heading for another breakdown

[veryweary]

Have been ill with various serious health complaints which caused me to retire from well paid job some years ago. With huge credit card debts piling up, had a complete breakdown but started repayment plan with CCSS. Paid faithfully each month until one of my accounts was passed to an unsavoury debt collector who refused all my payments and was about to take me to court for a judgement and charging order. The only advice I got from CCCS was to let them get a charging order.

Found this site and managed to stop the DCA in his tracks by asking for a CCA which todate they haven't been able to supply. Even have a letter from DCA after TS got involved, which said they wouldn't seek payment until they produced said document. So I stopped payment to this DCA.

Meanwhile I became seriously ill again with yet another illness which has left me with hardly enough energy to sneeze and can't leave the house .It is thought my kidneys are now failing and am just back out of hospital 2 days ago.

But unknown to me unsavoury DCA was pressurising CCCS to restart payments despute the fact that they said they wouldn't seek payment and also the fact that they had refused all CCCS payment offers

CCCS wrote to me and asked me to confirm in writing that I didn't want any payments made to this DCA. Sent off the letter confirming this and as a result CCCS have cancelled my entire DMP. The CCCS advisor said they operate on trust and that if a creditor says I owe money then I must pay it until I can prove that I dont. They said it would be treating this DCA unfairly to withold payment.

The fact that CCCS have cancelled it mid month means that I have absolutley no chance of making alternative payment arrangements to meet my normal payment deadlines this month.And at the moment CCCS is sitting with the funds I would use to pay them all anyway.

Feel so ill, I can't find the energy to get on the phone to try and even sort all of this out. And next month I'm probably going to be bombarded with numerous angry phone call from creditors and DCA's.

Stress levels are enormous, feel that in the physical state I'm in this is going to be the straw that breaks the camels back.

[slick132]

Hi VW,

This has been drawn to the attention of the site team and one of the debt specialists should stop by to comment/advise.

It seems wrong of CCCS to throw this spanner in the works when it is clearly the legal responsibility of the DCA to show they have the right to collect this debt.

Further advice should follow..........

[gizmo111]

This is standard response for CCCS regrds unenforceable debts. Just because the debt is unenforceable doesnt mean it does not exist, and CCCS expect you to include all amounts you owe in a DMP.

As they already have this months payment then I am sure they will either forward it on or return it to you.

It will take a few weeks for the creditors to realise that they havent been paid before they start harrasing you, and hopefully by then you will be feeling a little stronger and well enough to look at alternatives.

Would you like to give us details of your debts/income/situation?

[veryweary]

Have in excess of 15 creditors with a total o/s amount of around £50000,
amounts varying between £100 to £7000, tho most are under £2000. In amongst it is around £12000 of charges and during time with CCCS have repaid over £20,000.

There was no equity in our house when we started with CCCS, so had thought it was better to try and repay this rather than go bankrupt at that time as our crediotrs would have got nothing. There still isn't much equity due to the housing market fall but if I had done it back then at least if I unfortunately expire my OH would get my insurance payout fund to start again.

I'm not sure I owe the account in question because the DCA has given details which don't match mine.That's why I asked them for proof.

I could be repaying this only to have another DCA come along in the future looking for payment for the full amout again. The CCCS informed me that if this happened then they would just add the new DCA details to my plan and expect me to repay that as well.

It may be the policy of CCCS, however the timing of this is extremely bad and they were well aware of my health condition. I think it is highly irresponsible for them to not give me enough time to make other arrangements when this account hasn't been paid for months anyway.

Have today tried to ring some of the contact numbers on paperwork provided by CCCS and have so far got through to a fax machine, and also been given the run around on an 0870 number for 20 minutes on another number with no success

Have had major heart surgery and a few strokes in the past few years and this new health problem means that any stress leaves me feeling as if I'm about to pass out.

Have given up.

[AA99]

Oh shame VW, we all know exactly how your are feeling. Many of us are very much in the same boat but you have done the right thing joining this site. You will get some very sound advice from fellow Caggers. This is the Consumers turn to fight back, and that we are all doing. All 4 of us in my family have physical and mental issues going on and these CC companies and DCA's have almost driven us to the edge. However, since tackling all 8 of our creditors for similar sums, one by one mostly, with the excellent guidance from this website, we feel so much more encouraged and on top of matters. I hope you do shortly too. Keep reading as many specific threads related to your own banks/cards and you will become so much more knowledgeable and feel more confident. I know many people in our boat have been advised to contact their local Trading Standards Offices and even local MP's. They are readily available to listen. Up until now, the Banks and DCA's have been able to bully us all into submission but there are many, many, laws to protect the Consumer and it is now time to enforce them! And finally, as my old mum's always said, it's only money!

[veryweary]

Thanks for the support, and I really think that the CAG and all the supportive users really do make a diffference. Without the advice and experience of this site a DCA would have a charge on our house for an account that might not even be mine.

Waiting for hospital readmission for more investigation.Because I have a number of health problems and some are interrelated there's 3 different consultants deciding on the right treatment. If they can decide on that, then I'll hopefully get some energy back to tackle all of this from scratch with a new approach.

[naughtykitten]

If you have anybody -close family member or partner, that you trust & that you have spoken with regarding your situation, you may be able to request that they have authority to discuss your account with the CCCS & other creditors.

You can ask if this is possible with the CCCS & you would be required to send letters to them, much like the one you would have sorted with the CCCS for them to have authority to discuss your account with your creditors. It would certainly help with the stress you are under, especially with your ill health, to have somebody else speak to them on occasion so that you don't feel that you have to cope with everything by yourself.