£117,000 in debt.

deemy2004

Maybe you need to look at ways of upping your income ?

Perhaps a change of carreer, retraining... the £80k of debt may be the impetus for you to make some decisive changes in your life that you may look back on as the defining moment.

OOooohh. I sound like one of those horoscopes...


Anyway good luck ! and I hope you use this as an opportunity to make the changes !

crystal_clear

Hiya purple
I may have found the solution for you Please go check out this site http://bramleymanor.co.uk a friend of mine in default of i.v.a and threatened to be made bankrupt has been contacted by them and after the tourment they had faced at the prospect of losing there home they went to see these ppl at bramley with all the 1001 questions and came back with smiles on there faces and the weight lifted from there shoulders it appears they were in much the same situation as you and Bramley have said no worries they will sort them a mortgage out b4 they lose the house at a good rate and all debts will be gone via bankruptcy apart from the original and second mortgage which is where there remortgage will step in to combine both to the one from reputable high street lender (i understand 2% above todays better rates).
Please go to there web site they are so friendly they can answer your 1001 questions and i would hope you will be feeling the same as them by the time you have spoken to them .... this may not be for you I dont know but really what is it going to cost you to enquire

Jacster_2

I've had a quick look at the website you mentioned crystal clear. It talks about a free consultation. I assume that means you pay later?

I'm no expert but I always see Debt_Free_Chick warning people away from companies that charge a fee as there are support services out there that cost you nothing and give good advice. And DFC knows her stuff...

Do you need to pay this company?

crystal_clear

Jacster wrote:

I've had a quick look at the website you mentioned crystal clear. It talks about a free consultation. I assume that means you pay later?

I'm no expert but I always see Debt_Free_Chick warning people away from companies that charge a fee as there are support services out there that cost you nothing and give good advice. And DFC knows her stuff...

Do you need to pay this company?

Hi Jacster ?? how can you say you knock this company given that you say you wouldnt pay and the site says free consultation at which point does it say it will charge you ???? And if i know my friends they will not pay anymore money out without any firm guarantees..... they are good and i would assume would get there fees just like a mortgage broker gets theres for the setting up of the mortgage......
Its free to ask for advice so why knock it give it a go what have you got to lose !!!!! :rotfl:

louise1234_2

It looks like a fee charging company to me.

Basically they cannot do anything CCCS, payplan or CAB can't, but they have much plusher offices and pushy salespeople paid for by cash from people who ought to be putting it towards their creditors!

The website is very well set up, cleverly 'forget' to mention the charges later on. It promotes a free consultation, at which point the sales staff work their magic & sign you up for a DMP or IVA that they get a % each month!

They aren't a charity - the are in business ot make a profit!

crystal_clear

louise1234 wrote:

It looks like a fee charging company to me.

Basically they cannot do anything CCCS, payplan or CAB can't, but they have much plusher offices and pushy salespeople paid for by cash from people who ought to be putting it towards their creditors!

The website is very well set up, cleverly 'forget' to mention the charges later on. It promotes a free consultation, at which point the sales staff work their magic & sign you up for a DMP or IVA that they get a % each month!

They aren't a charity - the are in business ot make a profit!

I am sorry but again you are wrong and feel you are pre judgeing without knowing the facts ..they can do more than payplan CCCs or the CAB ....(which of those can offer a mortgage to a bankrupt in order to retain there present house at 2% above high street rates and from most high street lenders answer NONE I THINK) My friends were in a DMP with a charging company all went wrong then transfered to an IVA with another company who is putting them in default and they will be made bankrupt... They have been bitten twice now and thought they were going to lose everything Yes they have been fools and know it so are not going to jump out of the fying pan back into the fire. They went to see these ppl asked 1001 questions and this company answered every one took hours of course but they will do what they say and it hasnt cost them a penny ......... Please do not judge a book by its cover if this company can be of help to Purple why not let her try it before dismissing it on plain assumptions ........ Let purple make her own mind up and if it does charge fees which i dont think it does then she can say NO
no one is forcing her down this route ..... As no one forced my friends down this route and they came back with smiles and the knowledge they will be better off when made bankrupt and keep there house :rolleyes:

louise1234_2

crystal clear - do you work for this company?? The concencous is fee charging DMC are to be avoided, I'm not really sure why you are recommending them. Basically ther debtor will take LONGER to pay of debts with a fee charging DMC. How is that beneficial??

I may be "pre-judgeing" as you call it, but this is a private company, who need to make a money to pay staff, accomodation, bills, huge advertising campaigns etc then make some more for profit... Perhaps you are being a little naive, but where do you think they get this money from?? CCCS & Payplan are charities, funded by banks etc. Other DMC's get this from fees!

I am sure they did 'help' your friend, but and the fact that the sales people are so nice is what gets them custom. IMHO, all fee-charging DMC are morally dubious, making money out of people who are in a very bad way financially. They use tricks, such as the free consultation then rope you in, by being so nice & willing to help, saying exaclty what you want to hear then mentioning their % when they have you where they want you.

crystal_clear

louise1234 wrote:

crystal clear - do you work for this company?? The concencous is fee charging DMC are to be avoided, I'm not really sure why you are recommending them. Basically ther debtor will take LONGER to pay of debts with a fee charging DMC. How is that beneficial??.

Louise to answer your question No i do not work for this company or any other associated with it.
And to answer your other question Yes they do offer DMP's to ppl and yes i would assume they charge for that but if you had read my posts you would see that i mention this as a back up to Purples problem relating to going Bankrupt and all unsecured debt would be gone as with my friends situation but then there comes the problem of the secured debts on the property and the mental anguish of losing the property has been eased for my friends as they no longer have to face that.
I would assume that in this case Bramley manor would be setting up as a mortgage broker does and gets there fees via arrangement of the mortgage like any other high street mortgage lender ( as i stated they are offering a mortgage on the property at 2% above high street from a high street lender) all debts gone within the bankruptcy order just leaving the mortgage and second mortgage at much higher rates to be consolidated into the one from Bramley at a better rate .as stated ....... How can that be a bad thing .......
my friends have light at the end of there tunnel now al; though they will be declared bankrupt the only debt they will have is the house they live in and they can finally start to live again instead of work work and more work trying to pay all the DMP and other bills OOOOh and there house will cost them less aswell because they are on higher interest rates than Bramley have offered

At this point I think that it is up to Purple to view all options available then make her own mind up as to where what and when she will find her best solutions. I offered this as a posiible life line and for some to dismiss based on assumptions i feel totally unfair....after all is this not what this board is about all of us trying to help each other
( again just to clarify I put the link there for Purple to make enquiries if all else fails with Payplan CAB or CCCS and in no way suggest she should use them for a DMP but as a life line in the event of Bankruptcy option as it costs nothing to enquire and get further advice- well apart from the phone call ) :beer:

Jacster_2

Hi purple

These are the websites for the 3 free companies who can advise.

This may help to do a comparison

Jacster

Payplan www.payplan.com
CCCS www.cccs.co.uk
National Debt Line www.nationaldebtline.co.uk


EDIT - This thread has further info on the debate between free and fee DMPs

cash4oldrope

purple_octopus wrote:

This is compounded by the fact that to get us another house equivalent to the one we live in now, we would have to shell out £200k as a joint mortgage between us...
Purple Oct.

I'm intrigued why you have to have a house equivalent to the one you are in now? Seriously, short of winning the lottery, you have to make some BIG changes to be able to get back on an even keel. What is preventing you from moving to a smaller place, such as a flat for a few years to get your debt sorted? Not only would that ease the mortgage pressures, but the bills on a smaller place can be noticeably smaller too - heating, council tax etc.

You had the right idea to consolidate your credit cards, but you just chose the wrong company, and I feel for people who find themselves in more trouble from using companies such as First plus.

I agree with some of the others that 10 years to sort out debt isn't so wild. You owe a lot of money, and given that you're earning £2300 a month (not a bad wage!), even if you had absolutely NO outgoings, that's still just over a third of what you owe First Plus, not taking their interest rates into account.

Instead of going to a company that will charge you for their services, have you spoken to the Citizens Advice Bureau? Forgive me if you already have and haven't got anywhere, but I know someone who works there, and they can be a great force not just for advising you, but for helping get debts frozen while you sort yourself out. Just another option.

You do sound like you are trying to help yourself, just remember that Rome wasn't built in a day! Good luck and all that.