Just want some advice on my next steps to be debt free

quxuhog

I’ve been looking on here and Beat the Bailiffs and just want some advice on what to do in regards to my debts.

• Novuna Consumer Finance (Hitachi) – £8,765.84
  Old £8,000 personal loan. I made a complaint because they refused to default the account after missed payments; it was upheld and the default has now been back-dated to three months after the first missed payment, so it’s finally showing as defaulted correctly. Currently paying £48.36 per month through StepChange.
• Monzo Loan – £5,878.88
  £7,000 loan that has defaulted. Paying £34.90 per month.
• PRA Group (Monzo Flex) – £2,532.29
  Defaulted Monzo Flex credit account now with PRA Group. Paying £31.98 per month.
• Link Financial (Marbles) – £2,099.59
  Old Marbles credit card sold to Link Financial. Paying £12.06 per month.
• Monzo Overdraft – £1,315.75
  Still owned by Monzo. Paying £13.70 per month.
• Capital One (Europe) – £374.84
  Small credit-card balance. Paying £5 per month.
• Link Financial (Vanquis) – £154.92
  Old Vanquis account now with Link Financial. Paying £5 per month.
• Barclaycard – £42.08
  Small residual balance. Paying £5 per month.
• QuidMarket – £28.88
  Payday-style loan. Paying £5 per month.

Hypothetically, next year I could clear around 25 % of the total balance. Would that be enough for full-and-final settlements on all of these?

thank you. 

Exodi

It's hard to advise on the little detail provided - you need to provide a full statement of affairs so your full financial situation can be understood and tailored advice can be provided.

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

I know it takes a bit of time collecting all these details, but it's also very helpful for you to understand where all your money is going, plus you can appreciate the response will be very different if you're earning £1.5k per month or £15k per month. It might be useful to know what the interest rates are for each debt, but if all formally defaulted, it might not be relevant.

You also mention you're paying your first debt through 'StepChange' which suggests you're already in a DMP? Could you expand on this situation? The most obvious advice might be to raise these other debts with them and bring them under your DMP (unless they already are?).

Paying off the debt is only addressing the symptoms, not the cause. If applicable, you may need to address why you got into this debt - fair enough if it was related to an emergency, but if it was a classic tale of spending more than you earn, you need to work on this - you don't fix a leak by mopping up the water.

ManyWays

How old are the defaults?