start building from, but I've so little information right now that it seems like an enormous leap. Before now I'd always wanted to solve my problems on my own, and this often feels like saying I'd got in over my head and was beaten, but I've realised that there are a lot of times I can't come out on top anymore.

Smashedbooboo, I've got a pile of statements, I hoard things by the ton, so I'll check through them again, but I don't think I've ever been charged anything I could rake back. I did get my overdraft charges back a few months ago following the articles here on MSE, a very welcome £500. :T

My psychiatrist thinks I need financial help (among other things :rotfl: ) and is referring me to the social worker at the Mental Health dept, apparently she knows a lot about benefits and money, so maybe she'll have a surprise for me too, although I think I've got all I can on that side, but every little helps.

With the help and advice from you nice folks and the sources you've suggested at least I'll have more information to make a better educated decision, rather than just guessing and ending up worse. I've decided to sit on the Direct Debit for a couple more days till I can take all this in, and it's not due till the 10th anyway, so there's still time to stop it if nothing changes, giving Lloyds some undeserved benefit of the doubt. I'm hoping to get the payment argeement sorted before cancelling the DD, just to show I tried to do things within the rules as much as possible, but it's looking unlikely. So annoying to try and do all you can to stay in good standing with firms like this and end up with nothing to show for it .

Thanks again for all the advice so far, if anyone has suggestions I'm listening