Mortgage arrears- Kensington. Nervous wreck.

[Tawnyowl]

Due to shortage of work over last year have found it difficult to maintain payments on mortgage.I now owe 2500 approx by the end of Jan.Kensington said by letter they will send a debt counsellor round to review our financial position and formulate a proposal for repayment of the outstanding amount.Fee of 94.00 pound will be debited to mortgage account.

I got into difficulties and offered to pay extra to pay arrears off- but could not.I only managed to keep it up for two months.

My circumstances are changing and in Feb i start work again.

Also my wife is starting work in Feb so things are changing for the better.

However this does not change my immediate problem with Kensington,and due to lack of sleep etc i have decided to phone them today.I can not afford more than 100.00 a month off the arrears.First i am going to ask if arrears can be spread over remaining 100 yrs of mortgage-pardon the joke.Why when we get into trouble with mortgages do we find it so hard to phone them.Seems to put a fear into us- me anyway .

Anybody got any tips they could give me-i hope for a reasonable outcome but am not sure, after reading some of your threads.

Any advice appreciated.

Going to phone in a couple of hours.

If nerve holds

Will post and keep you up to date with any outcome

Tel no i will be ringing is their Credit Management Dept On 0870 556 1040

[sequenci]

tip 1: dont deal with them via the telephone, deal with them in writing.

 

tip 2: complete a personal budget sheet/financial statement and send them a copy with your offer of payment.

 

tip 3: request a copy of their internal code of practice for people in financial difficulties, remind them that they have to adhere to guidelines put in place by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Here is a leaflet that they have put together.

 

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/mortgage_cantpay.pdf

 

tip 4: have a read of this too, it's how to deal with mortgage arrears and is absolutely fantastic:

 

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/pdf/self_help_pack/mortgage_arrears.pdf

 

tip 5: once you've done all that and have any further questions feel free to ask them within this thread I help people with mortgage arrears in my day job so am on-hand to help every step of the way, as are many others on this forum!

[42man]

It may be pertinant to request for the amount of charges on the account also....I am in arrears on my mortgage by 1.5 months but the excessive charges equal to over £400 what the arrears are....!!

[Tawnyowl]

tip 1: dont deal with them via the telephone, deal with them in writing.

 

tip 2: complete a personal budget sheet/financial statement and send them a copy with your offer of payment.

 

tip 3: request a copy of their internal code of practice for people in financial difficulties, remind them that they have to adhere to guidelines put in place by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Here is a leaflet that they have put together.

 

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/mortgage_cantpay.pdf

 

tip 4: have a read of this too, it's how to deal with mortgage arrears and is absolutely fantastic:

 

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/pdf/self_help_pack/mortgage_arrears.pdf

 

tip 5: once you've done all that and have any further questions feel free to ask them within this thread I help people with mortgage arrears in my day job so am on-hand to help every step of the way, as are many others on this forum!

Thankyou for the advice, i will follow this and get to work on this straight away.Hopefully i can do this before their counsellor comes round and avoid anymore exspense.

[sequenci]

One thing to consider is that mortgage arrears are classed as a priority debt, have you any other debts at the moment (such as credit cards, loans etc)?

[Tawnyowl]

Yes i have other debts but have thanks mostly to advice given on this site to have reduced them to a affordable level.I made the mistake of when asking for advice of the cccs who told me only to make token payments to my creditors i tried to pay more .This ended up with me in a deeper hole within a year,and a good telling off by the cccs.Most of the creditors have taken me to court or are thinking about it.I seem to spend hours every week just keeping things at bay.Due to the change of circumstances i feel there is light at the end of the tunnel.If i can sort my mortgage situation out i will feel better.Feel on the edge.Thanks for any advice.

[Tawnyowl]

Could not leave another night so phoned them late this afterenoon.

Due to my circumstances changing for the better in february have come to arrangement to pay arrears off over twelve months.

This avoids the counsellor coming round and if this for some reason can not be maintained leaves the counsellor as another option before the possibilities of legal action would begin.

After taking everything into consideration this could be the best option for now.

All this will be put in writing and sent to me.

Thanks for the information Sequenci and if difficultys do arise i will ask your advice again.Just could not have another night not sleeping.

Terrible feeling being awake at 3 in the morning just worrying about your house and how hard you have grafted for it- only to feel it was slipping away.

Will post every now and again to let you know how things are going.Tawnyowl

[The GodMother]

the rest of your debts have you CCAd them?

[Goldlady]

Best to stay away from the "debt counsellor". Sounds so helpful but GE Money (now paid off and claiming charges back from them) sent one to us at a cost of £70 - he was dressed in a black crombie and was more like a bailiff. He basically told us that we had to stop paying all our unsecured creditors and only pay them... As four of our unsecured creditors were GE storecards I think we had the last laugh as we stopped paying them and so far have had two court claims withdrawn due to unenforceable CCAs. And a shed load of other debt written off for the same reason.

 

Tawnyowl I was in a total mess about 18 months ago - now I can afford to feed my kids and pay the mortgage. It can be done.

[The GodMother]

Gold lady.

 

You are so rite it can be done and l am getting there with loads of thanks to everyone on this site.

 

I was not struggling to feed the family but l was struggling with the bills. Making payment to everyone was not the easiest thing each month.

 

Against my wishes as l new the finances my partner got cable tv with phone and interent now a year later l am not struggling.

 

Ok we owe ppl money and the only things we have still with us from a year ago is the internet and 2 credit cards which one is nearly paid and the other will be paid off.

 

The catalogue companys have been CCAd and no guess to how valid the CCAs are. Vm have managed to screw them selves over a load of money by losing it in the first place and then we only found this out a lot later that we have been paying a bill for wrongly named person of the house hold so they can go and take us to court cause they would need the correct person in the first place.

 

The only things we are going to keep are one CC and the net.

 

no point in having a telephone line as it is cheaper for use to use mobiles and no point in catalogues as there prices are expensive even if they dont seem it at first.

 

Chrissi

[Tawnyowl]

the rest of your debts have you CCAd them?

yes i have CCAd most of them.Some CCJs, 1 Charging order, some reduced to token payments.Slowly dealing with them.

[Tawnyowl]

Best to stay away from the "debt counsellor". Sounds so helpful but GE Money (now paid off and claiming charges back from them) sent one to us at a cost of £70 - he was dressed in a black crombie and was more like a bailiff. He basically told us that we had to stop paying all our unsecured creditors and only pay them... As four of our unsecured creditors were GE storecards I think we had the last laugh as we stopped paying them and so far have had two court claims withdrawn due to unenforceable CCAs. And a shed load of other debt written off for the same reason.

 

Tawnyowl I was in a total mess about 18 months ago - now I can afford to feed my kids and pay the mortgage. It can be done.

Well done shows it can be done.

Would use counsellor as last resort.

[Tawnyowl]

Gold lady.

 

You are so rite it can be done and l am getting there with loads of thanks to everyone on this site.

 

I was not struggling to feed the family but l was struggling with the bills. Making payment to everyone was not the easiest thing each month.

 

Against my wishes as l new the finances my partner got cable tv with phone and interent now a year later l am not struggling.

 

Ok we owe ppl money and the only things we have still with us from a year ago is the internet and 2 credit cards which one is nearly paid and the other will be paid off.

 

The catalogue companys have been CCAd and no guess to how valid the CCAs are. Vm have managed to screw them selves over a load of money by losing it in the first place and then we only found this out a lot later that we have been paying a bill for wrongly named person of the house hold so they can go and take us to court cause they would need the correct person in the first place.

 

The only things we are going to keep are one CC and the net.

 

no point in having a telephone line as it is cheaper for use to use mobiles and no point in catalogues as there prices are expensive even if they dont seem it at first.

 

Chrissi

Sounds like you are begining to turn the corner.This site seems to have helped a lot of people.Would be in a nightmare without it.Thanks for info on Trading Standards andFOS as i was needing this info.

[The GodMother]

yes i have CCAd most of them.Some CCJs, 1 Charging order, some reduced to token payments.Slowly dealing with them.

 

Is all the CCA legit as you can offer reduced/no payment to ones that are not. This way you can fee up some money. You can appeal the CCJs based on the credit agreement as well and maybe the charging order if they have no CCA either.

 

Chrissi

[Tawnyowl]

Is all the CCA legit as you can offer reduced/no payment to ones that are not. This way you can fee up some money. You can appeal the CCJs based on the credit agreement as well and maybe the charging order if they have no CCA either. Chrissi/quote

Am waiting for some CCArequests to come back to me,the charging order has been a nightmare.If you want to see what has happened see( Court case looming-Amex.The others are getting offered token payments we will see what happens.This weekend i am going to check up on my debts and see where i am upto with them all.I try to keep things nice and tidy but papers seem to tangle themselves up during the week,resulting in hours going through them again.Thanks for advice-Tawnyowl

[Goldlady]

I know what you mean Tawnyowl. You need a couple of cheery bright coloured lever arch files and some dividers.

 

My files are now split between the dead and unenforceable ones (the fattest file:p) and the ones still a matter of debate.

[Tawnyowl]

Like it- think i will follow your lead and get some files.How many are required for a metre of papers:lol::roll:.Just having a laugh,they will be sorted.One day soon.Bye for now Tawnyowl.Now what coulour shall i get.:grin:

[The GodMother]

Bright green and bright yellow. You my need a couple for the dead/unenforcable pile tho.

 

TBH i have always filled everything in files form bills to cancelation notices. When l was sorting out some of the debts that had come threw the post and some queries on my credit reports l filed everything. I now have 2 files for thing that are incorrect on my credit file with my credit file in there and one for all my pending cases.

 

I was taught all that sort of thing when l was a guide we were also taught budgetting skills but tat did not rub off as much.

 

Chrissi

[renegotiation]

Like it- think i will follow your lead and get some files.How many are required for a metre of papers:lol::roll:.Just having a laugh,they will be sorted.One day soon.Bye for now Tawnyowl.Now what coulour shall i get.:grin:

 

Good luck. Feeling in control is a big part of helping to escape the situation.

[Goldlady]

we were also taught budgetting skills but tat did not rub off as much.

 

Chrissi

 

:lol: I know what you mean.

[Tawnyowl]

Did not work out .Job took longer to get going than we thought so arrangement to pay arrears has taken longer to get going.

Phoned Kensington to offer what we had worked out we could afford after outgoings which would only give them APPROX 15.00 a week extra.They will not accept this due to being 3000 in ARREARS and they insist on the arrears being cleared within two years which this would not do.They want an extra 30.00 a week secured in court.This will basically be a rerpossesion hearing.But

if i phone the court on the day of the hearing agreeing to this bigger payment

the repossesion would be postboned but secured in coiurt.Date for hearing has yet to be decided but is with litigation depot and ongoing.

One more point when they send round arrears counsellor they dont make a appointment.Hope they dont charege for this as well.

One more thing i would take Sequencys earlier advice and deal with mortgage companies in writing.Any advice or experiances of hearings appreciated.

[ananya]

Hi tawnyowl.

 

My advice would be to pay what you can towards the arrears, plus the regular installment, send Kensington a budget breakdown showing this is all you can afford and stick to it. If they do send a counsellor round - which will be someone who knows nothing about you other than basic figures - then go through everything with them too, although Kensington will make a charge for this, added to the capital of the mortgage. I have read somewhere on CAG that you can refuse the visit as it isn't mandatory, but I can't remember where.

 

We did this and had a repossession hearing last year, after we had seen the counsellor and made an offer of £100 per month, which Kensington refused. In court, the district judge was disgusted that they had done this and set a ruling for us to pay only £60 a month on top of the mortgage payment, repossession suspended.

 

In January this year, we had the same situation again, second repossession hearing and Kensington wouldn't negotiate. The arrears had also almost doubled. But thanks to the excellent help I received from CAG and Ell-enn in particular, we had the eviction suspended indefinitely, Kensington weren't very pleased with that either, but could do nothing.

 

If you do go to court with them, your local court may have a CAB welfare office based there and one of the officers will happily come into court with you and speak on your behalf, you just get to the court early on the day of the hearing and have a chat with them before you go in.

 

Kensington will probably send someone who knows very little about your case and will probably be more than a little wet behind the ears. The DJ demolished their legal people both times we've been to court, they don't like to see the bullying tactics some lenders use and if you can prove you can make and maintain payments, this will weigh heavily in your favour.

 

Anyway, keep us posted as to what happens and when you hear from them. If they send a counsellor, no court action should happen until after they've received the report back from them.

 

Good luck and try not to worry, we're here to help.

[Goldlady]

We had a debt counsellor from GE Money a couple of years ago. He was more like a bailiff I thought. Anyway all he did was give us horror stories about GE's right to repossess our house and told us to stop paying all our credit cards. As several of them were GE storecards anyway we did so and had great fun telling their debt collectors that GE's secured lending department had told us to stop paying them:D.

 

Waste of time having him come round - it was by appointment but cost us £70 for b*gger all basically.

 

But as you say it will buy you some time.

 

I have been through a repossession hearing (not my own - we managed to borrow from family to pay GE, have now remortgaged and got rid of them and now reclaiming £2K in charges) and the judge was really sympathetic. As Ananya says the mortgage companies send someone really young and green to fight their corner and it is not difficult to knock their socks off. Basically if you have a chance of repaying the arrears even if spread over the whole remaining term of the loan the courts will help you.

[The GodMother]

just a question unrelated but.

 

since when do we start saying things children tv charaters do?

[Goldlady]

When we live with kids I guess;). Are you talking about knocking socks off? Actually the kid who represented the mortgage co against my friends wasn't wearing socks - she had a micro mini and very shiny black tights!!! Didn't do anything for me however, nor apparently for the judge:eek: