Help required with large Persistent Credit Card Debt. Have had a recent first Default.

theville32

Hi sourcrates, thanks for your reply and clarifying the late payment charges. As well as their frequency and when the charges end eg after they default.

Would it be possible to get your opinion on this question I asked previously (below), as it would be great to know if I should be contacting the banks or not. Thanks!

"One thing he did suggest to do was to call all of my Credit Card / Barclays Bounce Back Loan companies and ask them to put a "Hold Action" on each account. Saying I was having financial difficulties and asking them to freeze interest/penalty payments etc. He said this would give me time to put a budget together for Business Debtline and work out a plan.

I wondered what other members thought of this approach though? I was worried that this might delay the companies Defaulting my accounts, which I understand is the goal eg the sooner they Default my accounts, the sooner I will be able to clear my credit rating".

sourcrates

Official debt advice from sources such as Business debtline will always advise such a course of action, as its the standard default position to engage with your lender, to show goodwill, and to come to an amicable agreement to repay what you owe, all very lovely indeed.

Under the above scenario, you are likely to get arrangement to pay markers, and be granted a "temporary payment arrangement" which will be reviewed in say 6 months time, that`s the sort of deal you would expect if you wanted to keep the account open and live, and be able to re-use it at a later date.

But that`s not what you want, advice on these boards comes from years of experience of how the system really works, you want interest to stop permanently, the debt to default, and then probably sold on to a 3rd party, where further down the line settlement offers will/could be available.

The only sure fire way to do this is to stop talking to your lenders and withhold all payments, go radio silent, and let the default process unravel.

Those are your choices, its up to you how you want to play this.

curlu

Is there anything to be gained by asking creditors to default the debt? I know they have to go through the motions but I feel like just saying” I can’t pay, no amount of calls, texts or emails will change that. please default me! But I suspect that would be engaging with them 🙁

theville32

Just an update. I am currently getting a lot of phone calls from various banks and credit card companies. I say that I am not pepared to give any details over the phone in case its a scam. They then ask that I call them back to discuss the accounts.

I have tried telling tell them that I would prefer to be contacted by post only. Is there anyway that I can get them to contact me by post only eg write to them/call them etc? Thanks.

curlu

Can you block the numbers? I ignored all call’s and they did stop, but I did write to everyone asking them for “forbearance” while I discuss with Stepchange. I plan to continue to ignore them all until default. As they only have a mobile number for me it’s easy to screen. In my letters asking for forebearance I asked them to write, but I expect they will start calling again after to 30 days. I arranged a UK Postbox address so I set aside time once a week to review what’s arrived without the daily stress of letters arriving, barclaycard so far are the worst sending sometimes 2 different letters on the sane day.

SpireCaptain

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81890212#Comment_81890212

Not looking forward to that, I've 2 x Barclaycard and a Tesco under the same banking umbrella so I'll gird my loins for the onslaught

sourcrates

The devil is in the detail, so you must do things correctly, and use the correct terminology, you send them a letter, a letter is a legally binding document deemed to have come from the person in question.

Under the General Data Protection Regulations, you are able to choose how you are contacted by creditors.

You write and tell them to contact you in writing only, make sure you mention GDPR.

They must comply with your request, they are liable to large fines from the ICO if they do not honour your wishes.

Specify a date in your letter by which time they must comply with what you are asking, allow them 28 days to update their systems, after that, if anyone persists in calling/texting/emailing etc make a note of each breach, which company, dates and times etc, and then make a complaint to the ICO.

theville32

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81890317#Comment_81890317

Thanks for your recent comments on the persistent phone calls. Barclays does seem to be the main bank calling and I have now added their phone number to my contacts so I can screen their calls. Its still stressful though as I don't normally ignore calls from anyone.

sourcrates, is there anywhere that we can get a template letter that includes all the relevant information that we must mention when asking creditors to only contact us by post? Thanks again everyone.

RhiBi

@theville32 I’ve put call screening on my phone (iPhone) so that calls for unknown numbers have to state who they are, I can then choose whether to answer or not. It’s working well for me.

sourcrates

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81899070#Comment_81899070

Check out the ICO website, they have a template letter there.