Struggling with debt? Ask a stepchange debt adviser a question

JamesyMac

sourcrates said:

If you need help with your debts, this is the thread for you.

This is a new thread, as the old one was getting a tad long.


Trained advisers from StepChange Debt Charity are here and waiting to answer your debt questions. They're a friendly bunch so please don't be shy!

There are three ways to get in touch:

1 - Simply post your question below and the team will reply. If your question is about bankruptcy, then pop over to the Bankruptcy board.

2 - If you would prefer to ask a question in private, feel free to send a message to StepChange Private Messages.

3 - StepChange also has a free and confidential online tool. You can put a budget together at your pace, and you can also talk it over with an adviser through online chat.

If you're a StepChange Debt Charity client already, please contact its Aftercare team rather than posting in this thread (their contact details are in your Welcome Pack).

If you're self employed and need debt help please get in touch with Business Debtline.

This is discussion thread part five, see parts one, two three and four: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5559140/struggling-with-debt-ask-a-debt-adviser-a-question.


If you haven't already, join the forum to reply!

Hello!

Around 2016/17, I took out loans with Provident, and I think I stopped paying them around April 2017.

Every month on my credit file, they’re still being updated as ‘delinquent’ as opposed to having been defaulted, and I’m wondering if I can get this changed without settling the clock back to now.

I wouldn’t mind negotiating with them and paying the debts back, but I want to come to any negotiations from a position of strength.

Are their any laws that state that they should have been defaulted in 2017?

Thanks for any advice,

James.

StepChange_Aidan

JamesyMac said:

sourcrates said:

If you need help with your debts, this is the thread for you.

This is a new thread, as the old one was getting a tad long.


Trained advisers from StepChange Debt Charity are here and waiting to answer your debt questions. They're a friendly bunch so please don't be shy!

There are three ways to get in touch:

1 - Simply post your question below and the team will reply. If your question is about bankruptcy, then pop over to the Bankruptcy board.

2 - If you would prefer to ask a question in private, feel free to send a message to StepChange Private Messages.

3 - StepChange also has a free and confidential online tool. You can put a budget together at your pace, and you can also talk it over with an adviser through online chat.

If you're a StepChange Debt Charity client already, please contact its Aftercare team rather than posting in this thread (their contact details are in your Welcome Pack).

If you're self employed and need debt help please get in touch with Business Debtline.

This is discussion thread part five, see parts one, two three and four: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5559140/struggling-with-debt-ask-a-debt-adviser-a-question.


If you haven't already, join the forum to reply!

Hello!

Around 2016/17, I took out loans with Provident, and I think I stopped paying them around April 2017.

Every month on my credit file, they’re still being updated as ‘delinquent’ as opposed to having been defaulted, and I’m wondering if I can get this changed without settling the clock back to now.

I wouldn’t mind negotiating with them and paying the debts back, but I want to come to any negotiations from a position of strength.

Are their any laws that state that they should have been defaulted in 2017?

Thanks for any advice,

James.

Hi James,

Thanks for your post.

There’s no laws that state when an account should default, but FCA guidance advises creditors that most debt types should default after 3 to 6 months of arrears.

You should make a complaint to Provident if you feel that they have taken to long to default the account. You could also ask if they will backdate the default to 2017, but they’re not obliged to do this.

Please be aware that in England and Wales debts can only be considered statute barred (unenforceable) six years after the last time you wrote to the creditor acknowledging that you owe the debt, you last made a payment or the earliest time the creditor could have started court action (the default date), whichever was the most recent.

I hope this helps.

Aidan

JamesyMac

StepChange_Aidan said:

JamesyMac said:

sourcrates said:

If you need help with your debts, this is the thread for you.

This is a new thread, as the old one was getting a tad long.


Trained advisers from StepChange Debt Charity are here and waiting to answer your debt questions. They're a friendly bunch so please don't be shy!

There are three ways to get in touch:

1 - Simply post your question below and the team will reply. If your question is about bankruptcy, then pop over to the Bankruptcy board.

2 - If you would prefer to ask a question in private, feel free to send a message to StepChange Private Messages.

3 - StepChange also has a free and confidential online tool. You can put a budget together at your pace, and you can also talk it over with an adviser through online chat.

If you're a StepChange Debt Charity client already, please contact its Aftercare team rather than posting in this thread (their contact details are in your Welcome Pack).

If you're self employed and need debt help please get in touch with Business Debtline.

This is discussion thread part five, see parts one, two three and four: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5559140/struggling-with-debt-ask-a-debt-adviser-a-question.


If you haven't already, join the forum to reply!

Hello!

Around 2016/17, I took out loans with Provident, and I think I stopped paying them around April 2017.

Every month on my credit file, they’re still being updated as ‘delinquent’ as opposed to having been defaulted, and I’m wondering if I can get this changed without settling the clock back to now.

I wouldn’t mind negotiating with them and paying the debts back, but I want to come to any negotiations from a position of strength.

Are their any laws that state that they should have been defaulted in 2017?

Thanks for any advice,

James.

Hi James,

Thanks for your post.

There’s no laws that state when an account should default, but FCA guidance advises creditors that most debt types should default after 3 to 6 months of arrears.

You should make a complaint to Provident if you feel that they have taken to long to default the account. You could also ask if they will backdate the default to 2017, but they’re not obliged to do this.

Please be aware that in England and Wales debts can only be considered statute barred (unenforceable) six years after the last time you wrote to the creditor acknowledging that you owe the debt, you last made a payment or the earliest time the creditor could have started court action (the default date), whichever was the most recent.

I hope this helps.

Aidan

Thanks Aidan.

Do you know if those laws are applicable to Northern Ireland?

If so, would I be better waiting until those debts are past the 6 years before I contact provident?

They are updating my report as one month behind each month, and it’s destroying the good progress that I’ve made in clearing other debts.

if it was defaulted from the time, it would give me a bit of confidence negotiating with them to pay it off.

Thanks,
James.

StepChange_Aidan

JamesyMac said:

StepChange_Aidan said:

JamesyMac said:

sourcrates said:

If you need help with your debts, this is the thread for you.

This is a new thread, as the old one was getting a tad long.


Trained advisers from StepChange Debt Charity are here and waiting to answer your debt questions. They're a friendly bunch so please don't be shy!

There are three ways to get in touch:

1 - Simply post your question below and the team will reply. If your question is about bankruptcy, then pop over to the Bankruptcy board.

2 - If you would prefer to ask a question in private, feel free to send a message to StepChange Private Messages.

3 - StepChange also has a free and confidential online tool. You can put a budget together at your pace, and you can also talk it over with an adviser through online chat.

If you're a StepChange Debt Charity client already, please contact its Aftercare team rather than posting in this thread (their contact details are in your Welcome Pack).

If you're self employed and need debt help please get in touch with Business Debtline.

This is discussion thread part five, see parts one, two three and four: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5559140/struggling-with-debt-ask-a-debt-adviser-a-question.


If you haven't already, join the forum to reply!

Hello!

Around 2016/17, I took out loans with Provident, and I think I stopped paying them around April 2017.

Every month on my credit file, they’re still being updated as ‘delinquent’ as opposed to having been defaulted, and I’m wondering if I can get this changed without settling the clock back to now.

I wouldn’t mind negotiating with them and paying the debts back, but I want to come to any negotiations from a position of strength.

Are their any laws that state that they should have been defaulted in 2017?

Thanks for any advice,

James.

Hi James,

Thanks for your post.

There’s no laws that state when an account should default, but FCA guidance advises creditors that most debt types should default after 3 to 6 months of arrears.

You should make a complaint to Provident if you feel that they have taken to long to default the account. You could also ask if they will backdate the default to 2017, but they’re not obliged to do this.

Please be aware that in England and Wales debts can only be considered statute barred (unenforceable) six years after the last time you wrote to the creditor acknowledging that you owe the debt, you last made a payment or the earliest time the creditor could have started court action (the default date), whichever was the most recent.

I hope this helps.

Aidan

Thanks Aidan.

Do you know if those laws are applicable to Northern Ireland?

If so, would I be better waiting until those debts are past the 6 years before I contact provident?

They are updating my report as one month behind each month, and it’s destroying the good progress that I’ve made in clearing other debts.

if it was defaulted from the time, it would give me a bit of confidence negotiating with them to pay it off.

Thanks,
James.

Hi James,

In Northern Ireland, the six-year limitation period for most debts starts on the ‘date the action accrued’. This is normally considered to be the date the account defaults.

You could contact Provident but writing to them may be considered a written acknowledgement of the debt, or they could default the account now, which would restart the limitation period.

Alternatively, you could not contact them and wait to see what happens, but you need to be aware that there is a risk that the creditor could start court action while the debt is still enforceable.

Regards,

Aidan

sweet_escape

Hi, I’m considering getting a debt relief order due to my electric debt getting ridiculous and I’m on prepay so it’s swallowing up my benefit money as a single mum. The problem is I’ve recently got a new phone contract after 7 years of having an old phone. I know the insolvency people don’t look to favourably on those applying for DRO who have just taken out credit but I had no choice. I needed a phone and I don’t have the money to buy upfront. It’s not a crazy expensive iPhone 13 pro. Will I still have a chance of being accepted for DRO as I can’t throw £90 at it if it will be declined for a mobile phone.
many thanks 

StepChange_Aidan

sweet_escape said:

Hi, I’m considering getting a debt relief order due to my electric debt getting ridiculous and I’m on prepay so it’s swallowing up my benefit money as a single mum. The problem is I’ve recently got a new phone contract after 7 years of having an old phone. I know the insolvency people don’t look to favourably on those applying for DRO who have just taken out credit but I had no choice. I needed a phone and I don’t have the money to buy upfront. It’s not a crazy expensive iPhone 13 pro. Will I still have a chance of being accepted for DRO as I can’t throw £90 at it if it will be declined for a mobile phone.
many thanks 

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

Mobile phone contracts usually include cost of calls/data and a fixed sum loan agreement to buy the phone. Technically, the loan element is a qualifying debt in a DRO, but the Insolvency Service have confirmed that these can be excluded from a DRO application if the payments are up to date.

If the mobile contract is particularly expensive, the Insolvency Service may decide that it is not an allowable expense, depending on the other costs on your budget. There’s also a risk that creditors could object to the DRO application if credit has been taken out recently.

You would apply for a DRO through an approved intermediary. They will review your budget and should advise you if they think there is a risk of the application being rejected, before you pay the £90 fee.

I hope this helps.

Aidan

Abbafan1972

Hi there,

We are in a DMP with Stepchange and we have worries regarding 2 credit cards which are on the plan.  The payment we make to Stepchange, we can afford, but the payment to both the credit cards are over the minimum payment, so the bank concerned keep writing to us telling us that interest will be returning to normal, and this is currently frozen until 17th January.

The bank have said to us that we are paying them too much.  I have contacted Stepchange to ask if we can reduce the payments going to these 2 debts, but cannot do that, as it would mean reducing the payments to everyone else.  So at the moment, we will have to keep contacting the bank every time they threaten to restart the interest.  We cannot afford to pay any interest added, as our monthly payment will not even cover this and the balance of the cards will not go down. So I will have to be prepared to complain to them if they refuse to continue to freeze the interest.

Come next year, hubby will be turning 55 and he is going to withdraw a small pension which will be enough to pay off the 2 credit cards to get rid of them.  Will Stepchange allow us to do this, as they've said before our other creditors won't like it?

Or do you guys think it's a good idea to save this until we have enough to pay all of our plan off?

The cynical part of me is thinking that we are no better off using Stepchange, as the stress of having these debts hasn't eased and would have been better dealing with the creditors ourselves, (as we have had to ring them ourselves anyway). 

StepChange_Allen

Abbafan1972 said:

Hi there,

We are in a DMP with Stepchange and we have worries regarding 2 credit cards which are on the plan.  The payment we make to Stepchange, we can afford, but the payment to both the credit cards are over the minimum payment, so the bank concerned keep writing to us telling us that interest will be returning to normal, and this is currently frozen until 17th January.

The bank have said to us that we are paying them too much.  I have contacted Stepchange to ask if we can reduce the payments going to these 2 debts, but cannot do that, as it would mean reducing the payments to everyone else.  So at the moment, we will have to keep contacting the bank every time they threaten to restart the interest.  We cannot afford to pay any interest added, as our monthly payment will not even cover this and the balance of the cards will not go down. So I will have to be prepared to complain to them if they refuse to continue to freeze the interest.

Come next year, hubby will be turning 55 and he is going to withdraw a small pension which will be enough to pay off the 2 credit cards to get rid of them.  Will Stepchange allow us to do this, as they've said before our other creditors won't like it?

Or do you guys think it's a good idea to save this until we have enough to pay all of our plan off?

The cynical part of me is thinking that we are no better off using Stepchange, as the stress of having these debts hasn't eased and would have been better dealing with the creditors ourselves, (as we have had to ring them ourselves anyway). 

Hi Abbafan

Thanks for posting.

I'm sorry to hear that the stress around the debts is not easing for you on your DMP.

I have called our Client Support team to get clarity on this, and it's been confirmed as you say, that we would always make our payments on a pro-rata basis and wouldn't be able to reduce those two. I can appreciate that this is frustrating.

As I see it, you have a number of options. As you're hopefully aware, you can leave your StepChange DMP at any time with no charges or penalties and deal with your creditors yourself. We hope that you're willing and able to stay of course, as we want to help as best we can, but I appreciate the position you're in. 

You could send an e-mail or letter to the two cards explaining your position in that although the payments on these cards are slightly higher than your contractual amounts, overall you're in financial difficulty and you feel that the interest going back on would only exacerbate the problem. Perhaps request confirmation of the interest being frozen for a period of time, for example a year.

In terms of paying the two cards off next year, when you're behind and defaulted on some other debts, paying some in full can be classed as preferential treatment of those creditors over the rest, so we'd always advise against it. Preferential treatment could lead to your other creditors deciding not to help with their debt(s).

I hope this makes sense.

Best wishes

Allen

shand19

Hi

I have £23,000 in credit card debt. (4 cards… and too high to balance transfer to a 0% rate)

I have been keeping up with minimum payments so far, and never missed any pavements before, but want to start writing down the debt for good. 

My TransUnion Credit score is 599

I have a mortgage and I’m planning to sell within the next 12 months and move back to my parents for a while before buying again.

I believe my only potential options are -could get a loan and then pay it all off once I’ve sold my property or potentially ask to borrow more on my mortgage, so I’m paying even less interest but I don’t know how this goes down in the long run.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks 

StepChange_Patience

shand19 said:

Hi

I have £23,000 in credit card debt. (4 cards… and too high to balance transfer to a 0% rate)

I have been keeping up with minimum payments so far, and never missed any pavements before, but want to start writing down the debt for good. 

My TransUnion Credit score is 599

I have a mortgage and I’m planning to sell within the next 12 months and move back to my parents for a while before buying again.

I believe my only potential options are -could get a loan and then pay it all off once I’ve sold my property or potentially ask to borrow more on my mortgage, so I’m paying even less interest but I don’t know how this goes down in the long run.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks 

Hi there

Thanks for getting in touch.

It sounds like you've had to make some difficult decisions to deal with the debt, using assets to settle debts can sometimes be an option to write down the debt as you mentioned. 

It's difficult to say which would be best for you, if the payments to the debts are difficult to maintain I would suggest seeking impartial debt advice to help them become manageable until you're able to sell your home. If you’ve got any concerns about your finances you should get debt advice instead of turning to debt consolidation.

Our website has a handy calculator to see whether debt consolidation may be something to consider, I would recommend checking this first before making any decisions. 

It may also be worthwhile having an impartial chat with one of our mortgage advisors, you can find our details here. They could be able to discuss potential mortgage options for you. 

I hope this helps.

Patience