Up to my neck in it...

Telemaster

Hi,

I'd be very grateful for some advice from the here assembled...

I've racked up close to 50k in CC debt and I can't make the monthly payments any more. I've had a look at the CAB website and the plan is to contact my creditors and ask for the interest to be frozen and payments to be either drastically reduced or stopped altogether for a period that will allow me to sell the house and repay the debt in full.

I have no family or dependents. I work in sales on a salary + commission basis but there has been a steady decline in sales in my area, although my job is such that I can move to another area where, hopefully, things would be better.

I have a couple of bank accounts that are operated solely on overdraft, one with Barclays, the other with HSBC. I'm worried that those facilities will be removed if a search of my credit file reveals that I'm either making reduced or zero payments. Does any one have any experience of this?

Any thoughts gratefully received.

T.




Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1238
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1238

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 415
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 98
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 100
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 68
Telephone (land line)................... 22.4
Mobile phone............................ 27.65
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 13
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 110
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 40
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 7.29
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 36
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 15
Total monthly expenses.................. 1151.46


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 260000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 262000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 57000....(415)......3.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 57000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard Visa...............14066.....320.......0
Barclaycard M/Card.............9947......85........0
Halifax CC.....................3191......70........0
Creation CC....................4692......95........0
MBNA CC........................8700......200.......0
Tesco CC.......................4044......95........0
Nationwide CC..................3470......80........0
Total unsecured debts..........48110.....945.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,238
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,151.46
Available for debt repayments........... 86.54
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 945
Amount short for making debt repayments. -858.46

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 262,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -57,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -48,110
Net Assets.............................. 156,890

Jon81

Hi telemaster

Welcome, first step would be to open another bank account un associated to the creditors listed above and have your salary and direct debits moved

In respect to the reduced payments they'll likely ask for your income and outgoings and should be amenable to your circumstances as a starter for 10 a 30 day grace period with no charges calls or interest wouldn't be out of the question as long as your up front with them and keep them in the loop they should be fine.

In respect of the overdrafts they would only be removed if say you asked for an increase and that triggered a search.

Telemaster

Hi Jon81,

Thanks for that. As far as I can see, the HSBC account isn't associated with any of my creditors so I'll just move everything over there - unless anybody knows any different, of course.

T.

T.

rockm87

You should open a basic bank account, and proceed to treat your overdrafts like another debt and pay off a little each month.

That way you arent using your wages to temporarily pay-off your overdraft, only to re-use it again.

andyfromotley

Telemaster wrote: »

Hi,

I'd be very grateful for some advice from the here assembled...

I've racked up close to 50k in CC debt and I can't make the monthly payments any more. I've had a look at the CAB website and the plan is to contact my creditors and ask for the interest to be frozen and payments to be either drastically reduced or stopped altogether for a period that will allow me to sell the house and repay the debt in full.

I have no family or dependents. I work in sales on a salary + commission basis but there has been a steady decline in sales in my area, although my job is such that I can move to another area where, hopefully, things would be better.

I have a couple of bank accounts that are operated solely on overdraft, one with Barclays, the other with HSBC. I'm worried that those facilities will be removed if a search of my credit file reveals that I'm either making reduced or zero payments. Does any one have any experience of this?

Any thoughts gratefully received.

T.




Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1238
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1238

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 415
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 98
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 100 What??? for one person? you are paying way too much, i would expect a single person to be paying about £70 max for Gas and Electric
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 68 Really?
Telephone (land line)................... 22.4
Mobile phone............................ 27.65
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 13
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 110
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 40
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 7.29
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 36
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 15
Total monthly expenses.................. 1151.46


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 260000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 262000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 57000....(415)......3.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 57000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard Visa...............14066.....320.......0
Barclaycard M/Card.............9947......85........0
Halifax CC.....................3191......70........0
Creation CC....................4692......95........0
MBNA CC........................8700......200.......0
Tesco CC.......................4044......95........0
Nationwide CC..................3470......80........0
Total unsecured debts..........48110.....945.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,238
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,151.46
Available for debt repayments........... 86.54
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 945
Amount short for making debt repayments. -858.46

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 262,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -57,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -48,110
Net Assets.............................. 156,890

Have you spoken to Stepchange? You are in a desperate situation and they can help. There may be other options available to you.

twiggy86

Hi

A couple of things I note on your SOA as also spotted by andy. For 2 people I pay £99 per month for gas and electric but have just changed supplier so this will drop to £83 per month for both. Also water - I pay £28.50 per month for two people, originally this was £50 per month but they dropped it a while ago presumably after taking a reading.

I can't offer any other advice I'm afraid, but good luck!

Out,_Vile_Jelly

What did you actually spend the £50k on? Anything that can be EBayed?

runforlife

Start here with Stepchanges Debt Remedy. It's completely anonymous and doesn't show on any credit searches. http://www.stepchange.org/Debtremedy.aspx

Telemaster

Thanks for everybody's contributions.

As far as utilities are concerned, it's a big, old house built in 1910 and it gets cold very quickly in the winter, taking a long time to get to temperature. Turning the radiators completely off in the rooms I don't use encourages damp, so I set the TRVs to the minimum to head that particular problem off.

I've been online with Stepchange but, as far as I can see, entering into a DMP will completely trash my credit score for six years or more. I'd rather just sell the house, pay my debt in full and move on.

I've been umming and aahing about moving for a couple of years now, but what you know tends to be more comfortable than what you don't. This has given me the kick up the backside I need to take the next step.

I just hope my creditors will give me the breathing room to get it done. The house will be priced to sell and I'm hoping six months will do it.

Pixie5740

Selling the house and starting over is certainly one way to go about things. Where will you live once the house is sold? Would you downsize to something cheaper or would you rent? How do rents in your area compare with your mortgage repayments?

Whilst selling would give you a clean slate, you need to address how you got into almost £50k of unsecured debt otherwise you'll just do it again and next time you won't have a house to sell. Do you know what you spent the money on or was it just general overspending?

I don't know why you're worried about a DMP trashing your credit file though, surely you don't want to borrow any more money and that's all a good credit history allows you to do.

rockm87

why are you worried about trashing your score if you already have a mortgage? you dont need a credit score, unless you are intending to get more credit...which you dont need.