Struggling with debt? Ask a debt adviser a question

Former_StepChange_Linsi · 31 January 2018 at 10:35AM

Hi

Thanks for your post.

Consolidation loans are out of our area of expertise so I really can’t say if getting a loan is a good idea. For this type of advice you’ll need to speak to a financial advisor.

You can search for a financial advisor through the Money Advice Service website and there’s general information about consolidation loans on our website.

If you can afford your monthly credit card payments and it’s the interest that’s causing concern you may want to see if you can transfer the balances to an interest free credit card. There’s more information about this on our MSE website along with a Credit Card Eligibility Calculator you can use.

The advice we provide involves repaying debts without using additional credit. If you’d like to see what alternative solutions are available you can create a budget and get advice using our Debt Remedy tool. Here’s the link.

All the best,

Linsi

katie4 wrote: »

Hi
I seem to gather from the forums that debt consolidation loans are pretty frowned upon. however, i am in the position to be able to put extra money now towards my credit cards the thing is the interest on one is 42% it will take me a long time to pay these off (i have three credit cards)
currently pushing £400-500 a month onto the highest apr card but i'm thinking it may be better to get a debt consolidation loan to pay off all cards, it would save me thousands in interest take only 3 years and a manageable £250 a month meaning i can then cancel the cards and start putting some money into savings as well.

would this seem sensible? thanks

Former_StepChange_Linsi · 31 January 2018 at 10:36AM

Hi Dave

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.

I’m sorry to hear you have more money going out than coming in at the moment. We’ll certainly be able to help you with your credit cards and loans going forward.

To help us work out which option will be best we’ll need to know more about your situation. You can use our Debt Remedy tool to complete a budget online. Here’s the link.

After you’ve created a budget you’ll be able to download a personal action plan at the end of Debt Remedy. This explains what options are available to you and what the next steps will be.

I hope this helps,

Linsi

Daveb45 wrote: »

At present I have £12500 outstanding on five credit cards and £33000 outstanding on three loans , with other outgoings (rent,car,food,gas/electric etc). I have £2100 coming in a month but £2650 going out. I am 57 years old what are my best options.

jaydow72 · 31 January 2018 at 1:28PM

HI, My husband took out a phone contract for his 22 year old daughter under the proviso that after 2 months she would take over the contract and the payments. She did this (Vodaphone have confirmed that a phone call instigated this change of contract name) but then proceeded to default on the payments. We have now received a letter from a collection agency for £750. Vodaphone have tried to trace the call that was made to them by the daughter to see what was agreed with regards to changing the payments as well as the name on the contract - but they can't find it. Can you advise what they need to prove to make this debt legally land with my husband? We are now caught between Vodaphone and the collection agency with no-one seemingly willing to provide any proof that this debt is ours. My husband is estranged form his daughter so we cannot get anything off her. Many thanks

COYIhammer · 31 January 2018 at 2:25PM

Can anyone advise where to go to get a mortgage when having a DMP? I have spent nearly 2 weeks making and receiving phone calls with Santander. I currently have a mortgage with them. I explained from the very beginning that I have a DMP. I asked to extend the length of the mortgage from 3 years to 10 years making my mortgage payments affordable. Today, they tell me that they can't extend the length of the mortgage. they can only reduce the rate and as the remaining amount doesn't include much interest it makes little difference to the payment. It's been unbelievable the amount of people I have spoken with at Santander. I kept being transferred, booked call backs and I thought that today, at last they would help me, but no. They say just contact them for help but they are no help at all. I have around £53000 left on my mortgage to pay over the next 3 years. My monthly payments are around £1600. My house is valued at around £440000 on Zoopla. All i want to do is make my payments more affordable. My situation has changed (my wife is self employed and it's not going very well presently). If I could extend the term to 10 years it would greatly reduce my outgoings. This would mean that I could probably pay more towards my DMP but no. I just don't know what to do. I feel so low today after thinking that Santander would help me. Don't know what to do. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

StepChange_Kirsty · 1 February 2018 at 12:43PM

Hello,

Thanks for your post.

If the matter was to go to court and you husband was to dispute this debt, Vodafone could show a copy of the contract that he has signed with them to prove he is legally responsible. Apart from the phone call did his daughter sign anything to say she was taking over the contract? If not, unfortunately it’s likely he is still legally responsible for this debt.

If you haven’t already, I would recommend making a formal complaint in writing to Vodafone to request they investigate this matter in more detail. Vodafone have eight weeks to respond and if you do not receive a response or if you are not satisfied with the response you can refer the matter to the Ombudsman Service: Communications to independently investigate your complaint.

You can also make a formal request for information held by Vodafone including details of phone conversations under The Data Protection Act 1998. This is known as a Subject Access Request which should be made in writing to Vodafone, enclosing the fee of £10 and a list of exactly what information you need. Vodafone has 40 days from the date payment is received to comply with this request and if they do not provide the information in time you can contact the Information Commissioners Office.

I hope this helps.

Kirsty

jaydow72 wrote: »

HI, My husband took out a phone contract for his 22 year old daughter under the proviso that after 2 months she would take over the contract and the payments. She did this (Vodaphone have confirmed that a phone call instigated this change of contract name) but then proceeded to default on the payments. We have now received a letter from a collection agency for £750. Vodaphone have tried to trace the call that was made to them by the daughter to see what was agreed with regards to changing the payments as well as the name on the contract - but they can't find it. Can you advise what they need to prove to make this debt legally land with my husband? We are now caught between Vodaphone and the collection agency with no-one seemingly willing to provide any proof that this debt is ours. My husband is estranged form his daughter so we cannot get anything off her. Many thanks

StepChange_Kirsty · 1 February 2018 at 1:07PM

Hello,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.

My initial thoughts when reading your post is that it’s your debt management plan (DMP) which needs to be reviewed first of all. If the monthly mortgage cost is affordable but your DMP payments would be a struggle then it would be best to reduce your DMP payments for now until the mortgage is fully paid and then you can increase your DMP payments when the mortgage ends. Your mortgage is always the priority above the DMP and there are other solutions which could help you with your debts if your DMP is not viable at the moment.

I’m not sure from what you’ve said if you have your DMP with us but if so you can find our contact details here and we’ll review this with you. Alternatively you should contact your DMP provider directly.

Failing this, if you can’t afford the mortgage payments or the DMP payments then you could try contacting our Financial Solutions team in order to speak to one of our expert mortgage advisors. I can't guarantee they will be able to help due to the DMP but it’s certainly worth making the call.

I hope this helps.

Kirsty

COYIhammer wrote: »

Can anyone advise where to go to get a mortgage when having a DMP? I have spent nearly 2 weeks making and receiving phone calls with Santander. I currently have a mortgage with them. I explained from the very beginning that I have a DMP. I asked to extend the length of the mortgage from 3 years to 10 years making my mortgage payments affordable. Today, they tell me that they can't extend the length of the mortgage. they can only reduce the rate and as the remaining amount doesn't include much interest it makes little difference to the payment. It's been unbelievable the amount of people I have spoken with at Santander. I kept being transferred, booked call backs and I thought that today, at last they would help me, but no. They say just contact them for help but they are no help at all. I have around £53000 left on my mortgage to pay over the next 3 years. My monthly payments are around £1600. My house is valued at around £440000 on Zoopla. All i want to do is make my payments more affordable. My situation has changed (my wife is self employed and it's not going very well presently). If I could extend the term to 10 years it would greatly reduce my outgoings. This would mean that I could probably pay more towards my DMP but no. I just don't know what to do. I feel so low today after thinking that Santander would help me. Don't know what to do. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Joey91p · 4 February 2018 at 2:25PM

Hello,

I have checked my credit report and have a recurring default for a debt back in 2012 originally through Mini Credit for £200. It then got passed through to Opos in 2012 with an escalated amount of £1800. At this point I buried my head in the sand as there was no way I could afford to pay this back.

Is there anything I can do or anyone I can contact? I need to get my credit back on track and this is a dark cloud over my report.

Any help will be appreciated, thank you.

olliebears · 4 February 2018 at 8:08PM

Hi, my Granddaughter has gotten herself in credit card debt to a total of £4k She started missing the minimum payments and it is now £7k She spoke to the company to try and come to some arrangement and was told they will keep applying maximum interest until it is paid which will be never at the current rate. She is a single mother with three girls of 1 3 and 6 and struggling to make ends meet. the charged interest monthly is more than she can pay monthly and she is becoming more desperate mentally.

Any options? Scots law would apply. I worry for her mental state and obviously her children. I tried to talk to the company but they said sorry it is her debt and she knows the position!

StepChange_Kirsty · 5 February 2018 at 1:05PM

Hi there,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.

The debt is only unenforceable until the creditor provides a copy of the agreement which they have now done. The agreement itself doesn’t have to be an original copy of the agreement it just needs to be a “true copy” which means that it contains the same information as the original agreement.

If you’re in doubt as to the legitimacy of the agreement you could seek independent legal advice. The Law Society has information on their website about how to find a Solicitor here.

Alternatively, if it’s a case that you admit the debt but are struggling to repay it then I would recommend seeking debt advice. At StepChange we can provide free and confidential help and advice for dealing with debts. The easiest way to access our service is through our online Debt Remedy tool where you can input details about your income, expenditure and debts then Debt Remedy will provide you with a personal action plan of advice for your situation.

Regards,

Kirsty

mst1973 wrote: »

hello sorry if i have posted in the wrong place but i dont seem to be able to find a new post button anywhere...
anyhow i would like to ask what to next.
i have an old debt of 3600 pounds off an old sainsburys credit card dating back to 2004. Arrow global now seem to own the debt. i am unemployed so was unable to pay any payments for some years now just paying a small amount back till about 6 months ago when i sent a cca request as they were threating to take me to court . i got a letter stating that they will put collection on hold till they provide me with cca. 6 months have passed and they have just sent me what looks like a badly recontructed photocopy of cca with my signature on and a few trems of charges on rear of sheet in tiny text that looks like its been copied and pasted!.should i send a letter stating the cca deadline of 12 plus 2 days has passed and the debt is unenforceable ?

COYIhammer · 5 February 2018 at 4:51PM

Thank you for replying. It is the mortgage which has become unmanageable. We took it when we had some money behind us, my wife's work was good and we had supportive and generous parents. Unfortunately they have all passed on and my wife's work has all but dried up. All I want to do is spread the remaining mortgage (£53000) over ten years and not three and even though I told Santander from the start I had a DMP it took them two weeks of being passed around their departments to say they couldn't extend the terms because of it.

Struggling with debt? Ask a debt adviser a question

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