24k credit card debt - help, sanity check

[Deleted User]

2021rdsunshine said:

Someone will correct me soon if I’m wrong but I think the new rules coming up for DRO is the car value allowed is to increase as well 

To £4000 from 28th June

BlackPeony

RAS said:

An MSE SOA would help but if you add contents insurance, emergency fund, holiday, medical and dental, possibly pension, you'd be in DRO territory.

Are you in the RCN or Unison? See if they've got a debt advisor. DROs didn't exist when I was advising, although one was way over the current value limit.

The advantage is that it's one year, no contribution and takes the same time to clear your credit record. I'd wait until the new rules come in, though. And cancel the DMP meanwhile, once you've taken advice from the union.

Thank you, I am an RCN member indeed, so I should really get in touch. I was just so scared of any negative repercussions and risking my job, I never even thought of reaching out to the union ... I had no idea they provide this sort of support, I thought it was only job-related issues they'd deal with. 
I've just filled out the SOA provided here in the link and with the details I transferred over it says net assetts £35 (not £109), so I might've missed out on some items with my DMP with StepChange, I will get in touch for a review until I get union help as well. 
Thank you so much all, it means so much that you are so supportive and non-judgemental! x

Grumpelstiltskin

Honestly don't bother with a Stepchange review, cancel your DMP and stop your payments. By the end of June with help you may just be able to apply for a DRO or after you have received defaults you may be able to run your own DMP. Nothing terrible is going to happen between now and June so don't worry.

2021rdsunshine

I would confirm your car value, of course depending on the car you have being 10 years old might be valued less than you think. By the way I know a nurse manager who has an IVA ( debt option due to high volume of debts and a property to protect) and she is still practicing . 

BlackPeony

Thank you so much, got lots to read up on, I'll message again later this year to let you know how I got on! Really appreciate everyone's help! x

BlackPeony

Hello! 

What does everyone think about these changes with the retailers banks selling accounts on please, namely Tesco Bank being taken over by Barclays and Sainsbury’s Bank being sold to Natwest? 

I fear for the rule never bank with the places you have debts with - my main current accounts are now Barclays and Natwest, one of them being a new switch after falling into debt. 

Two of my main CC debts are Tesco and Sainsbury’s…

I was looking at banking groups trying to figure out who belongs to which group, but I feel like I’m running out of ‘safe’ banks to switch my current account to as I have so many scattered CC debts (x9) and all banks seem to linked to each other somehow. 

Also don’t really trust these neobanks like Monzo Chase or Revolut to keep my salary in.. they’d be last resort. 
I’d appreciate any opinions as I fear I might be overthinking again? Says me typing this at 4am after reading a few articles online..
Thank you! x

Rob5342

Starling, Monzo and Chase are perfectly safe as they are FSCS protected so if anything happened to them you'd get your money back. Starling and Monzo have much better apps the other banks too and they are always my top recommendation for anyone. 

Did you stop your payments as mentioned before to get defaults? Once defaulted the debts are likely to be sold so they won't be anything to do with the original bank any more. 

Also your boyfriend will find out about everything, the only question is when. It's better to juat tell him and deal with it now so you can get on with everything else. 

Floss

BlackPeony said:

 

Also don’t really trust these neobanks like Monzo Chase or Revolut to keep my salary in.. they’d be last resort. 

Chase has been running as a bank in the USA for over 220 years & is part of JPMorgan Chase.

Monzo have been running for 9 years, as has Revolut.

All are fully functioning, registered, legally-run independent banks & there is no problem in having your salary paid into them.

Andyjflet

How are you getting on with your SOA, an accurate one always feels like you are then really getting stuck into this, I mean pounds and pence not just rounding numbers?

BlackPeony

Rob5342 said:

Starling, Monzo and Chase are perfectly safe as they are FSCS protected so if anything happened to them you'd get your money back. Starling and Monzo have much better apps the other banks too and they are always my top recommendation for anyone. 

Did you stop your payments as mentioned before to get defaults? Once defaulted the debts are likely to be sold so they won't be anything to do with the original bank any more. 

Also your boyfriend will find out about everything, the only question is when. It's better to juat tell him and deal with it now so you can get on with everything else. 

Wow, really, that’s so great to hear then! I only heard / read quite negative or on the fence reviews about them, I’m actually relieved reading this and I will definitely look into maybe a Chase and a Monzo account then. 

I did stop my payments for 2 months only but then I ‘chickened out’ and restarted my DMP as the calling/ letters and messages was all so stressful.. I am now defaulted on 5 accounts which is not bad in such a short period of time, NewDay seems to be holding on the longest for some reason. 

One good thing that happened in the interim is that I placed all cards on the table with my boyfriend and he is now aware of everything. He was a lot more understanding than I thought and never once threatened us to leave the house, only asked me to manage this responsibly and to avoid having any financial associations with him as he doesn’t want any issues moving forward, which I completely get.