So here goes..

gasd

Hey guys/girls,
This week after some home truths from my girlfriend (now on a break for the next year) I've realised it's time to sort my act out.

I'm 24 years old and I have what I consider quite a mountain of debt, when I add it all up, its topping £2000 at least. Hundred quid here, two hundred quid there, contracts defaulted, recently I had a local debt enforcement company come knocking for council tax owed and to top it off, I made a huge mess with my girlfriend, really hurt her and very nearly lost her. I say girlfriend because we are on a break and she does want me although we are single, so technically she isn't but I'll see reality when I see my paths are cleared!

Anyway this isn't a relationship forum (that I know of). And I'm here to get advice on my debt.

• I owe council tax but I was an apprentice and I was exempt from council tax or get a deduction and now they are attempting to claim most of it if not all of it back yet I provided evidence like employment contract and wageslips
• As of a few months ago I got CCJ'd but the debt I cant remember and I dont know how to find the creditor/company and resolve it. I know it came from Northampton Court.
• I have various contract phones I defaulted on, stupidty and greed got me them when I first hit 18 and could get one. Lesson learnt so that messed my credit rating up early on.
• I owe money to British Gas which is coming close to £1000 on its own but before it said £800 and something on my meter if not less but the money owed now is higher? So Im either getting ripped off or Im paying for something I shouldnt be paying for.
• I owe a payday loan company and the interest has gone sky high. I told them I couldnt pay it as I was unemployed at the time but they went and dished interest out and now Im referrd to their collection agency. Im unsure of the final settled debt owed.

I'm just so unsure of where to start. I'm tempted to literally just hope my job sticks, hitch a room with the grandparents, move out and shuttle all my earnings into my debts and get them cleared up. I'm nearly hitting £1500 monthly at the moment, and if I had no obligations in regards to council tax (apart from owed tax of course) and rent and gas and electricity then I could very easily pay all of it off in a few months. Would you recommend that?

I dont want to be paying five quid here and there. From my experience it just makes the debt feel much bigger and less payable.

1. How do I go about finding out where my CCJ is owed to?
2. Say I paid off ALL my debts, how long does it take excluding the CCJ for my credit rating to go back up? Is the history always there? Is that me f*cked for credit now for the rest of my life or presuming I pay it ALL OFF, will it slowly increase?
3. Does anyone recommend these debt charities like StepChange? Do you actually help?
4. How do I go get debt frozen and is it worth it? What are the repercussions or is that something I shouldnt even be thinking about?

To be honest, like I said guys, I just want to sort it out. It's A LOT of money to me. Although in reality, it's not an ungodly amount and is quite easily payable, it just seems like so far away until I can look back and not worry about having arrogant pigheaded overpaid bailiffs knocking on my door and sending me threatening letters for debts I'm utterly convinced and I mean, CONVINCED, I don't owe like my council tax. I know I owe this year because I'm employed. But last year and the year before, apart from being an apprentice and working once or twice, I was out of the work for the good part of those yearly periods. So being on benefits, with the new law not yet established back then, I don't owe council tax. And it's funny how they keep changing the amounts. I seriously went in with payslips and contract of employment and got my manager to ring up but nope, no recollection of that ever happening.

It's just so confusing and aggravating yet I'm anxious that one day I'll have guys knocking at my door to take my belongings. I'm not a small chap myself but the point is, I can't stop them if they have a warrant. And bye bye belongings.

Any help guys/girls and thanks for reading

NHS_worker_bee

gasd wrote: »

I'm just so unsure of where to start. I'm tempted to literally just hope my job sticks, hitch a room with the grandparents, move out and shuttle all my earnings into my debts and get them cleared up. I'm nearly hitting £1500 monthly at the moment, and if I had no obligations in regards to council tax (apart from owed tax of course) and rent and gas and electricity then I could very easily pay all of it off in a few months. Would you recommend that?

Hello and welcome.

If you have the opportunity to move in with your grandparents and pay off all your debts, I would definitely do that. Get debt free as quickly and cheaply as possible, make a fresh start, lesson learnt

Have you looked at your credit files?

gasd

Thanks
Yes but a long time ago. A good few years back. I'm very unsure of what it says now, but is that a good place to start?

NHS_worker_bee

Yes, because once you know exactly what you owe you can contact all your creditors (in writing) and sort out a repayment plan. You mentioned StepChange, they can help you with a debt management plan if you can't afford to repay your debts, they would then deal with your creditors on your behalf. But it sounds like you have a situation where you can afford to repay your debts but just don't know where to start?

Do the companies you owe money to know your address, have your received letters about the debts etc?

gasd

Ah I see. And yes, you are right. At the moment and I say it realistically, I'm employed and on reasonable money to be able to consolidate my debts. If I'm not fixed to a tenancy agreement then I could pretty much pour my income into my debts one by one which sounds great but then a personal dilemma if I was to lose my job, dependent living etc.

I shall definitely look into getting my credit rating file. I know there are free trials on at least two credit reference agency websites, one I've already used and the other I haven't.

And CCJ's, will the CCJ be visible on my credit file that I can obtain over the internet or is that something I would need to find out about by contacting the correct creditor? Because I have no idea who that is or where to start!

And yes, unfortunately the majority of my debts and the companies involved seemed to have found me.

NHS_worker_bee

Noddle is the free credit report agency (although Equifax and Experian are worth checking too as different companies may use different agencies).

Regarding the possibility you may lose your job, is this likely to happen or just a 'what if...' worst case scenario?

The first thing to do is find out how much you owe.

What a lot of people on here seem do while paying off debt is not to have a savings account in the traditional sense, but to have a 'buffer' (money left in your bank account at the end of each month) or 'emergency fund' (how much you need very much depends on your own personal circumstances, enough to live on for a few months if you lost your job seems realistic, this could be a relatively small amount if you were living rent free with the grandparents?) So although you are not saving vast amounts of money, you put some aside for any emergencies so that you would not need to take out another loan if you had an unexpected expense for example.

If fill in your SOA (statement of affairs) other people may be able to advise you where you could make extra savings to tackle your debt.

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Best wishes, you're in the right place to get started.

gasd

Yes I'am registering. Thanks for the heads up!
I dont want to save money, I'd rather just consolidate my debts one by one. Especially when I don't have the excuse and reason to be obligated to rent and electric and gas and the list goes on..It just seems much more easier to be frank about it and go for broke literally and just pay them off.

I've been reading up on the CCJ, and apparently alot of companies do well trying to threaten you with them but I genuinely think I got a letter from Northampton Court stating the process and afterward, the CCJ so I'll need to get on the registers website and pay a quick quid or two to see if its really true, it's only 8 quid but it will be well worth putting my mind at ease in regards to the legitimacy of the CCJ and the creditor most importantly.

hohum

Hi, just wanted to say that although it feels like a big problem it is totally sortable. Especially if you have the option to reduce outgoings while you pay back debt. I moved back with parents in 2008 and paid off £2k in 7months. I had a full time job paying an ok wage but if you're single with no dependants, it really does move fast once you start paying back!

I have 2 specific comments:

- the British gas debt, do you pay quarterly or is it a meter? If you pay quarterly, is the amount they say you owe based on actual or estimated readings? If it's estimated, ring up an give actual read. You could also talk to them about a repayment plan. Make sure you don't overestimate what you can afford. A budget or SOA would help you do this

- there are people who have much better knowledge of council tax on the forum who can advise you. I have a question & a suggestion: were you living with your girlfriend at the address they sat you owe for? If so what's her status eg student, earning etc council tax is billed on the property not the person, as you may already know. My suggestion is to ask for a statement of your council tax account. It will show all the charges so you can start to unravel whether they are for the right date & amount. If you were co-habiting and your girlfriend was not a student, they don't exempt you entirely.

longtermplanner

So you owe less than £5,000 in total and you have a CCJ ?

In that case you have a simple debt solution - an Administration Order. These are great, you make a single payment per month to the court and your creditors are barred from taking any action against you, unlike in a DMP. Obviously the more you can pay each month the sooner it will all be gone.

Read National Debtline's factsheet on these: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/09%20EW%20Administration%20orders/Default.aspx and then give them a ring to talk it through.