New To Cancelling D/D and Already Made Mistake - HELP !

oneofnine

Hi All , I am so glad to have found this thread .We are a couple in our late 60's .We've always paid our debt but in 2010 I had to leave the NHS to become a carer for my husband .That was the end of my career and the start  of our credit card debt .Without running them up , we couldn't have survived .We went from from good salaries to benefits .We now live in a cheap rented flat for our age group .This year we reached rock bottom .Our cards were maxed out - £30,000 each , and then we got demands to increase the amounts which we had to borrow to do (from family) .A thing called Purchase Interest kept being added to each statement of our cards , which was adding hundreds .We realised we couldn't keep this up .Yesterday , we cancelled our D/D's on our credit cards .I've just read you shouldn't use a switcher when you open up a new bank account , but belatedly .I have already agreed for Santander to do the switch for us .
I am trying follow what we should do .I have learned to stay away from debt help agencies , cancel direct debits on credit cards (we have no store cards or loans ) . And then we sit tight until the credit cards go into default ? is that right ? we ignore all letters / phone calls etc , until we are in default and our card debt is sold on then negotiate a payment plan with them ? sorry , I am 70 soon .This is all new to me .I really need someone with patience to put the simple steps laid out .Many thanks all x

RAS

With respect to the immediate issue, can you cancel the Santander account, or cancel the the switch? Contact them as soon as possible this morning.

If not, you'll have to arrange a third basic account (no credit check) and get your income paid in then manually transfer the essential DDs.

Next off do a Statement of Affairs, because you are going to have to live within your means going forward. Read the NEW Posters sticky by sourcrates at the top of the first page. That includes a link in their signature to the stoozing SOA.

Format for MSE and post here.