Hi all.

Currently in a bit of a mess with a quite a few debts and looking for some advice please. I have been in contact with money expert ltd after speaking to a friend who basically said my credit score is bascially screwed for the next 5 years due to the default, and said I was wasting my time struggling to clear all my debts as I was. Money expert advisor agreed with him and said if i paid them £500 per month they could have me debt free in as little as 26 months or less if I were to pay more each month. Although I would have more defaults it makes no difference as I already have 1 and could not get anymore sort of finance anyway.

I am currently working and take home £2600 per month. My outgoings for rent household bills and maintenence for my children without paying unsecured debt are between £1900 - 2050 per month unexaggerated.

Debt 1

Shop direct / Very£5200 now Defaulted

This is the main reason I am now looking at my situation. I had 3 catolougues with Shop direct. Last year Augurst 2011 i took a loan to clear nearly all my debts with barclays. I cleared 2 of the catolougues and wanted to clear the last one but there was mistakes on the account when I asked for a settlement figure which they agreed to look into on the phone and also agreed there was mistakes, i waited and waited and stupidly did not pay anything for all the months whilst I was waiting, although I did telephone them every other I check my credit file regularly and they did not put late payments against my account all the time it was going on and being looked in to. I also still have furniture that is faulty relating to this account that has had an enginers report and stated it is faulty this is valued at over £1000. In march this year I recieved a call from a debt collection agency about the debt and very had sold it to them to collect. I then recieved a notification from credit expert saying I had a default on my file. The debt collection agency sent it back to shop direct and removed the default, i then contacted shop direct which allocated to a manager who repsonded saying I had broken the terms of my credit agreement and then sent it back to lowells who then in turn put a default on my account again. I then gave up.

Debt 2 No problems

Barclays overdraft £2400

Debt 3 - 2 payments late

Allliance & leicester Overdrat £900

An old account i stopped using and missed a few agreed payments by error a standing order i setup wrong. I can pay this off over 4 payments agreed with A&L / Snatander.

Debt 4 No late payments

Credit Card £2900 owed

Debt 5 No Late payments

Credit Card £2300 owed

Debt 6

Barclays Loan £7777 owed

No Late payments

Debt 7

Credit card £1150

1 late payment in 12 months by accident. My brother is using this card and pays it every month.

I have 2 other small debts with black horse for a bed and a sofa through DFS one is £150 and the other £350. both up to date.

Hello there,

It isn't clear what Money expert have suggested to you as an option but it sounds like it could be a Debt Management Plan. This is a scheme which allows you to make a single payment via a debt management company, who then distribute your payment amongst all of your creditors. DMPs are very popular as you would only need to worry about making one affordable payment each month, the debt management company then does the rest.

It's important to bear in mind that commercial DMP firms will charge you an administration fee, and potentially an upfront set-up fee too. It is possible to have a DMP for FREE via a charity, or a not-for-profits DMP provider. We've written a fact sheet explaining more here:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=29_debt_management_plan

Do also bear in mind that a DMP is only really going to be a viable option if you cannot afford to meet your contractual monthly instalments on all of your debts. it could be worth having a go at completing a comprehensive budget sheet, you can find ours here:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#5

Hope you find this information useful!

National Debtline.