PRA Group and My Debt

Magic86

Morning All,

Just stumbled across this forum and wondered if anyone could offer some advice.

I have racked up a lot of debt over the last few years and have realised I need to stop and get out of this hole I’m in as it’s a horrible place to be. I have debt of around £60,000 spread across a couple of loans and a couple of credit cards. I have defaulted on my credit cards and am now paying £0 a month to my Barclaycard and I was paying £100 a month to MBNA which was a bit of a struggle. I got a phone call yesterday from a company called PRA Group advising they had purchased the debt from MBNA (£8,000) and wanted to know my situation.

Has anyone had any involvement with them before? What will happen if I pay them £0 a month because I can’t afford much more at the moment? Are they likely to start playing hard ball? I’m worried they will become a lot more aggressive than MBNA were.

Does anyone have advice on the best way to get out of the debt completely? Any tips I can use as I’m pretty much paying out my full monthly wage each month which is putting a lot of strain on my personal life I.e paying for things for my 7 month old son etc

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks

January2015

Hi and welcome

Don't panic, you can sort this. It make take some time, but you can sort it and have a quality life - health, happiness, able to afford to live, AND clearing your debts

Visit the Stepchange Debt Remedy Tool and complete it. It's confidential and you don't have to sign up to Stepchange, but it will analyse your circumstances from the info you put into it and generate debt solution options for you to consider. Once you've completed this, come back here and let us know the options and you will get thoughts and advice from people who have been, or are going through, the same thing, e.g. DMP, IVA, bankruptcy, DRO.

Send off CCA requests for all your bank and credit card debts. PRA purchased our MBNA debt. It was £12k but the CCA was unenforceable. We could have ignored it and not paid it at all, but we chose to settle to have it cleared on our credit file. We settled for £1.2k (10% of the outstanding balance).

Magic86

Thanks for the reply. I’ve visited stepchange before and they sent me a pack with a load of paperwork to complete but I was that embarrassed by my finances I didn’t fill it in.

I will definitely do as you suggest though and send of the letter. Is it worth doing the same for Barclaycard etc? If they haven’t sold the debt on I’m guessing it won’t be?

Thanks

iolanthe07

I've visited stepchange before and they sent me a pack with a load of paperwork to complete but I was that embarrassed by my finances I didn't fill it in.

You don't need to be embarrassed. No one here, and certainly not Stepchange or any other of the debt charities, will judge you.

fatbelly

Let us know what the Debt remedy website suggests. It's a bit formulaic and no substitute for the brain of an experienced adviser but should point you in the right direction.

The big question is going to be - are you a property owner?

Magic86

I am a property owner (mortgaged). I!!!8217;ll check stepchange now and let you know.

Thanks for the input so far!

Magic86

The debt remedy solution is:


We recommend a temporary repayment arrangement

You are spending more money than you have coming in. You can only afford to make a token payment to your debts. This can be as little as £1.

• A token payment shows you are willing to deal with your debt but cannot afford to pay.
• This is not a long term solution but will give you time to take steps to improve your situation.
• Remember your priority bills come first. Always make sure you pay these before you pay your debts.

fatbelly

As long as you can pay your mortgage and priority bills, the non-priorities can go on to the back burner.

Stepchange are right that token offers are not a long-term strategy.

Is there any prospect of an increase in surplus income? When does the mortgage get paid off?

Magic86

I have 30 years left on the mortgage so that!!!8217;s not likely and I imagine income will stay the same.

Is it worth sending the CCA off to PRA? I!!!8217;m just worried they won!!!8217;t be as lenient as MBNA were who let me pay whatever I could.

What!!!8217;s the best strategy going forward?

glentoran99

PRA were ok with me on a MBNA debt, You pay what you can afford and not a penny more

Magic86

Did you ever ask for a final settlement figure? I asked today when I spoke to them as I’d been reading on here it may be affordable so I was curious. They said they could settle for £7,600 instead of the £8,000. Obviously I can’t afford that but wondered if you had had similar?