HELP, in a mess with my cards!

matowl

I owe quite alot on my cards(about £16000) and need some advise please! I'm struggling to pay the min each month on my cards, loan and mortgage. I've took out £10000 on my mortgage to pay one of the cards off but is there a way to not pay the full amount. say if I owe £8000 on one only pay a fraction of that to whipe the debt off?
What is your advise??

jonesMUFCforever

Sell your house and clear your debts.
You spent it now its time to pay back.

Selling and downsizing or renting may be your only option as card companies are not going to let you off a % of debt when they can easily check whether you own a property or not.

You could be on the road to bankruptcy - if this happens then you lose the house anyway - this way you stay in charge (sort of).

BenL

Have you got assets in addition to your house you can sell to pay off the debt?

That amount of money must have bought something worth selling.

NickX

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Sell your house and clear your debts.
You spent it now its time to pay back.

Selling and downsizing or renting may be your only option as card companies are not going to let you off a % of debt when they can easily check whether you own a property or not.

You could be on the road to bankruptcy - if this happens then you lose the house anyway - this way you stay in charge (sort of).

I don't really agree with you here jonesMUFCforever.

£16000 is not enough to warrant selling your home IMO.

The credit card debt is unsecured and it would be a long process for the companies to retrieve their debt from equity in the property.

If the OP defaults the accounts, and speaks with the CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau) and pehaps enters into a DMP, then they should be able to negotiate reduced payments.

Even after that, the debts would be sold to a Debt Collection Agency, and there is strong possibility of negotiating a "Full and Final settlement".

I think that there is a long way to go yet, and selling one's home really is a final resort. Besides we don't even know if there is much equity in the house, as they have increased their mortage and under the current climate house prices are dropping.

I think you definitely need to negotiate reduced payments in the short term.

jonesMUFCforever

Not really Nick. Any debtor can apply a charge on your property to secure debt.
They would of course have to apply to a court in order to realise their 'security'.

NickX

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Not really Nick. Any debtor can apply a charge on your property to secure debt.
They would of course have to apply to a court in order to realise their 'security'.

Sure they can do this by taking the debtor to court. However, provided the debtor is making some effort to repay the debt, even at much less than the standard minimum, the court is unlikely to side with the creditor.

To the OP, I advice you go to CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau). They are very experienced and will negotiate with your creditors on your behalf and have access to professional legal expertise.

I really think that selling your home should be a last resort, and certainly not necessary at this stage. Many people have settled Credit Card debts at far less than the orginal amounts being demanded, and I have known people who have had their debts written off, but it does require specialist expertise to negotiate this.

matowl

Thanks for the advise guys, thats the 1st thing i'm doing come the end of the week is seek some advise from the CAB. I'LL keep you posted on how it tuens out. fingers crossed!!