Dealing with PRA Group

Onebrokelady

I'm currently on year 5 of a DMP with Stepchange paying £90 a month and not due to finish until 2034🙀🙀 all my debts are now with PRA and are defaulted. I am now struggling massively to pay the £90 because I've had to reduce my hours at work due to ill health and all my bills have gone through the roof. I contacted SC  two months ago to do my annual review where they realised I will have more going out than coming in so they cancelled that months payment while I sorted out my finances. I was hoping to claim Universal Credit but it turns out I'm not entitled to it. I'm now going to go self managed but can only offer £40 a month has anyone had dealings with PRA that can tell me how helpful or not that they are. I'm also worried they will restart adding interest so how likely is that to happen. I'm going to phone SC tomorrow to tell them I'm going self managed and I will also phone PRA to tell them the same and let them know how much I can afford 

Cotswoldtony

Hi, sorry to hear about the position you now find yourself in I hope this information will help.

The problem with DMP is they only work with a regular income over a period of low inflation to keep your outgoings to a minimum.

Your DMP until 2034 is madness in the current economic climate that will not improve with high inflation.

Offering less money each month just makes the situation unattainable and 2034 an impossible goal to achieve.

DMP normally means you have agreed to a company taking care of all your debt to your creditors who want their money but you are paying for that service it's not free.

You could probably do much better yourself to reduce or right off a large amount of your debt in a much shorter period dealing directly with your creditors especially if you tell them you may file for bankruptcy if they refuse to negotiate a way forward.

Although bankruptcy sounds terrible in some cases it's a good way to start again with no debt if it's the best option available given your circumstances.

 

Saveitdad79

Hi,

First, realise you are not alone in this battle.

I myself contacted SC in 2017 and since then I have been paying TPP to my creditors including PRA. My two kids were born during this period and I didn't realise how this would impact my finances. Since last year only my partner has been able to work full-time. All these affected me mentally and physically. I started therapy which helped, still doing it. You can find them either through GP or local council-operated centres at a reduced cost or for free.

With your default and if you are in year 5, you just need to wait one more year.

https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/debt-collection/default-notices-and-missed-payments.aspx

Read this article. I didn't know this a few years ago. After 6year since the account is defaulted the debts will be written off, even you paid or not. So with SC you can ask for a TPP and continue paying £1 to each creditor until you have enough income to pay. PRA was good with me all these years. I have £3046 with them and still paying £1 to my creditors. I managed to pay off 2 of my loans and I am working on the next one. Looking forward to October when this will be all written off from my file.

My suggestion will be to put all effort into yourself to get better physically and mentally. Same as the airline rules, put your mask first. It will need some courage to do this when the debts will make you sleepless. But bit by bit work on your health and then you will find ways to remove all these hassles.

All the best.

fatbelly

Onebrokelady said:

I'm currently on year 5 of a DMP with Stepchange paying £90 a month and not due to finish until 2034🙀🙀 all my debts are now with PRA and are defaulted. I am now struggling massively to pay the £90 because I've had to reduce my hours at work due to ill health and all my bills have gone through the roof. I contacted SC  two months ago to do my annual review where they realised I will have more going out than coming in so they cancelled that months payment while I sorted out my finances. I was hoping to claim Universal Credit but it turns out I'm not entitled to it. I'm now going to go self managed but can only offer £40 a month has anyone had dealings with PRA that can tell me how helpful or not that they are. I'm also worried they will restart adding interest so how likely is that to happen. I'm going to phone SC tomorrow to tell them I'm going self managed and I will also phone PRA to tell them the same and let them know how much I can afford 

Fair enough. They can't have what you haven't got. But it's going to create a very long-term dmp.

What about just asking them to write it off?

https://nationaldebtline.org/sample-letters/write-off-debt/

This means to stop pursuing the debt. It is not referring to the entry being removed from your credit file, which happens automatically six years after a default is registered.

Token payments are only supposed to be a short-term strategy. In the long term all they do is continually acknowledge the debt without paying it off.

Onebrokelady

Cotswoldtony said:

Hi, sorry to hear about the position you now find yourself in I hope this information will help.

The problem with DMP is they only work with a regular income over a period of low inflation to keep your outgoings to a minimum.

Your DMP until 2034 is madness in the current economic climate that will not improve with high inflation.

Offering less money each month just makes the situation unattainable and 2034 an impossible goal to achieve.

DMP normally means you have agreed to a company taking care of all your debt to your creditors who want their money but you are paying for that service it's not free.

You could probably do much better yourself to reduce or right off a large amount of your debt in a much shorter period dealing directly with your creditors especially if you tell them you may file for bankruptcy if they refuse to negotiate a way forward.

Although bankruptcy sounds terrible in some cases it's a good way to start again with no debt if it's the best option available given your circumstances.

 

I was told Bankruptcy wasn't an option for me because I own my house. I actually only own half my house because it's a shared ownership so I pay rent on the other half.
Stepchange is a free service they don't charge any money for their DMPs 

Onebrokelady

Saveitdad79 said:

Hi,

First, realise you are not alone in this battle.

I myself contacted SC in 2017 and since then I have been paying TPP to my creditors including PRA. My two kids were born during this period and I didn't realise how this would impact my finances. Since last year only my partner has been able to work full-time. All these affected me mentally and physically. I started therapy which helped, still doing it. You can find them either through GP or local council-operated centres at a reduced cost or for free.

With your default and if you are in year 5, you just need to wait one more year.

https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/debt-collection/default-notices-and-missed-payments.aspx

Read this article. I didn't know this a few years ago. After 6year since the account is defaulted the debts will be written off, even you paid or not. So with SC you can ask for a TPP and continue paying £1 to each creditor until you have enough income to pay. PRA was good with me all these years. I have £3046 with them and still paying £1 to my creditors. I managed to pay off 2 of my loans and I am working on the next one. Looking forward to October when this will be all written off from my file.

My suggestion will be to put all effort into yourself to get better physically and mentally. Same as the airline rules, put your mask first. It will need some courage to do this when the debts will make you sleepless. But bit by bit work on your health and then you will find ways to remove all these hassles.

All the best.

Thanks for the advice 😊I thought the debt was just removed from your credit file after 6 years but you still have to pay it back 🤷‍♀️ I owe over £11,000 so I'm not sure they would write that off to be honest. 
Good luck to you too 😊

fatbelly

Onebrokelady said:

I was told Bankruptcy wasn't an option for me because I own my house. I actually only own half my house because it's a shared ownership so I pay rent on the other half.
Stepchange is a free service they don't charge any money for their DMPs 

That is correct on both points

Onebrokelady

fatbelly said:

Onebrokelady said:

I'm currently on year 5 of a DMP with Stepchange paying £90 a month and not due to finish until 2034🙀🙀 all my debts are now with PRA and are defaulted. I am now struggling massively to pay the £90 because I've had to reduce my hours at work due to ill health and all my bills have gone through the roof. I contacted SC  two months ago to do my annual review where they realised I will have more going out than coming in so they cancelled that months payment while I sorted out my finances. I was hoping to claim Universal Credit but it turns out I'm not entitled to it. I'm now going to go self managed but can only offer £40 a month has anyone had dealings with PRA that can tell me how helpful or not that they are. I'm also worried they will restart adding interest so how likely is that to happen. I'm going to phone SC tomorrow to tell them I'm going self managed and I will also phone PRA to tell them the same and let them know how much I can afford 

Fair enough. They can't have what you haven't got. But it's going to create a very long-term dmp.

What about just asking them to write it off?

https://nationaldebtline.org/sample-letters/write-off-debt/

This means to stop pursuing the debt. It is not referring to the entry being removed from your credit file, which happens automatically six years after a default is registered.

Token payments are only supposed to be a short-term strategy. In the long term all they do is continually acknowledge the debt without paying it off.

I managed to do a new budget online with SC today and my new payment is now £40. They did say that they will review my options because of the long time frame and they are going to email me within five days. It's the flaming energy bills that are crippling my budget  and I'm now living on my own after my daughter moved out so my bills will reduce but I'm  not sure how much yet. 

fatbelly

Onebrokelady said:

Thanks for the advice 😊I thought the debt was just removed from your credit file after 6 years but you still have to pay it back 🤷‍♀️ I owe over £11,000 so I'm not sure they would write that off to be honest. 
Good luck to you too 😊

Broadly speaking, correct. The entry drops off your credit file six years after being defaulted or settled, whichever happens sooner

The status of your actual debt is separate from that. If you've been paying and/or corresponding over the years, then you remain liable.

If you stopped paying & corresponding before the default was registered then the debt would become statute barred around the same time that it dropped off your file, assuming no court claim had been started in the meantime.

As for write-offs, you don't know till you try. A 30-year repayment period is not regarded as 'reasonable' so it's always worth asking, and backing this up with evidence of ill health.

stymied

Have you applied for your single occupant council tax discount too?

InAPickle76

Onebrokelady said:

I'm currently on year 5 of a DMP with Stepchange paying £90 a month and not due to finish until 2034🙀🙀 all my debts are now with PRA and are defaulted. I am now struggling massively to pay the £90 because I've had to reduce my hours at work due to ill health and all my bills have gone through the roof. I contacted SC  two months ago to do my annual review where they realised I will have more going out than coming in so they cancelled that months payment while I sorted out my finances. I was hoping to claim Universal Credit but it turns out I'm not entitled to it. I'm now going to go self managed but can only offer £40 a month has anyone had dealings with PRA that can tell me how helpful or not that they are. I'm also worried they will restart adding interest so how likely is that to happen. I'm going to phone SC tomorrow to tell them I'm going self managed and I will also phone PRA to tell them the same and let them know how much I can afford 

We have 4 debts with PRA and email them every year with an updated income and expenditure form. We have reduced how much we pay them over the years due to the financial pressures first with the pandemic then with current cost of living. We have never had a problem - they have accepted the reduced payments with no squibbles and even asked if we are definitely sure we are able to afford it. Never had a phone call or threatening letter - find them very helpful and understanding. Good luck x