Debts and Stepchange

Mr_West

Hi everyone, first time I've posted on here but I really need some advice.

I found out last night my wife has debts and they've now reached the point where Stepchange are involved as she has most likely reached out. I was tidying up our bedroom whilst she was out and there was a load of papers stuffed into a drawer.

I don't know whether to post specifics but I feel I need to as people on here may have been in a similar situation and I don't know which ones are more of a "priority" over others.

AQUA credit card - £2,135
Barclaycard credit card - £411
NatWest overdraft - £400
Southern Electric - £2,271
Vanquis credit card - £1,100
Very account - £2,015

TOTAL - £8,332.

Amongst the stepchange letters I also found more letters, all ranging from September to most recent 14 October.

These include....

£521.36 to be paid ASAP to SSE otherwise debt recovery action will be taken
A balance of £2241 to Arvato (?) regarding NewDay Limited
Council tax liability order accepting a payment plan for missed council tax payments, again threatening recovery action.

All the letters are quoting the consumer act and either mentioning defaults or debt recovery.

I am at an absolute loss as to what happens now - as Stepchange are now involved will it be as simple as a payment plan?

Has anyone else used Stepchange and can offer some advice?

Larac

I am with Stepchange and they will work with you to put together and agreed budget to live off and agree a payment plan. This is how the credit card/loans debt will be dealt with. In amongst your list of creditors is the Council Tax and the SSE and these will be considered to be a priority debt which must be paid before anything else gets paid. For the Credit Card debts these may be token payments for a while , whilst the focus on the priority debts are dealt with. In terms of Stepchange your wife has turned to the right organisation to assist as they are very helpful.

Mr_West

Thank you - so do you know if Stepchange proactively contact the companies involved to advise them that my wife has contacted them regarding a total debt? Or is it now her job to contact these companies so they can be aware of her situation?

Larac

Mr_West wrote: »

Thank you - so do you know if Stepchange proactively contact the companies involved to advise them that my wife has contacted them regarding a total debt? Or is it now her job to contact these companies so they can be aware of her situation?

With Stepchange - you give them the various Account Numbers for CC's and they will contact the various Creditors on behalf of your wife. What the Creditors will see is the total credit card debt and what the suggested payment plan is for each of the creditors on the list. Amounts will vary according to size of debt - Stepchange will treat all the CC equally. What I don't know is whether Stepchange will get involved in the CT and SSE debts - these are priority payments which you may have to deal with directly. The budget agreed with Stepchange will need to take into account the CT debt and SSE. So whatever is left over will goes towards the CC debt. If there is nothing left for a while the CC may be just token payments. When you do a review with Stepchange you declare income and what payments you are making a month - from that a surplus is identified which is used to pay creditors. The review covers everything from Housing, Food Transport, emergency funding etc. There may not be any surplus - so Stepchange will discuss various options depending on your circumstances.

MasterG83

Have you spoken to your wife about this yet ?

Mr_West

I haven't yet, just trying to process everything and understand more. I know I need to bring it up but it's more to do with the fact she hasn't told me as opposed to trying to understand why she has gotten into this position.

EssexHebridean

I'd suggest that both those aspects need taking into consideration equally - and with sensitivity to. Chances are that she hasn't told you either because she feels deeply ashamed, because she fears you will leave her if you find out, or a combination of the two, however now that non payment of council tax in particular is part of it you are involved whether she (or you!) like it or not as this is presumabluy in both names?

I'm going to suggest that you check your own credit file as a priority to see if anything is showing on there, and also that you sit down with your wife and, with no recriminations, ask her what's going on - you need to know, there's no question about that. Once you do know what's been the problem, then you can find a way of going forwards together.

Suseka97

I echo EH's advice regarding the need to sit down and talk things through.

Those of us who have reached that point in our lives will testify to the feeling of absolute shame and despair. So what she will need is understanding and support. Now that doesn't mean you have to be happy about the situation - but in order to move forward you need to understand what's been happening so you can work together to resolve the situation (and I'm assuming that's what you want).

I'm pretty sure SC will not be in touch with the Council or SSE, but will have identified those as priority debts, but its important for you to know what they advised your wife. She may already have this in hand.

The letters you've read that mention the consumer act and defaults, in particular -are the sorts of letters creditors will send out when payments are missed. They are generally standard templates and really nothing to be overly alarmed at. Assuming SC have initiated a debt management plan - they will be contacting those creditors and as long as your wife sticks to the arrangement, it should be fairly plain sailing.

The situation with the Council Tax and 'liability order' is something to pay immediate attention to as this means that the arrears have been subject to a summons and the court has granted an order than empowers the Council to collect monies owed in whatever form suits the situation. What usually results from that is a repayment plan, but if that fails it could lead to bailiff action. Now this isn't as scary as it sounds, but what it does do is keep adding on charges and fees to the original amount owed - so something to be avoided.

So, first things first... sit down and have that chat and then go from there.