help for newbie

tibawo

I'm in debt up to my eyeballs. In January i stupidly went with an agency on a dmp but can;t afford it and it seems that they have not paid some people as promised so will write saying i no longer want there services. I'm gonna call cccj with the web no i got tomorrow but really could do with a little sleep to ease me.
a few things i'm trying to get sorted
will my landlard be told re IV?
if i owe parents some money what happens to that? [they took a loan on my behalf and dont really want to get them involved with the IV stuff]
if i bought a settee from a catolgue and not paid all of it what happens to it? do i have to return?
what's this £1 letter i've read about.
would be grateful for anyadvice as i'm feeling low and stupid for making such a financial mess.

chevalier

First of all well done for posting. If you look at the top of the forum there are numbers for CCCS and Payplan. These are debt management organisations the DON'T charge. They will give you advice on your situation, and tell you what is the best thing to do FOR YOU not for themselves. This maybe a debt management plan which is a voluntary agreement between you the organisation and the creditors to stop interest payments and lower the monthly repayment.

Or they might suggest an IVA. This is a formal agreement that the creditors agree to wipe of a proportion of your debt, BUT you HAVE to keep to the repayments agreed. If you don't then your creditor has the right to make you bankrupt.

Or CCCS/ Payplan might suggest (if you do not own your own home, and have no real assets) that you go bankrupt. The upside is that your debt is wiped. The downside is that getting any sort of credit before you are discharged is virtually impossible, and even after you are discharged, you have to legally tell people you are bankrupt when you apply for credit, so it will affect the interest rate you get.

To answer your specific questions
1) good move to ditch a fee paying company.
2) your landlord won't need to know as far as I am aware, but until you talk to one of the organisations I mentioned above, it won't be clear what type of repayment strategy will be best for you anyway.
3) Sadly if your parent take out a loan for you, then they are still liable. I don't think it could be included in a DMP, that is a question to ask CCCS or Payplan when you phone them
4) Ref the settee, if they accept the reduced payments then I believe you keep the goods.

5) ref the £1 letter. What you can do is phone CCCS or Payplan. Initially this will be just a brief chat, to fix a date to do an in depth phone interview where they go through all of your income and outgoings. (It is usually about 2 weeks later they do this, so you can get all your bills and debts sorted out, and any unopened letter opened so that they can get as accurate picture of your problems as possible).

Once you have a date with one of the above, then you can write a letter to each of your creditors which basically says.

Dear
I am notifying you that I am in financial difficulties and that I have phoned (insert whichever one you go with) to deal with my debts. I have a telephone appointment with them on xxxxxx date.

Until then please find enclosed a token payment of £1 to put towards my debt. CCCS/ Payplan (which ever one you go with) will be in touch in due course to arrange a revised repayment plan.

yours faithfully
(print your name)

What this does is tell them there is a problem, what you are doing about it, and paying them a bit too, to show them that you are not abandoning the debt.

It will also allow you to meet your priority bills this month, which are
rent
council tax
utilities
food
telephone

Hope this helps a bit
chev