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- Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:05 pm #300873 Hi and I am so thankful I found this site- i really hope someone can help me:
Sorry i its so long winded but i am so confused.

Ok so Weve racked up about 23k in unsecured debt- all in my hubbys name- not his fault- i was fully aware and to blame too- elborate wedding and a house move in a year wasnt the brightest idea!!
So Weve got to get it under control- Weve (well he) has completed th debt rememdy with CCCS and a DMP has been suggested. We are mortgaged but have no equity so am i right in thinking we have no assetts? We dont own a car, as hubby has a company car.

Is a DMP with CCCS the right way to go, someone told me to do it myself?
He can more than afford to pay his debts off if the interest is stopped and i contribute more to the household bills- I thought if i pay more in it will reduce the length of his DMP also? I can only do this if i can get my family to let me put my repayments from the wedding onhold to them.
How likely are the creditors to suspend interest and what if they dont?

I know i have to chnage our bank to a one were he has no debt
is there anything else i should know?

I just feel totaly confused and he is so down about this i cant get him to talk

Thanks in advance

Mrs G

[JaneClack]

- Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:41 pm #300893 Yes, you can do it by yourself but it takes time and determination to do it - it also can be time-consuming if you have multiple creditors.

CCCS - like Payplan - provide a non fee-charging service so it is not costing you anything to do it, the creditors know both these companies and they do have good reputations for producing realistic and sustainable budgets so that payments are made on a regular basis and you make one monthly payment.

A debt management plan is an informal arrangement between the client and his or her creditors. The debt management company acts as the distributing intermediary and as such it is a gentleman's agreement and we are all dependent on the goodwill of the creditors as to whether interest and charges will be frozen or further action taken. No company in the land - whether it be fee or non-fee charging can make any guarantees about whether creditors will freeze interest but both companies have good records -but a lot depends on the creditors themselves. Some will want to see regular payments made for a few months until this happens, yet others will add interest until they issue a default notice and pass the debt onto collectors (whether in house or out of house) etc. Interest is generally frozen at this point.

If you can afford to pay more to the household bills - unless you are already paying half - then it would obviously shorten any repayment period. What you have to think of is that your partner is repaying debts to consumer creditors at a reduced rate whilst you are repaying the family at the rate you decided before.

Do not think of your house as a non asset - it may have no equity in it now, but people do not pay mortgages thinking it is always going to be rent ie always in negative equity. People think of property as a long-term investment. Creditors are aware of this and also know if someone is paying a mortgage.

Your husband should not feel down - he has faced up to a problem and done something about it and not put himself into a position where he is paying someone to do it.

It is always darkest before the dawn and things will get better. If an alternative remedy is better later or your circumstances improve you can always change or increase payments. The important thing is to grasp the nettle and start - and keep paying.

Good luck and remember we are here for moral support as well as answers for questions.

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- Thu Jul 05, 2012 10:21 am #300943 Ah sarah thank u so much.
Today I have recieved confirmation santander have opened us a new account- this is non debt related so that has cheered me up?

Im still aiting on the DMP pack to come through- Do you have any idea howw long it takes?

Is there any creditors that i need to be hughly wary of and if they dont accept what happenes next?

Could we loose our house? Im hughly panicing about this.

thanks
danielle

Yes, you can do it by yourself but it takes time and determination to do it - it also can be time-consuming if you have multiple creditors.

CCCS - like Payplan - provide a non fee-charging service so it is not costing you anything to do it, the creditors know both these companies and they do have good reputations for producing realistic and sustainable budgets so that payments are made on a regular basis and you make one monthly payment.

A debt management plan is an informal arrangement between the client and his or her creditors. The debt management company acts as the distributing intermediary and as such it is a gentleman's agreement and we are all dependent on the goodwill of the creditors as to whether interest and charges will be frozen or further action taken. No company in the land - whether it be fee or non-fee charging can make any guarantees about whether creditors will freeze interest but both companies have good records -but a lot depends on the creditors themselves. Some will want to see regular payments made for a few months until this happens, yet others will add interest until they issue a default notice and pass the debt onto collectors (whether in house or out of house) etc. Interest is generally frozen at this point.

If you can afford to pay more to the household bills - unless you are already paying half - then it would obviously shorten any repayment period. What you have to think of is that your partner is repaying debts to consumer creditors at a reduced rate whilst you are repaying the family at the rate you decided before.

Do not think of your house as a non asset - it may have no equity in it now, but people do not pay mortgages thinking it is always going to be rent ie always in negative equity. People think of property as a long-term investment. Creditors are aware of this and also know if someone is paying a mortgage.

Your husband should not feel down - he has faced up to a problem and done something about it and not put himself into a position where he is paying someone to do it.

It is always darkest before the dawn and things will get better. If an alternative remedy is better later or your circumstances improve you can always change or increase payments. The important thing is to grasp the nettle and start - and keep paying.

Good luck and remember we are here for moral support as well as answers for questions.

- Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:28 pm #301033 hi Lady 1982,
In answer to your question :- NO, you will not lose your house.
If you do a DMP, and you get a bloody-minded creditor who won't accept your payments, then they MAY ... repeat ... MAY try to obtain a C/O against the house.
Whether they get a C/O will depend on the Judge, but even if the creditor does get a C/O, it will only become enforceable IF you sell the house. If you don't move, then the C/O is useless.

There are a few members on here who have Charging Orders against their property, put there by creditors who wouldn't play ball, and all have kept their houses.
And there is one member(can't remember who), who contested the C/O in court and the Judge sided with them and refused to grant a C/O to the creditor.
So you can rest easy, you will almost certainly NOT lose your house.

If you didn't have assets, I'd certainly advise you to do your own DMP, but because you have assets, it might be better to go with Payplan or CCCS, as they do seem to have a bit of sway with creditors.

One word of advice :-
If you do a DMP, get your EXPENSES up and your PAYMENTS down.
It is far better to have surplus income than be short of income.

My bank manager once said to me " You live like a king on paupers wages - how come" ? When my debts reached £70k, I knew the answer.

[JaneClack]

- Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:45 pm #301053 The lady who fought off the charging order was Mrs Duff who will will be able to tell all - just look back at Duff and Custard's posts - it will be in there.

As Chandjay will tell you I always say you can do what you like if you have no assets as you are in pole position but your unsecured creditors MAY try to get the debt secured on the house. They have to go through hoops to do it but getting an order for sale is a very different kettle of fish - so as long as you pay your mortgage and any secured loans, you will NOT lose your house.

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- Sat Jul 07, 2012 9:06 am #301093 Thankyou for your reply
I am slightly calmer now!
Chandjay- excuse my ignorance but are you be cautious with my I & E? I thought i would have tto declare to the exact penny?
My Pack from CCCS just arrived and i need to tweek it anyway.

thanks again

hi Lady 1982,
In answer to your question :- NO, you will not lose your house.
If you do a DMP, and you get a bloody-minded creditor who won't accept your payments, then they MAY ... repeat ... MAY try to obtain a C/O against the house.
Whether they get a C/O will depend on the Judge, but even if the creditor does get a C/O, it will only become enforceable IF you sell the house. If you don't move, then the C/O is useless.

There are a few members on here who have Charging Orders against their property, put there by creditors who wouldn't play ball, and all have kept their houses.
And there is one member(can't remember who), who contested the C/O in court and the Judge sided with them and refused to grant a C/O to the creditor.
So you can rest easy, you will almost certainly NOT lose your house.

If you didn't have assets, I'd certainly advise you to do your own DMP, but because you have assets, it might be better to go with Payplan or CCCS, as they do seem to have a bit of sway with creditors.

One word of advice :-
If you do a DMP, get your EXPENSES up and your PAYMENTS down.
It is far better to have surplus income than be short of income.

- Sat Jul 07, 2012 9:07 am #301103 ok thanks sarah
fingers x'd they just accept then- dreading the letters and calls !!!!

The lady who fought off the charging order was Mrs Duff who will will be able to tell all - just look back at Duff and Custard's posts - it will be in there.

As Chandjay will tell you I always say you can do what you like if you have no assets as you are in pole position but your unsecured creditors MAY try to get the debt secured on the house. They have to go through hoops to do it but getting an order for sale is a very different kettle of fish - so as long as you pay your mortgage and any secured loans, you will NOT lose your house.

- Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:03 am #301113 Hello Lady1982, re you "dreading the letters and calls". Letters should not be a problem as the creditors have to be most careful what they write and they should follow Office of Fair Trading guidelines. You will probably find that their letters state that they MAY take certain actions and not that they WILL, most of it is computer automated and they send out thousands of identical letters, dont worry about them.

You might very well receive phone calls as many creditors take the `squeeky wheel gets the oil` approach and think if they keep calling you the more money they will get. If you do receive calls refuse to answer their security questions, tell them you are on a DMP with CCCS, quote the reference number and just hang up. Then write a recorded letter to the relevant creditor and state clearly that you will only discus in writing via CCCS and that you do not wish to receive any more telephone calls. This SHOULD make them stop but from experience it probably wont so then write again and tell them you are going to report them to the OFT for ignoring a recorded letter, they will back off eventually. Dont feel guilty, you are doing the right thing in dealing with your debts through a reputable debt management company.

As Chandjay says be sure to only pay what you can easily afford, you will probably be on a DMP for the long term and there is no point in struggling for years just trying keep the creditors happy; it does not work anyway as the more you pay the more they want.

I agree that in your position it is better to deal with CCCS, or Payplan, at least until things settle down, I was with CCCS and found them to be excellent. Good luck. -- nomlas

- Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:10 pm #301123 ah thankyou-
im going to print some letters tomorrow to send off to advise what you said.
im ust hoping they accept the offers?
yes ive re-looked at my budget and to be fair i was going to leave us very tight- after speaking to cccs they also advised to up my expenditure- a job for tonight.

thanks again

Hello Lady1982, re you "dreading the letters and calls". Letters should not be a problem as the creditors have to be most careful what they write and they should follow Office of Fair Trading guidelines. You will probably find that their letters state that they MAY take certain actions and not that they WILL, most of it is computer automated and they send out thousands of identical letters, dont worry about them.

You might very well receive phone calls as many creditors take the `squeeky wheel gets the oil` approach and think if they keep calling you the more money they will get. If you do receive calls refuse to answer their security questions, tell them you are on a DMP with CCCS, quote the reference number and just hang up. Then write a recorded letter to the relevant creditor and state clearly that you will only discus in writing via CCCS and that you do not wish to receive any more telephone calls. This SHOULD make them stop but from experience it probably wont so then write again and tell them you are going to report them to the OFT for ignoring a recorded letter, they will back off eventually. Dont feel guilty, you are doing the right thing in dealing with your debts through a reputable debt management company.

As Chandjay says be sure to only pay what you can easily afford, you will probably be on a DMP for the long term and there is no point in struggling for years just trying keep the creditors happy; it does not work anyway as the more you pay the more they want.

I agree that in your position it is better to deal with CCCS, or Payplan, at least until things settle down, I was with CCCS and found them to be excellent. Good luck. -- nomlas