advice on cccs and the way to go

carlos700

I will try to put together a SOA tomorrow i am thinking about going to cccs for help with my debts but know little about it only bits what i have read on here .The worrying thing is more than half of my debts are with lloyds tsb and i have just been reading they are really unhelpful when people ask for reduced payments so to be honest it is putting me off abit even asking for help.I am affraid to go down this route as do you have to go to court ect ?If you got help from cccs did you regret it ?I just need advice really on pros & cons of going down this route .Another question is it all done online i have just been on there website or do you phone them ?

I have no missed payments just lots of debts with more going out than coming in so its a struggle .

skylight

CCCS are a non-judgemental, free charitable debt counselling service. They will help you to put together a realistic SOA and will contact creditors on your behalf if they recommend yo go down that route. Depending on circumstances, you have a choice of:
DMP - Debt Management Plan - voluntary, non-binding agreement with creditors
IVA - 5 year Legally binding plan agreed with your creditors and you can have a majority of debt removed.
Bankruptcy - Still pay an amount for up to 3 years towards creditors.

Each one of these has its own merits and problems depending on your personal circumstances. That is why you should go to CCCS and discuss your situation with them. As they are a charity, they will not be able to respond to you instantly and may take a short while, but hang in there!

carlos700

I bank with lloyds tsb i have an overdraft with them which i am always up to the limit on but it is 2 loans with them which i struggle with they cost me £460 a month they are unsecured loans what at its worse would happen if i told them i could not afford that amount and offered to pay them say £100 amonth instead .I am just wondering would i be wasting my time if i rang them and told them my situation.

skylight

You are never wasting your time!

Lloyds will (As all creditors will) go on about thats not acceptable etc. They will start to write or telephone (change number!) on a daily basis to get their money back. Yes, morally its theres - we borrowed it and happily spent it, we just need a bit of help to sort ourselves out. They are unlikely to be sympathetic or help. I am not trying to scaremonger here - its sadly fact (as you've read!)

But, you are not wasting your time. You are taking the problem by the horns and dealing with it. Be confident, be happy. Its only money and it is not a crime to be in debt (just stupidity!!!!!!!! I say very tongue in cheek).

Can you REALLY afford £100 a month? Don't pluck figures out of the air - do a complete SOA or get CCCS to do one for you. They will do the leg work in offering your creditors the payments and will take this off of you. They are there to help so you do not have to do this alone.

The worst that will happen? Ultimately you "could" be declared bankrupt. This is a long eventuality and is unlikely provided that you make payments. Lloyds will eventually accept your payment offers as they have no choice. Take it or get nothing becuase if you are ever made bankrupt then thats what they'll get - a big fat nothing. BR is the last in a very long line of other avenues, but it is the absolute worst case scenario. You will not go to prison and the big burly men do not come round (although debt collectors would like you to think this all will happen and scare you into paying up!)

carlos700

Thanks charlotte you have such a positive attitude .I have been on CCCS website and put in all who i owe to etc it did not ask for my name or anything to give me a personel report .It said for me to do a temporary plan to be reviewed annually ,it said it would take 10 years 1 month to pay off my debts .Maybe i should open another bank account with somebody else incase tsb shut mine down any suggestions which banks are ok to deal with i must admit i have been a customer with tsb for 14 years and had no cause to complain.

skylight

I have a Step Account with Natwest. Dealt with it over the phone and I get a Solo debit card (which is ok as most places online take it now, but others don't!) and no over draft whatsoever. I can also use internet banking (a real godsend for the serious budgeter!). I kind of had to pick this account as there were only a few institutions left that I didn't (don't) owe money to........

A new bank account is a great idea and if you do not have any bad credit history yet, then you can more or less open any account anywhere - although zero overdraft is good (to avoid temptation). And each bank is a good as another these days - all after profit! Although I would steer clear of HSBC. The idiots once sent me all the account details and pin numbers of another customer and 6 months later deducted £400 worth of bounced cheques that I hadn't even paid in (and tried to charge me an overdraft fee because of it!)

And thanks for your comments! I do take my debt seriously. I respond to virtually everything and deal with it. But I refuse to lose sleep over it. A serious family problem a few years ago, made OH and I realise very fast what was more important to us and money just was not on the list.

carlos700

Has anyone out there had debts with Lloyds tsb and they have allowed you to make reduced payments ?

After i have paid everything we have £100 per month left over with this we need to get petrol and food for a family of 5 .What usually happens is i get cash on my credit card to deal with the shortfall therefore my credit cards are building up again.

I have 2 years left on my two loans with TSB so in 2 years i will be £460 a month better off but the dilema is do i hang in there for another 2 years occasionally lending on a credit card or do i go to cccs for help now .I do not see the point though of going to cccs if most of my debts or with lloyds and they do not accept reduced payments as they will probely take my bank account off me ,make me pay back my £1400 overdraft and maybe take me to court .

OH please help i am really panacking i do not know what to do .

mbaz

I am on a debt management plan with CCCS and cannot speak highly enough of them. They have completely changed my life. I used to dread the phone rining, dread the post coming through the door. Now I look forward to receiving my credit card statements and seeing the balances coming down (I never used to open them before!!) All interest frozen and charges stopped on all my aco!!!!s within a month of going on the plan. Would probably have been in debt for the rest of my life without them - now hoping to be debt free by the end of the year.

I only wish I had contacted them sooner.

mbaz

sorry - dont have anything with lloyds though!!

bowz25

hi
i have been on dmp for 9 months and have not once regretted this decision.

Our debt will take 16 years but less if things change. I have a loan with lloyds and i had an account and overdraft with them and also a visa card. I banked with them for over 20 years.
I did open a new account straight away co-op bank online current account is good one to choose but you have to select one that you dont owe any debt to.
Lloyds did make the most phone calls i admit but they stopped interest on my visa card after a few months. The loan they are accepting payments for 6 months and i can say that the loan side of their business the staff i spoke with were very kind and understanding. I thought the visa side gave the most stress and phone calls and letters. They have just reviewed the loan again for another 6 months. The overdraft they have only just stopped charging interest on that when they said they would stop it. my hubby has visa with them as well as overdraft and they have stopped his interest.
It is your decision but we were borrowing cash to pay things and the interest rate is so high your debt will just go up and up.
cccs are great and i have always had help and assistance when i got in touch. i still ring them occasionally for advice. They do care and one advisor when i last called said look after yourself. I though that was so nice.
good luck in what you decide.
always people on here to help.
take care

moneydesperate_x

Hi

I have just started a debt management plan with CCCS and one of my big creditors is Lloyds TSB. I have 2 overdrafts with them, a loan and a CC.
They have been calling me about 10 times a day for the last week, I ignore my mobile as its on silent anyway! They havent called since Thursday now!
I have to say I was also warned that they are not very helpful, but I am hoping they will sell the debt on and we will deal with a Debt Collection agency who I am told (by CCCS) are much more likely to except the reduced payments than nothing!

I have another creditor MBNA who are being just as stubborn, but if there is one thing about all this, the CCCS are really great, I e-mail them as I dont want to rack up huge phone bills and they are so very kind and helpful, they take the stress away for you which then enables you to deal with the debt and not the nasty creditors!

The down side to going on a DMP is you lose any credit rating for up to 6 years after the debt is paid off, but for me it really doesnt matter as I never intend to have credit again.

Good luck with whatever you decide.