I have £62k debts down from £67k - i've been on DMP for 20mts with CCCS.

[EveOwes]

Hi

 

I have debts of around £62k (they were £67 but i've been on DMP for 20 months). I have eleven creditors plus my mortgage, and my DMP is managed by CCCS.

 

I cannot carry on like this as I will be paying debts for another 17 years. And now I've started getting letters from creditors saying the current arrangement is due to expire, etc, so I will have to go through all the negotiation again via CCCS. All my creditors froze interest except Barclaycard.

 

One of my creditors holds my mortgage also, and they 'convinced' me to convert my credit card debt of around £6k with them into a secured loan. CCCS advised against this but as they held my mortgage I felt quite threatened by them - although they didn't verbally threaten me or anything, just the implications of them having my mortgage and the risk of them going to court to secure it anyway. My mortgage is £140k.

 

So now I've decided to sell my house and pay off my debts. If I pay everything in full (£202k) I will have virtually nothing left to my name.

 

If I try and offer a F&F settlement, of around 40% of the debt, should I say I'm selling the house - I don't think I should. But when I get the cash, I won't live at that address any longer and they will need to write to me I guess. I've been reading other threads on this and 'Andie' has recommended using a third party. Would CCCS be suitable and would they be able to negotiate a good deal?

 

Any advice would be really appreciated. I'm 54 now and the threat of redundancy hangs over me within the next 18 months. I don't have much of a pension, but I have an endowment that matures in 3.5 years worth around £35k I reckon. I can't go on living like this for the next 17+ years.

 

thanks

[EveOwes]

Hi - forgot to mention...

 

MBNA are collecting £18 a month over and above the CCCS amount 'just to keep the account with them'. I don't mind this too much. They have previously provided me with F&F settlement amounts but I didn't have any money anyway so couldn't take up the offer. They said they would be willing to offer a reduced amount whenever I requested.

 

I'm currently paying creditors via CCCS £465 a month and can increase to about £500. But I haven't been paying any capital off my mortgage for a while because my daughter's unemployed and has commitments of around £600 a month that I've been paying for. She was made redundant and has been messed around by DWP so hasn't had any JSA for more than 3 months.

 

It's all such a mess. So I want to clear my debts and hers too.

thanks

[PriorityOne]

Hi

 

I have debts of around £62k (they were £67 but i've been on DMP for 20 months). I have eleven creditors plus my mortgage, and my DMP is managed by CCCS. They shouldn't have increased.... things like this make me wonder what CCCS are playing at.

 

I cannot carry on like this as I will be paying debts for another 17 years. And now I've started getting letters from creditors saying the current arrangement is due to expire, etc, so I will have to go through all the negotiation again via CCCS. All my creditors froze interest except Barclaycard. Creditors/DCAs often write and say this but in reality, there's little they can do if there's no more money to increase it by. I've never taken any notice of letters like this, despite having my own property with no mortgage on it.... and I certainly wouldn't even contemplate selling my home to pay anyone!

 

One of my creditors holds my mortgage also, and they 'convinced' me to convert my credit card debt of around £6k with them into a secured loan. Yes, I bet they did... but I can understand why you felt intimiated by this... CCCS advised against this but as they held my mortgage I felt quite threatened by them - although they didn't verbally threaten me or anything, just the implications of them having my mortgage and the risk of them going to court to secure it anyway. My mortgage is £140k.

 

So now I've decided to sell my house and pay off my debts. If I pay everything in full (£202k) I will have virtually nothing left to my name. Please reconsider doing this. Once you've sold up, you will then be left to find rent for the rest of your life... replacing one set of problems with another.

 

If I try and offer a F&F settlement, of around 40% of the debt, should I say I'm selling the house - I don't think I should. The liklihood of creditors accepting a F&F is quite small.... they normally like to squeeze as much out of you as they can.But when I get the cash, I won't live at that address any longer and they will need to write to me I guess. They would need to find you first... I've been reading other threads on this and 'Andie' has recommended using a third party. Would CCCS be suitable and would they be able to negotiate a good deal? No... they are partly funded by the finance industry and won't have your best interests at heart. There's nothing wrong with negotiating a F&F yourself; I did this myself many years ago on an ex-repo debt and have always managed my own DMP.

 

Any advice would be really appreciated. I'm 54 now and the threat of redundancy hangs over me within the next 18 months. I don't have much of a pension, but I have an endowment that matures in 3.5 years worth around £35k I reckon. I can't go on living like this for the next 17+ years.

54 years of age... and thinking about chucking your life in the sky to pay off creditors. There are other ways of moving forward by without losing everything you have...

 

thanks

 

Hi - forgot to mention...

 

MBNA are collecting £18 a month over and above the CCCS amount 'just to keep the account with them'. If this is too much, then you need to reduce it. Yet another example of CCCS not acting within your best interests... I don't mind this too much. They have previously provided me with F&F settlement amounts but I didn't have any money anyway so couldn't take up the offer. They said they would be willing to offer a reduced amount whenever I requested. Probably because they have no CCA and the debt is unenforceable...

 

I'm currently paying creditors via CCCS £465 a month and can increase to about £500. Bl**dy hell!... that's way too high!! But I haven't been paying any capital off my mortgage for a while because my daughter's unemployed and has commitments of around £600 a month that I've been paying for. your mortgage is priority... please don't let any creditor/DCA tell you any different... She was made redundant and has been messed around by DWP so hasn't had any JSA for more than 3 months.

 

It's all such a mess. So I want to clear my debts and hers too.

thanks

 

What are your debts for? As I said, there are other ways forward with this and many here can vouch for that. So.... please list:

 

What the debts are for (loans/credit cards, etc)

How old they are; when were they taken out approx.

How many are still with the original creditors... and which ones

How many are with debt collectors.... and which ones.

If you have any CCJs (County Court Judgements)

 

[EveOwes]

Hi, thanks for your response. My debts are for:

 

One that was a credit card is now a secured loan (iro £6k)

One is a loan with Saisbury's bank (iro £6.5k)

One is with &More (iro £10k)

One is with Barclaycard for £8.4k - that is a mix of transfers from other cards - reasonably low interest- ish

Two are with MBNA and total £10K or just over

Others are credit cards with transferred amounts in them and vary from £2K to around £4k

Total is around £62k (reduced from £67k when I first went belly up) - I do need to work out the exact figures but that's the jist of it.

 

I think they probably all include transfers - the 0% offers etc which I was tempted by.

 

Debts were racked up by not being able to make ends meet each month:

- force to remortgage to pay off ex

- helped him when he needed it, bills, groceries etc (before I was forced to pay him off)

- buying furniture for my son and his family when they moved to an empty house with no cash/credit

- 2 x week long holidays - last one in 2005 - to Europe

- general cost of living - huge gas bill a couple of years back, cost of home maintenance

 

So nothing particulary fancy there; it just mounted up and up!

 

None of my credit pre-dates 2000. It only took 8 years to go from debt free (other than mortgage) to being totally broke.

 

My daughter's debt is just one credit card (£3k) and car HP and mobile etc things she has contracts for. She will get work soon I hope but I didn't want her to get in the same position as me - she hates debt now so something good has come of it all.

 

Even if I didn't sell my house now, I would probably have to eventually - I don't think I'll be able to clear off the mortgage by the time I'm 65. That would cost me around £1700 per month on the current interest rate.

 

thanks

[PriorityOne]

Hi, thanks for your response. My debts are for:

 

One that was a credit card is now a secured loan (iro £6k)

One is a loan with Saisbury's bank (iro £6.5k)

One is with &More (iro £10k)

One is with Barclaycard for £8.4k - that is a mix of transfers from other cards - reasonably low interest- ish

Two are with MBNA and total £10K or just over

Others are credit cards with transferred amounts in them and vary from £2K to around £4k

Total is around £62k (reduced from £67k when I first went belly up) - I do need to work out the exact figures but that's the jist of it.

 

I think they probably all include transfers - the 0% offers etc which I was tempted by.

 

Ok.... this is a tricky one. The unsecured loans could be unenforceable under CCA 1974, so it's worth sending out a CCA request to find out. A CCA request is a legal request for a true copy of the Consumer Credit Agreement that you (allegedly) signed before they loaned the money to you. Most loans and credit card debt fall under CCA law and, if creditors/DCAs don't have it... then you are not legally obliged to pay them anything at all under The Consumer Credit Act, 1974. As these accounts are still with original creditors however, you may decide to offer low F&F settlements based on the fact that they have no enforceable paperwork and, in consideration of the whack of unlawful charges that the'll have added over the years.... which would take ages to work out (although not impossible).

If any of these debts are post April 2007 however, then a slightly different set of rules apply.... so please say if you think that's the case.

 

Debts were racked up by not being able to make ends meet each month:

- force to remortgage to pay off ex

- helped him when he needed it, bills, groceries etc (before I was forced to pay him off)

- buying furniture for my son and his family when they moved to an empty house with no cash/credit

- 2 x week long holidays - last one in 2005 - to Europe

- general cost of living - huge gas bill a couple of years back, cost of home maintenance

 

So nothing particulary fancy there; it just mounted up and up!

I know that feeling.... been there; done that....

None of my credit pre-dates 2000. It only took 8 years to go from debt free (other than mortgage) to being totally broke.

 

My daughter's debt is just one credit card (£3k) and car HP and mobile etc things she has contracts for. She will get work soon I hope but I didn't want her to get in the same position as me - she hates debt now so something good has come of it all. Your daughter needs to start a thread of her own or we'll get confused by everyone's issues... and we need to focus on yours here.

 

Even if I didn't sell my house now, I would probably have to eventually - I don't think I'll be able to clear off the mortgage by the time I'm 65. Not everyone does.... but I understand what you're saying. That would cost me around £1700 per month on the current interest rate.

 

thanks

 

Ok... as you are new to these forums, a lot of this will probably go right over your head BUT... aside from the CCA request (mentioned above), you and anyone else out there are only required to make repayments that you can realistically afford... and NOT what a creditor/debt collector tells you that they'll accept. If your creditors come back with enforceabale CCAs and refuse a F&F settlement, don't be bullied into paying more than you can realistically afford.

 

If your accounts are with creditors, they may threaten to refer them to debt collectors of you don't pay what they ask. Do not be afraid of this. Debt collectors are NOT bailiffs and have no rights whatsoever. The only time bailiffs can become involved is when you've already been taken to court for a CCJ (County Court Judgement) and you have defaulted on that CCJ..... so as you can see, you're not even close to that scenario.

 

Your mortgage is your top priority; regardless of whether you decide to stay or sell. After that comes council tax, utility bills and food, etc. Whatever is left from that amount is what you repay non-priority debts with; i.e. unsecured debt. If £500 a month is too high and your other responsibilities are suffering, please reduce those payments to amounts that you can afford... whether you're waiting for creditors to comply with your CCA requests or not.

 

Ok.... one step at a time. What can you realistically afford across all your creditors (assuming they have enforceable CCAs)?

Are you interested in knowing more about CCA requests?

 

[EveOwes]

Hi

 

The CCCS are very hard about this; I've no money each month to go out and socialise, and whenever they review the repayments, they always expect me to increase the amount. I will get a pay rise this year, which will equate to about £20 per month in my pocket, but the cost of living will go up even more. Then I won't get a pay rise for at least two years because of a pay freeze.

 

I am interested in the CCAs. I have one secured loan and one unsecured. For both these I had to physically sign papers and send them off. But as far as I'm concerned, the secured one was under duress.

 

For the credit cards, I completed written applications - some online, and some offline - and signed them/ticked the relevant box. Do these sound like proper CCAs? Some of them are later than April 2007 - probably about 4 of them. Most are prior to that. I'm sure they all sent the same sort of paperwork back to me with the new card, which may have mentioned something about 1974 Consumer Credit Act.

 

I've only ever max'd out one of the cards; some of them had ridiculous credit limits, eg £20k. If I had max'd out all of them I would probably owe in the region of £100k.

 

Big question - if I challenge any of these, won't that annoy them to the point where they will no longer co-operate with me?

 

thanks

[PriorityOne]

Hi

 

The CCCS are very hard about this; I've no money each month to go out and socialise, and whenever they review the repayments, they always expect me to increase the amount. I will get a pay rise this year, which will equate to about £20 per month in my pocket, but the cost of living will go up even more. Then I won't get a pay rise for at least two years because of a pay freeze.

It's not up to the CCCS, it's up to you. CCCS are funded by the finance industry (as said earlier) and any advice you get from them will be biased in favour of your creditors, despite how respectable they're dressed up to look.

I am interested in the CCAs. I have one secured loan and one unsecured. For both these I had to physically sign papers and send them off. But as far as I'm concerned, the secured one was under duress.

Leave the secured one for now.... the unsecured ones are the ones that need looking at. These creditors may well have enforceable CCAs for you but it does no harm to find out. CCCS won't help you with this, by the way... ... because they don't care.

 

For the credit cards, I completed written applications - some online, and some offline - and signed them/ticked the relevant box. Do these sound like proper CCAs? Hard to say... we would need to wait and see what comes back in response. Some of them are later than April 2007 - probably about 4 of them. Ok.... shelve these ones for now... Most are prior to that. I'm sure they all sent the same sort of paperwork back to me with the new card, which may have mentioned something about 1974 Consumer Credit Act.

 

I've only ever max'd out one of the cards; some of them had ridiculous credit limits, eg £20k. If I had max'd out all of them I would probably owe in the region of £100k.

 

Big question - if I challenge any of these, won't that annoy them to the point where they will no longer co-operate with me? You have a right to request information in relation to your account. Whether they have enforceable docs. or not, I'm pretty certain they'll have added a whack of unlawful charges over the years, so if enforceable docs. do come back... we can then look at re-claiming these. You finding out your rights may well anger them, but there's not much they can do about it. They're not allowed to harrass you, send someone round without your permission and/or contact you by phone if you tell them not to. So... what are you afraid of? Debtors prisons were abolished approx. 100 years ago...

 

thanks

 

This is all about taking control of a situation that's spiralled out of it over the years. It's not a crime to owe money. You are doing your best in a very difficult situation.

 

Have a read around the forums and try and digest some of the experiences that others have gone through/are going through on the debt forums. Familiarise yourself with a CCA request and see how you feel about remaining with CCCS as well.... because there's nothing that they're doing for you that you can't do for yourself. By going it alone (with help from this site), you'll know where you stand with all of your creditors. CCCS are dressed up as an organisation that helps people; not intimidate them into making increased payments so that their priority debts go down the pan...

 

If/when you feel comfortable about making CCA requests, just say.... but I don't want to rush you into a course of action before you understand what it is you're doing it for.

 

[EveOwes]

Thanks PriorityOne

 

I will look round the site and get a feel for the CCA requests. What you say makes a lot of sense. I think I have allowed CCCS to push me into something that's very inflexible, and as I look set to lose my house anyway, there could have been other routes I could have taken. But I'll write again when I've checked out the CCAs.

 

EO

[Hardupnotfedup]

Sorry if this has been mentioned I just kind of read through quickly, is there any PPI you could claim back and there must be unfair charges that you could reclaim,

[PriorityOne]

Sorry if this has been mentioned I just kind of read through quickly, is there any PPI you could claim back and there must be unfair charges that you could reclaim,

 

That is another option for OP, yes.... but the CCA requests should give her a firmer footing when it comes to negotiating for F&F settlements (which will negate the charges) if they don't have one for her.

 

Unfortunately, some of these debts probably contained unlawful charges before they were consolidated into loans ... but if they come back with enforceable CCAs, we can look into this aspect and go from there..

 

[EveOwes]

Hi there

 

I've had a good read of some of the other threads on this site and although CCAs are mentioned often, I am still a bit confused. As far as I remember, every single credit card application - whether online or paper - had a section relating to the CC Act and I knew this when I signed them or 'clicked Apply Now'. So I don't understand how a debt can be unenforcable. Can someone explain or point me to where I can read further on this, please.

 

I have to contact CCCS this week to go through my I&E statement again and offer a new payment each month. I also know that Barclaycard and one or two others have written to say the plan is to be reviewed and until they get a new offer they will revert to the original agreement. I can't face paying all that interest again - I can't afford it. That's how I got into this mess, the minimum payments took everything.

 

I've also seen on the threads that when asked for a copy of the CCA some companies just send back a copy of their terms and conditions. So, by asking for CCAs I might just make them angry and I could end up in a worse situation than I'm in now, I think??? I'm very confused.

 

thanks

[PriorityOne]

An Application is not an Agreement..... at that stage, it's subject to approval. An approved loan/cc is when an Agreement has been signed by you and the creditor, and follows the Application. A debt is unenforceable under CCA, 1974 if a creditor/DCA does not have the original Agreement that you allegedly signed; with terms and conditions, including total charge for credit/APR and so on. These details are not habitually included on Application forms.

 

CCCS seem to be pulling your strings over this but if you're happy to go along with their "wants", that's fine. If CCCS are trying you to increase payments when you can't afford to though, then I can't really see how they're acting in your best interests.

 

As for requesting a copy of the CCA, you are well within your rights to do this. If a company has one, the great. You can then look into whether they've added unlawful charges/penalties and re-claim these. Payments can continue but based on what you can afford and not what they (or CCCS) want. If they don't have a CCA, it puts you in a much stronger position for making a F&F settlement.... without you having to sell your house to do it.

 

No-one on here wants to push you into doing something that you're not comfortable doing.... but it seems likely that CCCS will start to p*ss you off sooner rather than later by making continual demands on you.... and this might be the point when you decide to try and defend what you have.....

 

[patrickq1]

One of my creditors holds my mortgage also, and they 'convinced' me to convert my credit card debt of around £6k with them into a secured loan. Yes, I bet they did... but I can understand why you felt intimiated by this... CCCS advised against this but as they held my mortgage I felt quite threatened by them - although they didn't verbally threaten me or anything, just the implications of them having my mortgage and the risk of them going to court to secure it anyway. My mortgage is £140k.

 

you dont happen to have HFO CAPITAL as a creditor have you

[EveOwes]

Hi patrick/PriorityOne

 

No, I've not heard of HFO Capital. The lender I'm referring to is First Direct. The reason I went along with them was to avoid them taking out a charge on the account. If they had done that, then there was a risk the others would have done the same.

 

Is it the case that creditors will not take a charge out on your home if you're meeting agreed payments? I wouldn't be able to go for F&F if charges were taken out.

 

For the CCAs, I'm going to mull this over. PriorityOne, I now understand what you've been saying. I will request these but I will start slowly, eg those creditors that are mean and won't freeze the interest.

 

thanks

[EveOwes]

hello again

 

I've just been looking through paperwork. When I said MBNA offered me a F&F settlement at 35%, they didn't. What they've said is a partial settlement, but they would not pursue me for the remaining balance, and would indicate a partial settlement on my credit file.

 

Can anyone explain this to me. Would they be legally entitled to pursue the remaining balance. And are they indicating partial on the credit file to prevent me getting further credit - not that I want any, but I might need a small mortgage in the near future, just NO CARDS!!

 

thanks

[PriorityOne]

 

The reason I went along with them was to avoid them taking out a charge on the account. If they had done that, then there was a risk the others would have done the same.

 

Is it the case that creditors will not take a charge out on your home if you're meeting agreed payments? I wouldn't be able to go for F&F if charges were taken out.

 

For the CCAs, I'm going to mull this over. PriorityOne, I now understand what you've been saying. I will request these but I will start slowly, eg those creditors that are mean and won't freeze the interest.

 

thanks

 

I'm having trouble replying after the new site upgrade and can't seem to highlight within posts... but here goes anyway. Just because one creditor threatens a property charge, it doesn't mean that the others will all follow like sheep. There's a procedure to follow and they would each need to get a CCJ (County Court Judgement) against you.... and you would need to default on that CCJ.... before a property charge could go ahead.

 

It is best to CCA the "mean" creditors first, yes; the ones that are giving you the most grief... Sometimes it's too much to take on the whole lot at once....

 

 

I've just been looking through paperwork. When I said MBNA offered me a F&F settlement at 35%, they didn't. What they've said is a partial settlement, but they would not pursue me for the remaining balance, and would indicate a partial settlement on my credit file.

 

Can anyone explain this to me. Would they be legally entitled to pursue the remaining balance. And are they indicating partial on the credit file to prevent me getting further credit - not that I want any, but I might need a small mortgage in the near future, just NO CARDS!!

 

thanks

 

Oh dear... partial settlement is a cleverly worded piece of tosh which usually means that, although MBNA won't pursue you for the remaining balance, the remaining balance gets sold to a DCA (debt collection agancy).... so no, this is not a good deal. It has to be a F&F settlement or you might as well not bother.

 

[EveOwes]

I've just done my sums and my total debt is £65.6k. CCCS sent me a statement saying I now owed £61k but they've forgotten that some of the creditors keep adding on interest. Tesco debt has gone up by £2.5k in the last 20 months because of interest being added each month.

 

This is so depressing.

[patrickq1]

a neat con trick full and final load of crap partial like prio says its just a ruse it will get sold and then the DCA comes to you for the rest,

first of all

YOU ARE IN CONTROL just by coming here means that you want to now start controlling things and not the CONTROLLING YOU

so you think you are stuck in middle and frightened to make waves, The DCA'S and Banks know you are thinking like this frightened and wont say a word,

do what priority says just take control when you wake up tommorrow morning just think to yourself they cant do any more to me now,thats it you have tried the nicey nice bit and all you have had is more greif,It Stops tommorrow, first of all get all letters from each company make a file and itemise every letter in date order and number each one ie 1 jbs 2 swift 3 hfo etc... when you have done this start firstly with the CCA letters that you are going to send out i know its only a pound postal order but best pound you will ever spend...

next SAR to each of the banks finance companies ten pound each one so might take a couple of weeks or so ,now you can continue paying your cccs the normal payments ,but as soon as the time is up for each one of the companies you have CCA to if they do not reply within the alloted time then that is one payment of your list until they comply, dont worry you cant get in any more trouble if they breach your requiresments then they dont deserve any money,

next when you send out your SAR they have 40 days and if they dont respond then these are more of the list, now we can check all your cca data when you get it you will be shocked just how many are more than likely in the wrong, so what next simple when we get chance to look at the good and the bad you can then approach each company who is right and make an offer you can afford be it 5 pounds a month or 2 pounds a month no judge will let them walk all over you when your funds are limited so you cant get put in jail , or in a workhouse so stop worrying now have a good nights sleep and change things round for the better after all you have made the hardest move coming here just to discuss things and you must admit to yourself that it certainly has made a tremendous difference, its of your chest NO ,ORE CRAP FROM THESE PEOPLE they either accept or go to court and priority can confirm they do not want to be seen in court and suffer adverse publicity thats the last thing they need so YOUR ARE THE BOSS remember that whenever they ring just try and record the conversation never give them any details over the phone with your cca and sar also include harrassment phone call letter this way everything is in writing

patrickq1

[PriorityOne]

Patrick is right.... it's time for you to take control over everyone else.

 

CCCS should have arranged for interest to be frozen from the beginning on these accounts, otherwise what's the point?. Years ago, I can remember writing this to one of my own creditors because making any form of token payment would see the debt increase through interest.... so they froze it. CCCS should be doing this!! It makes me so angry.... when they're dressed up to look so, so helpful...

 

I had interest frozen on a debt of £52K some years ago and paid £5 a month (interest frozen) for several years before a F&F settlement was reached.... an example of what can be achieved. All negotiations were done by me.... simply because I was disgusted at the advice I'd been given.... and that included a firm of solicitors that I'd gone to see. Like you, I owned property but there was absolutely no way I was going to sell it because it would have left myself and my daughter homeless and we'd been through enough. I would have fought it all the way to court if necessary, but it never went to court.

 

Chin up....

[EveOwes]

Hi

 

I've downloaded the letter template for the CCA - do I need to use the exact wordings, eg the time limits and sections of the Act etc or can I soften it? Also, I know this sounds a bit stupid but just want to be sure I've understood correctly, what does it mean to me if they cannot produce the CCA - either within the deadline, or not at all?

 

thanks

[EveOwes]

Hi, just had another thought....

 

On credit card bills they always state that minimim payments etc etc, but not once do any of them state that if you use cards to supplement your income then you will always have to use them to continue to supplement your income. It's a self perpetuating vicious circle that once you're in it you can't escape easily from it.

 

I think it should be mandatory for all credit card companies to make this clear. For me, and for many of the posters on this site, this is what has happened to them. It's a scandal that it's not made clear to people.

 

Just ranting. CCCS rejected my revised statement because of one or two little things that were over their limits. I told them I couldn't alter them and that enough is enough - I can't cut back anymore. There has to be a limit on how low you can go. I mentioned to them that this problem has affected my career chances because of things like poor clothing, bad hair do's, not being able to afford decent shoes so walking like a 70 year old, etc etc. CCCS seem to have different rules for people depending on how compliant you are. More ranting, sorry.

[PriorityOne]

Hi

 

I've downloaded the letter template for the CCA - do I need to use the exact wordings, eg the time limits and sections of the Act etc or can I soften it? Also, I know this sounds a bit stupid but just want to be sure I've understood correctly, what does it mean to me if they cannot produce the CCA - either within the deadline, or not at all?

 

thanks

 

Excellent.. do not soften the CCA request. It's worded the way it is for a reason. Enclose a postal order for the £1 fee (not a cheque) and "sign" it in block capitals (not your normal signature). Send it off by rec. delivery and hang on to the receipt. In the meantime, it's a good idea to get a cheap folder for your paperwork; Tesco do some good ones.... as these will keep you organised. You can then file away anything/everything that comes back to you in date order, as well as keeping track of what gets sent out.

 

If your debts are before April 2007 and a company fails to produce a CCA upon request within the timescale (12 working days from signed receipt), you can legally withhold all further payments until such times as they can find and produce one. If your debts are after this time, then a slightly different set of rules applies....

 

 

CCCS seem to have different rules for people depending on how compliant you are. More ranting, sorry.

 

Don't apologies.... rant away!

 

I hate CCCS..... and have never even dealt with them! lol

[EveOwes]

Hello

 

I've been through all my statements

and as far as I can tell there are no unlawful charges or PPI.

If there are (from way back) they would be extremely small amounts.

 

Why do I need to send CCAs - what is the value of sending these?

CCCS have negotiated reduced payments for me against all 12 creditors,

and I've been on this DMP for about 2 years now

- I started off at £400 per month and now pay £490 a month on debt which currently stands at £61.5k.

But it's crippling me and I don't have a life!

 

I can cash in an endowment which would enable me to offer between 25% and 33% of the debts as F&Fs.

But before I send off the requests, I wanted to ensure I wasn't doing something stupid.

 

 

In particular, the ownership of the debt is something I've read about on this site.

My Sainsbury's loan is still with them but they communicate through Blair, Oliver,

and my Amex is managed by Resolve.

 

 

The others are still with original creditors and I receive statements from them etc

varying from monthly to quarterly statements.

 

I don't want to antagonise my creditors

- I know I'm just another line in their accounts,

and I know they can turn nasty whenever they choose,

but for now they are going along with the DMP.

 

 

Barclaycard and Sainsbury's still charge interest, but the others have all frozen theirs.

 

Any advice, bearing in mind that I'm a wuss!

thanks

 

I know I owe the money - creditors know I owe the money,

so what does the CCA do?

[maroondevo52]

 

I know I owe the money - creditors know I owe the money, so what does the CCA do?

 

Hi,

 

When you sign up to a credit contract, you should be given a properly executed agreement. This tells you what you can expect from the company and what the company expects from you.

 

It should set out repayment schedule,interest rates, and other prescribed terms. You should have signed a copy and returned it the company before being given credit. They are your statutory rights

 

If, these "prescribed terms" ect arent present then you can question the validity of the agreement.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[victoria_siempre]

Hi Eve

 

Do not cash in your endowment without taking loads of advice. Do not rush into things.

 

The advantage of a DMP is that it reduces harassment; the disadvatage is that you will be expected to treat all alleged creditors equally, even though they don't respond equally. Why should some still be charging interest when others are not. The DMP managers (who are funded by the banks) will encourage larger payments.

 

If you feel strong enough, you can take control of your own DMP - read other threads. This places you in amuch stronger negotiating position, although you will get more hassle.

 

In the end, you have to ask yourself:

 

1. What can I sustainability afford to pay?

 

2. What do I want to do?

 

Either way, you'll get great support here.

 

best wishes

 

vic