Drowning in debt - please help

[Massamum]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping that someone on here can help me please as I really don’t know which way to turn.

I am unemployed after a stint caring for someone and unable to work. I have a serious amount of debt - a bank loan and three maxed out credit cards, one is an Egg card (online application, 2007), one is Virgin/MBNA card (also online application, 2007), one is a very old Lloyds credit card and a Lloyds loan.

I paid a small sum to one of these companies who claim to get your debt written off (that was before I discovered CAG), they’ve had my case since just after Christmas.

They said they’d get all of my debts written off but so far the only time I hear anything is when I call them and then they fob me off by saying its being dealt with “upstairs”. Also that they will not deal with my credit cards as I can’t afford to pay for each one separately, they will only handle the loan, although nothing much has happened with that as yet.

I've suffered months of phone calls and threatening letters and feel like the net is closing in on me now. Its making me ill.

I received a default notice from MBNA today saying they are going to terminate my agreement (I have received several from them). I’ve also had threats from MBNA saying they are going to put a charge on my house and get a charging order to force me to sell.

After reading a few of the threads on here I realise it won’t be long til I receive court papers from MBNA and if it goes to Northampton I can say bye bye to my home. Is that correct? Grateful for any advice as to what I should do. Please help me.

I’ve written this in a bit of a hurry and it sounds disjointed and confusing to me, I hope you can make some sense of it.

Thanks.

[sosumi]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping that someone on here can help me please as I really don’t know which way to turn.

I am unemployed after a stint caring for someone and unable to work. I have a serious amount of debt - a bank loan and three maxed out credit cards, one is an Egg card (online application, 2007), one is Virgin/MBNA card (also online application, 2007), one is a very old Lloyds credit card and a Lloyds loan.

I paid a small sum to one of these companies who claim to get your debt written off (that was before I discovered CAG), they’ve had my case since just after Christmas.

They said they’d get all of my debts written off but so far the only time I hear anything is when I call them and then they fob me off by saying its being dealt with “upstairs”. Also that they will not deal with my credit cards as I can’t afford to pay for each one separately, they will only handle the loan, although nothing much has happened with that as yet.

I've suffered months of phone calls and threatening letters and feel like the net is closing in on me now. Its making me ill.

I received a default notice from MBNA today saying they are going to terminate my agreement (I have received several from them). I’ve also had threats from MBNA saying they are going to put a charge on my house and get a charging order to force me to sell.

After reading a few of the threads on here I realise it won’t be long til I receive court papers from MBNA and if it goes to Northampton I can say bye bye to my home. Is that correct? Grateful for any advice as to what I should do. Please help me.

I’ve written this in a bit of a hurry and it sounds disjointed and confusing to me, I hope you can make some sense of it.

Thanks.

Hi Massasmum

Your post sounds fine. Terminating agreements and placing defaults comes with the territory, I'm afraid. However, they are deliberately worded to panic you.

If your debts were from 2007 then they may be enforceable, in which case your being in touch with this 'write-off' firm has made things feel much worse than they might be.

IMO, I'd get in contact with National Debtline...

will go find the link...

National Debtline – Free, Confidential Debt Advice – Call 0808 808 4000

[michelle73]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping that someone on here can help me please as I really don’t know which way to turn.

I am unemployed after a stint caring for someone and unable to work. I have a serious amount of debt - a bank loan and three maxed out credit cards, one is an Egg card (online application, 2007), one is Virgin/MBNA card (also online application, 2007), one is a very old Lloyds credit card and a Lloyds loan.

I paid a small sum to one of these companies who claim to get your debt written off (that was before I discovered CAG), they’ve had my case since just after Christmas.

They said they’d get all of my debts written off but so far the only time I hear anything is when I call them and then they fob me off by saying its being dealt with “upstairs”. Also that they will not deal with my credit cards as I can’t afford to pay for each one separately, they will only handle the loan, although nothing much has happened with that as yet.

I've suffered months of phone calls and threatening letters and feel like the net is closing in on me now. Its making me ill.

I received a default notice from MBNA today saying they are going to terminate my agreement (I have received several from them). I’ve also had threats from MBNA saying they are going to put a charge on my house and get a charging order to force me to sell.

After reading a few of the threads on here I realise it won’t be long til I receive court papers from MBNA and if it goes to Northampton I can say bye bye to my home. Is that correct? Grateful for any advice as to what I should do. Please help me.

I’ve written this in a bit of a hurry and it sounds disjointed and confusing to me, I hope you can make some sense of it.

Thanks.

Hi there, first thing, please don't panic. I am currently on a debt management plan with Consumer credit counselling services. I suggest thay you contact them. CCCS - Free Debt Advice from the UK's Leading Debt Charity. They are fantastic. You will find that everyone on here is amazing and will help you an awful lot. Another thing I would recommend is that you spend some time looking through threads on here relevant to the companies you have debts with. Information is power. I have MBNA and Capital one on my debt management plan and as soon as you involve CCCS, they will roll over and accept reduced payments. I have also had no defaults issued or CCJ's since getting involved with the CCCS. They are also a charity so there are no fees. Please read through and you will get loads of support on here. We all support each other. Good luck. keep me posted xx:)

[Goldlady]

Hi, just subscribing to your thread in the hope that I can help.

 

Have you got a lot of equity in your house?

 

Have you tried to negotiate reduced payments/frozen interest with any of them?

 

And how much do you owe in total?

[Massamum]

Thank you so much for your replies. I am already with the CCCS but as on jobseekers I can only afford token payments of £1 per month. Of course they are not happy with that and keep trying to make me increase. I can barely afford the £1 so its ridiculous. Even though I give my CCCS reference number it didn't stop them hassling me unfortunately. Things just feel very desperate right now.

[tendogs]

Evening and welcome to CAG, There is little chance that it will come to that, first they would need to get a judgment from your local county court, then they would need to apply for a charging order and then they would need to apply for an order to sell, you, would of course, fight them all the way and even if they did get as far as applying for an order to sell they are very rarely granted. Do not panic, over the next couple of days can you give us some more information about the debts, do not give any information that might identify you and, if you can, post up any documents you have from these people obliterating any personal information. One other thing, none of the credit card company directors or any of their staff will go to bed thinking about your account tonight.

Edited March 13, 2009 by tendogs
format

[Massamum]

Hi Goldlady, there is a huge amount of equity in the house and that’s what is so tempting to MBNA (they actually sent me a print-out of land reg papers). MBNA and Lloyds have frozen interest for a while but, like I said before, MBNA now seem to be going for the house. I owe around about £50k in total.

[Massamum]

Thank you for your reassuring words tendogs and you are so right, they won’t be losing any sleep over my account but I am having to take sleeping tablets. The thing is, I’m not sure if I’d be able to fight them, I haven’t got a clue where to start!!!

I haven’t got a scanner so can’t post the docs up anytime soon but my brother is visiting soon and I think he has a scanner so will do my best.

[Goldlady]

Without being too specific, can you tell us how the 50k is split? And when you say the Lloyds card is old, how old? I had a Lloyds credit card and when I asked them for a copy of my agreement (which they need to prove the debt in court) they couldn't find anything at all. Same thing may apply to the loan but less likely.

 

MBNA are the biggest problem IMO. They seem to think they are above British law and are horrendous.

 

You will get lots of help on here and this website changes lives - believe me - I was about to go bankrupt when I found it nearly three years ago.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Goldlady
didn't realise I had been here so long!!!

[bigegg]

Thank you for your reassuring words tendogs and you are so right, they won’t be losing any sleep over my account but I am having to take sleeping tablets. The thing is, I’m not sure if I’d be able to fight them, I haven’t got a clue where to start!!!

 

 

 

You start by asking for help on The Consumer Forums - Welcome to the The Consumer Forums

 

And don't worry! easy to say, but really - it's only money!

 

I'm guessing that there will be quite a lot of charges applied to your credit cards - if you start reclaiming these, it will reduce your debts.

 

The lloyds loan and credit card are probably unenforceable - most old loans/credit cards are.

 

How is the 50K split? (approx?)

 

GOLDEN RULES:

 

1. NEVER, EVER, speak to them on the phone.

2. Don't sign your letters

3. Don't talk to them on the phone.

4. See rule 1.

 

 

First thing to do is write letters to each of your creditors (or debt collectors - whoever is asking for the money) asking for a copy of the Credit Agreement and any terms and conditions in force AT THE TIME OF SIGNING. You need to enclose a £1 postal order to make it a legally binding request under Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

Don't sign your letters.

Don't talk to them on the phone.

 

If they don't respond within 12 days, you can stop paying them ANYTHING until you get a copy - not much good on the 2007 debts, cos they come under different rules, and are usually enforceable.

As I said - the older debts may be easier to get rid of.

 

If you are taken to court, a judge is only likely to order you to pay £1 a month -

I don't believe MBNA (or anyone) can ask for a charging order unless you default on this court order, and even if they do -

there is a very good (in my amateur opinion!) defence against this as it's making an unsecured loan into a secured loan at the expense of other people you may owe money to.

 

So, to recap:

 

You're in good hands -

the people on here have been through what you're going through - we survived it, and so will you.

In 6 months, you'll look back and wonder what the panic was!

 

Don't sign your letters.

 

Don't talk to them on the phone.

 

 

Oh, and welcome to CAG

[tendogs]

You've found CAG so that's a start, I reiterate the DCAs have been eager to turn unsecured debts into secured ones by trying to take a charge on property, if that has been successful then mostly they are content with that and wait until the property is sold to take their stake it is, after all, an entry in the credit side of their portfolio.

Some have become a little bolder and threatened application for an order to sell once they have the charge, I think that this is to scare people into paying, or, at the hearing they can ask for costs and add that to the debt or they hope they might have the order granted.

There are, however a number of issues that the judge has to take into consideration before such an order can be made for example, if you can demonstrate that you intended your home to be your main family residence in which to raise a family and, maybe look after an aging family member, or your child lives with you and goes to a local school etc, etc. then the order will not be made.

That's a long way down the line however. We'll look in tomorrow, see how you're doing and see if we can get you started on responding to these people. They'll jump up and down to try and bully you into responding do not let them set the pace, take it one step at a time.

[tendogs]

Not too happy about you taking sleeping tablets old bean, they are nearly always benzodiazepines, addictive and counter-productive after a short while.

If you are finding it difficult to sleep because you are ruminating about your problems then it is MUCH more likely to be a depressive symptom and, while you might not have a depressive illness, if you suppress REM sleep with benzodiazepines then you may very well become depressed.

On the whole it is far, far better to take an SSRI, something like sertraline because they help with information processing and eventually reduce the amount of rumination which, in turn, increases sleep.

[Goldlady]

St John's Wort - been taking it for three years after I came off sleeping tablets that were prescribed as antidepressant.

 

And red wine of course:D

[bigegg]

P'ing off DCAs always ensures I get a good night's sleep.

 

Edited March 13, 2009 by bigegg
d*mnd apostrophes!

[sosumi]

Not too happy about you taking sleeping tablets old bean, they are nearly always benzodiazepines, addictive and counter-productive after a short while.

 

If you are finding it difficult to sleep because you are ruminating about your problems then it is MUCH more likely to be a depressive symptom and, while you might not have a depressive illness, if you suppress REM sleep with benzodiazepines then you may very well become depressed.

 

On the whole it is far, far better to take an SSRI, something like sertraline because they help with information processing and eventually reduce the amount of rumination which, in turn, increases sleep.

Sleeping tablets are not always benzodiazepines, and benzodiazepines are okay for short term stress. SSRIs are not always the better option - far from it.

The best solution for stress is to regain control over the situation. That comes with time and help.

[sosumi]

P'ing off DCAs always ensures I get a good night's sleep.

 

Also very effective

[tendogs]

I knew I shouldn’t have said anything, but old habits die hard and even after 3 years of retirement I still feel the need to have my three pennyworth so here it is.

I absolutely agree that soporifics are not all benzodiazepines and I’ll think you’ll find that I said nearly all. I will stand by that statement and I will go so far as to say that the most commonly prescribed soporific is temazepam.

Benzodiazepines are very useful in small doses for short periods but, and this is a HUGE but having spent 35 years of my life dealing with people whose experience of anxiety was made considerably worst by even quite small doses of benzoes I feel entitled to be wary of them.

Benzodiazepines should not ever be prescribed for stress, they are an anxiolytic.

I just have to plain disagree with you; SSRIs are a better option to benzodiazepines if they are being given to induce sleep when instigation is hindered by ruminations.

A friend of mine did some research into St John’s Wort a few years ago and a rough and dirty précis of the outcome is this. St John’s Wort and SSRIs have very similar chemical constituents in that they are both 5HT inhibitors, the major difference is that because the manufacture of most St J W product is not regulated the level of active component is variable.

 

I'm off up the wooden hill good night to you all

[Massamum]

Phew, just managed to log back in. So great to have so many wonderful responses here! That’s made me feel so much better to have your support folks, thank you.

 

Goldenlady, the split of the debts is Egg card £10k, MBNA card £15k, Lloyds card also £15k and a Lloyds loan for £10k. Don’t feel very proud of it but I didn’t have a choice at the time. The Lloyds card is probably over 10 years old by now I think. I think the Lloyds loan was an online application but I can’t fully remember. That loan was taken out in about 2004 though so I might be ok? Great that Lloyds couldn’t produce your agreement, well done, and I fully agree about MBNA. They are the PITTS.

 

Sosumi is right, I’m only taking a short course of the sleeping tabs to try and reset my sleeping schedule as I’ve been up worrying most nights. But now I’ve discovered this site I’m sure things are going to get better as it sounds like there’s hope out there.

 

I’d love to pee the debt companies off but I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat at the moment (also on anti-depressants so not hugely strong), but I hope that if I can get control of my finances then things will start to improve.

 

Bigegg, I’ve broken quite a few of the rules unfortunately. I’ve sent them many letters that I’ve signed and also spoken to them at length on the phone (but that was before I discovered this site).

 

 

 

I'll try and get back online again tomorrow, night night all.

[bigegg]

We think of them more as guidelines more than rules...

 

If you are getting harrassing phone calls, it may be worthwhile having your telephone number changed.

There is also an offer on a machine called truecall somewhere on this site - it's got good reviews, but I've never used it.

Eventually you'll get to the point where you look forward to the letters and phone calls so you can report them to the OFT, trading standards, and generally p* them off.

THEN you get your life back.

[Goldlady]

You are talking to someone who would lie on the floor if someone knocked at the door, and who is still a bit nervous about answering the phone. Until about a year ago I would just let it ring unless the OH was here.

 

You will get stronger, believe me. It is only money after all. You have not committed a crime - it sounds as if they have - it is called irresponsible lending.

 

Sleep well:)

[Massamum]

Hi all,

 

Have finally found my way back on here. I'm feeling a little stronger and have decided to try and tackle things head-on. I'm going to send a CCA request to Lloyds for the credit card.

 

I will start a new thread for that, is that the right thing to do?

 

Will be grateful for any help you can give (think I'm going to need it!!!).

 

Also, I received a letter from Link Financial yesterday saying the MBNA debt has been sold to them. Oh well I will write with the standard offer of £1 token payment as thats all I can afford.

[harrassed senior]

No, no, no, do not write and offer a payment.

 

Your first step to dealing with each and every creditor is to CCa them. This has the effect of stopping them in their tracks and buying you some time and space. By law they cannot and should not contact you in any way once they have received your request, (unsigned of course), £1 postal order and all sent by at least Recorded Delivery.

 

They then have 12 + 2 (working) days to answer your request, after which time your account will be unenforceable until and if they can produce the relevant documents.

 

So please, whatever you do don't make an offer of any kind, just send these a letter each and sit back and wait and see what happens.

 

That should give you until at least after Easter so sit back, enjoy your sleep and know you have upset some very nasty people!!!

[Massamum]

thanks for your response harrassed senior. The MBNA was an online application so not sure if I can CCA them as its probably enforceable

[Massamum]

new threads started at MBNA and Lloyds

Edited April 2, 2009 by Massamum
hyperlinks weren't working