Newbie - Help needed with debts please

[North7]

Hi I'm hoping someone out there can help me.

 

I'm currently in debt of £57,250 (exc mortgage)

My take home pay is £1,650 a month.

I live on my own with 200k mortgage on a house worth 185k.

 

I owe the following companies.

 

LloydsTSB Loan 1 - £19,809 - Start Date 14/10/08. £537/month.

LloydsTSB Loan 2 - £6,382 - Start Date 24/01/07. £272/month.

Barclays car Loan - £6,954 - Start Date 09/09/08. £273/month.

A&L Loan - £7,204 - Start Date 20/02/08. £309/month.

Egg Card - £4,389 - Start Date Jan 02. £124/month.

They didn't know the exact start date at Egg when I asked.

Mint card - £4,038 - Start Date 29/04/08. £90/month.

Barclaycard - £5,696 - Start Date 07/03/08. £128/month.

LloydsTSB Overdraft - £2,200. Acc opened Sep 1996.

Mortgage payment - £805/month.

 

As you can see the maths just isn't adding up. I am reluctant to go down the bankruptcy route though.

 

I have currently not requested any credit agreements. Not sure what I am looking for anyway if/when they do issue them. Not sure if they are enforceable or not.

 

It has come to a head. I am currently up to date with most things, maybe a month behind on a few of them. I simply don't have any money to pay them now.

 

I was thinking of writing to each of them asking for each of them to accept a token payment of £1 and to freeze the interest. I was then hopefully going to start saving and maybe in 6/12 months time write again with a full and final offer to each of them. I may be able to borrow of family for the full and final offers.

 

What is your advice on this?

 

The mortgage payment is a repayment, I am currently trying to get them to change it to interest only at around £500/month.

 

Any help would be grateful. Thank you.

[loobyloo85]

Hi

 

Yes you could try writing to all of your creditors explaining your situation and offering them a token payment, however, there is a chance that the creditors will keep charging interest which will not help you to clear your debts.

 

Have you considered an IVA at all? Based on your level of debt you may qualify, and this a legally binding agreement where all interest nd charges are frozen on all accounts.

[North7]

Thanks Loobyloo.

 

I have a meeting with Payplan tomorrow so hopefully then can advise me on the best route to take.

[balster]

The figures make terrible reading when down on paper...in fact they are eye watering.

I was in the same boat as you 4 years ago, I've been paying 2 of my 6 loans off since 2007. The others are being "negotiated" with by me.

Go see the CAB, they really helped me. Now I don't lose any sleep over them.

[Dotty50]

I was thinking the same, how did you manage to get credit with payments totalling over £1200 in 2008 when your mortgage payments were £805 and income only £1650?

 

I guess you have had a major change in circumstances? Are all the debts in your name only?

 

Would not think CCA route will be of any use as debts too young to possibly be unenforceable.

 

If you are paying £273 per month for a car, that's a lot, can you sell it and settle the account and maybe get something more affordable? If it's Hire-purchase there may be another route out of this but you have stated that it is a loan. I guess if it is Barclays it will be a loan but something to look at just in case.

 

You should be able to get the Egg start date without any problem, either online or just by calling them.

 

If you have a meeting with payplan, although I am not familiar with them, at least you are moving in the right direction.

 

You will get lots of help and support on here though so don't despair, you are not on your own.

 

Keep posting any developments and lots will come along with advice.

[North7]

Hi Dotty

 

Yes there was. I was made redundent in July 2009. My previous job had a very good wage and I was stupid and lived for the day and never considered the future or redundency.

 

I spoke to Payplan and they advised me to go down the debt management plan initially. I'm trying to negotiate with each debtor as I don't want defaults on my credit record. At the same time I'm currently trying to get a job back what I was originally doing with similiar pay.

 

It has certainly been a massive wake up call of how stupid my lifestyle was before. I built the debts up so I want to clear them. Once I have I'm pretty sure I wont get in this situation again. A hard lesson learned.

[Dotty50]

Hi,

 

Requesting copies of your agreements may not be of use as they are all quite new, although it is always an option.

 

Will payplan be doing the negotiation for you or are you planning on doing it yourself?

 

Be prepared, even when arrangements have been made and agreed, it is likely that they will still default you.

 

As you go along, start a new thread for each creditor and if you have any letters from them and get stuck, just post them on the thread (ensure you remove any personal details and bar codes) and someone will be along to help.

 

If you send any letters, always send recorded and check the royal mail website for proof of signature. It is also good advice not to sign your letters, I just use a computerised signature.

 

For ALL letters received, KEEP the envelope it comes in and keep a folder for each creditor, so that you have a paper trail, which may be of use further down the line.

 

Spend as much time as you can reading on here and you will find many in the same boat (for whatever reason) but the advice is brilliant.

 

Good luck with your job hunting.

[loobyloo85]

OK, well Payplan specialise in the debt management plans, and IVAs, so as you say I am sure they will be able to advise you on the best route forward.

 

All the best x

[Dotty50]

I expect there will be plenty of threads on here started by others who have used Payplan.

 

Read up on them and you will be able to see how things progress with them.

 

Good luck