Struggling with debt? Ask a stepchange debt adviser a question

cosbros

Hi

We have been in voluntary arrangements with all our creditors for the last 18months after loosing both our jobs at the same time 3 years ago. We have just downsized our house and moved closer to work and have enough capital left over to offer every creditor 69.3% of the total as payment to clear our debts. Is this going to be acceptable do you think?

StepChange_Allen

Capable said:

HI, I recently lost my job,  When I was working I was making loan repayments but now I can't afford them.  I'm on benefits, disabled and ill, I won't be able to work again for  a year at least, if ever.  The company has accepted token payments for three months while I sort myself out.  I still owe them 8,400.  What should I do now?  Even if they let me stay on the token amount forever, I would die before repaying the debt.I have a good credit score and no other debt but I go into overdraft every month.  I also can't tighten my belt further than it already is. It's really stressing me out but I know it must be quite a straightforward problem to solve if I only knew how.  I have  no savings or pension.  Thanks for reading. J

Hi there

Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting.

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your job and are suffering with ill health. 

There are a number of potential options to get your debt(s) sorted out and we'd be very happy to give you some advice and make a recommendation. You can do a budget with us online or over the phone, all details on how to get started can be found on our website: www.stepchange.org/contact-us

We look forward to helping you.

Allen

StepChange_Allen

cosbros said:

Hi

We have been in voluntary arrangements with all our creditors for the last 18months after loosing both our jobs at the same time 3 years ago. We have just downsized our house and moved closer to work and have enough capital left over to offer every creditor 69.3% of the total as payment to clear our debts. Is this going to be acceptable do you think?

Hi there

Thanks for posting.

To be totally honest, I don't know enough about your situation to be able to answer this. If you're still in an IVA now, you'd be best to speak to your insolvency practitioner about this idea. If your IVA(s) are no longer in place, we could potentially give further advice on your situation; you can find the options for registering with us free here: www.stepchange.org/contact-us

Generally, it's difficult to predict how likely a company is to accept a full and final settlement as there are a lot of variables; for example the percentage offered, how old the debt is, where the money is coming from and how long it may take to pay off the debt via instalments are among possible factors considered by creditors.

I hope this is helpful.

Allen

Katieann

Hi, I have two bank loans and a credit card totalling £10000. I would like all of these to be together so I can pay them off from one place rather than three. My credit card is Aqua so the interest rate is so high at the moment and I’m just not sure what steps to take.
My credit rating isn’t great but I can comfortably afford to pay back £250 a month as that’s what I am already doing. I just want it to be abit easier but more importantly I don’t want the credit card hanging over my head so would rather all the debts come from one place. 

Any advice would be great and I’m happy to provide more information 

StepChange_Aidan

Katieann said:

Hi, I have two bank loans and a credit card totalling £10000. I would like all of these to be together so I can pay them off from one place rather than three. My credit card is Aqua so the interest rate is so high at the moment and I’m just not sure what steps to take.
My credit rating isn’t great but I can comfortably afford to pay back £250 a month as that’s what I am already doing. I just want it to be abit easier but more importantly I don’t want the credit card hanging over my head so would rather all the debts come from one place. 

Any advice would be great and I’m happy to provide more information 

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

Debt consolidation loans are available to pay off your existing debts. This potentially makes things easier as you then only have one monthly repayment. However, these can often have a higher interest rate (particularly if you have a poor credit history) and you are likely to end up paying back more over the term of the loan.

There’s some more information about consolidating debt here.

Depending on your situation, a Debt Management Plan may be suitable, to help you manage your debts and pay them back through one affordable monthly repayment.

If you’d like to review your options with StepChange, you can get debt advice online or give us a call to speak with an advisor.

I hope this helps.

Aidan

taplady

My son has had a visit at his house from a debt collector from CDER Group  with a debt from HMCTS. He gave the girlfriend a notice of intention to take control of goods.
My son is on the Autistic spectrum and tends to bury his head in the sand. He has tried to ring their welfare line but they will not give him the number of an advisor (apparently they are all working from home)
He is very scared now. Please can someone advise what he should do. He cannot afford to pay the debt in one go as his work hours have been reduced.
Thanks.

StepChange_Aidan

taplady said:

My son has had a visit at his house from a debt collector from CDER Group  with a debt from HMCTS. He gave the girlfriend a notice of intention to take control of goods.
My son is on the Autistic spectrum and tends to bury his head in the sand. He has tried to ring their welfare line but they will not give him the number of an advisor (apparently they are all working from home)
He is very scared now. Please can someone advise what he should do. He cannot afford to pay the debt in one go as his work hours have been reduced.
Thanks.

Hi,

Thanks for posting. I’m sorry to hear about your son’s situation.

If the debt is a HMCTS court fine, the enforcement agents will normally be instructed to not accept payment in instalments. Your son may need to put any non-priority debts on hold and save up to pay off the fine in full. Until then, I would suggest that he keeps the door locked and not allow them into his home to take control of goods.

If your son is vulnerable in any way, he should make CDER aware via their welfare line, even if they aren’t able to give a number for a specific advisor. If the enforcement agents are not acting appropriately, he should make a complaint.

There’s some more information on dealing with enforcement agents here.

I’d recommend that your son contacts a debt advice agency to discuss his situation in more detail and get more specific advice. If he would like help from StepChange, he can use our online tool or give us a call to speak with an advisor. If he finds it difficult to talk about his debt, he could authorise you or someone else to speak to us on his behalf.

I hope this helps.

Aidan

RicVic

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advice and guidance.  I have debts of just over 22k which is made up of 2 loans totalling around 15.5k (due to be paid off in 2023 and 2024) an overdraft of £1,100 and approx 6k on 5 credit cards/catalogue.  I'm meeting the monthly payments on all of these however after my bills and these debts are paid it leaves me with near enough no money to survive the month on so resort to using credit to survive (vicious circle !!)
I have looked into whether I can consolidate all this again however this is not possible.   I'm worried that I will start missing monthly payments and spiral further.  
My fixed rate mortgage is due to finish next year so I ideally want to avoid anything that may have an impact on getting a new rate. 

RicVic

RicVic said:

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advice and guidance.  I have debts of just over 22k which is made up of 2 loans totalling around 15.5k (due to be paid off in 2023 and 2024) an overdraft of £1,100 and approx 6k on 5 credit cards/catalogue.  I'm meeting the monthly payments on all of these however after my bills and these debts are paid it leaves me with near enough no money to survive the month on so resort to using credit to survive (vicious circle !!)
I have looked into whether I can consolidate all this again however this is not possible.   I'm worried that I will start missing monthly payments and spiral further.  
My fixed rate mortgage is due to finish next year so I ideally want to avoid anything that may have an impact on getting a new rate. 

Oh and I forgot that £660 that I'm in debt with my gas/electric company !!

StepChange_Patience

RicVic said:

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advice and guidance.  I have debts of just over 22k which is made up of 2 loans totalling around 15.5k (due to be paid off in 2023 and 2024) an overdraft of £1,100 and approx 6k on 5 credit cards/catalogue.  I'm meeting the monthly payments on all of these however after my bills and these debts are paid it leaves me with near enough no money to survive the month on so resort to using credit to survive (vicious circle !!)
I have looked into whether I can consolidate all this again however this is not possible.   I'm worried that I will start missing monthly payments and spiral further.  
My fixed rate mortgage is due to finish next year so I ideally want to avoid anything that may have an impact on getting a new rate. 

Hi there

Thanks for getting in touch.

I'm sorry to hear that with your bills and debts it's not leaving you much to survive on. As you mentioned it can sometimes lead to a vicious cycle, leaving you to use available credit to bridge the gap.

Consolidation loans can sometimes help but as my colleague mentioned in a post above, they may offer higher interest rates and increase the amount you pay back. 

For help with the mortgage, StepChange have a team of impartial mortgage advisors who could potentially look at your options with your fixed rate coming to an end. You can find out further information here.

It may also be worthwhile considering what options you may have to deal with the debts, by getting free and impartial debt advice with StepChange. You'd be under no obligation to go ahead with the options, but it may be useful to at least create a budget of your income and essential expenditure. 

If you’d like to get an idea your options, you can get debt advice online or call us to speak with an advisor.

I hope this helps.

Patience