Urgent advice needed

73061

I have just joined the forum.
I was 65 yrs old 2 days ago.I have been in hospital for 3 weeks just got out but i have been worried about all my debts (plenty of time to think in a hospital bed)

Summary

1) I have been with Payplan for 12 years and i have never ever missed apayment.

2) I have paid back £17,266 and my remaining debt is £54,198

3) My estimated DMP completion date is 27/03/2055 in which i will be 103 years old.

4) Owing to bad health i will not be around that long.

5) Payplan keep pushing me to start an IVA which is bad advice as it is not guaranteed i could keep up with the payments.

6) All debts are from 2005 and are not reported on my credit file also interest was frozen years ago.

7) I have 13 creditors Wescot Credit Services, Cabot, PRA Group Ltd, NCO Europe Ltd, Hoist Finance, Lowell Financial Ltd etc

8) Most of these debts have been resold many times.

Hoist Finance have sent me a letter offering a 69% discount on a debt which my son has offered to pay on my behalf.

I am thinking about offering full and final payments over the next 5 years if i live that long and if i can gather any money together.

I have ZERO assets and live in rented property.

I will not declare bankruptcy under any circumstances.

Can you offer me any advice which would be very much appreciated

I am very worried about this and somewhere along the line i need to try and put money away for my funeral.

I am very grateful for your help and thank you for your time.

sourcrates

Hi,

Welcome to MSE.

Tagging onto a totally different thread will get you zero responses, so I've started a new thread for you.

Can I just ask why you have discounted Bankrupcy, which would be the most obvious way to deal with your situation ?

There are very few options to deal with that much debt, its either IVA, Bankrupcy, or continue the DMP.

You could just stop paying, there won't be a lot your creditors can do if you have no assets, I think an IVA will take too long also.

As they are all pretty old debts could be a few of them are unenforceable too.

73061

I do not know if they are enforceable.
I was thinking of snowballing full and final settlements over a period of time while continueing with DMP.

Karonher

Its not often I would suggest bankruptcy but I cant see how you can carry on with repayments.

If you are so determined to pay could you reduce your DMP payments - this may lead to offers of lower settlements.

EssexHebridean

It's admirable that you are so determined to pay but honestly, at this stage, I think your own health needs to come first. While a lot of folk now see Bankruptcy as an "easy way out" it appears that you may be swinging too far the other way - which while not necessarily a bad thing may be counter-productive in your situation.

Would you be willing to elaborate on why you feel so strongly about bankruptcy not being an option for you?

National_Debtline

Hi 73061

Welcome to MSE. I’m sorry to hear you’ve been in hospital, I hope you are feeling better. It’s always best to treat your creditors fairly and in the same way, as you do in your DMP. If you were to start making full & final offers on one debt at a time that would not be fair because you would be offering one creditor a lump sum of money, while still asking the others to accept small monthly payments. If creditors became aware of this they may not want to accept the DMP anymore.

Can I ask what it is that puts you off about bankruptcy? It does seem an obvious option from what you’ve told us. Although you could possibly consider an IVA it will last longer than bankruptcy and cost a lot more, plus I know you are not keen on this option.

You could also try asking your creditors to write off your debt on the basis that you are a pensioner, have ill health, no assets and no prospect of paying the debt back in full. If you do this try to provide medical evidence to support your request. Good luck with it all.

Susie
@natdebtline

heartbreak_star

Why won't you go bankrupt?

I hope you are feeling better and recover soon.

HBS x

sourcrates

73061 wrote: »

I do not know if they are enforceable.
I was thinking of snowballing full and final settlements over a period of time while continuing with DMP.

That is one option, but may take you well into your 70`s to complete, you are already saying you want this situation to end, i would go with National Debt lines advice for starters and ask your creditors to write the debts off, as you have no realistic chance of ever repaying them.

See if that approach bears fruit or not.

enthusiasticsaver

If your remaining debt is more than £54k and you have paid off less than 25% of the debt in 12 years then I cannot see how you will scrape together the money to pay full and final. If you are 65 now, presumably you are not working and no private pension this is not sustainable.

I honestly think bankruptcy is your only option if you don't want this hanging over your head for the next 20 years.

-taff

You could ask them for a CCA for each debt, which will show whether they are enforceable or not. That way, at least you're not paying ones that can't be.

73061

Hoist Finance have sent me a letter offering a 69% discount on a debt which my son has offered to pay on my behalf.
The debt is £1124.00 and i can clear it for £350