overwhelmed by debt - where to start ? can anyone advise

[luluciao]

Dear forum,

 

i found your site last night being unable to sleep along side my own fears i had comfort knowing i'm not the only one out there and there are people who care and going through the same thing.....

 

i really would like some impartial and honest help before I send myself potty with worry.

 

through tough business situations and a serious illness which had me hospitalised last December we have built up a series of debts which are now threatening to swamp me and my family as the first county court action is threatened.

 

I'm a female and I own (with a mortgage) my own house with my long term partner. The small equity is also charged out already.

We had a property business that came to a grinding halt in 2007 with the withdrawl of bank lending and the banks toxic debt fraud.. We had to lay off staff.... (horrible).

We had a partnership on a small business in which the other partner took £17k from us (still owed and appears to have no means of repaying. )

 

Since then we have tried to keep afloat - we have some buy to lets which bring in a small income

( although they are leveraged to the top so if interest rates moved slightly we are sunk),

tried running seminars,

launching web businesses,

my partner has been employed freelance writing features etc ( and recently been shafted on payment by a prepack by a national magazine being shut down). I'm also currently trying to sell anything i can on ebay..........

 

I;'m trying to keep my head together and get 2/3 days work a week (we've got young kids),

my partner is also going round agencies all next week looking for immediate work and potentially more lucrative work abroad - we are doing what we can to get out of the situation I will outline below. But I really need some immediate help to calm me down..... or advice on what can happen in the short term..

 

Since june last year, I had turned to a private debt management company to help (mainly as I have had a serious hearing problem which affects the use of phones on top of stress) however I'm not convinced that this company is in control of the situation or has explained my illness situation. I'm also worried that they will cost me a huge amount in the long run...

 

I have £5600 on a Nationwide Credit card. KPR were managing and I had an agreement to pay back £5.00 a month. They are apparently now sending this to court according to the Private DMC as they feel 'they haven't got anywhere with me'. (?) This is the most immediate problem.

I have £11k on a barclay credit card this and Mercers have taken the debt. Its just on hold with the PDMC and I'm still getting threatening letters and calls. There is no agreement to pay anything yet via the PDMC

 

I have a £15k Sainsbury Loan - they have via the PDMC agreed to £5.00 a month for 6 months.

 

I have £3.5k on a Tesco credit card which I pay £1.18 at the moment. -

 

In addition Excell parking are threatening me with £160 via roxburugh solicitors court action for a parking fine in a sheffield precinct which local businesses and mps were fighting and told everyone not to pay. I've ignored thinking they must be just scare mongering. Excell are vile at threats in this area and well known.

 

I have a Yorkshire bank account and I've been with them 20 years but also have now £10k credit card debt with them that in July we will be unable to pay for the first time.. I'm not sure whether to send them a letter myself and try and deal with this.

 

My partner has aTtesco credit card debt of £4k and a sainsbury loan of £6k. All of them currently on hold and being dealt with by the PDMC.

 

In addition we have £3000 in unpaid HMRC fines for late filing which my partner has been in touch with HMRC about and explained my situation and why they were late but we are still receiving threats.

 

We also have a HSBC business overdraft of £20k which has been runnning for the last 4 to 6 years and we are worried will now be called in. HSBC tried to shut down our business account in 2010 as they didn't particularly like the commodities we were tying to set up businesses in - I can explain more in private - this was sucessfully overturned but took all our time to fight and left us unable to execute our other business properly which was seminars and ultimately cost us that lifeline and a hell of a lot of cash - we cant find anyone to help us fight that corner ( mainly as we don't have the cash to pay a barrister).

 

I'm keeping up payments on the home (although we have £8k in arrears that bank of Scotland have allowed to stand for now...) and pay things like Council Tax and utility bills. The rest is cut to the bone....

 

I'm not sure where to start in all this mess..... I don't want to lose our home and i;m being told that nationwide may be able to put a charge over my home - but if we don't have equity what will they do ?

 

Is it best to have all the debts consolidated by a charity debt company who can help me -?

 

I can pay this money back in small stages to everyone once we both get jobs and if our smaller businesses take off but I just need time to sort everything. The fear and sick anxiety are just stopping me sleeping and coping enough to move forward. is there any way we can offer a settlement figure and agree to pay everyone in stages ?

 

 

i'm sorry this is long winded and confusing

[dx100uk]

great thought there DUMP THE FEE PAYING DMC now!!

 

goto the nationaldebtline

or

payplan

or

stepchange.

 

imho

 

NDL

 

dx

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi luluciao, and welcome to CAG!

 

Just like you, I knew that there must be people out there who were in the same situation and would understand what I was going through five years ago and then I found CAG which has been an absolute lifesaver.

 

dx is right. The first thing to do is to get rid off the PDMC as Stepchange or the other organizations will help you for free. Please do that immediately.

 

As I understand, KPR were managing the Nationwide debt, but it is the DMC who say they are now unhappy with the arrangement. You have not actually received a Letter Before Action from either KPR or Nationwide? If that is the case you should write to KPR and ask them why they wish to cancel the arrangement? Explain that you cannot afford more than this amount.

 

Is it worth your selling one of the buy to lets? Obviously not if there will be no available cash coming from the sale.

 

Mercers are just another part of Barclaycard. Don't worry about them just yet.

 

If the MPs were telling everyone to ignore the parking fine, call their offices and say that having followed their advice and not paid you are now being threatened with court action, so what do they suggest you should do next. They may tell you that other people have had similar letters and are ignoring them.

 

If you start by calling Stepchange they will give you a reference number which you can quote to anyone who chases you for money. I think it takes a couple of weeks ?? for Stepchange to arrange a telephone call with an advisor who will go through all the debts with you, and I don't know if NDL and Payplan are the same, but the reference number in itself gets most banks/DCAs to back off. I called them when I was being chased by a particularly vile DCA and as soon as I gave him the reference number he backed off immediately. I didn't use Stepchange in the end and dealt with the debts myself but I'll always be grateful that I called them and got the reference number.

 

Are you entitled to Council Tax Benefit, Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits? That is worth looking into if you haven't already done so.

 

Have you taken any action over the ex partner? You could take court action against them yourself if you are confident you can prove your case. If you won and got a CCJ they would have to pay. If they couldn't pay it all at once at least you would be able to get something by instalments.

 

HRMC may pass you to a debt collector for the tax arrears. I was chased by one they use last year when I owed a disputed amount, which thankfully was dropped, and they were very reasonable about allowing time for it to be resolved. I think the ones chasing for HMRC are not as unreasonable as some of the ones chasing for banks/card companies.

 

I hope that helps a bit.

 

I'm sorry I haven't answered all your questions.

 

See what Stepchange suggest and then you can decide on the best way forward.

 

DD

[alisindebt]

Hi luluciou

 

Welcome to this wonderful forum.

 

We all came here at some time in the past, similar reasons to you..... Debt.

 

First, try not to panic.

 

Second, have a good read on here of how people have dealt with their debts. For example, you could read my own threads.

 

Third, debt is not forever, there is always a way out.

 

Fourth, as you will discover on here, there are ways of approaching your creditors, such as everything in writing, no phone calls, telling them what you can afford, rather than listening to what they "demand".

 

Remember all debt collection agencies and back collections departments will life through they're back teeth to get more money from you. Stick to your guns. YOU are in control of the debt, not them.

 

Whatever you do, make sure you are in the driving seat, not them.

 

Spend a little time on here, listen to the advice, and soon the creditors so be eating out of your hand, not you from theirs.

 

Sincerely wishing you the best.

 

Now get some sleep, and set aside some time soon to have a read through here, look at my threads, and have a vision of a debt free future soon.

[luluciao]

We have a lot of debt built up alongside my health issues this last year and please can someone advise on what to do regarding the following;

 

we had had a tough couple of years trading however I was suddenly hospitalized November 2012 and although currently still under doctors supervision I'm now on the slow road to recovery. I have however given this situation been under enourmous stress not least drowning in a feeling of 'stupidity' that we owe so much......... the GP prescribed tablets but I don't take them.

I was/am employed by our own business (myself and partner) and for the last year he's been helping me get back on my feet however like many in our boat finances have taken a complete battering throughout 2013.

 

I am however working albeit with no income on trying to launch three new businesses in an attempt to stave off financial meltdown. Its really tough but i have two children under 8 and can't see any other way of covering the debt mountain. We do have some buy to lets however with my illness we have been hit by big voids this year - we aren't greedy or have flash cars/big holidays etc. Its been a struggle throughout. I don't want you to think we have a flash lifestyle.. we don't not even near and never have.

 

I currently have in my name the following; debt

 

 

£4,600 on Nationwide credit card - they applied for and got a CCJ against me in September and were applying immediately for an order over our home as the CCJ held up my payment of £5.00 a month.

Our home if done up has maybe £40k equity in it - although at the moment the agent doesn't feel it will sell as it needs work which we cant afford.

I contacted Nwide immediately as I was concerned they can force me to sell or they will tell BoS (our mortgage company) or both and the outcome would be awful for us all, I'm currently paying them the full amount each month to avoid any further issues. This is a real struggle and allowable only via parental help with nationwide know. They offered partial settlement of £3600 but I can't manage this yet. They appear to have an outstanding debt of £5600 which must include additional interest/charges.

 

10k on Yorkshire bank credit card - they have requested a income/expenditure sheet and my GP letter.. I can do both - should I do both ? Charges appear to have built up on the original £10k since July.

 

10 k on Barclay's Credit Card - they had accepted £5.00 a month but have just passed the debt to a company called IDR. I emailed the DCA last week and re-set up the £5.00 standing order but haven't heard back yet. Charges appear to have built up on this original debt.

 

4k on a Tesco credit card - they had accepted £1.14 a month until further notice.

 

15k on a Sainsbury's loan- they have also accepted £5.00 for the time being. Interest appears to be building up though.

 

I have been using a debt management company as I was struggling to cope with all the paperwork, trying to work a little and look after the children. I don't want to use them anymore as I'm not convinced its helping anymore see note below re partner. I'm also concerned that they haven't gone through some of the correct procedures - regarding proof of signitures etc. They also didn't appear to be aware of the change in law last October and the ability for credit card companies to put a charge on a home..

 

I also have Arc harrassing me over a cancelled £176 Kwik Fit car insurance ( Kwik Fit tried to double my car insurance to £2k in January and claimed I had not told them I didn't want it.) . I'm not taking any calls or responding to Arc. I bought car insurance on the internet for £335.00 instead.

 

Admiral are doing the same via a DMA initially called DLC and now suddenly MDB for my partners car - insurance in my name. We cancelled the insurance and the car is off road -DVLA have been informed. We needed to save money and obviously can't afford two cars never mind how old they are. I'm not responding to calls or letters from either which threaten me with court action.

 

Joint Debt

As a couple we also have 8k in arrears on our BoS home mortgage - BoS are ok with this so far as long as we pay the full mortgage which we are. I have kept BoS informed at all stages. i have to go back to them at the end of November.

 

We had a HSBC business 20k overdraft which HSBC have tried to get us to pay off (impossible) reduce (again impossible) when their local staff all changed and overdrafts seem to have been centralised. We asked for it to be put on hold and stopped using the account for business over a month ago. I believe we have joint personal liability for the debt. Nothing has happened yet and supposedly the DMA wrote to HSBC last month but hasn't heard back. We need to take control here...

 

(With HSBC they tried to shut down our business accounts 18 months ago as they didn't feel that our business should have been investing in certain commudities. This was against their own practises but caused that element of our business extreme pressure and massive losses on seminars. My partner is trying to sort this via local MPs etc but we need money for a barrister and thats £500 too far at the moment.... I can ask my partner to explain in detail if required as its quite complex and I don't understand all of it myself).

 

We have about £3k in late fees that Companies house are forcing through court with a CCJ against the company. These were incurred through delays via other businesses. Its all a knock on effect.

 

My partner has the following personal debt;

Tesco credit card - £4k - supposedly the DMA wrote to them in June and heard nothing back. We need to do something ourselves on this but what ? Its passed to Robinson Wray.

 

Tesco Personal loan 10k - just found out they are pressing for a CCJ. We managed to get them on hold until 3/11. Again the DMA supposedly wrote to them in June. We emailed today saying please stop and explained situation. Charges appear to have built up here.

 

Sainsbury loan 6k - the DMA had done nothing here. However as of October Moorcroft have agreed to hold off until 12/11 pending final statement (don't know what that means...)

 

Virgin credit card 5k - Supposedly DMA wrote to them 23/07 however we've heard or seen nothing. Should we write to them ourselves/email ?

 

 

I'm hoping that someone can point us in the right direct through this quagmire. I know from reading posts that you offer sincere and sound advice on moving forward.

 

Kind regards

[dx100uk]

I refer you to post no.2. above.

 

have you taken all this to one of the people listed there and have you dumped that fee paying DMC yet?

 

dx

[luluciao]

hello, thank you very much for replying.

we are not using the dmc anymore after realising that they had not been in contact with the organisations on my partners debt list - tesco credit card. we had a shock seeing that they were about to try and get a ccj without us even being able to pay a nominal sum until back on our feet.

I am in contact with Nationwide myself - and Yorkshire bank and barclays.

 

Do we need a debt managament plan ? Where do we start with all these organisations ?

 

I don't want to antagonise any of them and need to sort out reasonable repayments etc.

[unclebulgaria67]

hello, thank you very much for replying.

we are not using the dmc anymore after realising that they had not been in contact with the organisations on my partners debt list - tesco credit card. we had a shock seeing that they were about to try and get a ccj without us even being able to pay a nominal sum until back on our feet.

I am in contact with Nationwide myself - and Yorkshire bank and barclays.

 

Do we need a debt managament plan ? Where do we start with all these organisations ?

 

I don't want to antagonise any of them and need to sort out reasonable repayments etc.

 

If I were in your position, I would contact Stepchange debt registered charity, provide them with all of the information and see what they advised me. You need to be able to go into a lot of information, which I am sure you would wish to keep confidential. For this reason, there is a limit to what advice can be given on an online forum. Remember that online forums are viewed by creditors and debt collection companies.

 

http://www.stepchange.org/

 

One major advantage of Stepchange is that they are respected by finance and debt companies. If you can get Stepchange to provide you with the help you need, it should be a start to making life a bit easier.