Pay down plans

Barny670

Personally I'd rather pay my debts. I spent the money, so I should pay it back. 
I went to Step Change and the only advice they could offer me was to just stop paying. This doesn't sit comfortably with me. Once again,  I'm not looking to take on any more credit. I just want to pay what I owe, so it's a good option for me.

rosiesposies

Not what I suggested at all. However if you are looking to remortgage before 2030 and you have AP markers from 2024 it will affect your offering or product availability and you could end up paying a higher mortgage rate so the small reduction in interest now will just bite you in the backside later down the line.

If you default, then pick up payments as you are making now, either via a dmp or self managed dmp you will see the markers drop off in 2026. (Provides defaults are in report by end of this year) 
if you are going to be mortgage free in 6 years (which isn’t clear in your post) then that is entirely different and your credit file will not be a factor as you say. 

Barny670

Thanks Rosiesposies. I've still got a lot to learn about managing my debts. I thought step change would offer me some good advice, but I just came away very disappointed with them. Perhaps I just didn't understand. 
I just don't really know what would happen if I default. I've just assumed that I would be taken to court for the debt, declared bankrupt and loose my home. Step change didn't really explain what my options are, they literally just said, stop paying. 
Perhaps I could get better advice here, so here goes full disclosure. I'm really interested to hear your opinions on my options. But I'll start by making a couple of things very clear. I won't to pay back my debts (just not a huge amount of interest, I can't afford both) and I need to keep my home. I've got family.
I currently owe £29000 give or take, across 7 credit cards, and I'm paying around £700 a month to service those debts. I also have a small two loans of around £1000 total and a £2000 overdraft. I pay £519 per month for my mortgage. I've never missed any payments on anything, but I'm totally skint after all this has gone out. I'm 53 and I won't to be debt free sooner rather than later. I have 12 years left to pay my mortgage, with the next 6 years at a fixed rate. 
I'd really appreciate any good advice. Cheers. 

Yahoo_Mail

Barny670 said:

Thanks Rosiesposies. I've still got a lot to learn about managing my debts. I thought step change would offer me some good advice, but I just came away very disappointed with them. Perhaps I just didn't understand. 
I just don't really know what would happen if I default. I've just assumed that I would be taken to court for the debt, declared bankrupt and loose my home. Step change didn't really explain what my options are, they literally just said, stop paying. 
Perhaps I could get better advice here, so here goes full disclosure. I'm really interested to hear your opinions on my options. But I'll start by making a couple of things very clear. I won't to pay back my debts (just not a huge amount of interest, I can't afford both) and I need to keep my home. I've got family.
I currently owe £29000 give or take, across 7 credit cards, and I'm paying around £700 a month to service those debts. I also have a small two loans of around £1000 total and a £2000 overdraft. I pay £519 per month for my mortgage. I've never missed any payments on anything, but I'm totally skint after all this has gone out. I'm 53 and I won't to be debt free sooner rather than later. I have 12 years left to pay my mortgage, with the next 6 years at a fixed rate. 
I'd really appreciate any good advice. Cheers. 

If you don't care about applying for credit and don't care about paying back what you agreed (including the interest rate you signed up for) then StepChange gave you good advice. Interest would be frozen and you'd save yourself a bit of money.

You should have listened to StepChage.  At the very least you should have just asked them what the repercussions of defaulting would be instead of assuming you knew.  Either way, what's done is done (although I suppose the door is still open for you to default if you change your mind.)

rosiesposies

Defaults on unsecured debt do not normally end in repossession. That’s the whole point of unsecured lending, it’s not secured on an asset. The best thing to do is go to the dfw boards, post a Statement of Affairs (loads of info there) and see what you have free for payments servicing your debts. If there is enough left you could attempt to snowball (again loads of info on those boards) if you do not have anything free or are in the red after all outgoings then a dmp is the right move, and defaulting sooner rather than later is the smartest and wisest way to approach it, you can then make an informed decision as the best way forward. 

My ex husband was in similar level of debt when we first got together, SC helped him loads but in the end after 2 years he went self managed. They can be an asset in the beginning as they will write to creditors on your behalf and the admin side of things can be handled by them. One payment, and they sort it pay it forward to the debts normally weighted against balance owed. If you can snowball and meet at least the minimum payments at the agreed interest rate, you would be honouring the agreements and no need to go down either default or AP route. Debt free boards are the first step and you will get a ton of advice there.