Had a good job, career, home, money, etc. Then had a prolonged period of inactivity, debts piled up, not opening letters, spiral of anxiety and stress. blah, blah. Now, for past year or so, been earning, and getting back on feet. Looking to start paying back, and deal with all my debts. Have done as much due diligence as I can, and need some pointers. I have a number of creditors, with debts totalling around 45K. Have been paying token payments of £1 to most, some more. Looking to get StepChange advice and help. But also need some idea of full and final offers to really motor down the debts. So, as a starter, here are some of my most pressing questions: 1: I am having difficulty filling in my Income and Expenditure, as my income fluctuates. (I am working freelance, as am probably too old to be employed by a company.) I am wary of entering payment schedule and failing. Prefer to keep paying token amounts, then offer surplus every 6 months or so. Would creditors go for this? 2: I understand the first step may be to get CCAs from my creditors. Are there any downsides to asking for CCAs? Would creditors sense that I am trying to wriggle out, and go for asking for more, or get heavy-handed? 3: Are CCAs only for debt companies, or even the Originating creditor? (some of my debts have been off-loaded to debt-companies.) 4: What is the purpose of SARs? How does that help me? I understand they might be for finding penalty fees, etc? I know I accrued a lot when I couldn't pay any amounts when I started my downhill slide. 5: When offering Full and Finals, do I go for the biggest first? 6: I have been sold from one debt-company to another on some debts, I dont know what I am paying for on some of the payments!! Can I just phone them up and ask where the original debt comes from? (I have signed up with noddle, and got my list of creditors and credit file, so I have a starting point. I have been reading this forum for a few days, and have built up some knowledge, and seen how helpful this site can be. I would like to ask for some help in taking the first steps for an eventual bright future. PS: would it be ok to list my debts (with some fudging to protect myself) as a starting point?

Hi, I need to gather evidence for my defence against Safeloans Ltd. They claim I failed to make the repayment of my loan, but I attempted to do so several times, and ealirer than required. Their website said my card was declined. I recently spoke to NatWest. I got a very helpful advisor who sent me transaction logs to prove I had funds in my account. Unfortunately, he couldn't provide details on the Safeloans transactions from 21st December, as there's a 30 day limit. On 21st December, the day I attempted repayment to Safeloans, I called NatWest after Safeloans' site rejected my payments. They advised me that the transactions had been authorised, but the site did not take any money. I need a way of getting NatWest to provide a copy of transcript of this call, as it would prove beyond any doubt that I did make several attempts to pay Safeloans. Thanks