Struggling with debt? Ask a stepchange debt adviser a question

StepChange_Aidan

mrjoshua88 said:

If embarking on a DPP where interest is frozen at the start, does this mean the creditors have to default the accounts? Or is this not the case?

Hi Joshua,

Creditors don’t have to default the accounts when you start a Debt Payment Programme (DPP), but they are likely to anyway after a few months.

It’s down to each creditor to decide when, but you will normally receive a default notice when you’ve missed payments or paid a reduced amount for three to six months. The notice will give you at least 14 days to catch up, but if you can’t pay, the account will then default.

There’s some more information on DPP’s here, or if you’d like some further advice please give us a call to speak with our Scottish Debt Advice team.

Kind regards.

Aidan

Abbafan1972

StepChange_Aidan said:

Abbafan1972 said:

Hi there,

I am about to start a DMP and am just getting together the contact details for creditors.  I'm having an issue with what address to put down as our bank address (Halifax), as the overdraft is going to be one of our debts included.  Do I put it as the branch address from the Halifax website, or the head office in Leeds, which is what comes up when I do a search on the sort code?

Thanks in advance. 

Hi,

Thanks for posting.

You can put down either the branch or the head office address (or both). This is just in case we need to contact any creditors to provide further information.

It’s more important that you include the account/reference number for each debt, as this is what will be used to set up the payment arrangements in the DMP.

I hope this helps.

Aidan

Many thanks.  I have just included the branch address.

Yes, all of the account numbers are included for the debts I want them to take on. 

Bassibabes

Hi! I spent hours on the phone to the lovely people at StepChange on Friday and am surprised and thrilled at the advice and help they gave me. I feel very ready to get rid of my debt and to move forward. 
I'm just confused about one thing and was hoping I could get some answers. I believe that I have several CCJs that are older than six years old which I never made any payments towards. They are now off my credit file. One of the guys I spoke with at StepChange advised me to find out what they were as the CCJs can still be enforced due to no statute of limitations applying to them.
I spent most of yesterday on the phone (on hold) trying to track down these CCJs but it seems like unless someone has copies of the CCJ paperwork, then the CCJ really does just disappear after six years. I also discovered that it's unlikely that a CCJ older than six years old will be enforced and this needs to be done through the court with the creditor having to justify why they've not enforced the debt beforehand. 
I'm due to start a new job in a few weeks with a substantial pay increase. I'd rather be the one to approach and deal with the CCJs, rather than be caught on the back foot but it doesn't really make any difference, as I'm happy to set up a repayment plan in any case. 
Would appreciate any further advice.

StepChange_Patience

Bassibabes said:

Hi! I spent hours on the phone to the lovely people at StepChange on Friday and am surprised and thrilled at the advice and help they gave me. I feel very ready to get rid of my debt and to move forward. 
I'm just confused about one thing and was hoping I could get some answers. I believe that I have several CCJs that are older than six years old which I never made any payments towards. They are now off my credit file. One of the guys I spoke with at StepChange advised me to find out what they were as the CCJs can still be enforced due to no statute of limitations applying to them.
I spent most of yesterday on the phone (on hold) trying to track down these CCJs but it seems like unless someone has copies of the CCJ paperwork, then the CCJ really does just disappear after six years. I also discovered that it's unlikely that a CCJ older than six years old will be enforced and this needs to be done through the court with the creditor having to justify why they've not enforced the debt beforehand. 
I'm due to start a new job in a few weeks with a substantial pay increase. I'd rather be the one to approach and deal with the CCJs, rather than be caught on the back foot but it doesn't really make any difference, as I'm happy to set up a repayment plan in any case. 
Would appreciate any further advice.

Hi there

Thank you for your post.

While the county court judgement (CCJ) may no longer stay on your credit file, if there are judgements already in place, the creditor has enforced the debt which would mean they could still take further action to collect it, as the advisor you spoke to mentioned.

You can find out further information about CCJ’s here: www.stepchange.org/debt-info/ccj/how-long-does-a-ccj-last.aspx

It’s great to hear you’ve started a new job and we’re happy to discuss a suitable repayment option for these debts, based on your circumstances and your next steps on how you can do this.

You can find our contact details here: www.stepchange.org/contact-us.aspx 

I hope this helps.

Patience

Bassibabes

StepChange_Patience said:

Bassibabes said:

Hi! I spent hours on the phone to the lovely people at StepChange on Friday and am surprised and thrilled at the advice and help they gave me. I feel very ready to get rid of my debt and to move forward. 
I'm just confused about one thing and was hoping I could get some answers. I believe that I have several CCJs that are older than six years old which I never made any payments towards. They are now off my credit file. One of the guys I spoke with at StepChange advised me to find out what they were as the CCJs can still be enforced due to no statute of limitations applying to them.
I spent most of yesterday on the phone (on hold) trying to track down these CCJs but it seems like unless someone has copies of the CCJ paperwork, then the CCJ really does just disappear after six years. I also discovered that it's unlikely that a CCJ older than six years old will be enforced and this needs to be done through the court with the creditor having to justify why they've not enforced the debt beforehand. 
I'm due to start a new job in a few weeks with a substantial pay increase. I'd rather be the one to approach and deal with the CCJs, rather than be caught on the back foot but it doesn't really make any difference, as I'm happy to set up a repayment plan in any case. 
Would appreciate any further advice.

Hi there

Thank you for your post.

While the county court judgement (CCJ) may no longer stay on your credit file, if there are judgements already in place, the creditor has enforced the debt which would mean they could still take further action to collect it, as the advisor you spoke to mentioned.

You can find out further information about CCJ’s here: www.stepchange.org/debt-info/ccj/how-long-does-a-ccj-last.aspx

It’s great to hear you’ve started a new job and we’re happy to discuss a suitable repayment option for these debts, based on your circumstances and your next steps on how you can do this.

You can find our contact details here: www.stepchange.org/contact-us.aspx 

I hope this helps.

Patience

Hi, 
Thanks for you reply but that doesn't really answer my question.
I know I have CCJs that were never paid and have now come off of my credit file.
As far as I'm aware, there is nowhere to find out what these are without having the original paperwork from the case - which I don't have. I can't make any attempt to pay for a debt when I don't know what it is for or whom to pay. The advice might be correct in terms that the creditor is able to enforce the debt (but they will have to go back to court to do this in any case), but the suggestion on how to find out about CCJs older than six years was incorrect. 
The only relevant information on the page you sent me to says: "After six years, details of the CCJ will be removed from the public register and from your credit file, even if you’ve not yet paid it all off" which I already knew. 
How do I find out what CCJs I have older than six years which have now come off my credit file and I have no paperwork for?

Thanks

StepChange_Aidan

Bassibabes said:

StepChange_Patience said:

Bassibabes said:

Hi! I spent hours on the phone to the lovely people at StepChange on Friday and am surprised and thrilled at the advice and help they gave me. I feel very ready to get rid of my debt and to move forward. 
I'm just confused about one thing and was hoping I could get some answers. I believe that I have several CCJs that are older than six years old which I never made any payments towards. They are now off my credit file. One of the guys I spoke with at StepChange advised me to find out what they were as the CCJs can still be enforced due to no statute of limitations applying to them.
I spent most of yesterday on the phone (on hold) trying to track down these CCJs but it seems like unless someone has copies of the CCJ paperwork, then the CCJ really does just disappear after six years. I also discovered that it's unlikely that a CCJ older than six years old will be enforced and this needs to be done through the court with the creditor having to justify why they've not enforced the debt beforehand. 
I'm due to start a new job in a few weeks with a substantial pay increase. I'd rather be the one to approach and deal with the CCJs, rather than be caught on the back foot but it doesn't really make any difference, as I'm happy to set up a repayment plan in any case. 
Would appreciate any further advice.

Hi there

Thank you for your post.

While the county court judgement (CCJ) may no longer stay on your credit file, if there are judgements already in place, the creditor has enforced the debt which would mean they could still take further action to collect it, as the advisor you spoke to mentioned.

You can find out further information about CCJ’s here: www.stepchange.org/debt-info/ccj/how-long-does-a-ccj-last.aspx

It’s great to hear you’ve started a new job and we’re happy to discuss a suitable repayment option for these debts, based on your circumstances and your next steps on how you can do this.

You can find our contact details here: www.stepchange.org/contact-us.aspx 

I hope this helps.

Patience

Hi, 
Thanks for you reply but that doesn't really answer my question.
I know I have CCJs that were never paid and have now come off of my credit file.
As far as I'm aware, there is nowhere to find out what these are without having the original paperwork from the case - which I don't have. I can't make any attempt to pay for a debt when I don't know what it is for or whom to pay. The advice might be correct in terms that the creditor is able to enforce the debt (but they will have to go back to court to do this in any case), but the suggestion on how to find out about CCJs older than six years was incorrect. 
The only relevant information on the page you sent me to says: "After six years, details of the CCJ will be removed from the public register and from your credit file, even if you’ve not yet paid it all off" which I already knew. 
How do I find out what CCJs I have older than six years which have now come off my credit file and I have no paperwork for?

Thanks

Hi,

Unfortunately, there are no other ways to find information about a CCJ if it’s been more than 6 years since the date of the judgement.  

The creditors may have decided not to enforce these debts, but they can still in theory take further action. If it’s been more than six years, they would need the court’s permission to apply for a warrant of control to pass the debt onto enforcement agents, but there are other methods (such as applying for an attachment of earnings or charging order) which don’t have a time limit.

You can still set up a repayment plan for other debts. If you receive any contact about the CCJ’s later on, we could update your budget and suggest an amount to offer to them.  I’d recommend giving us another call so we can discuss the CCJs and your options in more detail.

I’m sorry that the advisor you spoke with gave incorrect information. If you’d like to make a complaint, please let us know.

Kind regards,

Aidan

Abbafan1972

Hi there,

We have sent off all of our activation papers by email on 01/03 and I have 2 questions:-

• How long does it take for your account to get set up?  I have only received an automated email.
• I have included our bank overdraft in our debts to be paid by them - how does this get managed?  I don't want to be left with no money in the account as our car finance and mortgage comes out of that account.  (I have used a different account for our step change DD).

Thanks in advance. 

Stephbryan58

I was granted a dro in feb 20 with debts of £19,000. However it was revoked 3 days later as I had an asset valued over the allowed amount. On advice I wrote to all my creditors in March 2020 asking them too consider writing off my debt due to benefits (ESA/PIP) being my only source of income and this is not likely to change. I have had 3 creditors agree to this, one creditor Newday (3 sep a/cs) have put my accounts on hold until this month and I now owe a total of£16k approx, but 5 others have never replied. I havent worried too much because of covid19 however, a year has almost passed and I really want to bring my debts to hopefully a positive outcome.My question is should I write to these creditors again asking for my debt to be written off or just wait until I eventually hear from them.  I would add I have mental health issues compounded by the death of my son in 2019 which I am still struggling to come to terms with. I dont know what is the best direction to take.

StepChange_Allen

Abbafan1972 said:

Hi there,

We have sent off all of our activation papers by email on 01/03 and I have 2 questions:-

• How long does it take for your account to get set up?  I have only received an automated email.
• I have included our bank overdraft in our debts to be paid by them - how does this get managed?  I don't want to be left with no money in the account as our car finance and mortgage comes out of that account.  (I have used a different account for our step change DD).

Thanks in advance. 

Hi there

Thanks for your post.

As long as you returned all the required paperwork together, I'd say it's likely your plan should be able to start on April 1st, but I don't work on the team that sets up plans so I can't be certain.

As your overdraft debt is included, you need to stop all transactions in and out of this account as quickly as possible; the account won't remain open on the DMP. The good news is that you already have another account, so hopefully you can get your income paid in there this month, and move all your household bills there for the next payments.

If you have any further questions around getting your plan underway, I'd recommend calling our Plan Activations team, as they're the people setting things up for you.

I hope this helps.

Allen

StepChange_Allen

Stephbryan58 said:

I was granted a dro in feb 20 with debts of £19,000. However it was revoked 3 days later as I had an asset valued over the allowed amount. On advice I wrote to all my creditors in March 2020 asking them too consider writing off my debt due to benefits (ESA/PIP) being my only source of income and this is not likely to change. I have had 3 creditors agree to this, one creditor Newday (3 sep a/cs) have put my accounts on hold until this month and I now owe a total of£16k approx, but 5 others have never replied. I havent worried too much because of covid19 however, a year has almost passed and I really want to bring my debts to hopefully a positive outcome.My question is should I write to these creditors again asking for my debt to be written off or just wait until I eventually hear from them.  I would add I have mental health issues compounded by the death of my son in 2019 which I am still struggling to come to terms with. I dont know what is the best direction to take.

Hi Steph

Thank you for posting.

I'm very sorry to hear about your son, I can't begin to imagine what you've been through. If you need any support with regards to your mental health, please let us know so that we can signpost you to an organisation that could help.

I think it's normally pretty difficult to get creditors to write debts off, usually they'll only consider such a request in circumstances such as terminal illness, so I'm a bit surprised to hear that three of yours have done this. Obviously that's good news, though I wouldn't necessarily take that as an indication that others may agree too. Having said that, there's nothing to lose by writing to them again and asking.

If this isn't successful, then we can certainly help and support you to find the best way of tackling the remaining debts. You can register with us free of charge, either online or on the phone, details of how to get started are on www.stepchange.org. 

I hope this is helpful.

Allen