Time to sort my debts, where to start

tj400

I have a number of old debts from credit cards, loans and overdrafts totalling about 19k, when i got into trouble paying them i wrote to them all explaining my situation asking for any interest to be frozen and offering a minimal monthly amount as repayment which was accepted. I paid this for 6 to 7 years and then admitantly stuck my head in the sand, stopped paying them and ignored all letters. This was about 3 years ago and i've had letters to say some of the debts have been sold to other companies, some have been more demanding than others namely a company called "Cabot" who have recently instructed a collection agency call "Resolvecall" to visit my home. I wasn't in when they called but they left a letter to get in touch and i've a feeling their not going to stop so i guess i really should stop ignoring these debts and do something about them.
What should be my first step? I don't have a pot of cash to pay them off nor do i really have a great deal of money left at the end of the month to give although id like to do this with as little negative effect on my credit rating as possible. I'm not after a get out of debt free solution i know i shouldn't of ignored it this long.

Willing2Learn

Hi tj400 and welcome to the forum

Taking your 'head out of the sand' is an important first step.

The next thing you should do is to complete a Statement of Affairs (SOA). Post your completed SOA up on to this thread and then you will receive advice, support and guidance applicable to your financial situation. Just remember to click on the 'format for MSE' button near the bottom of the form, before copy & pasting the whole lot up here