New to debt, please help

kevoxshockwave

OK thanks everyone, really appreciate it!

I habe avoided facing up to this for years so it's nice to have some freindly advice on how to start gettign out of this mess. 

I will do an SOA thsi week sometime and post it here. 

Thanks again!

kevoxshockwave

Oh one more question 
WHen should I contact the Debt Management place eg StepChange? Now, or when all my debts have defaulted?

kevoxshockwave

bump , if anyone can help much appreciated!

When should I contact the Debt Management place eg StepChange? Now, or when all my debts have defaulted?
Also what happens with overdrafts? As there are no 'payments' as such.... how to make these go to default?

Thanks in advance!

sourcrates

kevoxshockwave said:

bump , if anyone can help much appreciated!

When should I contact the Debt Management place eg StepChange? Now, or when all my debts have defaulted?
Also what happens with overdrafts? As there are no 'payments' as such.... how to make these go to default?

Thanks in advance!

Just to refer you back to my first post -

"Debt repayment should only start once defaults are all confirmed, that way all interest is stopped, and you have a clear 6 year window till your credit file heals".

Basically you don`t contact the debt place until the above has happened.

Overdraft debts are more complex, and take much longer to default, as there are no monthly payments the account will stay open until the bank are no longer happy with the amount of charges being accrued, at that point they will usually close your account, default you, and send the debt to a collector.

kevoxshockwave

Thanks sourcrates!

OK then, so i guess now its just a case of not paying my payments and waiting for everything to default...

Speaking of which, how do I know when they have defaulted? Does it come up on my Experian file?

I have an Experian account but only the free one... all it seems to tell me is the amount of debt I am in, and that it is across 4 Credit Cards and 2 loans. Will this also tell me when I have defaulted? Or do I need to pay for the full version of Experian? Or is there another way?

pelirocco

kevoxshockwave said:

bump , if anyone can help much appreciated!

When should I contact the Debt Management place eg StepChange? Now, or when all my debts have defaulted?
Also what happens with overdrafts? As there are no 'payments' as such.... how to make these go to default?

Thanks in advance!

Should the OP  open up a new bank account with a bank not linked to the ones they have overdrafts  with ?

sourcrates

kevoxshockwave said:

Thanks sourcrates!

OK then, so i guess now its just a case of not paying my payments and waiting for everything to default...

Speaking of which, how do I know when they have defaulted? Does it come up on my Experian file?

I have an Experian account but only the free one... all it seems to tell me is the amount of debt I am in, and that it is across 4 Credit Cards and 2 loans. Will this also tell me when I have defaulted? Or do I need to pay for the full version of Experian? Or is there another way?

Under section 87 of the consumer credit act, you will receive a default notice in the post, this is a document they are obliged to send you, it will inform you of what you should do to repair the breech, and in what time scale.

Of course you want defaults, so this will be for information purposes only, and will not require any sort of response from you.

Usually about a month after receiving this, your account should have defaulted, and it will show as such on your credit file, all three CRA`s are available to view online for free via various 3rd party websites, Google is your friend.

kevoxshockwave

sourcrates said:

kevoxshockwave said:

Thanks sourcrates!

OK then, so i guess now its just a case of not paying my payments and waiting for everything to default...

Speaking of which, how do I know when they have defaulted? Does it come up on my Experian file?

I have an Experian account but only the free one... all it seems to tell me is the amount of debt I am in, and that it is across 4 Credit Cards and 2 loans. Will this also tell me when I have defaulted? Or do I need to pay for the full version of Experian? Or is there another way?

Under section 87 of the consumer credit act, you will receive a default notice in the post, this is a document they are obliged to send you, it will inform you of what you should do to repair the breech, and in what time scale.

Of course you want defaults, so this will be for information purposes only, and will not require any sort of response from you.

Usually about a month after receiving this, your account should have defaulted, and it will show as such on your credit file, all three CRA`s are available to view online for free via various 3rd party websites, Google is your friend.

Thanks once again sourcrates. 
I'm going to post my SOA soon.
In the meantime I have cancelled all my DDs and making no further payments to my debts. 

thewad

Try Stepchange........I was in serious debt but not to my own bank so I never told them.....it meant I could keep the £1500 overdraft facility I had in place....meant I had an emergency fund available...9 years later in April 2020 and I was debt free and in Feb 2021 was mortgage free..........

kevoxshockwave

thewad said:

Try Stepchange........I was in serious debt but not to my own bank so I never told them.....it meant I could keep the £1500 overdraft facility I had in place....meant I had an emergency fund available...9 years later in April 2020 and I was debt free and in Feb 2021 was mortgage free..........

Cheers thewad, I intend to contact Stepchange once all my debts have defaulted. I don't really care about my credit rating as i don't live in the UK any more and don't intend to return.