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

Smudgeismydog

theville32 said:

katsu said:

Once the studio rent stops in March, you'll be able to meet your minimum payments I think, unless I'm missing something? 

Hi katsu, thanks for your message. Yes, I will not have to pay for the £1000 p/mth of studio rent/expenses. However, I may have to put some of my equipment into storage which will cost money (£150-250 p/thm?). I also need to start paying my share of the home rent/expenses asap, which would be £725 for rent and £125-150 for home expenses. 

I am also unsure whether UC will still be able to help, once my wife's new job's salary settles, my work expenses are reduced, my income increases etc. So there are a lot of variables including how much the freelance work will bring in and how soon. Thanks

I do appreciate you have probably invested a huge amount of time (and money) into your business, but could you pick up an employed position sharpish to just bring some money in? Even if it’s part-time or not something you love?

theville32

Smudgeismydog said:

theville32 said:

katsu said:

Once the studio rent stops in March, you'll be able to meet your minimum payments I think, unless I'm missing something? 

Hi katsu, thanks for your message. Yes, I will not have to pay for the £1000 p/mth of studio rent/expenses. However, I may have to put some of my equipment into storage which will cost money (£150-250 p/thm?). I also need to start paying my share of the home rent/expenses asap, which would be £725 for rent and £125-150 for home expenses. 

I am also unsure whether UC will still be able to help, once my wife's new job's salary settles, my work expenses are reduced, my income increases etc. So there are a lot of variables including how much the freelance work will bring in and how soon. Thanks

I do appreciate you have probably invested a huge amount of time (and money) into your business, but could you pick up an employed position sharpish to just bring some money in? Even if it’s part-time or not something you love?

Hi katsu, thanks for your message. While I have invested a lot of time and money in my Studio business, I have decided to cease this business in the next 3-4 months. 

I am currently approaching old clients to inform them that my business is closing, which will hopefully bring in some final jobs from them.

With regards to picking up an employed position sharpish, this isn't as easy as it sounds. My wife works an hour away on Mon, Tues and Wed every week. I do the school runs on these days at the moment and all the cooking etc. She suffers from Long Covid so I need to support her as much as possible with school runs, domestic duties so she can make it throught the week without collapsing from fatigue.

I will be looking for some freelance work as soon as the Studio is packed up and I have moved out. However, I haven't worked in this industry for 4-5 years so need to catch up on technological advancements etc first, before looking for work. I will be doing this over the next few months, when I am not st the Studio packing it up. 

Unfortunately, its not as simple as one would hope. Thanks for your thoughts though. I am doing my best with the circumstances.

theville32

Hi there, can I ask how I would do a 2nd SOA, with just my own financial details? I am worried about over-writing the current one which has combined financials of my wife and I. Thanks!

RhiBi

The only way I did 2 was to copy and paste the original one into my notes then re did it.  I couldn’t find a way to save two.  If and when I need to revise the first I’ll need to copy it across from my notes.  They may be a less long winded way though!

SpireCaptain

There's the lemonfool one where you can format for MSE and also the stoozing one where you can save and tweak it. 

https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php

I filled in the lemonfool one. Probably as mentioned above copy and paste and do the sums manually. Or perhaps try to open lemonfool in incognito mode so a fresh form will generate to fill in?

theville32

I have just had a very stressful chat with my wife, explaining that the most effective way of dealing with my debt is to stop paying them all, leading to the cards/loans defaulting. This caused her to freak out a bit, as she is very by the book and see's this approach as not been above board. The idea of not paying back the full debt owed seems a bit shady. It also does not sit that well with me, although I can see the advantage of clearing the debt and rebuilding my credit file as soon as possible.

It would be great if a bunch of people on here could give me reasurance that this is the best approach and is a 'legit' way of dealing with my debt.

Some of the things my wife is worried about are :

1. Can the CC comp's/Banks/Debt Collectors come after my wife? We don't have any joint accounts, although are married and living together. 

2. Can the CC comp's/Banks/Debt Collectors seize any of our assets/property?

3. Will the CC comp's/Banks/Debt Collectors ever bang on the door, looking for assets to seize?

4. Will I/we have to go to court?

5. Are there any other Debt helplines/forums who might be able to offer the same advice as what this Forum is offering? I have been trying to sort my debt for years and Debt helplines always seem to push the DMP first approach. I understand this can take longer to clear debts and to clear your credit file.

Please note: I have been reading other members posts on this forum, who are 1-6 months ahead of me on this journey. There does seem to be a correct way of doing the Default first approach, the main point been to keep up good communication with the cc/Debt recovery companies and to follow a clear plan. I am able to manage this. 

6. It would be great to know if anyone has laid out the plan btw, on what to do when certain letters arrive from the Debt Collection companies. Sending out CCA Letters and questioning their Affordability practices. As well as how to deal with settlement offers etc.

7. I was still hoping to get some help from the Forum with finding out whether my Barclays Business Card was covered by the Consumer Credit Act/Agreement? As mentioned previously, when I called Barclays Business Card they were unable to give me this inforamtion. If anyone has had experience dealing with defaulting on a business credit card it would be great to hear from you too.

Thanks so much for any help and reasurrance you can give us. 

Grumpelstiltskin

Lets start with this.

1 No

2 No 

3 No

4 Unlikely but a CCJ is not the end of the world.

theville32

SpireCaptain said:

There's the lemonfool one where you can format for MSE and also the stoozing one where you can save and tweak it. 

https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php

I filled in the lemonfool one. Probably as mentioned above copy and paste and do the sums manually. Or perhaps try to open lemonfool in incognito mode so a fresh form will generate to fill in?

Thanks for letting me know about the stoozing site. It looks exactly the same with a diiferent URL, so hopefully I should be able to copy across the information and keep the two seperate SOA's. Thanks!

Grumpelstiltskin

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RAS

theville32 said:

I have just had a very stressful chat with my wife, explaining that the most effective way of dealing with my debt is to stop paying them all, leading to the cards/loans defaulting. This caused her to freak out a bit, as she is very by the book and see's this approach as not been above board. The idea of not paying back the full debt owed seems a bit shady. It also does not sit that well with me, although I can see the advantage of clearing the debt and rebuilding my credit file as soon as possible.

It would be great if a bunch of people on here could give me reasurance that this is the best approach and is a 'legit' way of dealing with my debt.

Some of the things my wife is worried about are :

1. Can the CC comp's/Banks/Debt Collectors come after my wife? We don't have any joint accounts, although are married and living together. 

Absolutely not. 

2. Can the CC comp's/Banks/Debt Collectors seize any of our assets/property?

For unsecured debt, no. Make sure the mortgage is paid.

3. Will the CC comp's/Banks/Debt Collectors ever bang on the door, looking for assets to seize?

You are confusing two things. Bailiffs can seize assets. They are more likely for unpaid CT or fines.

If any of your consumer creditors got a CCJ and you refused to pay or engage, the courts could grant an order but it's very very rare.

There are a few companies that knock on doors, they have the same rights as next door's cat. Tell them to leave. But they tend to be used to get a debtor who's not been in touch for years to engage.

4. Will I/we have to go to court?

If you engage with consumer creditors after the debt defaults, CCJs are unlikely. Credit unions and Amex are more likely but there are several letters first and you can often negotiate a deal before they act.

Which is why we say you've got to open snail mail.

Let's deal with a few basics first, in bold, above in line.

Creditors make money lending people money. They price in risk. The ones who make them most money can pay the minimum each month and never clear the debt. 

If the debtor doesn't pay, the creditor will eventually issue defaults. They can't take any action until they do so.  

If they are not getting an income, they'll sometimes sell to a market specialist in debt, at round 30 percent of the value. They  identify the more profitable accounts and off-load the rest by the thousand, as low as 5%.

Either way, the debt company can make a tidy profit agreeing a 50% discount and lower down the chain a 20% payment would be a good deal for them.