Partners credit

[arigold1]

Hi - thought I posted yesterday but seems to have disappeared....

 

Am currently self employed after losing my job a couple of years ago, things have been very slow & ive been unlucky with losing a big client that was 50% of my income.

 

Have been robbing Peter to pay Paul, but things have come to a head & we need to take control before they really get out of control.

 

My debt

Nationwide - £4500

Capital One - £250

Wonga - £1000

 

Patner debt

Nationwide - £2500

Virgin - £2900

Barclaycard - £2500

 

 

We cannot meet all the minimum payments each month, if I send reduced payment offers to mine, we could probably just about pay hers but again only minimums.

 

Would we be better informing all creditors we are struggling, freeze interest & make offers or would it be better to keep her credit clear if we can ?

 

I'm confident in 6 months to a year my income will increase again, and I don;t want to ruin both our credit files for what is only 6 months of reduced payments - any advice ?

 

Also is it worth CCA these accounts ?

 

Appreciate any help.

 

Thanks

Mark

[unclebulgaria67]

Certainly worth looking into the charges on these accounts and making CCA requests for credit cards/loans, if the accounts were arranged many moons ago.

 

In your situation, you should advise any creditors of any hardship issues and inability to pay the minimum amounts required. Keep this in writing. You should also obtain advice from Step Change the debt advice charity, to see what options are best. It may be a case of offering token payments to all creditors for a period, until you are in a better position.

[arigold1]

Sorry for my late response - appreciate your advise.

 

My main concerns / questions are:-

1. If I offer token payments that will mark an arrangement on my credit file which will stay there for ages & i've read in most cases a default would be a better option.

2. Would I be better not paying anything and getting the account defaulted

3. If I go down this route, should it just be my debts or do it for my partners to ?

 

The hardship situation is likely to only be for 6 months or so, but seems from what I've read that not paying & defaulting would have a beneficial effect on my credit file than paying smaller token amounts for 6 months ??

 

Seems like madness - can anyone offer advise ?

[dx100uk]

wont matter what you do

by financial association

one will trash the others file.

 

diff call.

 

I think you need to accept credit rating will go whatever you do.

 

that realised

 

token payments might be the way to go.

 

you might find it useful to try this method:

 

TELL [dont ask] them they are only going to get £xxPCM for xx mts

as a goodwill gesture

and as a reciprocal GOGW they must freeze int & refrain from levying PENALTY charges.

if they wont

drop them to £1PCM for life.

.

as an example>

.

I am currently in financial difficulties and not able to meet my normal monthly repayments.

to show my goodwill, i am going to pay £5 for 6 mts.

 

i will update you in 6mts time or before, should my situation change.

.

could you please as a reciprocal goodwill guesture,

.

refrain from levying any penalty charges & freeze the interest on my account.?

.

Should you fail to assist me during a period of financial difficulty, contrary to all the guidelines and codes

issued by the relevent bodies and authorities that govern you and the way you conduct yourselves.

.

i shall have no alternative but to reduce my offer to £1PCM for the rest of the life of the account,

.

.

as your actions would do nothing to help me.

.

i thank you for your time.

..

.

dx

.

then pay by your internet banking site

.

and get reclaiming

.

TAKE CONTROL

.

or

if you have sent the above and they refuse

then write back........

.

.

i'm sorry, but you have failed to assist me during a period of financial difficulty, against all the guidelines and codes

issued by the relevent bodies and authorities that govern you and the way you conduct yourselves.

i repeat again, the contents of my letter dated dd/mm/yyyy, for want of clarification:

to show my goodwill, i am going to pay £XX for XX mts

could you please as a reciprocal goodwill guesture, refraining from levying any penalty charges & freeze the interest on my account.

i will update you in 6mts time or before, should my situation chance.

should you fail to help by refraining from levying unlawful PENALTY charges & freeze my interest,

i shall have no alternative but to reduce my offer to £1PCM for the rest of the life of the account,

as your actions are doing nothing to help me.

This is contrary to the rules you should operate under.

disgruntled account holder

dx

[blueda]

You might find the letter templates page useful, here is the link

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?20758

[arigold1]

Thanks for advice here.

 

Quick question.... Not looking for credit immediately, and realise credit files for both of us could be shot for 6 years.

Would I be better not paying anything and getting defaulted, so that its 6 years from that date?

 

Have read that token payments & arrangements can affect credit for longer?

 

Long way off but would like a mortgage in future, if 6 years is what it takes so be it... But don't want it to be much longer....

 

 

Thanks again.

[blueda]

In my experience arranging affordable token payments prevented Creditors from declaring me in defaullt, we will hear what other Caggers say.

[brokebutnotbeatn]

Not true.

 

A default will most likely be placed if you are lucky.

 

Part paying even an agreed amount means you are in default of the original agreement.

 

Creditors that do not default you will mark your file as late and then as in an arrangement to pay.

 

As they haven't placed a default this account will continue to be reported until you finish paying it

and then for 6 years after the account is closed;

 

it puts you in a much worse position.

 

Get yourself defaulted then at least the account will drop off 6 years later, paid or not.

 

You can still make an arrangement to pay post default if everything is in order.

[arigold1]

Thanks Broke,

 

So to clarify we would be better, not paying anything get the defaults registered, then make token payments if we wish ?

 

1. If we decided to NOT make token payments and default , are we likely to be hounded more than by arranging payments ?

 

2. If our situation changes in 6 - 12 months, and we could start clearing the debt, would we have any chance of having the defaults removed ?

I'm 99.9% sure the answer is going to be no... in which case other than morally where is our incentive to pay ?, we may as well send off correspondence & wait out the 6 years, accepting we may be hounded for a while.......

 

Seems wrong, but this seems to be the impression i'm getting form what i've read... ?

 

And we can claim back for charges & PPI in the meantime.......

[brokebutnotbeatn]

OK.

I can tell you for both scenarios as I have both types of accounts.

 

I have closed out most with a F&F (but not for the purposes of cleaning up my credit file).

 

I have some accounts that defaulted and will therefore drop off in less than 2 years.

 

I have another brought by a DCA but not defaulted.

This account whilst now closed will continue to be reported for 6 years.

So, much better to default if you are hoping to clean up your credit file.

It is a stupid, stupid system that rewards non payers over people who attempt to pay.

 

to clarify we would be better,

not paying anything get the defaults registered, then make token payments if we wish ? IMHO yes

 

1. If we decided to NOT make token payments and default , are we likely to be hounded more than by arranging payments ? Probably at which point CCA and SAR

 

2. If our situation changes in 6 - 12 months, and we could start clearing the debt,

would we have any chance of having the defaults removed ?

No but your file will already have been trashed so better to know it will drop off in e.g. 5 years than soldier on for 5 years

and then find it will continue to be reported for a further 6 years!

 

I'm 99.9% sure the answer is going to be no...

in which case other than morally where is our incentive to pay ?,

we may as well send off correspondence & wait out the 6 years,

accepting we may be hounded for a while.....

..yes but you need to keep all paperwork and get your CCA etc in as more collectors are going down the court route,.

Unfortunately recent changes to secure unsecured loans will encourage litigation.

 

Seems wrong, but this seems to be the impression i'm getting form what i've read... ? Totally mad system

 

And we can claim back for charges & PPI in the meantime....... Absolutely. Get on with it!

[dx100uk]

I would think whatever you do

you will be defaulted.

 

just lookout for mention of the AP [arrangement to pay marker]

 

you DONT want that as you'll never get rid of it.

 

 

there are no problems with still reclaiming

however remember many creditors wriggle if the charges are over 6yrs old

 

dx

[brokebutnotbeatn]

You will get the AP marker I am afraid; so better to be defaulted as well...

[brokebutnotbeatn]

Sorry. To be clear that's only if you make an arrangement to pay. No CCA (for accounts pre April 2007) = account in dispute = no pay == 6 years waiting for SB'd.

[arigold1]

Thanks DX & Broke,

 

Broke your last post - could you clarify ?

- What does the CCA pre 2007 have to do with it ? (guessing theres lots more reading for me to do !)

 

Would it be worthwhile me opening a thread detailing this if I need help along the way, do I need a separate thread per creditor ?

 

Thanks

[theoldrouge]

Agreements signed pre april 2007,

 

creditors need a copy of the original agreement to obtain a CCJ,

 

though they can still request payment,

default the ac and update credit reference agencies.

 

Pers I wouldnt pay anything or make any arrangements until the accs are defaulted.,

 

also you mention you have PPI

 

-youll be amazed how much your reclaims will be worth when the compund interest is added to your reclaims

[arigold1]

Thanks - do most of them make CCJ's ?

Is there an amount it has to be over to be worthwhile or does it just depend on the creditor ?

 

Not sure if I have PPI or not yet to be honest, but will certainly explore it !

 

Also have a number of accounts which I still have account numbers for that are over 10 years old, sure these had PPI, but not confident on these being easy to obtain...

[theoldrouge]

Dont worry your a long way off any legal action, get the paperwork together as a first step. Once accs are defaulted and they start chasing you then CCA requests to each creditor. Info for old accs can be obtained by way of a SAR request sent with a £10 fee

[arigold1]

HI,

 

One thing I for got is that we also have overdraft debt !

 

Halifax - £4950

Nationwide - £1500

 

Is there a different process for overdrafts ?

 

Guessing better to just open new 'safe' bank account & then not pay or contact until defaulted ? like the credit cards ?

 

Thanks

[dx100uk]

you can sar them yes.

 

prob lots of OD fees anyway

 

you cant CCa OD's though

 

dx

[arigold1]

Yes will be lots of OD fees !

 

On all of above is it better to just ignore totally until defaulted or write to them saying we cannot pay anything & can they freeze interest etc....

 

Though I guess we would need to offer token payments & thats when the AP marker comes in ???

[dx100uk]

they poss might use AP markers

few creditors do though.

 

so for the minute

neither of your cra files shows any defaluts

and you not got any default notices yet?

 

dx

[arigold1]

No nothing..... both our files are pretty clean except i'm 2 months late with Nationwide credit card & Capital one.

 

But we are currently paying nearly £500 a month in minimum payments which we cannot continue to do,

I'm happy to send them token payment offers, but really don;t want the AP marker. So planning on ignoring for few months until defaulted..... ?

[dx100uk]

urm..

 

my thougths are to follow post 4.

 

TELL don't ASK.

 

they'll default you anyway.

 

if they do AP you

 

then stop paying that creditor

 

dx

[arigold1]

Thanks - will give this a try....

Is it the same for overdrafts ? i.e. same letter offer ? as there are no monthly minimum payments on overdrafts...

 

 

And i'll start getting organised with regards to claiming back charges & any PPI

[dx100uk]

get your income out of any bank with od's

 

same ish process leave those for now