desperate

[sherry40]

Any advice would gratefully be

received please. Well here goes as i cant talk to any one else about this. Iam a single mum who is self employed with a mortgage of 80 thousand repayment and 30 interest only so pay 724 monthly mortgage which is ok but have been burying my head in the sand as owe 18 thousand on various credit cards . Up to now have been managing it but my tracker rate has just finished so hence mortgage rate has gone up to 724 and my credit bills are over 400 a month and am not getting anywhere paying them off have just about kept head above water but the truth is ive got more money going out than i have coming in and dont think i can manage it much longer. Did approach mortgage company about secured loan but didnt take it any further as they were talking about taking it out over 20 years when my mortgage finishes in 15 years and even then they said it was possibly too tight and i was concerned if turned down my credit rating would be affected which on experian is excellent. I have never missed any payments but have been a couple of days late on occasion. my mortgage is with abbey and have applied for a 0% and0% no fee balance transfer which if i get i would shift some of the debt and hopefully buy some time to sort things out, in hindsight this probably wasnt a good idea as if they turn me down for this i dont know. Please if anyone has got advice please please tell me i really dont know what to do thank you.

[Mydogsawestie]

If you dont want to upset your credit rating then its no use in me suggesting going into a Debt Management Plan like Payplan which helps with an affordable amount to go towards your credit cards.

 

Could you not roll out your existing mortgage to 20 years instead of it finishing in 15 years...you would not be applying for credit then & it will reduce your monthly mortgage payment then so that you can use it to help pay something extra elsewhere...?

 

Perhaps also ask your council tax if you can spread there payments over 12mths too instead of 10mths due to your financial circumstances (ie tell them you have had a cut in hours salary etc) Good luck

[cerberusalert]

First send the CC and any loan, catalogue companies a CCA request to see if they are entitled to collect this debt & if it's enforcable. If they fail to provide it within 12 working days from receipt, or the CCA is unenforcable you can legally withold any payment until they do. Send it recorded delivery enclosing a £1 postal order. When you get a reply, scan it & remove any identifying details and post it back here where we can have a look at it. We'll advise you from there;

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re:- Account No: XXXXXXXX/Your Reference Number: XXXXXXX

 

This letter is a formal request pursuant to s.77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement relating to the above account, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide.

 

I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit. You are reminded that should you fail to comply with my request, the provisions of s.77 will apply.

 

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA 1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties.

 

Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b),6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR). I enclose a postal order in the sum of £1.00, which is the statutory fee. Note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose.

 

If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee.

 

Furthermore, with regards to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.

 

I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. (Delete if necessary)

 

I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only.

 

You are reminded of the following under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

 

Trading Standards can bring about a prosecution if, with the object of coercing another person to pay money claimed from the other as a debt due under contract, he or she:

 

(a) harasses the other with demands for payment which by their frequency, or the manner or occasion of their making, or any accompanying threat or publicity are calculated to subject him or his family or household to alarm, distress or humiliation;

(b) falsely represents, in relation to the money claimed, that criminal proceedings lie for failure to pay it;

© falsely represent themselves to be authorized in some official capacity to claim or enforce payment;

(d) utters a document falsely represented by him to have some official character or purporting to have some official character which he knows it has not.

 

I am of the view that your harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine.

 

Further to this if it is your intention to arrange a call from your 'Doorstep Collectors', I note that there is only an implied license under English Common Law for certain people to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v. Sheppard and Short Ltd [1959] 2 Q.B. per Lord Evershed M.R.).

 

Take note, I revoke license under English Common Law for you, or any of your representatives to visit me at my property and if you do so without my permission, you will then be liable to damages for a tort of trespass. You would also be conspiring in a trespass if you sent someone to visit me nevertheless. Any trespassers you attempt to send therefore will be dealt with accordingly.Be further advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded.

 

(Print in red optional addition)

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours faithfully **Edit to suit**

 

(Print do not sign signature)

[ukaviator]

Hi Sherry

 

Some people remortgage for a little bit more and transfer expensive credit card debt to a lower interest rate onto the mortgage, it maybe out of your reach on the repayments though for you.

 

The priority here is your home, do you intend staying in your home for the next 15 years?

 

Credit card debt is secondary to your home and your Council Tax Bills, utilities etc. If you are juggling debt you will eventually drop all of the balls. I think you need to sit down and do a full income and expenditure spreadsheet, also are there any overlimit fees, late payment fees on your credit cards?