New to Debt.

[sonearbutsofar]

Hi all...

Recently i stumbled across this great site, & so far it has opened my eyes and ive been able to proceed with the unfortunate situation i am now in, last year in march i was made redundant, i have 1 personal loan & 3 credit cards which Ive managed to keep paying up until last month, unfortunately my circumstances haven't changed & im still receiving job seekers allowance & unable to pay the minimum payments, at the moment i have missed the last payments of 2 of the 4 debts & the other 2 are now due, i have written to them all explaining my circumstances etc etc plus i enclosed a budget summary with a token gesture of £1.00 to be reviewed in six months. and asked If interest or other charges are being added to the account, would they be grateful if they would freeze them so that the debt does not increase & Should my circumstances improve, I will contact them again. plus I would be grateful if they would send me a paying-in book to make it easier to pay them.

So far ive had a few phone calls, & not answered them, but no reply in writing this may be due to the bank holiday, so im expecting them very soon....


Basically i need some advice, is this the right way to proceed or is there anything else i may have missed and needs attention any help will be much appreciated....

Thanks.

[enaid]

Re: New to Debt.

Hi and welcome, well done for keeping your head out of the sand, so many don't.
Firstly please check your credit cards that they do not have PPI included on them. If they have and you can claim on the PPI all well and good if not then you can claim mis selling and if successful the refund may help bring down the amount you owe.
PPI may also be included on your loan, check for that too.
Try not to deal with anyone over the phone if they choose to get in touch with you that way, everything in writing from now is always the best way forward.
Good Luck and am sure some one else will be along soon with more advice and probably wanting a little more detail.
Enaid x

[sonearbutsofar]

Re: New to Debt.

Hi Enaid & thanks for the reply, ive been reading lots of advice off this site so far & im gathering more & more knowledge of my rights etc, as this is all new to me & wasnt my intention to default on any debts unfortunately circumstances change and having my head in the sand isnt the way i approach situations and by sticking to the book so to speak im hoping this can be dealt with without to much hassle (i may be dreaming here)

This site has loads of great advice and i will keep this situation updated with future proceedings and any outcomes for further advice and to add more detail if needed to help me through these unfortunate times.

Thanks again.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: New to Debt.

Hi all...

Recently i stumbled across this great site, & so far it has opened my eyes and ive been able to proceed with the unfortunate situation i am now in, last year in march i was made redundant, i have 1 personal loan & 3 credit cards which Ive managed to keep paying up until last month, unfortunately my circumstances haven't changed & im still receiving job seekers allowance & unable to pay the minimum payments, at the moment i have missed the last payments of 2 of the 4 debts & the other 2 are now due, i have written to them all explaining my circumstances etc etc plus i enclosed a budget summary with a token gesture of £1.00 to be reviewed in six months. and asked If interest or other charges are being added to the account, would they be grateful if they would freeze them so that the debt does not increase & Should my circumstances improve, I will contact them again. plus I would be grateful if they would send me a paying-in book to make it easier to pay them.

So far ive had a few phone calls, & not answered them, but no reply in writing this may be due to the bank holiday, so im expecting them very soon....

Basically i need some advice, is this the right way to proceed or is there anything else i may have missed and needs attention any help will be much appreciated....

Thanks.

Depending on your debts, you could send a CCA request to your creditors to see what kind of paperwork they have. This would apply mostly to anything you took out before April 2007. See this post for reference: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...tters&p=335673 You can continue making your £1 token payments if you wish.

Would be useful if you could tell us a bit more about your debts, who the creditors are, amounts and dates taken out. :thumb:

It's best to keep all communication in writing, don't ring them and if you happen to answer the phone, just refuse to go through security.

[sonearbutsofar]

Re: New to Debt.

Hi Flaming Parrot, & thank you for your reply,

The creditors for my Debts are Yorkshire bank for the personal loan of £5000 which was took out early last year before i was made Redundant which i have paid 12 months of repayments & defaulted on one payment so far.

1 Credit card is through Vanquis bank for £2.500 & defaulted on 1 payment so far
1 Credit card is through capital one for £4000 no defaults as yet
and the other is with barclaycard for £1200 no defaults as yet

all where taken out after 2007 as far as im aware, unsure of the exact dates for the Vanquis & capital one cards but the Y/B Loan & BC CC are recent

Ive also just noticed tonight through my online account with Capital one that they have received this months payment through direct debit which im 100% positive i had no money in my account to pay them with as its through yorkshire bank will i need to close the direct debits a.s.a.p

Thanks in advance for any information.

[labman]

Re: New to Debt.

While pursuing the route Flaming Parrot is suggesting, which is worth pursuing, you may find your creditors more likely to accept the payment of £1 per month if you do it through a more formal route. This is a very good self managed one:

http://mymoney.nedcab.org.uk/moneyadvice/dmp.asp

[sonearbutsofar]

Re: New to Debt.

Hi labman & thanks for the Reply, ive gone through my money steps which is associated with National debt line to help me with my personalised action plan

[FlamingParrot]

Re: New to Debt.

Hi Flaming Parrot, & thank you for your reply,

The creditors for my Debts are Yorkshire bank for the personal loan of £5000 which was took out early last year before i was made Redundant which i have paid 12 months of repayments & defaulted on one payment so far.

1 Credit card is through Vanquis bank for £2.500 & defaulted on 1 payment so far
1 Credit card is through capital one for £4000 no defaults as yet
and the other is with barclaycard for £1200 no defaults as yet

all where taken out after 2007 as far as im aware, unsure of the exact dates for the Vanquis & capital one cards but the Y/B Loan & BC CC are recent

While pursuing the route Flaming Parrot is suggesting, which is worth pursuing, you may find your creditors more likely to accept the payment of £1 per month if you do it through a more formal route. This is a very good self managed one:

http://mymoney.nedcab.org.uk/moneyadvice/dmp.asp

The route I suggested is only worth pursuing if they had been taken out before April 2007, that's why I mentioned the dates, in which case you could have forgotten about the £1/tokens and wait for statute barred as I've been doing for over 3 years now, only mine are all pre-2007.

[sonearbutsofar]

Re: New to Debt.

So at the moment... i presume im taking the correct route with my situation?

Theres nothing else i can do or have forgotten in the meantime.

Thanks again for any info

[labman]

Re: New to Debt.

Keep up the good work AND keep looking in and contributing to this site!

[sonearbutsofar]

Re: New to Debt.

Hi guys.... just a quick update on the situation so far....

Yorkshire bank have agreed to the token gesture payment for 3 months to be reviewed if payments are made & sent me a paying in book, which ive now made my first payment.

vanquis Bank have written to me understanding my financial difficulties at the moment & want to set up an instalment payment plan of £26 per month over a period of 96 months, not sure about this yet ?

Capital one & Barclay card havent contacted me yet apart from the usual missed payment letters & capital one are now phoning me numerous times a day which im refusing to answer, so im just waiting on confirmation of my sent letters explaining my circumstances from these two before continuing....

[labman]

Re: New to Debt.

What about interest and charges - especially with Vanquis?

[sonearbutsofar]

Re: New to Debt.

according to the letter's ive received so far interest has been reduced to 0% and the overall totals they gave me corresponded with the amount i owe

[sonearbutsofar]

Re: New to Debt.

Thought I'd update on my situation with my creditors... all creditors are receiving £2.00 per month as agreed until my circumstances change and all charges have been frozen the only one not complying is Vanquis and they are still trying to pursue me for payments and adding interest every month ive sent them countless letters explaining my situation to no avail, ive told them my offer and if they still refuse it then to sue me in court, they bombard me with letters & phone calls every day which ive ignored but today they have got a little sneaky and phoned me by a mobile number which i answered, and they wanted to go through a security check, i explained i didnt wish to speak to them over the phone & ive sent them a new letter which they should receive tomorrow outlining my offer etc and he kept on pushing me to open up & speak to him about the situation & i kept refusing, with him eventually saying that he has no alternative but to arrange a house visit & put the phone down, not sure whats gonna happen next.

EDIT: My question is why wont they just accept my offer as i have no other income coming in at the moment apart from JSA & were just going round & round in circles are they trying to push me to the point of paying up or something as this will never happen until my circumstances change for the better, so why keep refusing my offer but not take it any further apart from issuing me with threats of visits etc.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: New to Debt.

With regards to those threats of home visits, you could send them the letter below. :thumb: Did you ever send a CCA request to those clowns?

Dear Sirs

Account No/Reference No: XYZ

Please be advised that I will only communicate with you in writing. I have noted your repeated attempts to contact me over the past few weeks and these have been duly logged by time and date. Should it be your intention to arrange a doorstep visit, please be advised that under OFT rules, you can only visit me at my home if you make an appointment and I have no wish to make such an appointment with you.

There is an implied license under English Common Law for people to be able to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v Sheppard & Short Ltd [1959] 2 QB 384. per Lord Evershed M.R.). Therefore take note that I revoke license under Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and, if you do so, you will be liable to damages for a tort of trespass and action will be taken, including but not limited to, police attendance.

Yours faithfully,