Advice - The start of change

Changing_For_The_Better

I've got two debts that I want to help deal with.

I'm making monthly payments but the amounts are actually out of control that we struggle in other areas of survival.

The debt is with Very & Orange.

We owe very £3,000 & Orange just 3 more months on contract.

Orange we are cancelling when the contracts are over - Smart phones with silly fees that seem great at the time

With Very I started impulse buying, they gave me more & more credit & I kept going.

I'm now 32 Weeks pregnant & want to focus on having money for the baby.

We own our own home & have all the usual essentials inside it, Phone, broadband, Sky TV etc which we can manage.

The Very payments are £150 per month & next month the bill is £210.

I cannot afford these costs much longer especially when I go onto Maternity leave in December.

Question of:

Am able to cancel Very & come to a payment plan with them. I've looked at figures whilst on Maternity I could afford £30 per month as pay back.

Do company's allow this?
Do they want back what you bought?

Thanks for replies in advance

Tixy

Hi

They won't want back the purchases you have made with them.

They will probably accept a reduced payment plan, they will likely enter a default or arrangement to pay on your credit file, which will have an impact on you ability to get new credit for 6years. They may agree to freeze interest & charges on the debt.

If you offer a repayment plan a creditor will often ask to see a statement of affairs to show that you cannot keep up with the contracted repayments and that you are offering all you can afford (you don't have to supply them with this info - but they don't have to accept your reduced payments).

Have you been through all your other outgoings to see if you could get cheaper or cut down anywhere (e.g you mention phone, broadband and paid TV - have you shopped around to see if you could get a better combined deal, or have you considered dropping sky altogether).

Changing_For_The_Better

Thank you for replying.

That's quite a punishment onto your credit file.

I'm currently on a package with Sky - That covers TV, Phone & Broadband = £45 per month. We do not use the land line so it does not tend to change, only when they up their charges as & when.

We do not have anything else other than day to day living - Council Tax, Water, Gas & Electricity (Pay as you go) etc

Changing_For_The_Better

Thank you for replying.

That's quite a punishment onto your credit file.

I'm currently on a package with Sky - That covers TV, Phone & Broadband = £45 per month. We do not use the land line so it does not tend to change, only when they up their charges as & when.

We do not have anything else other than day to day living - Council Tax, Water, Gas & Electricity (Pay as you go) etc

Tixy

Perhaps you might find it useful to complete a statement of affairs to try to see where your money is going each month and where you are overspending to have built up the catalogue debt.

It might then also be worth doing another to see what your monthly finances will look like once you are on maternity and your income reduces but your benefits etc increase. That way you can have a clearer picture of how bad the overspend will be and how radically you need to try to cut back on outgoings.

We recommend this statement of affairs calculator - as it helps you remember outgoings that is easy to forget to budget for (clothes/haircuts/car servicing etc) and show how much of a surplus /shortfall you have a month http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Changing_For_The_Better

Thanks - I will try that & see how I get on for now.