Facing it and sorting it.Any advice?

40austin

I owe £32,000 to various creditors.This arose from divorce and ill-health (for which i had to finish work)a number of years ago.I realise that it will be a long time (if ever) before i pay off my debts.I have had a lot of hassle recently from a company called NCO who are putting a lot of pressure on me to pay more in spite of me sending a budget plan and paying extra.I decided it was time to try harder to tackle my debt problems.I have talked to Payplan who can't help me due to my income being less than my expenditure,but they have advised me that i should really only be paying £1 a month at the most to my creditors (i am paying more and i'm finding it difficult).To be honest this scares me a little as i don't want things to escalate with more calls,letters,threats etc. The debt won't disappear but i've been hoping they will leave me alone which is unrealistic.I'm currently getting a letter together for Tesco Finance,and thanks to this site i've got a template letter to help me.They are asking for a list of creditors with outsatnding balances,agreements made with them,reasons for difficulties,phone numbers including mobile,and medical certificates (if due to ill-health).Am i obliged to give them all this information? I'm scared they may sell the debt to a DCA like NCO.I don't have any CCJ's yet but i'm sensing this could happen soon.I'm new to this board and its helped me already,although i'm finding it a little difficult to find my way round it as i'm not teribly computer literate.Any help or advice is much appreciated.Its nice to know i'm not the only one going through it! Thankyou.

rog2

Hi 40a - and welcome to DFW. Perhaps it would help if you post your SOA - showing income, expenditure and debts.
In the meantime, there are other Debt Charities, including CAB, National Debtline and CCCS. Perhaps you could try talking to one of these - there may be something that PayPlan missed, and it is always best to have more than one opinion.
CCCS have a couple of advisors who post on this site - CCCS_Matthew and CCCS_Emily. Perhaps it's worth sending them a PM.
Good luck.

rayday2

Give the national debthelpline a call I remember seeing on there website that you do not have to provide more than your own income/expenditure sheet - which you can if you wish download from there website. It is really simple to use also I have rung them myself and they are really friendly and on your side they never say they cannot help.

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

If you need more help just hollow will keep an eye on the topic - if my memory allows me!

Storm

Hi :hello: and welcome to DFW

Firstly, no, you're definitely not alone, and there will be a way through this for you.

If you pop up a SoA (see southernscousers sticky 'for new posters' at the top of the board) listing all your income, expenditure etc we'll be able to see if there's any areas you could save on. Martin's budget planner on the right is great for prompting all those annual costs too.

Try speaking to CCCS for advise too - they'll be able to recommend the best course of action & will speak to your creditors too to try and stop interest & agree a payment plan that you can actually afford. If you can't make all the minimum payments each month then a £1 cheque to each as a token payment, with a letter explaining that you are seeking help from CCCS will show that you're not ignoring the debt and taking positive steps.

Good luck!

40austin

Hi,i'm sorry but what is SOA please? My creditors froze the interest on everything about 7 years ago thankfully so that isn't a problem.I had the help of a friend at the time who was clever with figures who is no longer around for me.Payplan said it may help my case a bit more if i volunteeerd some of the information they have asked for.I don't want to be tricked into telling them stuff i don't need to.Please be patient with me as its the first time i've done something like this and i'm not very confident with my replies etc.Thanks again.

rayday2

Honestly you do not need to supply anything other than what you want to, I think Payplan are a bit out of there depth there and not grasping what is happening.

By any chance you are not local to South Yorkshire, Worksop area are you?

But please do give another charity a ring, thing is with charities they are only as good as the advisor you get on that day, and you only learn with experience so maybe who has been speaking to you has not come accross things like that before.

Genuinely if it was possible I would help you more pratically than advise.

rayday2

SOA is just a list of all your outgoings and incomings for the benefit of people on this website just to see if they can save you some money.

But you do need to get more "proper" advise from one of the mentioned charities too.

40austin

Thankyou Rayday,no i don't live in that area,and thanks for your kindness.I guess i'm finding it hard to face it all again after just paying month by month for years.My stress levels are up and i don't want it to make me ill.My income fluctuates a little but it is £750 pm and my outgoings are £838 pm.I'm married and my wife has an income but the debts are in my name only as i remarried recently.Payplan told me that i don't have to tell them my wifes income.We have a joint mortgage but are paying a higher % due to my debt.Although my wife knows how much i owe and accepts it she doesn't realise the implications and i struggle to tell her.All a bit sad really but i promise i'm not after sympathy.Thanks.

climbgirl

Can you give us a list of outgoings so we can see if there are any cuts to be made?

That's what we mean by SOA - all your outgoings, all your debts (with interest rates) and your income.

Then we can offer advice based on this.

rayday2

Take a look round the website I gave earlier, there is a phone number on there and see what they say. I think once you get your head round it all you will actually feel more positive and maybe include your wife in it, it could be a little opening to talk more about what is happening with your finances.

If there is anything you don't understand after speaking to someone else then pose the question here, there are a lot of us in the same boat.

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php

I have assumed you live in ENgland or Wales, Scottish law is different but the above website has all the letters etc, but please bear in mind you can still ring them too and there knowledge is endless.

You should be able to fill in the downloaded the budget sheet and then it asks you everything you need just print it off, this is the sheet you can send your creditors and is sufficient, you do not need to complete the lengthy form they sent.

40austin

Hi all my £32,000 in debts are to 8 separate creditors,all interest is frozen on all of them.
Payplan helped me draw up a budget sheet.Income is £750 approx.pm
Expenditure (for me only) is:-
Mortgage 252.50
B&C ins.12.77
Council tax £64
Water £15.53
Elec. & Gas 43.40
Telephone £40
MOT £18
Car ins.£21.90
Child maintenance £30
Petrol £60
H/keep £180
Medical £15
Hair £8
Clothes £20
TV£11
Benefits £42
RAC £3.91
TOTAL £838.01
The benefits by the way are incapacity benefit that the BA over calculated when i was ill and frustratingly have to pay back as well.Hope this helps.Thanks.