Help please?! Totally messed it all up! :O(

[Twinkle86]

Hello,

 

I am a newbie (although I have been a lurker for a while) so hopefully doing this right? Me and my partner are in one massive financial hell at the moment and I am struggling to see any light at the end of the tunnel. I understand we have got ourselves in this mess and I am lookng for advice.... we are beating ourselves up over this enough and are looking for some friendly help, don't need telling how stupid we have been, we already know ...

 

Short story is we owe approx 28000 ish to over 20 creditors... some debts small £100 ish... the biggest single debt being an old overdraft which stands at £5000... this has been over a period of about 8 years and started with borrowing initially when my partner lost his job just to be able to meet mortgage payments so we didnt loose our home and paying essentials and has steadily got worse and worse until it got to a point we can no longer cope.

 

We entered into a DMP which lasted just under a year and unfortuately through various personal circs we ended up with an ever decreasing income and the DMP along with everything else crumbled...

 

Things have very very recently returned to a point where we finally have a steady decent ish income coming back into the household (which is thankfully for the forseeable future) and I need to sort something out... I dont want to ignore this as its never going to go away. I have arrears on my mortgage which I have just come to a suitable arrangeent with my lender that I can definately stick to to clear that over the next 4 months but as for the other debt (all is unsecured) I have people chasing me left right and centre (companies and DCA) and I am at a total loss at where to start...

 

I have contacted Payplan and have an appt with them next week over the phone to see what if any debt solutions could be suitable but it is at the point wher I wont answer my door as I have had DCA knocking the past few days (resolvecall for a vanquis debt) threatening letters coming through from Mac Hall and the lewis group, calls at work (which there not happy with at all) and I'm getting really bogged down in it all.

 

Any suggestions very greatfully received - thankyou for reading... just needed to get it all written down to clear my head a little x

[citizenB]

Ellens Budget Sheet.xls

 

First thing you need to do is to work out your budget - this is what PayPlan, CCCS or NatDebt will advise and they will help you with that. However, I have attached the one we use above for you.

 

Do you know if any of your debts have late payment/default fees applied to them? You can reclaim these and it will help reduce the outstanding balances.

 

Do you have any PPI that might have been mis sold ? Again, if there is then you could reclaim.

 

Are these debts still with the original creditors or have they all been sold/assigned to Debt Purchasers ?

 

Have you received Default Notices from any of the original creditors ?

 

How old are these debts.. ?

[Boltmaker]

Hi there twinke86,

First thing is don't panic. There really is no need Plenty of people on here will come along to give you guidance.

Things seem to have improved a little for you. Your main concerns are your mortgage, council and utilities. The remaining unsecured debts take second place so to speak. There is loads and loads of info on here to deal with DCA's and other creditors. Keep the faith help will be on hand.

[citizenB]

The DCA is acting in breach of OFT guidelines - you do not have to communicate any way other than in writing.

 

There is a draft letter in the CAG Library linked in green at the top of the screen. You could print off a copy and simply hand the next Door step collector a copy and ask them to go away. They have no right or authority to send someone to your home without appointment. One assumes that you are unlikely to make an appointment

[citizenB]

Do you have any debts where NO payment or acknowledgment of liability has been made for over 6 years ?

 

If so, then it is possible the debt is statute barred (meaning that it wont disappear, but that once you advise the creditor / DCA that the debt is statute barred - then they should stop pursuing you for payment).

 

If you could give a us a bit more information based on my comments above.. then perhaps we can offer some more advice

 

No one on CAG will judge or beat you up.. we have all been in the same position at one time or another..

[Twinkle86]

Thanks for the replies :O) I am just getting on with my budget sheet... back soon when completed! x

[Twinkle86]

Hi CitizenB

 

most of the debts to be fair have late and/or default fees on them... I currently have a PPI claim going through with debts but unsure what if anything I may be due back.

 

Most of my debts have been sold on now... some still remain with the orignal companies - had plenty of default notices... debts have been built up over the last 8 years but have been in contact with them all... none are stat barred.

 

And yes you assume correctly ;O) I am very unlikey to be making that appt ! x

[citizenB]

Twinkles, I didnt mean for you to put the budget sheet up for us to see and I am going to "hide it from public view" for you. I will however, flag it for the site team so they can offer advice based on this information.

[Twinkle86]

oops :O) Thankyou x

[citizenB]

That is a real nuisance that you wont have any SB situations.. but never mind.

 

If you have access to your statements or want to do a Subject Access Request - a request for all data, including statements then you might be able to work out how much of your balances is down to charges and or PPI.

 

We can then help you reclaim these. CCCS will not be interested in how much of your debt is charges. All they will be interested in is helping you negotiate affordable payments to your creditors.

 

So you would have to do the reclaiming exercise without their help.. but with ours

 

It is good that you have some PPI claims going through, obviously that will bring down the debts by something. If the PPI claims are being made on debts that have been assigned/sold on.. the money should come to you. If the claim is being made on an account still held with the original creditor then they will most likely refund the monies to the balance using what is called offset and which they are entitled to do.

 

Those debts you have against Metropolitan are still with HSBC - Metropolitan collections are their in house agents.

 

Are these in just one name, or joint names ? or a mix ?

[citizenB]

One of the site team has noticed that whilst you own your own home.. you do not appear to have budgeted for any contents insurance ? Is this correct..

[smithy70]

This is not MSE where you will be told to eat coal and cancel sky!

Just so you are aware, just talking on the phone does not count towards SB. You need 6 clear years of no payments or written confirmation of the debt.

As for default notices, many many of them are bad but if they are that is a defence if it gets to court, do not tell them before.

If it was me i would send a CCA request to each of your creditors , this may only effect any debts started prior to April 2007 but it is a start.

You need to stay strong , and not let them bully you

[citizenB]

IMHO, you should increase your emergency fund to at least £25.00 as you dont appear to have any cover for breakdown of household items such as cooker/freezer etc..

[Twinkle86]

Thank you so much for your help x I dont thinnk there is a lot (if any) PPI to come back... BUT I have put claims in incase there was :O)

 

Debts are a complete mix of mine his and joint... x

[Twinkle86]

Agreed ... emergency fund could do with being increased... As for low child costs etc I do have fab help from both sets of parents so no childcare costs and they help with clothing out of school clubs etc - we have no prescriptions optical expense etc and my dad always has and will continue to pay for any dental work I have done (which is minimal) but he has me covered on that one :O) x

 

Definately no stat barred debts.... im positive on that one :O( xx

[Twinkle86]

and buildings and contents is £25 together x

[citizenB]

and buildings and contents is £25 together x

 

 

That is good you have some cover in that respect.

[dx100uk]

ight be an idea for you both to get your cra file too

 

dx

[sequenci]

Hello there.

 

Your personal budget sheet is absolutely spot on, there isn't a single figure on there which would be deemed as excessive, and as already mentioned you can consider increasing a contingency fund for emergencies etc.

 

You've a really solid 'surplus' so you would look to make 'pro-rata' payments to ech of the creditors. This means each creditor will get a slice of that surplus based upon how much is owing.

 

To work this out you take each individual debt, divide by the the total amount owing and then multiply by the surplus. If you get stuck with this give me a shout.

 

You could then either write to the creditors asking them to accept the offer and freeze interest and charges and to accept your offer, or you could consider going down the DMP route - which is, in essence, the same thing only arranged via a third-party. Only use the free providers like CCCS or Payplan. Be warned, though, they may try and steer you on to an IVA which is a more formal option that could have property-related implications. Given the budget sheet I've seen I'm not certain an IVA would actually be the best route forward.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Seq.

[Twinkle86]

Thank you everyone for your replies... appreciated that you have taken the time to reply to me :O)

 

Seq - a bit stuck with with working out offer for pro rata payments ... what do I divide by the total amount owing please?

 

Thanks

[sequenci]

Hello again.

 

WHat you do is take th amount you owe each creditor and divide it by the total amount you owe. You then multiply it by the amount you have available to pay your creditors with. Here's an example.

 

Sharlycard: £5000

Hamster Loans: £3000

Sequenci's Bank £8000

 

Total Debt: £16,000 // Available surplus: £300

 

So to work out Sharklycard's amount you would divide £5000 by £16,000 and then multiply by £300 - This gives a figure of £93.75

Sequenci's bank would get £150 as they exactly half the total debt, so would get half the surplus.

 

Hope that makes sense!

 

If you would like to use an online system that figures it all out for you have a look at My Money Steps:

 

http://mymoneysteps.org/

 

Or the Stepchange one:

 

http://www.stepchange.org/Debtremedy.aspx

[Twinkle86]

Hello

 

I have taken the time to look at my various options at the moment and I have decided to go ahead and try and do self managed DMP to try and get my debts back under control.

 

I have a couple of questions if anyone could help me out? :O)

 

I have been reading a lot on this site and elsewhere on the net and I have already got a new unlinked bank account opene &, my Income and expenditure form completed .

 

I know who I owe and which debts to deal with first and have an agreement set up with my Mortgage company.

Other priority debts are up to date so it is just the non priority to tackle now...

 

I have previously been on a DMP through CCCS which failed due to a longish term further financial problem I faced after setting it up.

.. It worked for about a year then I had to reduce it for a few months then I couldnt afford it at all and I stopped the plan and the payments approx a month ago,

 

Since then (stupidly) I havent really done anything with the debts,

just got depressed over it all ...and just paid a token payment to the odd company just to buy a bit of time and now I have sorted my head out to a better place again,

 

I am back at work after maternity leave (stable job) and my partner is in full time work (stable ish at least for the forseeable future) I really want to manag my own DMP.

 

Now I understand how to work out pro rata payment offers (thanks to Seq :O) ) and I'm quite happy to send off letters to companies about these etc

however I keep seeing about CCA requests and SAR's and I am abit lost...

 

Now I know a lot of the accounts have had a LOT of charges added (late payent fees as well as a whole host of other charges)

that have never been reclaimed and I think a couple of old accounts I had which are now settled and well paid off had PPI too.

 

Some of the current credit agreements were taken out up to 8 years ago however they have all had payments recently

- should I be CCA ing the companies before offers of payment are made or is it something that I cant do as it should have been done

before I made payments on the last managed DMP I had?

 

Hope that makes sense?

 

Thankyou x

[citizenB]

Right.. I think I understand what you are asking.

 

If you have old accounts, even if they are repaid you CAN reclaim the PPI. You will need to send Subject Access Request to the companies for information eg, statements, agreements, etc. If they were loans then you will need if at all possible a copy of the agreement as it will show the amount of PPI that was usually added up front. If you cant get your hands on those then statements or at the very least you need an account number. A lot of banks/financial institutions are shredding personal data that is older than 6 years old.. regardless of whether the account is still open or not.. A subject Access Request will cost you £10.00 and the company has 40 calendar days to provide the data.

 

You can send a CCA request at any time it will cost you £1.00 and the company has 12 working days + 2 to provide..

 

a copy of the agreement or reconstruction

statement of account

terms and conditions that were applicable at inception and at the time of default or currently. If there were any major variations made to the agreements during the period from inception to current then they are to provide those as well.

 

If they dont provide ALL of the above then they have failed to comply with the request.

 

It is your decision.. either make your CCA requests prior to making offers or during.

 

I think you should send your SAR's as soon as you can in order to maximise the data you will receive.

 

If you have/had more than one account at one bank/company then you only need send the ONE request.

 

HTH

[dx100uk]

i'd get both your cra files too as a dvise dearlier

 

then try and match all you debts to the files.

 

if you find some dont show.

[there could be very good reasons why]

but you need to carefully investigate those ones.

 

p'hap start a new thread for each debt you have issues with.

 

dx

[Twinkle86]

Thanks for advice :O)

 

I have got a copy of my credit file... I did that the other day Experian and Noddle... I will go through and check against my list - thanks for the advice... :O)

 

I was just a bit confused as to when to request CCA and / or SAR for the accounts between wokring out repayments etc but will sit down tonight and see how far I get with it all x