100k debts - advice please

[Scribes]

For Credit Card Debt Forum.

 

Never used a message board before and new to site... May need help!

 

Have a large debt of over £100k with 20+ credit cards. Going through divorce. Clinically depressed. Don't know where to turn. Local debt advice centre suggests waiting until default notices issued and then offer full and final settlement. How much should this be? Payplan suggesting immediate letters for an Informal Debt Management Plan now - what are repercussions??? What are credit card company tactics - how to respond???

 

Any suggestions for support?? Being made redundant in 3 months time.

 

Whilst more complex than detailed, could another company be of use - Debt Freedirect?

 

Not sleeping. Worried, anxious and don't know where to turn.

 

Grateful for help and advice please.

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.

I will be honest if I had 100k debts to credit cards I dont think I would sleep either.That said,you are here to seek help and help I am certain you will get.

First of all you will need to give more detailed info for example how this 100k is made up and who its owed to how old they are and so forth.

I will move your post to the debt forums and re-title your thread.Keep an eye on replies to it and anser any questions as best you can.....once we have a clearer picture then I am sure you can begin to sort it.

[diskmandave]

I'm pushed for time and heading out for work, i'll check back later though...

 

In the mean time could I strongly suggest that you contact the CCCS without further delay.

 

CCCS - Free Debt Advice from the UK's Leading Debt Charity

 

Best wishes, Dave.

[robcag]

Hi Scribes and welcome to CAG!

 

I've only recently found this site myself, but since doing so I've been hugely impressed and my hopes have been raised by reading as much as I can from the great people on here, so you're in the right place. CAG will probably become your main source of inspiration and information regarding your debts if you stick around, so in the meantime get reading!

 

I have similar debts to you so you're not alone in that respect, and you have the advantage of knowing about this site before the s**t hits the fan, so I wish you well.

 

 

Rob

[tagal]

Hi, I was in a similar position to you a year ago. Contaced Payplan who suggested a DMP which I did. It took about an hour phone call to go over all debts which was awful when you actually have to give them all. They then worked out an I&E and from this was able to work out a pro-rata monthly payment to all your creditors. CCCS and Payplan are highly regarded by creditors, and most if not all will stop interest and accept payments. You will receive defaults once you stop paying the required amount, but I guess this is the least of your problems. Some people have been on a DMP for years and it certainly works for some people and the creditors see that you are trying your hardest to pay off your debts. Usually debts will then be sold onto debt collection agencies, which sometimes are easier to deal with then the original creditors. Payplan will act on your behalf and you can ask creditors only to write/talk to them directly as they are your respresentative. I wanted to offer all creditors a F&F once we had re mortgaged but Payplan would only offer our creditors 75% on our behalf and we only had 60%. So in the end we went it alone and offered all creditors 60% which 10 out of 11 accepted.

 

Please contact CCCS or Payplan as they are free and respected by creditors and your DMP, should you go this route, will be accepted if you use these non-fee charging companies. If you look on their web sites you will find more information about DMP's and what the reprecussions may be. DMP's are an informal arrangement and not legally binding, but for a lot of us are they only way forward.

 

Good luck. X

[gizmo111]

Have a large debt of over £100k with 20+ credit cards. Going through divorce. Clinically depressed. Don't know where to turn. Local debt advice centre suggests waiting until default notices issued and then offer full and final settlement. How much should this be? Payplan suggesting immediate letters for an Informal Debt Management Plan now - what are repercussions??? What are credit card company tactics - how to respond???

 

Sorry to hear of your problems, I think it is not a case of how much should I offer but how much will you have to offer.

 

You say you are going to be made redundant, what are the chances of you finding a another job quickly - a debt management plan will be no use if you arrange it and then have no income to pay it. If you get a jobe after essential living costs etc how much would you expect to be able to pay per month and how long will it take to you pay this off?

 

How far down the divorce road are you - do you have assets to split, will you end up with a reasonable lump sum to tackle these debts. Have you got somewhere else to live?

 

Have a read here

[sequenci]

Hello there. Welcome to the forums.

 

I appreciate 100k must seem like a huge amount of debt to have on your shoulders but I would like you to consider the *type* of debt it is. Credit debts are "non-priority" debts, this means the creditors have very few options open to them when it comes to recovering their money. They could:

 

a) ask you to pay it back

b) mess about with your credit file possibly

c) consider using legal action which should only really be a last resort.

 

If you could answer gizmo's questions we will be in a better position to help moving forward.

 

What will happen with the liviing arrangements / house?

[payingonlyencouragesthem]

I vapourised £80k worth of credit card debts / overdrafts by simply asking for copies of the original agreements under CCA 1974. Since the creditors couldn't provide them the debts became nothing more than a nuisance on my credit file as this made them legally unenforceable. If you got these credit facilities prior to 2002 you could almost certainly do the same thing. Many of us here have been where you are now and have lived happily ever after to tell the tale so don't get too depressed:)!

[dave]

I wonder POET (nice!), if you might furnish me with further information via PM, i.e. which cards etc...

[shane5408]

Agree with Poet,

 

You first need to establish whether your creditors have a legal right to enforce these debts by sending CCA Requests to them. If these debts are pre 2002 it is very likely some of the companies won't have copies of the original documents and if they do they will most probably lack certain prescribed terms or contravene the regulations possilby making them unenforcable. Depending on the circumstances either the debts can be fully written off or at the very least it puts you in a very strong position to make substantially reduced full and final settlement offers (I did this, and we're talking between 5-10% of the total in some cases).

 

kind regards,

shane

[The Phantom]

I will dito that

Managed to shed 33 K worth of loan & cc debts due to CCA non compliance

and the ever available help on this site

 

 

However, if all else fails and you have no job / income soon, you can also get professional advice from the CAB on the bankruptcy option. (That of course should always be carefully considered and only when everything else has really failed.)

[Scribes]

I've just logged on after posting my message last night and feel slightly appeased with the help and responses by everyone. A Big Thank you.

 

To try and respond to those good enough to try and help I'm going to try and clarify matters to at least give a better foundation of information. So here goes.

 

The actual amount outstanding on Credit Cards is £130k.

Credit cards are with M&S, Tesco, Sainsburys, City Financial Europe, MBNA, Alliance & Leiscester, TSB, HSBC, Goldfish, Mint, Coop Bank, Bank of Scotland, Capital One. Some with two cards and some with one.

A loan with Morgan Stanley of £12k. Amounts ranging from £1k to £9k.

 

Is the CCCS the Credit Card Consolidation Service? Are they better than Payplan?

 

Payplan have provided letters but have not offered to contact CCMs.

 

Will have redundancy payment of about £50k in three months. Then only pension of about £10kpa. Would hope to have at least somethging to pay monthly. Hoping to achieve F&F settlement when capital realised - possibly 40-50% maybe?

 

Divorce just initiated by partner. Hope to come to informal arrangement but will have to split house sale proceeds. Say £70k to come each.

 

Will be able to live with relatives. When no longer in work. Hope to get new job in a few months in another area when house sale completed and hopefully, on the road to recovery from depresion and dire situiation at present.

 

How does the application/request for CCA 1974 work. Is there a particular process or form? The debts have accrued over the past 10 years. Some of the cards have been active for anything between 2/3 to 30 years.

 

Immediate dilemma is to either send letters prepared by Payplan requiring me to send along with cheques now. Or, to wait 2-3 months before Default notices are issued and send stanadrd letter devised by National Debtline for F&F settlement?. Any suggestions?

 

Moving bank account to non credit card bank. How long does this take for new SOs and DDs to take effect? Could this be jeopardised by the bank currently (with 2 CCs bals outstanding) not providing info on DDs etc to new bank?

 

Would the CAB or CCCS be able to help independently or should they be consulted over and above Payplan advice.

 

No one has offered to come to house to assess and respond to situation!

 

Hopefully, I've covered everything but I'm eternally grateful for everyones input. Being depressed is certainly a first so not thinking logically or rationally - so help very much appreciated. Don't know which way to turn. All complicated by divorce and the selling of the house which is on the market.

 

Look forward to replies. Thank you all again!!!!

[Scribes]

More thanks to all contributors to my situation. Can appreciate how this site can become addictive. It certainly provides a source of inspiration and hope. Whilst everything becomes a major decision when depressed; something I've never experienced before and not to be recommended, obtaining views, help and suggestions gives some hope to the cause!

 

Responses to queries raised in previous messages:

 

Debt mostly in my name as credit card account holder, although accrued whilst within the marriage. Deemed as mine owing to complications of divorce settlement.

 

Thank you for the source of letter templates.

 

Will consider CCA request to CCCs. Have read detai;led explanation of Act but wonder how effective this is in reality. Should this request be made at any preferential time strategically? First batch of pro-rata payments just sent. Are there any repercusions from CCA request or can it be deemed as a normal request for information? Does it tilt the balance of approach by CCCs?

 

Will attempt to contact CAB financial advisor tomorrow - will post update accordingly.

 

Bankruptcy not an option yet considering assets linked to divorce litigation.

 

Who might be best placed with assisting with debt challenge, apart from CAG that is!

 

Has anyone recently been succesful with F&F process. What's the considered % average acceptance at present if this becomes an option failing all else.

 

Have listed CCs but no response from CAG members on the CCs stance, actions and what to expect. Apreciate possibly dependent on CCA.

 

Again thank you all for your support and comments. Keep them coming.

 

Any advice on opening new bank account with non CCC and transfer of DD details from bank which relates to 2 CC balances outstanding. Anyone experienced copmplications; credit ref etc.

 

Await to hear from readers...... Thank you.

[make them aktiv runners]

If your sums are right, then you are going to be around 10K short in say a few months.

 

Are all these debts actually in just your name?

 

Certainly CCA them all as it buys you a little time at least.

[The Phantom]

Here you can find an array of useful template letters including the request for an original agreement under the CCA (letter N)

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

[The Phantom]

Your local CAB will offer specific free advice as well and you can talk to someone face to face

But start sending out those CCA letters and see which debts are unenforceable so you can distinguish between those that need paying and those you can put to bed due to CCA non compliance

There are some very good threads on this site about requesting an agreement under the CCA

Have a look around, for example:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/consumer-forums-website-questions/79147-consumer-credit-act-resources.html#post698228

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/other-institutions/10900-loan-company-cannot-supply.html#post83230

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/33174-consumer-credit-act-agreements.html#post258846

[reallymadwoman]

Hi Scribes,

I really can't add very much to the advice you have already been given other than to say that if you can manage to deal with this yourself rather than get someone else to sort everything out for you, it will certainly improve your depression.

Only a few months ago I used to dread the sound of more envelopes hitting the door mat every morning, but now that I'm in control with the wonderful help and advice on this site, I actually look forward to whatever the postman might bring today. Outside agencies can certainly help you get organised with getting all these debts off your back, but they can't give you that sense of achievement when you've done it yourself and neither will they really make any effort to check that you actually have to pay what's being asked for.

Initially I did have some doubts about the morality of 'avoiding' payment due to technicalities, but all these big companies are in a much better position than us mere consumers to make sure they get the legalities right and if they don't, then just rely on us to not know our rights, they deserve everything they get. I have to wonder at their morality in allowing someone to run up debts of over £100k too.

It doesn't sound as if you've yet reached the stage of your debts been passed from one debt collector to another with the associated barrage of phone calls and increasingly threatening letters, but if you had you would appreciate the advice on this site even more. Just in case, DO NOT SPEAK TO ANYONE, not even the original creditors, or agree anything over the phone. Insist that everything is done in writing, and keep insisting.

 

I wish you lots of luck and hope everything gets sorted quickly, but remember that no matter how bad things look right now, there is a light at the end of the debt tunnel and you will get there eventually.

[sequenci]

Hello there.

 

Only speak to a trained Money Adviser at a CAB, do not speak to a generalist adviser about your situation.

 

CCCS and Payplan are both much of a muchness although since they operate various debt management/iva schemes i've found that on occasion they may try and push something that might not be right just because it generates revenue for them. There is also National Debtline.

[fermi]

Is the CCCS the Credit Card Consolidation Service?

 

Absolutely not! :o

 

CCCS = The Consumer Credit Counselling Service - Tel: 0800 138 1111

The rest of the advice on this thread is great. Good luck.

[migi]

I agree - CCCS and Pay Plan are both useless. Try EDITED, they will visit you at your home and take over everything, including challenging the debts if unenforceable.

[migi]

Have you considered bankruptcy?

[sequenci]

I agree - CCCS and Pay Plan are both useless.

 

I don't agree at all, I work with both firms and they are excellent at what they do. The commercial company you speak of will obviously want some sort of payment, I would be inclined to steer clear.

 

If you want some impartial advice on your options then CCCS or National Debtline are the places to go. If you chose to go to a CAB ensure that you speak to a qualified Money Adviser rather than a generalist adviser.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I'm with sequenci - both CCCS and Payplan are very good at what they do, and are free. They also have more credibility with most creditors and DCAs.

 

Commercial companies may challenge unenforceable debts - but then you can do that yourself, with a little help from CAG!

[Oh Boy!]

BANKRUPTCY LAST RESORT WHEN EVERYTHING HAS FAILED COMPLETELY!

 

Just for the benefit of SCRIBES can some clarify why its important to know if the cards/debts where PRE-2002.

 

 

** Credentials **

 

10 Years Finance Fraud Investigator

 

5 Year High Court Sheriffs

 

2 Years Tip Staff Royal Courts

 

Currently : HMCS Enforcement Officer

[shane5408]

BANKRUPTCY LAST RESORT WHEN EVERYTHING HAS FAILED COMPLETELY!

 

Just for the benefit of SCRIBES can some clarify why its important to know if the cards/debts where PRE-2002.

 

 

** Credentials **

 

10 Years Finance Fraud Investigator

 

5 Year High Court Sheriffs

 

2 Years Tip Staff Royal Courts

 

Currently : HMCS Enforcement Officer

 

We tend to find agreements post 2002, if they can be found are more complaint with the regulations and ACT, because several claims had already been made from debtors claiming unenforcability on these grounds prior to this and the creditors are trying to tighten things up