Struggling with debt? Ask a stepchange debt adviser a question

StepChange_Aidan

rachelmc_4 said:

Mum and dad have debts of est £2k x 2 to Lowell and Cabot for multiple CC, capital one of £600 (he has arranged to pay around £25 a month to these and has been doing this for many years). With NatWest he also has a secured loan and overdraft totalling £13500 (confirmed Aug 2024 by NatWest). He pays £50 a month to this. He also has a mortgage to pay which he has around 2 years left of and he continues to pay this. I’ve recently become aware of all of this due to dad’s multiple mini strokes and Parkinson’s disease diagnosis meaning he has had no option to stop working. So we have contacted NatWest to get a final figure so I can try and pay this off. They have responded by sending the debt to Moorcroft who have added £11000 onto the debt taking it from £13500 to £24500 (NatWest have not sent him any paperwork for many years - he thinks this went to court ?CCJ but he cannot remember - this would have been around 2010 ish). I wanted to pay it off due to his health conditions so that he can then try and pay the smaller ones himself. Is this allowed? I was trying to help! 

Hi Rachel,

I’d recommend that you contact Moorcroft in writing, request a breakdown of the debt and ask them to explain why the balance has increased after it was transferred from Natwest. Is there a chance that they are dealing with other debts in your dad’s name, which they have merged into one account?

If you haven’t already, it may be worth contacting all the creditors to explain your dad’s situation. If he’s unable to work and repay them in a reasonable amount of time, they may consider writing off the debts on the grounds of ill health.

If you or your dad would like to discuss his situation and options in more detail, please get in touch with us. He would need to give permission for you to speak to us on his behalf. There’s some more information on the process here.

Kind regards,

Aidan

Summer12

Hello! 

I’ll try and keep this short… £8,0000 credit card debit, not SB and enforcable. stayed court proceedings that claimant has now applied to lift and send to fast track presumably for ccj for non payment. At what point can we no longer approach claimant to make offer of repayment? We are still waiting for them to tell us if this debt is one subject to payment plan with another creditor that’s been transferred to them. They’ve ignored this request and pressed on with requesting the stay to be lifted. Or shall I just include this detail when I return the directions questionnaire? Have no issues admitting the debt just wanted the point above clarifying!! But will probably end up with CCJ if they continue to ignore our question. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated 

InDebtHarri

Hello

If this is the wrong forum to ask for help, my apologies.

This is about a a credit card debt default that happened in 2015, when I had been unemployed and struggling financially for a while. The credit card company (a big bank) were hassling me to accept a repayment plan that was simply unrealistic for under my circumstances, so I stopped communicating with them. 

But I made sure I paid £20 every single month to the credit card account - and I have been doing that for years up till the present time (Sept 2024).

Thing is, the bank sold the debt to some other company, but I have never ever communicated with them in any form. They would send the odd letter to me now and then. The latest one was an offer from them to write off 90% of the debt. I have 14 days to accept the debt company's offer.

Should I accept their offer?

What are the repurcussions of accepting? Can it affect my credit score?

Since I always paid something to the cc account every month, I believe the debt company were not able to get a CCJ against me. The remainder of the outstanding debt is just under £3000.

Any advice please? I have only 14 days (now 10 days) to accpet their 'offer'

fatbelly

Stepchange tend to work M-F so you may not get an answer from them till Monday.

I can however confirm that if this matter defaulted in 2015 then the whole record dropped off your file in 2021. Nothing you do will change that so feel free to accept or decline their offer.

See what Stepchange say. If you want other opinions, try posting in the main dfw forum.

StepChange_Aidan

Summer12 said:

Hello! 

I’ll try and keep this short… £8,0000 credit card debit, not SB and enforcable. stayed court proceedings that claimant has now applied to lift and send to fast track presumably for ccj for non payment. At what point can we no longer approach claimant to make offer of repayment? We are still waiting for them to tell us if this debt is one subject to payment plan with another creditor that’s been transferred to them. They’ve ignored this request and pressed on with requesting the stay to be lifted. Or shall I just include this detail when I return the directions questionnaire? Have no issues admitting the debt just wanted the point above clarifying!! But will probably end up with CCJ if they continue to ignore our question. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated 

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

You could contact the creditor directly and make an offer of payment at any point, (although if it does become a CCJ we would recommend applying to vary the judgement to repay it in affordable instalments using form N245).

If the stay is lifted, this would put you back to the same position you were in before the stay, but even if a CCJ is obtained, you’d still be able to apply to have it set aside or varied.

I’m not quite sure what you mean about it being possibly subject to a payment plan with another creditor. Are you defending the claim because it’s not clear which debt this relates to? Did you apply for the stay, and if so, what was the reason? 

It may be better to get in touch so we can discuss this debt and your options in more detail. If you’d like to give us a call our contact details can be found here.

Kind regards,

Aidan

StepChange_Aidan

InDebtHarri said:

Hello

If this is the wrong forum to ask for help, my apologies.

This is about a a credit card debt default that happened in 2015, when I had been unemployed and struggling financially for a while. The credit card company (a big bank) were hassling me to accept a repayment plan that was simply unrealistic for under my circumstances, so I stopped communicating with them. 

But I made sure I paid £20 every single month to the credit card account - and I have been doing that for years up till the present time (Sept 2024).

Thing is, the bank sold the debt to some other company, but I have never ever communicated with them in any form. They would send the odd letter to me now and then. The latest one was an offer from them to write off 90% of the debt. I have 14 days to accept the debt company's offer.

Should I accept their offer?

What are the repurcussions of accepting? Can it affect my credit score?

Since I always paid something to the cc account every month, I believe the debt company were not able to get a CCJ against me. The remainder of the outstanding debt is just under £3000.

Any advice please? I have only 14 days (now 10 days) to accpet their 'offer'

Hi,

It depends on your financial situation and if you have other more important debts to address, but if you feel that it’s a good offer and you can afford to pay what the collection agency is asking for you could accept it.

As per Fatbelly’s post, if the account defaulted in 2015 then it will already have dropped off your credit file. Whether you accept the offer or not, it will have no effect on your credit file or score.

Just to clarify, if you’ve continued to make payments every month since the account defaulted, then the debt will still be enforceable. A CCJ is unlikely but possible.

I hope this helps,

Aidan

ColdPizza

£40k in debt. Been struggling really since 2023, but it’s the 3 I’ve taken in 2024 that are killing me. I want to stick to my contracts and pay off everything I borrowed. But need help. I keep discovering new things. First i read and thought a debt relief order was my only option, then i started reading about “unaffordable lending” and most recently have read about DMP. 

I think option 2 is interesting because while I accept full responsibility for taking the loans I think at least 2 of the loans I took out in 2024 should have been refused due to the fact that my income - expenditure showed my account was pretty much close to break even each month and could not afford any extra commitments. 

I’ve written letters of complaints to both providers. 

Just wondering what to expect and if my compliant is upheld does “removing the interest” mean that my monthly repayments will stay the same £367 / £205 but go fully towards paying off the debt or will they be reduced (which is what I need) to remove the added interest? 

StepChange_Aidan

ColdPizza said:

£40k in debt. Been struggling really since 2023, but it’s the 3 I’ve taken in 2024 that are killing me. I want to stick to my contracts and pay off everything I borrowed. But need help. I keep discovering new things. First i read and thought a debt relief order was my only option, then i started reading about “unaffordable lending” and most recently have read about DMP. 

I think option 2 is interesting because while I accept full responsibility for taking the loans I think at least 2 of the loans I took out in 2024 should have been refused due to the fact that my income - expenditure showed my account was pretty much close to break even each month and could not afford any extra commitments. 

I’ve written letters of complaints to both providers. 

Just wondering what to expect and if my compliant is upheld does “removing the interest” mean that my monthly repayments will stay the same £367 / £205 but go fully towards paying off the debt or will they be reduced (which is what I need) to remove the added interest? 

Hi,

Thanks for your message.

If the complaints are upheld, then you may be entitled to a refund of the interest and charges, which would be deducted from the remaining amount outstanding on the debts. The monthly contractual repayments to the loans will usually remain the same.

If you’re struggling with the repayments, then an option like a DRO or DMP seems to be the way forward. However, I would recommend waiting to find out the outcome of these complaints before including them in a debt solution.

I hope this helps,

Aidan

boringbelle

Hi, 
My MIL sold a property in 2021 and unbeknownst to us did not pay the capital gains tax. At the time there were some concerns regarding her memory but I don't think we really knew how bad it was and that the things she was telling us just weren't right. It was only when we took control of accounts last year that we realised how bad it was and that the tax hadn't been paid. At the time we were told by her accountant that there was no point putting in for mitigating circumstances regarding interest and fine however I am wondering if there is any possible chance of an appeal at this point in time? The interest is causing significant problems and I don't know whether we had the best advice at the time. 

Thank you for any help you can offer. 

StepChange_Aidan

boringbelle said:

Hi, 
My MIL sold a property in 2021 and unbeknownst to us did not pay the capital gains tax. At the time there were some concerns regarding her memory but I don't think we really knew how bad it was and that the things she was telling us just weren't right. It was only when we took control of accounts last year that we realised how bad it was and that the tax hadn't been paid. At the time we were told by her accountant that there was no point putting in for mitigating circumstances regarding interest and fine however I am wondering if there is any possible chance of an appeal at this point in time? The interest is causing significant problems and I don't know whether we had the best advice at the time. 

Thank you for any help you can offer. 

Hi,

You may be able to appeal against a HMRC penalty if there are mitigating circumstances. Unfortunately, this is an area we’re not able to advise on, and you may need to seek specialist help.

There’s a guide to appeals on the HMRC website.

Regards,

Aidan