Struggling with debt? Ask a stepchange debt adviser a question

StepChange_Allen

DoingBetter said:

Hi,
I'm hoping you can advise.  I've been avoiding looking at old debt for years and years as it's such a trauma trigger for me.  When I was young I had a very well paid job but had no clue about money.  I'm autistic, but didn't know that at the time (it definitely had an input on how I lived) and I ran up store credit, credit cards and overdrafts - about £15k worth. I unexpectedly fell pregnant, had a baby and just after found out my bi-polar partner had run up 45k of debt. He went through bankruptcy proceedings. At the same time I sent letters to all my creditors and asked to pay £1 a month.  I've continued doing that for 16 years without ever looking at the accounts. Only one ever got nasty, and that was RMA when acting for Barclays, but nothing ever changed in payment terms. I am not even sure now what most of the accounts are for they've changed hands so often. We're on a very low income (I earn less than £8k a year), my student loans were written off at the start of this year.  Where do I start? There are 6 accounts I pay to, one for an old (student) barclays account that was 2.5k overdrawn, one for a barclaycard (about same), one for an Egg credit card, one for a Capital one credit card, and one store card. The 6th one, I literally can't remember what it was for. 

Hi there

Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting.

I'm sorry to hear that you've been through a difficult time, and can appreciate that these debts have caused trauma.

Like you touch upon, paying £1/m can often keep the creditors at bay for a while, sometimes even a long while, but ultimately the debts are still there. I'd certainly recommend getting some up to date debt advice to see what options there are to sort the debts out, one way or another.

You can register with us free of charge and we can do a budget with you to see what your situation is and recommend the best steps to take. In order to do this, we'd need your income and spending figures, and details of all your debts. It can be tricky tracking debts down after a long time, but if you can remember who the original creditors were, you can usually track them down okay. If you've kept any of the old paperwork, that will help get them all noted down too.

You can find out how to get started with us by visiting our website.

We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Allen

StepChange_Allen

jittersandbang said:

Thank you Aiden for your reply and the links are most helpful.

''When he finds permanent housing he should contact his creditors to update his details, so that all future correspondence is sent directly to him''.

Ive been telling him this for months but he is favouring the burying his head in the sand approach.  This car he driving illegally....its such a worry.

Hi there

Thanks for your reply.

I'm pleased you found Aidan's response helpful. Yes, I've spoken to many people that move house and don't update their address with creditors. Whilst it's understandable for many different reasons, unfortunately it means that you never know where you stand with the debts, when action is being taken and so on. Creditors can still take legal action against people for example, even if they only have a previous address. Updating your address with creditors and making initial contact with them again is the first step in trying to get things sorted out; along with seeking expert debt advice.

I hope that your son will soon look to get things moving forward positively. Please assure him that he can register with us free of charge if he wishes, and that we offer impartial and confidential advice.

Best wishes

Allen

Abbafan1972

Hi there.

We have been in a DMP with Stepchange since April.

This includes an overdraft with Halifax Bank.  I can now see that the account has been closed and is no longer visible on my internet banking, a statement was uploaded to my online documents on 18/06.  The figures on the overdraft don't seem to tally up.





The balance as at 04/05 is correct but I don't see why the closing balance at 18/06 shows £2,438.02 and not £2,325.64.

Has anyone else had this?  I know the debt now gets passed on, will I have to wait for a letter so I can update Stepchange on who to pay, as currently it would be just to the account no. and sort code of the Halifax account. 

I have showed my husband this and he gets more worried than me about it and loses sleep, whereas I don't really!

Is it worth me ringing the Halifax?  (That is a mission in itself!). 

Thanks in advance. 

StepChange_Allen

Abbafan1972 said:

Hi there.

We have been in a DMP with Stepchange since April.

This includes an overdraft with Halifax Bank.  I can now see that the account has been closed and is no longer visible on my internet banking, a statement was uploaded to my online documents on 18/06.  The figures on the overdraft don't seem to tally up.





The balance as at 04/05 is correct but I don't see why the closing balance at 18/06 shows £2,438.02 and not £2,325.64.

Has anyone else had this?  I know the debt now gets passed on, will I have to wait for a letter so I can update Stepchange on who to pay, as currently it would be just to the account no. and sort code of the Halifax account. 

I have showed my husband this and he gets more worried than me about it and loses sleep, whereas I don't really!

Is it worth me ringing the Halifax?  (That is a mission in itself!). 

Thanks in advance. 

Hi there

Thanks for posting.

I agree that the statement isn't clear. If you subtract the two payments received from the 4 May balance, you get the £2,325.64 figure, which is correct. But then the closing balance is the same as the opening balance, which is obviously confusing.

I don't know for sure but the 'TFR TO CDR' is probably the debt being passed or sold on, maybe to a company called CDR Group, which is a company I've heard of; however that might be a red herring! You could wait for the new company to contact you and see what the balance is (whether it looks right or not), or you can call Halifax if you like to check who it's been sent to, and why this closing statement is as it is. I wouldn't worry about it at the moment personally, but I can appreciate that you may wish seek clarity.

I hope this is helpful.

Allen

Abbafan1972

Hi there,  

Thank you for your help.  I spoke to someone just now at the Halifax, but that was just on the general banking helpline which was the number on the letter.  She said she'd put me through to collections (which is who I need to speak to), but when I got to the options, the office was closed.  Does anyone have a direct number for Halifax Bank Collections please?  I cannot seem to find it anywhere.

Thank you in advance. 

StepChange_Patience

Abbafan1972 said:

Hi there,  

Thank you for your help.  I spoke to someone just now at the Halifax, but that was just on the general banking helpline which was the number on the letter.  She said she'd put me through to collections (which is who I need to speak to), but when I got to the options, the office was closed.  Does anyone have a direct number for Halifax Bank Collections please?  I cannot seem to find it anywhere.

Thank you in advance. 

Hi there

Thank you for getting back in touch.

I'm sorry to hear you've been unable to get through to the collections team, the only numbers I could find were here.

It may be worthwhile checking with the general banking helpline what the team's opening hours are so you can get some answers.

I hope this helps.

Patience

Carol1963

Sorry to trouble you Stepchange but can you pls. advise why I can never, ever complete my budget on line.  I cannot afford to spend over an hour on the phone.

StepChange_Aidan

Carol1963 said:

Sorry to trouble you Stepchange but can you pls. advise why I can never, ever complete my budget on line.  I cannot afford to spend over an hour on the phone.

Hi Carol,

I’m sorry to hear that you’re having difficulty completing the budget online.

Without seeing your budget, I can’t say specifically why the online system is not allowing you to complete it, but it will prompt you to call if it picks up anything we need to discuss with you. Typically, these may be expenses that are higher or lower than recommended for a household of your size, or an item of spending that could be challenged by your creditors. 

I understand this may be frustrating, but we will need you to give us a call to continue. We’re currently experiencing high call volumes, but it shouldn’t take too long for an advisor to check through your updated budget and complete your annual review.

I hope this helps.

Aidan

cashburner

Hi, I have a question. 

I am currently considering setting up a DMP with SC for around £25K of personal debt. 

I've read elsewhere on this forum that I should let all the accounts default before proceeding? At present none of the accounts are in default. 

StepChange_Aidan

cashburner said:

Hi, I have a question. 

I am currently considering setting up a DMP with SC for around £25K of personal debt. 

I've read elsewhere on this forum that I should let all the accounts default before proceeding? At present none of the accounts are in default. 

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

If you’re in a Debt Management Plan, your creditors will record the reduced payments on your credit file. Some may add a marker to show that you’re making payments through a DMP.

Most creditors will also default your accounts after a few months, however some may not. Debts will drop off your credit file six years after the default date, but if it doesn’t default it could stay on there for much longer.

There’s some more information on how DMP’s can affect your credit report here.

If a DMP is the right debt solution for you, our general advice would be to set it up so that you can start making reduced payments to the debts through StepChange straight away. However, others on the forum would argue that it’s better to allow the debts to default first to make sure that after six years, all debts have dropped off your credit file and you can start to rebuild it.

If you’re considering a DMP, it may be best to give us a call so we can discuss your options and make sure this is the right one for you. Our contact information can be found here.

I hope this helps,

Aidan