To ask here about "payplan" debt management

[SunshineisSorry]

because i know its a popular section of the board

Apparently its not one of those dodgy debt management companies that end up getting you into even more shite than you are already in. Does anyone have any experience of them - apparently they are recommended by The National Debt line. We have various creditors at varying amounts and need to rationalise our payments as we are paying more than we can afford to companies who we owe less money to and less to ones we owe less to. We sort of want someone to act on our behalf and back us up legally rather than managing the debt. We have sort of been scraping through with all but getting nowhere and we want to try and clear the debts, its quite a lot, but we are up to date with our mortgage and clearing priority debts. It will all be so much easier once im working but im strugging to find a job (another thread) so really its a bit of time buying until i can get a job and start clearing them properly, now its a case of token payments really.

Sunshine - if you're with BT, use the call barring and set it up so the calls don't get through to you. If not ignore the phone calls or hang up - a lot of debt collectors are a bunch of cunts who will say anything to shame you into paying. I had people swear at me and call me names, threaten to take my car (I laughed my tits off at that one as I didn't have a car at the time).

You do not have to talk to them - just ignore them, they cant do anything - just communicate in writing or get payplay or cccs to - if you want to do a dmp yourself it is loads of hassle as you will have to keep writing to them so I don't recommend it.

Get into debt is not in itself a crime - you haven't done anything wrong - feel free to strap on a pair and tell them to fuck off and hang up if they phone you.

overcooked, there is too much equity in the house to consider bankruptcy otherwise i would, it wouldnt help us because although our mortgae is high it is lower than local rental rates, otherwise we would have sold the house by now, thats for sure. Can't downsize, our house is about as downsized as you can get round here :) We have been told by our mortgage company that they woudlnt even consider us for a mortgage if we wanted to downsize anyway, which wouldnt help us because there isnt enough equity to sort out creditors and buy new property. Its a vicious circle, i just need to hold on until a job comes along, but its whether the creditors will

'We then approached another company that told us we were eligible for a trust deed (we are in scotland) and we are now nearly finished with that, so will be debt free again soon. Payplan were good though, I never had a problem with them, just the fact the debt wasnt actually being paid off.'

Yes, this is why we went for Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) as well. Interest frozen, no more action on the debt, at the end of it they write off what's left. Our credit is already shot, may as well be debt-free, too.

Oh, don't answer teh phone to the creditors, or just ring off on them. Ours couldn't be bothered to send us someone who even spoke English. Just let all calls go to the answering machine.

The HMRC debt wouldn't necessarily be discharged in bankrupcy, and they could seize all the equity to recover the debt, so you're right to say put in the house.

HMRC debt, council tax or business rate arrears, fines, child maintenance, those debts are hard to be discharged entirely even in bankrupcy.

If its any help, MBNA are like a dog with a bone. We are with a debt man company and they were the hardest to appease. They rang us over and over again, even at work and in the evenings and 8.30am. This was even after they had been handed over to the debt man company.

I looked on one of the money saving sites and they said legally if you are paying SOMETHING to a company they cannot take you to court if you have missed NO payments. They also said a creditor cannot legally take more than a debtor can afford.

Don't worry about anyone judging or asky why OP, I know more people in debt than out of it these days!

HMRC debt and council tax debt will both fall into bankruptcy. Also some fines, depending on who issued them.

Sunshine a few links for people who will help you with free, professional, impartial advice. Please contact them and talk about all your options and get help.

CCCS
NDL
CAB
Business Debtline
CAP
Payplan
Taxaid (might be worth chatting to these guys about your tax problems)

If someone phones, go through the security details with them and then before they can say anything else tell them there is someone at the door and you won't be a moment. Put the phone down and pop off and have a cuppa, play with the kids, load the washing machine etc. Come back in half an hour when they are gone and hang up the phone. In the meantime you have caused the company to spend money on the call for half an hour, spend money on a person for half an hour to do nothing (they can't use their phone while your line is open) Do this a fewtimes and they will stop calling.

You can right to your creditors and request they write yo you. As long as you reply to their letters they are not to call you

Incidentally I have checked re the administration order and was right and it is still possible to get the court to do one if your debts are under 5k, and you al ready have a ccj. It means you pay what you can to clear the debt over 5 years and if things are no better at the end of that period the remainder is written off, a good cheaper alternative for smaller debts if you have no equity. No good for the op though.

Sorry Nesta you are wrong, we were paying MBNA £40 a month and contined paying it and we were still issued a CCJ and ordered to pay £550 a month which we could not afford so they went for a charging order. The courts awarded it in their favour, we still attended to say our peace.
So don't tell the OP that as it's clearly the wrong info and she's going through enough at the moment.

Thankfully we haven't any debt with MBNA, sounds like we may have had a lucky escape. Charging orders are like water off a ducks back i guess, it was horrible and terrifying when we had our charging order before, we turned up, spoke to the other sides solicitor (looked about 12) who was actually a very nice young man and when we asked if our home was at risk he said that if they tried to force sale over such a small amount they would be laughed out of court and that it was actually a human rights issue as we have a five year old child. So we have another company harranging us to do charging order, they filed a CCJ despite the fact that we sent relevent paperwork recorded delivery, they tried to tell us they hadnt' recieved so we shot them up the arse with, weell thats funny because the post office report that it was delivered two days before your deadline - got lost in their internal postal system. we only owe them £800 (only) but they are insisting on £50 a month or will go for charging order. To be fair, the solicitor guy i spoke to said to me, look, go for the charging order, they'll leave you alone, but thats not the point is it.

My poor DP is trying desperately to keep his building afloat, but the debt is crippling it because of course, he can't get any materials on account and we can't fund the bigger jobs, its beyond frustrating.

They say money is the root of all evil, well it is certainly the root of a lot of heart ache. Ive never ever been a materialistic person, i woudlnt mind if were paying the price for frivolity, im not saying this isnt our fault, we never managed our finances properly and adopted the head in the sand approach, well, not anymore - as Laurie said, im going to frow a pair and face this head on - they can take everything i have, but they can't take my fucking pride anymore, or my family!!!

Oh, Sunshine, un-MN'ly ((())) here. I know it's so hard.

I'm glad the DAS (Debt Arrangement Scheme) was available to us because with the DMP proposed by CCCS the monthly minimums would have been really hard to eek out any sort of quality of life. And our credit is already shot.

Our creditors have 21 days to respond to the proposal, but if they reject we are eligible for LILA, the Scottish version of DRO. It is sequestration/bankrupcy.

I don't answer the phone anymore, tbh. If they accept the proposal, which our adviser suspects they will or they know from or SOA we will go LILA and they will get nothing, then they have to stop contacting us.

Sunshine you've started the ball rolling and thats the main thing. Your doing something about it.

expat, thanks - err, i used to be LEM on here, im not quite as pathetic and helpless as i was. Ive been looking for a job and have been doing some volunteer work but of course that doens't pay, does keep the insanity at bay though. Glad to see you are working through your problems, you are a strong lady. Wish i had half your strength. A scottish friend of mine had to do the sequestration thing and apparently life is much better since, fortunately for him he didnt have equity in his home so they didnt lose it.

Thankyou to everyone on here, it helps to know im not alone with it all.

UPDATE Well, today i have sat down and made a spreadsheet of all our creditors, its pretty grim but i have calculated, using the national debt line's budget calculator and i think we should be ok for a debt management scheme, we have just under £200 spare a month after priority debts. This of course is notwithstanding any emergencies like vans dying etc but there you are. It is going to take us a good few years to get out of this, of course when i get a job we can start paying more so i just have to pray that something will come along. Im pinning EVERYTHING on this phonecall tonight and just hoping that they will agree to manage the debt. I just don't have anymore argue or fight left in me now.

Just to reiterate the thanks to those of you on this board who have supported me, it means so much.

oh and ive namechanged, tired of being sorry!!

Well done on taking that step to get things under control.

If you go onto Money Saving Expert and the Old Style board there is great tips on how to keep the housekeeping budget under control. Also have a mooch round the site for lots of tips on getting extra pennies.

Hiya

I am a Debt Advisor in Scotland and oversee the DAS that expat inscotland is on (not expats advisor....lol). Up here we would never suggest Payplan etc cos they cannot guarantee that the interest will be frozen. All advisor's are busy due to current economic climate.

I suggest you contact the moneyadvicetrust for local advisors in your area.

Expat in Scotland-it is likely that your plan will be accepted, I do these on average of 14 a month, and not had one turned down yet!

So don't tell the OP that as it's clearly the wrong info and she's going through enough at the moment.

Hey Katvond- don't have a go and please do feel free to correct me- I am not trying to be horrible- I am immensely sympathetic. I was only quoting what I had read. If I am wrong I am happy to be corrected but I don't need to be told off for misleading someone who is suffering! I am nice! Innocent mistake!

Thanks for that Susanne, i will bear that in mind, however to be fair, all of our debt are either with debt collection companies or i have managed to get the interest frozen myself. It is more a case of getting the companies to accept reduced payments and making one payment instead of 9! I will not make a decision tonight, i will only go with it if it suits us, else i will try National debt line or CCCs.

I'm grateful for all advice - ultimately i have to wait and see what is said, but having this thread has really helped me to view this as a positive thing, so once again, thanks ladies x

more update Well, had an 1.5 hour interview with woman from payplan, and now she has to assess the case, im not sure how hopefull it is - i did try and tell her we didnt want to go down the IVA route, someone did warn me that this company have a reputation for trying to push that as that way they get money from you - i just feel sick to be honest. She wouldnt be drawn on whether a debt management plan is will be feasible or not. I feel like ive been beaten senseless and tbh, i feel like giving up :(

Passive they only push for an IVA if you have little equity as we had a lot on our property we had to go for a normal repayment plan but with interest frozen. But if you go for an IVA and a company tried to get a charging order they would be turned down. No charging order would go through.
Remember your debt with an IVA will be paid off in 5 years unlike ours that's 13 years.
Hope this helps :)

katvond, thanks, we have too much equity too, about 50k so it more than covers our non priority debt. But we would never be able to get another house and would end up paying out more in rent that we do on our mortgage so i want to avoid that at all costs, if we lose the house, its all been for nothing. We already have a charging order on the house anyway and one further CCJ. We pay about £450 a month on priority debts, although that will be less in about 5 months when we finish paying off council tax arrears at £100 a month. Rest of that is inland bastard revenue bastards. All of our creditors have already frozen interest so thats something. I just want to make one payment - i think we could clear our non priority debts in about 6 years if we payed £250 a month, which wuold be tough but managable. Definately managable if i could get a job.

What grates more than anything is that this is all down to me, all the debts are in DPs name so i could walk away (i wouldnt) but its all down to me because he lost his job, went self employed and had to be at home most of the time because i had PND and coudlnt cope with our DD :( I also had gallsstones and lost my dad when DD was 8 weeks old. I was a basket case and basically coudlnt be left :( I hate myself for doign this to him. I just wish i could get a job to put it all right

Passive, you have my every sympathy. It sounds like a real mess and you have had a tough time. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. A journey of a thousand miles starts with just one step and you have started the journey that will manage your debt. I hope you get a good professional solution. Let us know what paypaln say when they get back to you. Good luck and stay strong.

Passive you are me
Everything apart from the gallstones that is :)
Asked DH about this as he knows more. IVA is a serious step. We was told it was the stage before bankruptcy. But... It's quicker than a repayment.
We was told that IVA as to be paid every month, one manageable payment.
If I was you try going for a repayment instead of an IVA don't be pushed into you still have options. It will just take longer.
Keep smiling Mrs Seagull :)

We definately wont go for IVA, if i feel they are pushing that way i will try to get CCCS or national debtline help because it would mean losing our house and that is what we are trying to avoid. I just wish she would ring - she wouldnt give me a time and my nerves are shot to peices

I feel like my life has been put on hold, if i have done the maths right, I can see a solution that means we could pay off the debts within 6-10 years, i kept asking her if a debt management plan would be an option and she just wouldnt tell me - my anxiety is through the roof today and im rooted in my chair again while the kitchen is a festering mess. Yesterday i felt quite positive and sorted out our "office" room and planned on blitzing the rest of the house today but im too scared to move