SOA request from creditor

foolofbeans

I received an SOA request from a credit card company that I owe about £8500 to. Is it worth me responding? I can easily show that my income is minimal and my outgoings are huge but wondered what that will achieve? They will still want their money back.
I haven't yet defaulted but have missed a few payments. I was planning to contact them and ask about a few months frozen interest to allow me to catch up but we are seriously considering a DMP as our debts are equal to annual income.
If I complete the SOA do I just do it with my income or combined household?

National_Debtline

Hi foolofbeans


It sounds as though the creditor has made the first move, but it doesn't much matter whether you send them an SOA with or without their prompting. What it will achieve is to show them why you are struggling, and hopefully it will persuade them that it is reasonable to freeze interest and charges on your account for now, subject to your expenditure appearing "reasonable". If you have other unsecured debts, you should follow the same steps with those creditors too, so that all can see that they are in the same boat.


It's up to you whether you send them a sole or joint household budget; just bear in mind that they will expect you to bear only your fair share of the household bills, and a joint budget may make it clearer whether this is the case. Also, you refer in your post to "our" debts, suggesting that your partner has some of their own, in which case it might be simpler all round if you approach your debts collectively.


If you want to post your SOA here we and other forum users might have further suggestions to offer on your next steps.


Dennis
@natdebtline

datlex

Several years back I was made redundant from my then job when the company closed the office I worked at. I had a loan with my then bank, being made redundant meant I could not afford the repayments. I spoke to the bank and they asked for an SOA. Long story short, they drastically reduced my repayments to an affordable level. More importantly, it meant I did not default. it just showed as an account with the bank that was being paid on a regular basis. No negative effect on my credit report. One thing I would advise is that when you complete the SOA to be realistic on how much you allocate to a category, it is tempting to be too frugal on some categories which may leave you short when you are really spending the money.

fatbelly

If you're thinking about a dmp, I'd talk to stepchange or payplan and get the ball rolling. They will help to develop a soa that they will send to creditors.

What you don't want to do is to send one of your own now, then another a few weeks later with different figures.