My S.O.A. ~ Have I got any chance?

penguin83

Hi welcome to the board - I can see you have already had some excellent advice.

I see you have a similiar debt to I did when I started. I can honestly say I never in a million years thought I would be able to repay everything. This board is fantastic for encouragement and advice.

I find the snowball calculator is a brilliant motivator as you can actually see your debt free date getting closer.

Good Luck with everything x

spurs501_2

penguin83 wrote: »

Hi welcome to the board - I can see you have already had some excellent advice.

I see you have a similiar debt to I did when I started. I can honestly say I never in a million years thought I would be able to repay everything. This board is fantastic for encouragement and advice.

I find the snowball calculator is a brilliant motivator as you can actually see your debt free date getting closer.

Good Luck with everything x

Hi.
As you say you had a similar debt amount to mine, could I be cheeky and ask how you are dealing with your debt? Are you managing on your own, with a DMP etc etc. Sorry if that's a bit forward but it is encouraging to hear I'm not alone in having this level of debt.
Thanks;)

penguin83

You're not being cheeky dont worry!

We are in the fortunate position in that we have a high income and so can pay all the minimum payments on our debt. We did however have a little stumble earlier in the year (pre lb moment) and a few debts got passed to DCA's ultimately it worked out better for us as the interest has been frozen on quite a few of our bigger debts.

So although we could meet payments we were never actually reducing our debts - hence our lightbulb moment.

I did consider an IVA because I genuinally believed we had no other option but then I discovered this site.

spurs501_2

penguin83 wrote: »

You're not being cheeky dont worry!

We are in the fortunate position in that we have a high income and so can pay all the minimum payments on our debt. We did however have a little stumble earlier in the year (pre lb moment) and a few debts got passed to DCA's ultimately it worked out better for us as the interest has been frozen on quite a few of our bigger debts.

So although we could meet payments we were never actually reducing our debts - hence our lightbulb moment.

I did consider an IVA because I genuinally believed we had no other option but then I discovered this site.

How did you go about getting the interest frozen on your large debts, just by asking? Did the credit card companies freeze the interest or the DCA's?

Also, if I may ask, what happens when a credit card gets passed onto a DCA, do they visit your home, ask for full settlement? Or can you come to an arrangement with them?

Many Thanks again!

penguin83

Once a debt is with a DCA I think interest is frozen but your credit rating is shot as you have to default first (ours was appalling anyway). They buy the debt for a really low amount I think.

The DCA's just sent us letters telling us to contact them - which we did. I had already figured out how much we could afford to pay them and offered that. They can be quite pushy but we just stuck with what we said and they accepted. My OH loan was 16500.00 he was paying 240.00 pm at 13.5% (HSBC managed loan) and would have lasted for 10 years. When he defaulted due to being off work sick (no sick pay as he is self employed) the loan company sold it on. They accepted our offer of £100.00 per month straight away and there is no interest added.

Out of the cards that we didnt default on BarclayCard reduced interest right down when we told them we were having difficulties and Monument froze the interest for 6 months. The rest of them (and there is a lot) wouldnt budge so I have made these the priority to pay off.

I have a debt diary floating about somewhere which has a breakdown of all our debts and the interest rates etc. Im just off to update it so you should be able to find it.

Ps we didnt always have this high an income its only really been since my promotion 9 months ago so thats how we ended up here in the first place!

spurs501_2

penguin83 wrote: »

Once a debt is with a DCA I think interest is frozen but your credit rating is shot as you have to default first (ours was appalling anyway). They buy the debt for a really low amount I think.

The DCA's just sent us letters telling us to contact them - which we did. I had already figured out how much we could afford to pay them and offered that. They can be quite pushy but we just stuck with what we said and they accepted. My OH loan was 16500.00 he was paying 240.00 pm at 13.5% (HSBC managed loan) and would have lasted for 10 years. When he defaulted due to being off work sick (no sick pay as he is self employed) the loan company sold it on. They accepted our offer of £100.00 per month straight away and there is no interest added.

Out of the cards that we didnt default on BarclayCard reduced interest right down when we told them we were having difficulties and Monument froze the interest for 6 months. The rest of them (and there is a lot) wouldnt budge so I have made these the priority to pay off.

I have a debt diary floating about somewhere which has a breakdown of all our debts and the interest rates etc. Im just off to update it so you should be able to find it.

Ps we didnt always have this high an income its only really been since my promotion 9 months ago so thats how we ended up here in the first place!

This is really good, real life, information that I need! So, if I understand this correctly, if you default on a credit card (3 missed payments I believe?) they automatically issue a default? When a default is issued do they automatically pass the debt onto a DCA? Did you get any DCA's call at your home (can they do this?, can they send a baliff round??).

I would be very interested to see your debt diary and think it would make interesting reading.

I too have recently had a promotion at work and will obviously be using the extra to throw at my CC's!

penguin83

To be honest im not entirely sure how the defaults work. I know they sent us letters warning that if we didnt pay the arrears they would issue a default after that we then received letters from the dca's. No one ever called at the house but I did respond to their letters straight away. I think the 3 months thing is right though. I remember phoning capital one in jan to tell them we were having difficulties and they said they couldnt help as my payments were up to date. Phoned back 2 months later and they could help then!

They cant send bailiffs without taking you to court and getting a ccj against you. You would then have to default on any order the court made before they could issue a warrant.

DCA are well known for their bullying tactics and lies about what they can do so just make sure you ask if youre not sure about anything. There are some experts on this board with regards to DCA's rights. I can help on court matters but Im sure nothing will get that far x

spurs501_2

penguin83 wrote: »

To be honest im not entirely sure how the defaults work. I know they sent us letters warning that if we didnt pay the arrears they would issue a default after that we then received letters from the dca's. No one ever called at the house but I did respond to their letters straight away. I think the 3 months thing is right though. I remember phoning capital one in jan to tell them we were having difficulties and they said they couldnt help as my payments were up to date. Phoned back 2 months later and they could help then!

They cant send bailiffs without taking you to court and getting a ccj against you. You would then have to default on any order the court made before they could issue a warrant.

DCA are well known for their bullying tactics and lies about what they can do so just make sure you ask if youre not sure about anything. There are some experts on this board with regards to DCA's rights. I can help on court matters but Im sure nothing will get that far x

Thats good info, and confirms what I thought. Thanks for all you help tonight, off to bed now as it's quarter to two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

teacup_2

welcome to the board:p , glad to see you have cut up all your cards.
Are you going to start a spending diary too?, I find it really helps as it makes me more aware of what I am spending and beleive it or not ! you think about the things you are going to purchase more as you know you will write it in spending diary:T . Good luck

spurs501_2

teacup wrote: »

welcome to the board:p , glad to see you have cut up all your cards.
Are you going to start a spending diary too?, I find it really helps as it makes me more aware of what I am spending and beleive it or not ! you think about the things you are going to purchase more as you know you will write it in spending diary:T . Good luck

A Spending Diary sounds like a great idea!!

Off to find a diary I can use right now!!