Young, dumb and full of mistakes.

[Rumyodin]

Hi there,

 

I'm not after sympathy or even understanding, I would just like some clear idea of how to get myself out of the bed I've made and how to get back into the black.

 

When I was 19/20 I was at university, I had a pretty decent part time job at the weekends and could easily pick up overtime to gain a couple of hundreds pounds extra a month. It was ideal. However, I got into drugs and suddenly the relatively large amount I was earning wasn't enough to cover it. Well, not so much the drugs, it was the fact the drugs were eating into my essentials budget, so I had to borrow money in order to buy essentials (or so was my messed up logic). Pretty soon I was borrowing from Payday Loan providers, namely Wonga. Eventually I was borrowing my entire months wage before I had even been paid and it was instantly going back out to Wonga. I then had to take other Payday loans to cover the interest and pretty soon the whole thing crashed down around me. My bank closed my account (which had a student overdraft), my parents kicked me out and stopped talking to me (so I had no post forwarded to me), I even dropped out of uni - who I also owe money for student accommodation. I had a second student overdraft too. I then moved into a friends, was unemployed for a year due to the job market, got into debt with his dad as he was the landlord, under the guise I would pay him for my time there - most of this I have paid off. I worked for bare minimum wage for a year, barely enough to cover the rent I owed plus the rent i was accruing. I think, in total, my debt is probably in the region of around 15-20k with all the interest included.

 

However, I actually got a break last year and found a decent job and I have a fruitful career ahead of me. I'm finally in a position to look at repaying my mountain of debt but I just don't know where to start. I don't want to call the creditors I know I have and have no idea where I stand legally. It's been at least 3 years since I defaulted on my loans, with absolutely no contact or payment to any of them. I know I have a terrible credit score because I was refused a mobile phone contract and because my bank wont upgrade my bank account from a basic package - even though I earn enough to satisfy their criteria. I'm also sure my debt has been passed around to various debt collection agencies. I buried my head in the sand in a very real sense, petrified of what I would find when I came out.

 

I've certainly grown up since the mess I was in university and I obviously want to rectify these mistakes. I know I should probably contact CAB and do this properly but I was hoping someone on here would give me some clear idea of what steps would need to be taken. For example, would it be better for me to contact each creditor individually and negotiate the sum I owed or is this something a DMP would do for me anyway? Is there a way of finding all my creditors, such as a credit report? Or will that just declare the creditors which have listed me as defaulted? If I repay these debts, does this mean my credit score is damaged even further, meaning I have to wait 6 years for it to reset? Or will it just be listed from my original default 3 years ago? If I go on something like a DMP, can I try and rebuild my credit while I make regular payments? I know you probably can't answer all these questions, or even answer them with any certain accuracy, but I thank you all the same.

 

I hope one day I can use my experience to help others in my situation, and prevent even more from getting there in the first place.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[Rumyodin]

Hi there,

 

I'm not after sympathy or even understanding,

I would just like some clear idea of how to get myself out of the bed I've made and how to get back into the black.

 

When I was 19/20 I was at university,

I had a pretty decent part time job at the weekends and could easily pick up overtime to gain a couple of hundreds pounds extra a month.

It was ideal. However,

 

I got into drugs and suddenly the relatively large amount I was earning wasn't enough to cover it.

Well, not so much the drugs, it was the fact the drugs were eating into my essentials budget,

I had to borrow money in order to buy essentials (or so was my messed up logic).

 

Pretty soon I was borrowing from Payday Loan providers, namely Wonga.

 

Eventually I was borrowing my entire months wage before I had even been paid and it was instantly going back out to Wonga.

I then had to take other Payday loans to cover the interest and pretty soon the whole thing crashed down around me.

 

My bank closed my account (which had a student overdraft),

my parents kicked me out and stopped talking to me (so I had no post forwarded to me),

I even dropped out of uni - who I also owe money for student accommodation.

I had a second student overdraft too.

 

I then moved into a friends, was unemployed for a year due to the job market,

got into debt with his dad as he was the landlord, under the guise I would pay him for my time there

- most of this I have paid off.

 

I worked for bare minimum wage for a year, barely enough to cover the rent I owed plus the rent i was accruing.

I think, in total, my debt is probably in the region of around 15-20k with all the interest included.

 

However, I actually got a break last year and found a decent job and I have a fruitful career ahead of me.

I'm finally in a position to look at repaying my mountain of debt but I just don't know where to start.

 

I don't want to call the creditors I know I have and have no idea where I stand legally.

It's been at least 3 years since I defaulted on my loans,

with absolutely no contact or payment to any of them.

 

I know I have a terrible credit score because I was refused a mobile phone contract

and because my bank wont upgrade my bank account from a basic package

- even though I earn enough to satisfy their criteria.

 

I'm also sure my debt has been passed around to various debt collection agencies.

I buried my head in the sand in a very real sense, petrified of what I would find when I came out.

 

I've certainly grown up since the mess I was in university and I obviously want to rectify these mistakes.

I know I should probably contact CAB and do this properly but I was hoping someone on here would give me some clear idea of what steps would need to be taken.

 

For example, would it be better for me to contact each creditor individually and negotiate the sum I owed or is this something a DMP would do for me anyway?

 

Is there a way of finding all my creditors, such as a credit report?

Or will that just declare the creditors which have listed me as defaulted?

 

If I repay these debts, does this mean my credit score is damaged even further, meaning I have to wait 6 years for it to reset?

Or will it just be listed from my original default 3 years ago?

 

If I go on something like a DMP, can I try and rebuild my credit while I make regular payments?

 

I know you probably can't answer all these questions, or even answer them with any certain accuracy, but I thank you all the same.

 

I hope one day I can use my experience to help others in my situation, and prevent even more from getting there in the first place.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[Bazooka Boo]

List all your debts, how much and when they were taken out.

Check your credit files and tell us what it says on there.

 

What was the last correspondence you had regarding these debts and from who?

[Rumyodin]

I honestly don't think I could list all my debts, that's part of the problem. Even the 20k figure I came out with was only plucked from thin air. I deleted the email account I had subscribed to, my mobile phone was quickly deactivated, my parents just returned all my post to sender. I genuinely have no idea how much I owe and to who other than Wonga. Will a credit report reveal all the creditors to me?

 

I think the last correspondence I ever received was from Wonga in August of 09, saying I owed them £700 and it was past due. Since then, like I said, I haven't seen or heard from anyone. I haven't been tracked down or anything. I've ever repaid my mobile phone contract, updated my address on the electoral roll, changed my driving license details...I assumed all these things would bring my creditors to me, but they haven't.

[Bazooka Boo]

Moby phone debts are easy, as are catalogues and PDL debts.

 

If you check your credit files, then this should flag up all the default markers on your file and will have a name next to it of the corporation trying to collect it.

 

Try the 30 day free trial from Experian, but be sure to cancel it within the 30 days before they start taking money from your account, alternatively you can still use the £2 paper offer, OR you can use Noddle which is free.

[Rumyodin]

Thanks for your help.

 

In your opinion do you reckon they'd be willing to cut most of the extortionate interest? I think if I could wipe away the 3 years of interest I would only owe around £5000 in total. A figure which is very manageable. Also - how easy is it to repair my credit once I start repaying these debts? That's my main concern.

[renegadeimp]

Most of the interest you have been charged will probably be unfair and unlawful anyway. As for 3 years of interest, i very much doubt you have been charged for the complete 3 years. If you had, and the creditor tried to take action, a court would look at them and ask " Why, when there was no payment or correspondance from the debtor, did you keep the account active and continue to accrue interest on the arrears for 36 months?

[Rumyodin]

How about on both my Student overdrafts? Would those institutions also stop adding interest after a time?

[dx100uk]

we are not here to judge

 

yes get your CRA file

 

see below

 

then comeback

 

dx

[renegadeimp]

Agree with DX. Get a copy of your cra file from all 3 agencies. This will give you a very good idea of the debt situation you are in.

[mikeymack2002]

1st of all now stop worring, go join noddle its free get your credit report, then come bback and we may be able to help, give as much detail as you can regarding your debts thx MM

[Guest]

same thread here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?386632-Young-dumb-and-full-of-mistakes.

[maroondevo52]

same thread here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?386632-Young-dumb-and-full-of-mistakes.

 

Two threads merged.