Newbie seeking help and advice

[Kat1973]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and desperately seeking some debt advice.

To cut a very long story short, as well as £80K he ran up in his name my boyfriend also ran up £10,000 on two of my credit cards (I knew about this but stupidly thought we would get things sorted out when he was back in work) I also have a £20K loan taken out about two and a half years ago with my bank(RBS been with them about 15 years) which costs me £302 a month. The credit cards are costing a fortune in interest and its all I can do to keep up with that let alone dent the balance.

Last month he took a job in Australia, split up with me and is now refusing to pay anything further towards these debts. I dont even have a forwarding address for him. The only evidence I have that he acknowledges he owes me anything is that I was included for £7K on an IVA he was supposed to go into (he bailed on this).

I have spoken to Virgin and MBNA who have agreed to freeze interest for 3 months til May so I can make small pmnts. They have said that if things dont change after this I will have to go into an agreement with them which will last 5-10 years and show on my credit record. Has anyone done this with them? Will my bank find out? At the moment I am of the mind that I will have to do this but try and go on paying the bank loan as normal as I dont want to fall out with the bank as I am currently using my overdraft as well.

Any advice would be appreciated, I really dont know where to turn or what to do for the best. After the end of my relationship (and belive me I feel stupider than you can imagine for lending him so much money) this seems like the end of the world.

Thanks for reading.

Kate

PS - I should also have said that I have submitted I&E forms for both cards. The woman on the phone used these to calculate the reduced payments, however she said they wont take into account the £300 I have to pay on the loan.

PPS - I requested copies of my CCA's for both cards and they only have a signed form for one, they just sent me a copy of my latest statement (signed by them?!) and a copy of the terms & conditions.

[TUTTSI]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi Kat

I have asked for a member of the team to come and offer some advice.

Tuttsi

[Amy]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Have you thought about a debt management plan at all?

Do you work? Is there any PPI to be reclaimed or charges?

We'll all help as best we can and with regard to your other thread - you are not alone.

xx

[Kat1973]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi Amy & Tuttsi,

Yes I work - in finance ironically. Great with other people - rubbish with my own. Yes, I have thought about a DMP - I'm just worried about bringing the bank loan in when I'm still using the overdraft in case they pull it which at the moment would be catastrophic - Im moving soon and hope the reduced costs will mean I dont have one in a couple of months time. Whats the advantage of a DMP over say an IVA (doesnt some of the debt get written off with one of those? ) and where would be the best place to go for one.

Thanks for being so sympathetic, this has all had me in tears over the weekend like an idiot. Basically Ive seen my ex being hounded by debt agencies over what he owes for years and I just dont know that I can face it. At one point we had the bailiffs round over his unpaid parking fines which was scary as well as totally embarassing.

[Sapphire]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hiya Kat

Sorry to hear about your troubles with your ex, believe me I've also been there and got the T-Shirt to prove it, and I guarantee a lot of others on here will be able to lay claim to similar too.
Just to clarify can you list what is in his name and what is in yours please, remember ANYTHING in his name you just write to them and say he's in Australia and give a forwarding address if you have one. I didn't have one so I gave his mothers lol that made me popular.
I know that probably feels like I'm trying to tell you how to suck eggs (or whatever the saying is) but I know that when you're faced with it all its flaming hard to concentrate and get you're head round it all.

[Kat1973]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi Sapphire,

Oh rest assured I'll be passing his parents address on if any of his direct creditors bother me - which they havent so far. I'm moving out of our flat in two weeks time and have told my landlady to use it as his forwarding address.

With regards to the two credit cards (both in my name) :

Is it worth me disputing the one they dont seem to have a signed agreement for?

With the other if I offer them half the outstanding amount as full and final settlement are they likely to accept?

One is MBNA and the other is Virgin (so both MBNA effectively).

The loan is in my name.

Thanks.

Kat

[Sapphire]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi Kat,

You can try sending off the CCA letter and get copies of paperwork etc. ots worth having it anyway.
Do you have any charges etc on them ? If so you can ask for them back, they usually pay them straight to the account so that would help reduce the amount.
Re asking about full and final settlements, to be honest I'm not sure how they'd react as they are 'live' accounts and not been send to Debt Collection yet, but if you have the cash available then its always worth a try.
As a guide last week I did similar with Lloyds on our joint account with an overdraft of £2.4k and got a full and final of £1.1k by my reckoning that's about a 46% settlement.

[Kat1973]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi,

I sent CCA letters in December - they have a signed agreement for one, but for the other they just sent a statement (signed by them?!) and a copy of the terms and conditions so I'm guessing they dont have one. What would be my next step there? Is there another letter to send? Shall I keep paying the monthly payments on it?

If I let the accounts go to DCA is anyone likely to appear on the doorstep? I have had cards in the past saying they will visit even when all Ive done is missed one payment. I dont intend to give them my new address just get my mail redirected, but thats not to say my landlady wont once I move out.

Also - if it gets to DCA stage I'm assuming my credit rating is in ruins?

Thanks (again!)

[Sapphire]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hiya,

Re the CCA have a read of this excellent guide by Curlyben ~~~ Consumer Credit Agreements - A Guide ~~~~ inc. Letters - Legal Beagles it has everything covered.

Re stopping the payments or the accounts going to a DCA, yes you will get a mark against your credit record, and I gather that's what you're keen to avoid.

Personally I'd think very carefully before going down that route.

Don't worry about them paying you a visit, there's about as much chance of that as I've got of having a night out with Frank Lampard.

[Kat1973]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi again - What would you suggest in that case? I certainly cant afford to carry on with the interest they are charging and if I accept their offer of an agreement I get a mark against my credit rating anyway so I cant see a way to avoid it in my case.

[Sapphire]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi Kat,

Have you thought of applying for a different card and transferring the debt over, there's a lot of offers out there for say 12 months interest free etc. That way you'd freeze the interest and any payments would go off of the debt. If you did consider this though you'd have to be extremely dilligent and not spend on the card at all because then the interest would kick in.
I have a friend who is in debt and doesn't want to wreck their credit rating and is moving her cards debts around like that, and she seems to have got in under control.
Just an idea, and what I'd consider if I was able to do it.

[Kat1973]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi - Yes, unfortunately that's what I did originally when I got those cards (and let him move £3k over from one of his) Have tried since and been refused or offered a tiny limit which is no good when you have £10K to clear. I think this is probably game over, hence thinking I may as well try to contest the one with no signed agreement and perhaps offer to settle on the other one. I'm assuming if you settled with Lloyds you've taken a hit to your rating as well?

If I do get a black mark does my bank find out immediately?

[TUTTSI]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

what about applying for two or three cards interest free and transfer 1/3rd to each card?

[Kat1973]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi Tuttsi,

I've swopped these debts around a few times now, the last card I applied for only gave me a limit of 950 and the rest have just flat turned me down.

[TUTTSI]

Re: Newbie seeking help and advice

Hi kat, it was just a thought.

Also, whatever happens do not go to a Claims Management Company especially if you have to pay upfront fees, as they will offer you the world, telling you you that you will be able to get all your money back because of many errors in the contract with the Cr Card Company, but the realarity is that you will probably never get anything back in return. I have seen so many consumers fall for this one and have never ever seen any money back whatsoever. This is one such companany that is being investigated at the moment http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ad.php?t=21772

Hi Tuttsi,

I've swopped these debts around a few times now, the last card I applied for only gave me a limit of 950 and the rest have just flat turned me down.

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There are probably charges on your credit cards and these are easily reclaimed, have a look in our credit card section and you will see that some of our members have received refunds from in as little time as 9 days.
CREDIT CARDS / STORE CARDS - Legal Beagles