Help with Very Catalogue debt

deedeeitsme55

Hi newbie here so please be gentle. I separated from hubby last July 2021. I was accepted for social housing and got my little bungalow in September 2022. I had a Very account already and the credit limit was £2000. I had to use this to furnish my new home and did so on a buy now pay in 12 months basis. This was fine as I thought my old house would be sold by then. I thought wrong. Ex still living there and no intention of selling yet. I can’t afford to force him to sell and to be honest the less contact the better. He has mental and psychotic problems and I was lucky to get out alive and sane. Anyway the issue I have now is I cannot afford to pay the £166 per month. I’m on universal credit and I’m my dads main carer and get £864 per month. Every month is a struggle. I’m not sure what to do about the payments. Do I speak to them and see what they come up with. I haven’t defaulted yet but will do this month. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

RAS

Any other debts? Suggest you stop paying the Very debt ASAP. Don't speak to them, just stop paying.

Given their horrendous interest rates, the sooner you do this the sooner they should issue a default. That will stop charges and interest being added.

Mean-time save as much of that monthly payment as you can to set up an emergency fund, that goes into a separate interest-bearing account. That way you have something with which to replace the cooker or fridge if it breaks down. 

And do a proper budget so that you get a handle on your expenditure. And in future at least look at freecycle, freegle, and your local exchange forums rather than buying new stuff.

deedeeitsme55

Thank you…no I don’t have any other debts. An emergency fund is a very good idea. I had to go the Very route as I literally left with nothing including money. 

So I don’t contact them and wait to default but what then? 

Bradden

@RAS I was surprised to see your suggestion to just cancel the payment and not contact them. I'd have thought that advice was generally to speak to companies if you are struggling. Why would this not be advisable?

sourcrates

deedeeitsme55 said:

Thank you…no I don’t have any other debts. An emergency fund is a very good idea. I had to go the Very route as I literally left with nothing including money. 

So I don’t contact them and wait to default but what then? 

If you stop paying, your account will go to collections, who will try and ascertain why you are not paying, it would be in your best interests if you wrote and told them of your circumstances, payment difficulties etc.

After that, the most likely scenario is your debt will either be passed to a debt collector, or sold to a debt purchaser, either way, if you can`t afford to pay anything, you write and tell them that, state your case, and you're reasoning behind it, they won`t expect you to pay anything if it`s not affordable, the usual procedure would be to place your account on hold for a number of days/months, then come back to you to see if anything has changed, this may happen a few times, and could eventually lead to a debt write off, if your circumstances do not improve sufficiently.

sourcrates

Bradden said:

@RAS I was surprised to see your suggestion to just cancel the payment and not contact them. I'd have thought that advice was generally to speak to companies if you are struggling. Why would this not be advisable?

Catalogue companies such as Very (Shop Direct Group Limited) have a reputation for asking for unreasonably high payment arrangements, so much so that where they are concerned, it`s sometime much easier, and a lot less hassle, to just let the debt default and be sold on, as the new owner is normally a lot easier to deal with than shop direct was.

fatbelly

The SDFS group also have a reputation in being unhelpful and being very slow to default.

At the end of the day if the strategy is insolvency or full & final settlement then this doesn't matter.

Good initial advice from @RAS delivered very promptly

deedeeitsme55

Thank you all for your replies. The payment is due on 13th November and will not/cannot be paid. I'll wait for them to contact me. I'm going to list income and outgoings ready to send when needed. I feel ashamed that I have gotten myself into this situation in the first place. I  had a look at the statement of finances from when I first signed up for the account and they have me down as having 50000 disposable income, I wish, not sure where they got that figure from. 

sourcrates

deedeeitsme55 said:

Thank you all for your replies. The payment is due on 13th November and will not/cannot be paid. I'll wait for them to contact me. I'm going to list income and outgoings ready to send when needed. I feel ashamed that I have gotten myself into this situation in the first place. I  had a look at the statement of finances from when I first signed up for the account and they have me down as having 50000 disposable income, I wish, not sure where they got that figure from. 

Wasn`t unheard of for that section on the application form to be pre-filled back in the day, catalogue companies main market are young mums, single parents etc, they liked to hook them at a tender age, and keep them as customers for life.

They also didn`t always bother with the requirement to sign a credit agreement, one would be sent out but further orders would still be sent whether or not it was returned.

I would not be too keen to engage with them, I'd wait until they sell it on to the likes of Lowell, or Cabot or similar, otherwise you will just end up more frustrated with their lack of cooperation.