Vanquis refusing to help me, Urgent advice needed please!

NBE97

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Grumpelstiltskin

OK don't panic and try and stop worrying.

These unsecured debts are at the bottom of your list, you have to cover your mortgage and utilities and food. If there is nothing left over to pay credit card debts then so be it.

You need to check you will be getting all the benefits you are entitled to and there will be a solution, do you qualify and receive PIP?

Grumpelstiltskin

I guess until you receive benefits you are not going to be able to fill the income part in on here but at least fill the  outgoings out.

SOA Calculator (lemonfool.co.uk)  If you want to post it on here format it for MSE

Remember if you can't afford to pay anything off the credit cards then that's it at the moment, nothing terrible is going to happen.

Grumpelstiltskin

OK Have you claimed the single person Council Tax discount? and is your water metered?

Grumpelstiltskin

Yes your water is not bad for a single person.

How much are your debts in total?

sourcrates

Relax, credit card debts are all non priority debts, credit card companies rarely help customers in financial difficulties, they usually just refer them to one of the debt charities.

Ok, nothing silly is going to happen over this, Vanquis will go through their standard collection process with you, letters/calls/emails/texts that sort of rubbish, after they get tired of that, they may pass your account to a debt collector, or they may decide to sell it, either way, its nothing to be worried about, in fact most DCA will be more inclined to listen to your reasons why you can`t pay.

You don`t need to do anything, keep an eye on calls letters etc, but don`t react to them, not until you get a letter saying your debt has been transferred or assigned to so and so, and they introduce themselves.

At that point you can write and explain your circumstances, its more than likely your account will be returned to Vanquis, be aware, this scenario may be repeated a number of times with different collectors, unless the account is sold (you will be informed in writing of this) in which case it might be put on hold, written off, or anyone of a dozen other scenarios, important thing is not to panic, you don`t have to worry over this.

Grumpelstiltskin

One word of warning. PIP I hope you received advice on how to fill in your claim form as if you have looked on the benefits board here an awful lot of claims are turned down and you have to be prepared to go through all the motions of appeals etc. in order to get what you are entitled to. Is there any reason you didn't claim PIP earlier? It is not means tested and if you qualify you could have been receiving it whilst you were working.

sourcrates

PIP is all about explaining how a condition affects you personally, in your daily life, not so much about the actual condition itself.
I claim PIP, I have 3 herniated discs in my back that stop me from been able to do various tasks, my claim for personal care was approved within 8 weeks, but not for mobility, I had to appeal that and it took 9 months, but I won.

Brie

You could try sending Vanquis a letter to say due to your current circumstances you are unable to make payments and so need them to stop interest being charged and will make a token payment of £1 a month until money is sorted.  They may not like this and they may say no (again) but that at least will make the situation clear to them.  Some companies are better at accepting this if it comes from a recognised debt advice organisation like NationalDebtline, StepChange, Citizen's Advice or a Community Money Adviser.  Christians against Poverty is another useful group that may be operating in your are.  

You may want to do the same with the other 2 debts too even though they are currently being nice.  Best to treat all creditors the same and it sounds like you don't have much to spread amongst them in any case.  

Grumpelstiltskin

So for £804 Vanquis are not going to do anything.

Write to them and tell them you can't afford to pay and you are in the process of claiming benefits. 

Really you should treat all of them the same so don't pay the other 2 either write to them and tell them the same as Vanquis.

Nothing terrible is going to happen just as Sourcrates says they may bombard you with E Mails, texts phone calls just ignore them, if they do phone tell them you will only communicate by letter and put the phone down.

Remember you are in charge not them, don't be intimidated by anything they say.

fatbelly

Yes, good advice above. These debts are not a problem.

You do have to get your council tax sorted as you will still have to pay something, even with council tax support. It's a debt that can go bad quickly if neglected.

The other one that needs attention is your mortgage. You may not be able to make full payments for a few months so best to let them know