Struggling with debt? Ask a debt adviser a question

KM1988

Hi Kirsty
Thank you very much for the reply. I appreciate your help and may be in touch with you if I’m still struggling after looking at the credit cards.

Kayleigh

Bexd12

Hi,

I am looking for some advice, I currently have just over £18k of debt, what I want to know is am I better off using a debt consolidation company or doing it myself?

Thank you
Becky

StepChange_Rachael

Hi Becky

Thanks for posting on the forum.

Depending on your situation it’s hard to say what would be the best way forward for you. It’s always going to be preferable to find a solution that will reduce any interest and charges and where any payment towards the debt is going to the capital to reduce the repayment time frame.

Consolidating debt to one payment may seem like a good option rather than paying multiple creditors, but often results in high interest if this is in the form of a loan. If this is through a company then it’s important to check what they are charging and what the charges are for, chances are that there is a way to avoid costs by either dealing with the debt yourself or finding a free advice service that can help.

As a debt advisor I can’t recommend consolidation loans as a way forward but if you’re struggling with the minimum payments then I’d recommend getting some free advice so you can get tailored recommendations based on your affordability. If you’d like advice from us at StepChange you can find our contact details here.

Take care
Rachael

Bexd12 wrote: »

Hi,

I am looking for some advice, I currently have just over £18k of debt, what I want to know is am I better off using a debt consolidation company or doing it myself?

Thank you
Becky

Bexd12

Hi Rachael,

Thank you for your reply, I will give you guys a call and get some further advice.

Thanks again

Becky

SparklyH

I've done a calculation on debt remedy and it recommends contacting the CC providers to arrange monthly payment arrangement. This is this different to a DMP isn't it? Does it have implications for your credit score if they agree to freeze interest?

Sunny40

Good morning,
Just after some advice please,
So where we are at moment have 5 creditors we are dealing with,sent holding letters and then sent letters asking for suspended payments for 6 months and with income and expenses on,am trying to self manage,have received letters back from 2 creditors asking us to fill in their own expenses and income so they can basically see if we have anything left to pay,well we don’t we are just surviving and learning to live on what we have.
Do we have to reply to these letters or carry on as we are ?

Many thanks

StepChange_Allen

SparklyH wrote: »

I've done a calculation on debt remedy and it recommends contacting the CC providers to arrange monthly payment arrangement. This is this different to a DMP isn't it? Does it have implications for your credit score if they agree to freeze interest?

Hi Sparkly

Thanks for posting.

The 'monthly payment arrangement' outcome will come up when the figures you've provided indicate that you can manage your payments okay. It basically means keep making the contractual payments as they're affordable according to your figures.

If this isn't the case, I'd recommend checking through your figures to see if there are any expenses you haven't accounted for or may have underestimated.

You can also contact a debt advisor to discuss your budget; the phone number can be found by clicking on 'Need help?' when logged into Debt Remedy.

I hope this is helpful.

Allen

StepChange_Allen

Sunny40 wrote: »

Good morning,
Just after some advice please,
So where we are at moment have 5 creditors we are dealing with,sent holding letters and then sent letters asking for suspended payments for 6 months and with income and expenses on,am trying to self manage,have received letters back from 2 creditors asking us to fill in their own expenses and income so they can basically see if we have anything left to pay,well we don’t we are just surviving and learning to live on what we have.
Do we have to reply to these letters or carry on as we are ?

Many thanks

Hi there

Thanks for posting.

It's much more efficient and consistent to just create one budget and send it to everyone than fill in each company's own income and expenditure form. It sounds like maybe you've done this, I can't quite tell from your post. If you have, there's no need to fill another one in, but I'd reply to state that you've already supplied a budget.

If you need any further advice or support, you're welcome to register with us free of charge; please see our website for details.

Best wishes

Allen

frugaller

Hi, please can you help me? I am doing my I&E form and I am in receipt of PIP. This payment is because I have a disability. How do I put this down on the form and how do I show all the daily and weekly stuff it covers? I am scared I will have to use my PIP to pay my debts and not the daily / weekly things I need because of my disability.

Sorry it’s jumbled, I have brain fog.
Thank you.

Former_StepChange_Patience

Hi there

Thanks for getting in touch.

If possible and if you know the usual things you would spend your Personal Independence Payment (PIP) on, you could show it as a separate monthly amount or include it within your other living costs.

For example, on a budget you could show it as an ‘other’ expense and pop the amount of your PIP going out and place a comment to explain it’s for ‘Long term condition costs’, this would show as being a separate amount to your creditors, so you can use what comment you feel comfortable with.

Alternatively, if it goes towards extra food or transport you could also pop the individual amounts there.

If you feel you might need a little bit of extra help going through an income and expenditure form, we would happily support you with this.

We can have an impartial look at your circumstances and you can start a budget with us either online or over the phone. Details of how you can contact us can be found here: www.stepchange.org/Contactus

I hope this helps.

Patience

frugaller wrote: »

Hi, please can you help me? I am doing my I&E form and I am in receipt of PIP. This payment is because I have a disability. How do I put this down on the form and how do I show all the daily and weekly stuff it covers? I am scared I will have to use my PIP to pay my debts and not the daily / weekly things I need because of my disability.

Sorry it’s jumbled, I have brain fog.
Thank you.