We have so much debt, it seems only hope is selling house!

[wilchil64]

Thank you Rhia. Yes, I do that constantly, but the main problem is the payments (and some are huge) go out all over the month, on different dates! The pay goes in weekly, but different amounts each time. So I never know how much will come in very far in advance. I am finding it impossible to work out how much we have available when to pay off credit cards. I don't think any accounting software will deal with that either, i.e. I mean it won't be able to tell me if we will have enough to pay the mortgagein a week's time or in a fortnight's time. The mortgage wipes out more than a week's pay and then 2 days later all the utilities, TV licence, car insurance etc. go out which is another half a week's wage at least. Inbetween we have the car HP payment which is half a week's wage, the large loan payments, council tax, which is a week before the mortgage .... I can feel the panic rising in me again! I just can't cope with it.

 

I can't get to grips with Gnucash at all, but I have no experience with accounting software, so I'll stick to writing it down for now in a book.

[Undercover-Elsa]

OK..I was the same. Here's what I personally would do, based on how I did it.

1. Set up asap a seperate simple current "*parachute account" with an entirely seperate bank. (*safety net). You don't want money for priorities being paid from ANY account at a bank to whom you owe money. That way they can't offset payments by raiding your account if the going gets tough.

2. Transfer your BACs payments directly to this account.

3. Write/phone and change all your payment dates to the end of the month.

4. Set up *STANDING ORDERS in the new account to pay your PRIORITY bills - mortgage, council tax, utilities, TV Licence, Insurance, phone/internet. Allow your weekly income to accrue to end of month, less weekly food bills. (* Unlike DD's, Standing Orders can be eaily varied by yourself online, the date changed to allow for delays in money coming in etc)

5. Take the 3 month payment holiday you mentioned and allow the money to accrue in your new account for emergency backup ONLY. Make sure they just increase the term, not the repayments though. This is your peace of mind money.

6. Establish which debts are enforceable/ unenforceable, as discussed above, then figure out how much, if anything, you have left to offer the enforceable ones..either pro rata or depending who's getting nastiest

7. The ones you do arrange to pay..again, insist on Standing Order ONLY. That way you are in control of the payments. Check your account religiously to ensure you have enough to cover the priorities. Sacrifice other debts first.

 

That's literally what I did, and it worked for me

 

Elsa x

Edited June 20, 2010 by Undercover-Elsa

[wilchil64]

OK..I was the same. Here's what I personally would do, based on how I did it.

1. Set up asap a seperate simple current "*parachute account" with an entirely seperate bank. (*safety net). You don't want money for priorities being paid from ANY account at a bank to whom you owe money. That way they can't offset payments by raiding your account if the going gets tough.

2. Transfer your BACs payments directly to this account.

3. Write/phone and change all your payment dates to the end of the month.

4. Set up *STANDING ORDERS in the new account to pay your PRIORITY bills - mortgage, council tax, utilities, TV Licence, Insurance, phone/internet. Allow your weekly income to accrue to end of month, less weekly food bills. (* Unlike DD's, Standing Orders can be eaily varied by yourself online, the date changed to allow for delays in money coming in etc)

5. Take the 3 month payment holiday you mentioned and allow the money to accrue in your new account for emergency backup ONLY. Make sure they just increase the term, not the repayments though.

6. Establish which debts are enforceable/ unenforceable, as discussed above, then figure out how much, if anything, you have left to offer the enforceable ones..either pro rata or depending who's getting nastiest

7. The ones you do arrange to pay..again, insist on Standing Order ONLY. That way you are in control of the payments. Check your account religiously to ensure you have enough to cover the priorities. Sacrifice other debts first.

That's literally what I did, and it worked for me

Elsa x

 

Thanks for the advice Elsa. The only problem I see is that last time we changed bank accounts and moved the direct debits, some were moved, some weren't, some took longer than expected, we never knew where the money should be to pay them .... ended up being charged late payment fees for payments when there wasn't money there to pay them .... Don't want to go through that again! Maybe taking the payment holiday would help though ...

 

Still thinking this one through ...

 

OK, getting there now! One question ... do you mean we should leave the direct debits for mortgage, insurance, utilities etc. going out of the old account but set up a standing order to transfer money from our new account with salary going into it, in time to have sufficient funds in the old account to pay the DDs? (sorry, that sounded complicated, hope you get my drift!) cos I don't think the gas people, mortgage people etc will let us change our direct debits to standing orders....

 

Otherwise, that sounds like a great idea. Just ran it past hubbie and he is impressed!

Edited June 20, 2010 by wilchil64

[Undercover-Elsa]

Did you let the banks do it?

You really have to do it yourself. Cancel the lot in the old account yourself then immediately set up the Standing Orders in the new account yourself. Simples:) Just getting the timing right for the payments in you have to watch..

[Undercover-Elsa]

I know its hard at first, but strict organisation at the outset is the key...after that it all becomes self sustaining.

That said, I got my neice sorted out doing this. All went well for a few months and she built up an emergency fund.

Then decided a new laminate floor for the kitchen was an absolute emergency...

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello Wilchil64!

 

One package that is quite good, is Microsoft Money, it's not megabucks, and you may be able to pick up a copy on eBay for less than the retail/shop Price.

 

Indeed, v2004 is fine, you do not even need the latest.

 

I used to use Intuit Quicken, until they discontinued that, so I reluctantly migrated the Home Accounts to MS Money, and found it to be just as good.

 

Most work like a glorified bank Statement.

 

You can start from anytime you wish. Best is probably from the most up to date bank Statement. Enter everything on that, a line at a time, using the same dates and figures.

 

Set-up Categories as you go, which the Software will help you with.

 

Say, ASDA would be a Payee, and you'd enter that as, say, Groceries for Category. Enter the Date and Amount, and that's one in.

 

Say, Shell would be another Payee, and you'd enter that as, say, Car Fuel for Category. Enter the Date and Amount, and that's one in.

 

It may then look like this:

 

bank Account XYZ

 

Opening Balance: £100.00

 

18/06/2010 ASDA £45.00 ---- Bal £55.00

Groceries

 

19/06/2010 Shell £25.00 ---- Bal £30.00

Car Fuel

Set-up another Account for Cash.

 

Home Cash

 

Opening Balance: £50.00

 

16/06/2010 Pub £20.00 ---- Bal £30.00

Leisure

 

19/06/2010 SPAR £25.00 ---- Bal £5.00

Groceries

You'll soon get the hang of it.

 

Then a quick look at the overview will tell you were you stand:

 

bank Account XYZ £30.00

Home Cash £5.00

When the bank Statement arrives, you then need to reconcile it, which is dead easy, you just go to bank Account XYZ and click Balance this Account.

 

Up pops a Screen showing all Income and Payments that it knows about:

 

18/06/2010 ASDA £45.00

19/06/2010 Shell £25.00

But when you look at the Bank Statement, it may have this:

 

18/06/2010 ASDA £45.00

19/06/2010 Shell £25.00

20/06/2010 Car Park Ltd £5.00

So there's an extra one you missed. You then nip back to the bank Account XYZ Screen, and enter that as:

 

bank Account XYZ

 

Opening Balance: £100.00

 

18/06/2010 ASDA £45.00 ---- Bal £55.00

Groceries

 

19/06/2010 Shell £25.00 ---- Bal £30.00

Car Fuel

 

20/06/2010 Car Park Ltd £5.00 ----Bal £25.00

Car Parking

Then you can tick all three off so that you know they are Reconciled and accurate and agree with what both you and the bank knows about, after which your Account Overview then changes to:

 

bank Account XYZ £25.00

Home Cash £5.00

Thus, if Husband gets Paid on Monday, you can enter that, and set it up as an Automated Entry if it is regular.

 

i.e.

 

bank Account XYZ

 

Opening Balance: £100.00

 

18/06/2010 ASDA £45.00 ---- Bal £55.00

Groceries

 

19/06/2010 Shell £25.00 ---- Bal £30.00

Car Fuel

 

20/06/2010 Car Park Ltd £5.00 ----Bal £25.00

Car Parking

 

21/06/2010 Mr Wilchil64 £200.00 --- Bal £225.00

But if you looked at your Account overview Today (20/06/2010) this is what you would see:

 

bank Account XYZ £25.00

Home Cash £5.00

That's because your Husband's Pay won't arrive until Tomorrow, so the most you can take out from the Cash Point Today, would be £25, that being the cleared funds available right now. Tomorrow that would be different once the Pay lands into the Account.

 

Same with Bills, so if you have a Bill of £100 on Tuesday, you'll know that it would not be wise to take out all of Husbands Pay Tomorrow, or else your Account will be short on Tuesday and you'll be heading into Overdraft territory and/or bank charges.

 

It's all very easy to use, and as you get stuck in, you will get a better and better overview.

 

Future Bills can be entered and also Automated and, like the Pay, you can see where you are Today, and where you will be when the Bill lands on the Account.

 

Once you get on top of it, there will not be any nasty surprises when the bank Statements arrive. You will smile when bank Statements arrive, because you will be working ahead of the bank.

 

Likewise, you will know that when the ATM Machine says you have a lot of money, you will know that 80% of it is already spoken for because of Bills you know are coming up that week/month.

 

You'll be ahead of the numbers, instead of constantly stressed and wondering what is going wrong, living in fear of the next bank Statement.

 

I also use a Spreadsheet too, to keep track of Bills and Cash Flow in more detail, so that I always have an up to date and detailed snap shot of where I am now, and where I will be later in the Month. I have a few more things to keep track of with our Business, but the principle is the same.

 

The trick is to work hard keeping it all updated. If you let it slip, then it's no use. But, if you stay on top of it, you'll soon start to see how to manage your Income and Bills and, as you get better and better at that, you will be appalled at how much was disappearing before, for little real benefit.

 

The struggle after hacking that is to get rid of the Debts.

 

Then, one day, you will only have the Mortgage, and you can then add a new Account for Savings, and watch that grow and grow.

 

Then you'll want to make the Savings grow faster, and you will be off and running, and free of the Debt Industry for good.

 

One day, you may even dump the Mortgage too!

 

Cheers,

BRW

[wilchil64]

Did you let the banks do it?

You really have to do it yourself. Cancel the lot in the old account yourself then immediately set up the Standing Orders in the new account yourself. Simples:) Just getting the timing right for the payments in you have to watch..

 

Yes, we let the banks do it, they offered to and we thought "well, they know what they're doing, it won't go wrong that way!" How wrong could we be! It was a nightmare!

 

Do you know how long it takes for the companies to change to the new account so I can get the timing right?

 

So, it will be ok to set up standing orders instead of direct debits? Do mortgage companies let you do that too?

[Undercover-Elsa]

OK, getting there now! One question ... do you mean we should leave the direct debits for mortgage, insurance, utilities etc. going out of the old account but set up a standing order to transfer money from our new account with salary going into it, in time to have sufficient funds in the old account to pay the DDs? (sorry, that sounded complicated, hope you get my drift!) cos I don't think the gas people, mortgage people etc will let us change our direct debits to standing orders....

 

Otherwise, that sounds like a great idea. Just ran it past hubbie and he is impressed!

 

It depends whether your old account is with a bank that you owe money to. Ideally your income and priority bills should be with a completely seperate bank. You can still do DD's for priority bills if they don't accept Standing Orders, but most will if you insist. I pay my Mortgage that way..they objected at first but then said fine.

 

Just adapt it to your own circumstances though..whatever you feel is best for you.

Edited June 20, 2010 by Undercover-Elsa

[wilchil64]

I know its hard at first, but strict organisation at the outset is the key...after that it all becomes self sustaining.

That said, I got my neice sorted out doing this. All went well for a few months and she built up an emergency fund.

Then decided a new laminate floor for the kitchen was an absolute emergency...

 

I promise I won't put new laminate floor in!

[wilchil64]

Hello Wilchil64!

 

One package that is quite good, is Microsoft Money, it's not megabucks, and you may be able to pick up a copy on eBay for less than the retail/shop Price.

 

Indeed, v2004 is fine, you do not even need the latest.

 

 

Will this work with Windows XP (Home I think)?

[wilchil64]

Thanks BRW, that sounds clearer, but still not sure I can set that up. I don't want to spend money on software and then find I can't work out how to use it! I'll have a ponder ...

 

You are all saints and I am truly grateful for the time you are all taking to help us with this!

[wilchil64]

It depends whether your old account is with a bank that you owe money too. Ideally your income and priority bills should be with a completely seperate bank. You can still do DD's for priority bills if they don't accept Standing Orders, but most will if you insist. I pay my Mortgage that way..they objected at first but then said fine.

 

Just adapt it to your own circumstances though..whatever you feel is best for you.

 

Yes, we have an overdraft for our current account of £1800, which is nearly always maxed out. Don't owe them money otherwise tho.

 

Thanks, you are terrific, can't tell you how grateful I am for all the help.

[Undercover-Elsa]

OK, if you moved everything you'd need to set up a regular payment to start getting that overdraft down.

One of my "precipitating factors" was when the bank suddenly called in the overdraft, for no apparent reason, 6 months before the review date, so if you decide to stick with that account keep that in mind. To be honest, I'd still open a simple, basic parachute account with no overdraft facility. If the going gets tough and they start trashing your credit file, it'll be harder to do later.

[wilchil64]

OK, if you moved everything you'd need to set up a regular payment to start getting that overdraft down.

One of my "precipitating factors" was when the bank suddenly called in the overdraft, for no apparent reason, 6 months before the review date, so if you decide to stick with that account keep that in mind. To be honest, I'd still open a simple, basic parachute account with no overdraft facility. If the going gets tough and they start trashing your credit file, it'll be harder to do later.

 

This has always been one of my worries ... Won't they call in the overdraft straight away when they realise there is no regular income going into the account? The other bank did on our old bank account! As soon as we moved the direct debits and income across they demanded we pay off the overdraft within 30 days from the date of the letter (which took 10 days to arrive). Crazily I managed to do that at the time .....

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello Wilchil64!

 

Get an Account that allows you on-line Access.

 

Then you can log-in at any time, and see where the bank thinks you are.

 

Likewise, you can pay Bills via BACS, when you are ready to pay.

 

Most BACS Transfers these days only take 2 hours, so it's getting pretty good, at long last.

 

Forget Cheques, because they take forever, and you tend to lose track of the damned things.

 

All banks are not to be trusted, but the lesser of many evils seems to be the Co-Op, or perhaps one of the Building Societies.

 

The key is on-line Access, and a bank that is not part of the same banking group as the one you use now.

 

Once you are on-line, you can transfer over what you need into your old bank Account, until such time as you can either dump it, or reduce the Overdraft to zero as you manage your funds and budgets.

 

Keep the old bank AC if you can, just as a fallback, a reverse Parachute Account if you like (one to have for later).

 

There's no reason not to, provided it doesn't cost you.

 

Do not let anyone have a Direct Debit on the new bank Account, keep that free of parasites. Use BACS or Standing Orders, never Direct Debit.

 

The one exception may have to be the Mortgage, but you could always leave that where it is, and BACS over the funds a day or two ahead of the payment going out.

 

The key is to regain full control over your money and funds, and that won't happen while elements of the Debt Industry are dipping into your bank Account when ever they feel like it.

 

The software suggestions are just to help and, as I say, you may be surprised how little you need to pay if you can find a copy on eBay or perhaps Amazon etc.

 

Cheers,

BRW

[Rhia]

Yep agree with all that Elsa and BRW have said. The Co-op does a simple basic current account which allows you to set up standing orders etc. No idea if it's online but worth investigating.

 

The 3 month mortgage payment holiday could be just the "breather" you need and may not solve everything but might allow you to set a few things straight or pay off some of the smaller debts allowing you to tackle the bigger ones.

 

Direct debits are the bane of my life. They just allow the bank or whoever to take what they want, when they want it and you have no control. Either the Standing Order or ask for a paying in book or just transfer online but make sure you're in control.

[Undercover-Elsa]

I take your point about the banks attitude re your OD if you stop all payments. In my case I had a small pension of around £25 a month in addition to main income so I just left that going in. They'sd already reinstated the OD prior to that but now they just let me reduce it monthly with the pension payment.

[wilchil64]

Thanks again for the advice everyone.

 

I've just been and bought a big A4 notebook to keep track of the accounts in - for now.

 

For now I'll probably leave the mortgage direct debit in the old bank account and transfer money across for that, so they can't complain there is no money going in.

 

I'll have a look at the Co-operative Bank website, see if they do online banking.

 

Husband is going to ring the Halifax re. a mortgage holiday tomorrow.

 

Does anyone know if you have to have a reason for taking a mortgage holiday? A friend of ours works there, in the loan dept, but used to work in mortgages, and said they would only agree to a mortgage holiday if told we needed to cut back for a few months because of a holiday or something. Isn't it enough to say we need to get our bank account back on track?!

 

We will try for standing orders - I am very surprised any companies will do this anymore, I thought everything had to be direct debits.

 

I tend to only use cheques for the window cleaner, milkman etc. Will do away with those and also the milkman as his milk is too expensive! The window cleaner stays as I can't get to my windows and he only charges £4.50 as only does the front, once a month.

 

Very very much agree re companies and their direct debits dipping into our bank account whenever they feel like it! You never know when payments will go out around bank holidays, Christmas etc. and we always end up in a mess! Would love to have control over these things. I guess we've just used to it, we used to do everything on standing order and it's just gradually changed over the last 15 years. Well, it's going to change back!!!

[Bigdebtor]

Wilchill

 

Sorry not to have been online to reply earlier.

 

I found CCCS quite easy to deal with - and if you don't have everything to hand, just give them the stuff you have to work out an I&E thta you can modify later. In any case you need this info to prepare your own budget and plan how to climb out of the mess. The important thing with CCCS is to get a "client registration no" that you quote to any creditor when offering a lower monthly (affordable) payment.

 

I preferred to write to all creditors myself quoting the CCCs ref no and all except RBS/Direct Line agreed to freeze interest and take much reduced payments (some down to £5 per month). I have since managed to get some F&F's accepted at around 35% (some 40% but maximum 50%) and thus pay off about half of my creditors over the last 3 years or so - now fighting the rest on various fronts - no CCA, dodgy DN & TN, reclaiming unfair credit card charges etc.

 

As others have said, DO NET SELL YOUR HOME in the current market. I would take a 2 month mortgage payment holiday (not 3 - keep the third month for a real future emergency). I would ask to go on to interest only until you can get your monthly income and outgoings balanced. I have now been on mortgage interest only for nearly 4 years now - and once I have seen off the other creditors, I plan to go back on to monthly repayments.

 

Try to avoid DD's like the plague -as they just cause you more unfair charges if you haven't got cleared funds and they bounce the DD. Also try to avoid Standing Orders too for the same reasons - and where possible set up to do BACS payments online - but watch they don't charge extra for the "faster payment (same day) service". HBOS charge £5 a go for this which I only noticed after a few months (£100 or so down the drain there!).

 

If you're worried about your O/D getting called in then why not keep that account and pay money into it regularly but transfer it out to your new parachute account when you can?

 

Finally you say you are stressed out - no wonder! Go and see your GP and get a sick note - even if you don't take time off work - you can truthfully tell your creditors you are signed off work for stress due to debt and pressure from creditors. They will usually back off a bit - scared of OFT - and will be more likely to accept low monthly payments and freeze interest. They tend to say they'll do this only for a limited period - but I've found they keep it going if the alternative is getting zero!

 

I hope I've answered the queries from my last post and given you more food for thought. I agree with nearly everything the others are saying too - apart from anyone advising you to sell up and go into rented accomodation - a bad bad move!

 

If you can stay where you are then you don't need to worry about CRA's trashing your credit file - as you should be planning to never borrow again - even for a car - as cars are so reliable now that even £2k or so can buy a reliable runabout nowadays - sod the image!

 

Good luck - you'll get there - but it'll take a while!

 

BD

Edited June 20, 2010 by Bigdebtor
typos

[wilchil64]

Thanks Bigdebtor. I have filled in the CCCS stuff online and have a number to log back in with - is that the reference number you referred to? How do I quote that in my letters to creditors? Just put it in the reference at the top of the letter?

 

It did help me work out my budget though, but I'll send the letters etc myself so that I can be in control of how much I pay off - for now. If that doesn't work I can still go for their DMP.

 

The thing is, we wanted to move anyway, so would still put the house on the market and instead of moving to rented, move to somewhere smaller with lower costs. We moved to 4 bed house when my eldest daughter was still at home and we didn't want the kids to share a room (dd 22 years, ds 18 years, dd 9 years!). It was a bad move, as the house is new build, very very bad quality, too close to neighbours so we hear everything there, plaster on walls rubbish quality etc. And the costs of heating, council tax are so high, would like to cut that down.

 

Credit rating should still be ok at the mo though, fingers crossed. We're thinking about whether to move or not.

 

Yes, the charges for bounced direct debits are crazily high. Would be good to do away with them. Can we just write to the companies and say we want to set up standing order instead, do we need to ring them or can we just set it up?

 

Unfortunately I am self employed part time and work is little and rare at the moment so no sick note for me! Can't live without hubbie's pay. Can I say I'm written off sick anyway to creditors?

[Bigdebtor]

Thanks Bigdebtor. I have filled in the CCCS stuff online and have a number to log back in with - is that the reference number you referred to? How do I quote that in my letters to creditors? Just put it in the reference at the top of the letter?

 

It did help me work out my budget though, but I'll send the letters etc myself so that I can be in control of how much I pay off - for now. If that doesn't work I can still go for their DMP.

 

The thing is, we wanted to move anyway, so would still put the house on the market and instead of moving to rented, move to somewhere smaller with lower costs. We moved to 4 bed house when my eldest daughter was still at home and we didn't want the kids to share a room (dd 22 years, ds 18 years, dd 9 years!). It was a bad move, as the house is new build, very very bad quality, too close to neighbours so we hear everything there, plaster on walls rubbish quality etc. And the costs of heating, council tax are so high, would like to cut that down.

 

Credit rating should still be ok at the mo though, fingers crossed. We're thinking about whether to move or not.

 

Yes, the charges for bounced direct debits are crazily high. Would be good to do away with them. Can we just write to the companies and say we want to set up standing order instead, do we need to ring them or can we just set it up?

 

Unfortunately I am self employed part time and work is little and rare at the moment so no sick note for me! Can't live without hubbie's pay. Can I say I'm written off sick anyway to creditors?

 

Below is based on some of the things that worked for me - but you neeed to see if it will work for you:

 

I would write to all creditors saying something like " I have sought advice from CCCS (reg no XXXXXXXX) and based on their advice I am asking you to freeze interest and accept a reduced monthly payment. It is now clear that I can only afford to pay unsecured creditors a total of £XX per month - which means I can pay you only £x per month (pro rated on the proportion owing to you) as CCCS have advised I must treat all creditors fairly".

 

You should avoid their DMP if at all possible - keep control yourself.

 

If you have your creditors' bank account numbers etc. (on any pay in slip they send with statements) you can simply tell your Bank to stop the DD and set up either SO mandates - or preferably a BACS payment - which you make when you have cleared funds to do so. You can also get them to agree to take monthy payments at a date that suits you (month end or early in the month) - just tell them when you'll best be able to pay them - they're unlikely to quibble. If you do get these set up - and your situation worsens then tell them you're reducing your monthly amount - if they argue, stop paying at all. ;.

 

If you want to move then do so ASAP before your credit rating gets affected - but this may get trashed as soon as you change your payment arrangements, even if you stick to the new arrangements!

 

I'm self employed too. What I found useful was a note from the GP saying I was stressed (telling him it was because of unmanageable debt problems). You don't need to go off work and claim sickness benefit for this to work - just get the sick note so you can tell your creditors the GP has signed you off due to stress caused by debt worries.

 

Hope this helps!

 

BD

[wilchil64]

Thanks BD, that is a great help.

 

Sorry, one more question: if I cancel a direct debit, say for electricity or BT or something, do I have to tell them or will they be happy as long as they are getting their money in some way, i.e. by standing order? I was thinking I would wait for the next payment to go out, then cancel the direct debit the day after, straight away set up standing order for the amount from the new account for the beginning of the month (all this of course once the new account is set up) and send them a letter to tell them I am doing so.

 

This will of course change the date of some payments, will that not mean that I am late paying some things and they won't like it? I guess that's why it may trash my credit rating?

 

Thanks again.

[Bigdebtor]

I would do as you suggest and tell them ASAP you need to change the payment date because of when you'll have the cash in future.

 

The trashing I referred to is unlikely to be because you have changed payment dates - more likely to be because you have moved to a reduced payment/frozen interest "arrangement" with creditors.

 

I am not certain how the CRA's actually work (who is????) but my rating was trashed because of the fact I went on to much reduced payments - and then made worse when I missed a few payments along the way to get them to take up my offers.

 

I would say the bottom line is - either move house very soon (before you stop making current levels of regular payments) or accept you won't be able to do so for a long time - i.e. 6 years after you get your finances finally sorted out and you fall off the CRA radar once more.

 

It might be worth asking your Building Society to give you an offer of advance in principle - but equally this could be dangerous and spook them too - We just don't know how they would react.

 

Sorry if this isn't helping that much!

 

BD

[wilchil64]

Thanks BD, I hadn't thought of that. Of course the reduced payments, frozen interest etc. will trash our credit rating. Ah well, if we can't move, then we can't. No one knows how long it will take to sell a house around here at the moment. Some houses go after a couple of months but others are on the market still after three years!

[Laura Cooke]

Concerning A & L claiming bank charges back I think they are still supposed to refund if you are suffering severe hardship, I got my sons charges back under these terms

 

If your loans and credit cards are around 5 years old they may not be enforceable due to some companies not having a valid credit card agreement which they need if they wanted to take the debt you owe to court that`s why you need to send off for a copy of your credit card agreement off each and every one of them (cca) it`s a £1 to do this templates for what to write to them are in the library section of the site

 

DN means default notice, TN is termination notice and F & F is full and final settlement these abbreviations get me all the time

 

Please do not worry too much your mortgage payments are being met and this is the most important thing

 

you can only pay what you can on the unsecured debts and as long as your doing that and showing that you are doing your best I would not see any of them getting anymore if they were able to take things to court

 

Please keep your chin up thinks may look bleak but many many people on here are far worse off than you but with help and building up confidence to handle their creditors things get easier and simpler, you may not believe this at present with how your feeling but they do

 

NEVER discuss things with creditors over the phone keep telling them you will only discuss things in writing that way you have proof of what is said etc anything you do send do so recorded delivery and keep copies for your records

 

Most creditors and debt collecting agencies thrive on empty threats if they know they have you rattled they will try to pressure you to promise payments you cannot realistically meet so stick to your guns draw up a budget and offer each a realistic monthly/weekly payment

 

Keep your chin up:)

Edited June 20, 2010 by Laura Cooke