twitcher11 - can you help this OP?

Skint_Catt

Can you get a pre-paid prescription thing - I'm sure that is less than £10.00 per month. Also £7 a month seems high for breakdown. Could you shop around (there are a few threads on the Motoring board) - or is it not really needed? depends how old your car is and how many miles you drive. I'm sure you could get this to £4 per month if not free with Tesco vouchers as Lynz says. £45 - if this is for sky/cable then this must go! Swap down to the lowest package. What's the hospital fund? Can you cut your magazines out for a bit?
C xx

pania

sorry to hear you feel deeper in trouble twitcher, you're just confronting it properly so it will feel very hard to start with.
Not sure what others would say but i'd say just send them each £1 this month with a letter explaining whats going on.
Try to speak to Citizens advice and CCCS who will give you help and suggestions.
P
xx

twitcher11

Hi lynzpower

Thankyou very much for your long, long post

No I have not applied for housing benefit & coucil tax benefits - I think my pension precludes that.
But I will check.
thanks

Buildings & contents cover I have already looked at and my Mortgage company ( Nationwide) can do better on combined policies.

I will change.


"child payments"
I send my daughter £30 per month and visit her by car (260 mile round trip) and pay for treats and things and a holiday.
Also next year I will have to contribute something at Uni ( iF she gets in) so thats the figure I came up with.


Do I ABSLOLUTELY need gas care?
Well My boiler is dodgy and seems to go every winter so I have BRITISH GAS care.
I will check around


"Virgin Media £45.00- what is this - seems very high indeed. Are you paying for digital channels? "

I am with ntlworld.com and was paying £45 per month for Telephone Line rental. TV base and Broadband.
When Virgin took them over and I lost the non-premium Sky channels Sky News and Sky Sports News I complained and they
offered me same price for a better deal witha V+ box and extra channels.
I just need the Broadband really if truth were told.
But I will get back to them and try to get it lowered.



Telephone calls £10.00 is about the Maximum I pay with Call1889 which is an over-ride number.
The call charges are extra to Virgin I only pay for line rental with Virgin.

I DO get cheapest petrol at Tesco or Asda. I do get Tesco points.

Food £120.00 IS just for one - I can certainly try to bring it down but I budget about £4 per day or £25 per week.
Is that too high ?
I can get it down I am sure.

Bank charges though I have not estimated yet - but it is certainly NOT thousands, I will get back to you.
Probably some hundreds from each otf the 3 banks.



Ok lynzpower I see you offer 2 possible ways ahead..................

1) Debt management plan say with CCCS.
2) Bankruptcy.



1) Debt management plan say with CCCS.
I will check this
I have looked at CCCS website and the "Debt remedy" section and will fill it in.

I am VERY CONCERNED Lynzpower at this comment you said.........

"HOWEVER, given that your income is only benefits Im not convinced this is the right option for you as there is a rule about taking benefits for DMP payments and I cant remember what it is.
Someone else will know."

Please please anyone let me know about this.



2) Bankruptcy.
I reall do not want to do this but I suppose I will have to consider anything.

The Phone's already started ringing and a letter arrived from Barclays this morning.

Oh God......................

Thankyou lynzpower.

lynzpower

1) Debt management plan say with CCCS.
I will check this
I have looked at CCCS website and the "Debt remedy" section and will fill it in.

I am VERY CONCERNED Lynzpower at this comment you said.........

"HOWEVER, given that your income is only benefits Im not convinced this is the right option for you as there is a rule about taking benefits for DMP payments and I cant remember what it is.
Someone else will know."

Please please anyone let me know about this.



2) Bankruptcy.
I reall do not want to do this but I suppose I will have to consider anything.

The Phone's already started ringing and a letter arrived from Barclays this morning.

Oh God......................

Thankyou lynzpower.

the only reason why I said this is because my understanding is that if you are on benefits and are going to be for the foresseable future, then my understanding is that benefits is the LOWEST you are expected to live on. therefore if creditors take your benefits, then this leaves you too little to live on.

CCCS will know tho, so give them a call and chat it over with them!

Good luck , ill check up on you later x

twitcher11

Hi Everyone

I have just this afternoon filled in the Debt Remedy form on the CCCS website.


I have downloaded My Debt Remedy booklet by email and Adobe.

I have been offered a Debt Management Plan and have a CCCS web number for me and the plan on offer.

It will take 23 years and 5 months to clear this debt ! !

Here is their summary of my situation..................................

" Your Financial Summary
Monthly income = £1159
Total outgoings = £912
Monthly contractual payments = £1687
You have 15 creditors
Your total credit debt = £69465
You have £247 left over each month once you have
covered all of your priority expenditure."

(My quotation marks)

The contractual payments are the minimum payments I am making to the credit card companies loan and for the increasing overdrafts I have.


So if I make payments of £247 to CCCS for this length of time do I avoid bankruptcy ?

Is that it ?

I can see that all the interest payments stop right there.
£247 x 281 months (23yrs 5 mnths) = £69,407

What should I do ? Is this a good offer
Some of you thought I would only be able to go bankrupt.

I can't believe these decisions that I have to make.

If I go bankrupt do I lose my house ?

Do they EVER take reduced settlements down the years if you move, come int money etc ?

If I sell my house and move in with my new partner can I keep the equity, put it in as my contribution towards a new joint house and continue the CCCS payments ?

Or as soon as I sell do I lose all the equity ?

What happens if I get a job ? Do CCCs take more as I am earning more ?

In the long run I could be dead before I finish paying !

please please advise me

Many many thanks to all you lovely people out there for trying to help me
I feel so alone without you on all this.

I find all this so overwhelming,

I know many of you have raised queries on my SOA and I will get back to you on all those - I promise.

bye
x

lynzpower

Hiya, Im not an expert on DMPs, but I have picked up a fair amount so will answer the questions I can, I know others will know more than me

twitcher11 wrote: »

Hi Everyone

I have just this afternoon filled in the Debt Remedy form on the CCCS website.

I have downloaded My Debt Remedy booklet by email and Adobe.

I have been offered a Debt Management Plan and have a CCCS web number for me and the plan on offer.

It will take 23 years and 5 months to clear this debt ! ! ( a very long time given your age)
Here is their summary of my situation..................................

" Your Financial Summary
Monthly income = £1159
Total outgoings = £912
Monthly contractual payments = £1687
You have 15 creditors
Your total credit debt = £69465
You have £247 left over each month once you have
covered all of your priority expenditure."

(My quotation marks)

The contractual payments are the minimum payments I am making to the credit card companies loan and for the increasing overdrafts I have.


So if I make payments of £247 to CCCS for this length of time do I avoid bankruptcy ? ( yes)

Is that it ? ( yes, although the pitfalls can be that creditors can still charge interest for a while, whilst in negotiations with CCCS as far as I understand it)

I can see that all the interest payments stop right there. ( as above, yes)
£247 x 281 months (23yrs 5 mnths) = £69,407

What should I do ? Is this a good offer
Some of you thought I would only be able to go bankrupt.

I can't believe these decisions that I have to make.

If I go bankrupt do I lose my house ? ( not neccesarily)

Do they EVER take reduced settlements down the years if you move, come int money etc ? ( absolutely, they are called F&F or "final & full settlements" do a search on here, people often discuss how to do them, wordings of letters etc)

If I sell my house and move in with my new partner can I keep the equity, put it in as my contribution towards a new joint house and continue the CCCS payments ? ( no, but you can offer full & final settlements to your creditors at this stage)

Or as soon as I sell do I lose all the equity ? ( depends how much there is, a general rule of thumb is that on F&F you can pay at least a third less from what I understand, again, im not an expert)

What happens if I get a job ? Do CCCs take more as I am earning more ? ( yes, you call and tell them, they will negotiate with you how much more you can afford, they share it out evenly with your creditors)
In the long run I could be dead before I finish paying ! ( indeed)

please please advise me

Many many thanks to all you lovely people out there for trying to help me
I feel so alone without you on all this.

I find all this so overwhelming,

I know many of you have raised queries on my SOA and I will get back to you on all those - I promise.

bye
x

I hope this helps buty others will definately be along. Also look out for DMP support group on here that are discussing DMPs and the technicalities of them etc, lots of knowledgeable people around

pania

Gosh twitcher ok here goes.

1) Re the house, If you decide to sell the house then yes you would keep all equity unless a charging order is put on your property. This would usually happen if you get CCJ or stop paying completely. as you are going through CCCS it iss highly highly unlikely that this will happen.
2) If you were to go bankrupt (which you don't want to do) then with the amount of equity you ahve in your property it is likely you would loose the house.
3) Yes, if you adhere to the payment plan then you would avoid bankruptcy.
(however it will knacker your credit rating with defaults but hey who needs credit anyhow!!!:T )

4) debt collection agencies do very often take reduced settlements so it may be that you realise you've saved up enough to pay 75% off a debt. the company may well accept it rather than be without your money for 23 years!!

5) re the what should i do question. Do you feel comfortable with this amount per month? do you feel comfortable with what the DMP will do for you? if yes then you know what to do;)

6) if you get a job then yes they may take more. They hold reviews every so often to see if you can pay more towards the debt. but both you and they have to again show that this is affordable for you. you never know a job may make you feel more independant and happier again and put you back in control slightly.

I won't lie to you twitcher, you will get phonecalls and shi!!y letters from the creditors. just be strong and tell them to speak to CCCS. Just want you to be aware that this will happen. I know you are strong enough to tell them to go away if necessary:rotfl:

try to indulge yourself in some freebie treats with your other half, have a look at the grabbit board for how to get free cinema tickets. also when you get tesco vouchers they are worth about 3 times more if you convert them to vouchers for a meal or day out. also a little light exercise like a walk to the park or a cycle wil perk your mood up no end and help you sleep easily to.

really hope all this helps , really good luck to you. :beer:

Sea78

Hi again

On the Dmp the CCCS do take more when you earn more, but allow for things in a very generous way and if your circs change and your outgoings increase, they will also allow for this. My interest has been stopped on a few of my accoutns, but HSBC haven't yet....

It is hard to deal with and scarey and I think you're doing a fab job so far. Even better in my opinion is the not drinking too - I know how hard this must be and massive well done so far!

Sea xx

twitcher11

Hello everyone esp. pania and lynzpower

Sorry not been on tonight yet.

Thanks to all who have commented and offered advice - you are SO good.

Been on phone for most of evening - sorry ! Family and friends !

Family and friends.

That's what it's all about isn't it ?

My daughter having friendship and "A" level crisis which we had to sort out tonight.
Its ok !

Going to read and digest everyone's comments.

I feel some relief after a really amazing day.

I see a bit of light at the end of that goddawful tunnel.

48 hours ago I was almost suicidal.
Don'tworry I am not - I have too much to live for.

But I just could not see any way forward.

Now I can.

I know it will be hard but its gotta be done.

So many individuals require specific comments and answers - I will tomorrow.

bye and thankyou
x

whitewing

Just wanted to say good night and good luck. Too new to this myself to offer any practical help, but it's heartening to read everyone's supportive messages, even though it's not my situation