All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

[alwaysskint]

Hi guys n gals

Well I've been a busy bunny today, friends of mine, serious runs of bad luck and bad judgements now realising that they need serious help, so I volunteered to help. Gone through one box of stuff today, due another one tomorrow.

Bit of background: Ex Army, now Self employed, but with very little work at the moment - made a loss and is only in the second year. Cannot claim JSA/HB or CTB due to being in receipt of Army pension. Wife struggling to find work too, registered with every temp agency in the county I think lol, but work again is slow and intermitent at best, one dependant.
So currently they are living off child tax credits for one child and the army pension.

Last year, due to the financial pressures they're under, went to CAB about going bankrupt - Can't, thanks again to Army pension being a regular income.

They are seriously going to lose their home if this carries on much longer!

The current debts are all with DCA's, demanding all sorts from them, as you can imagine. Have agreed to sit down and help, and tbh, this first box is very very bleak!
HSBC loan, 02 mobile, 2xcatalogues, Provident, Gas and electric old supplier, Aqua credit card. Total so far just shy of £11k :-(

Not including, a recent CCJ - going to try and get court allotted payments for that on Monday, mortgage arrears, CSA arrears, Council Tax arrears (with bailiffs (? but not CCJ'd yet) and on arrangement but overcommited themselves!) and secured loan arrears.

Am I correct that they can't go uneforceable route with loans, catalogues, mobiles, and Aqua (that is approx 2 years old we think)

Any suggestions as to what they can do in regard to offering payments to DCA's? Can they send £1 token payments till they at least start getting on their feet?

There's so much that NEEDS sorting out now, that they can't see the wood for the trees, and I really want to help them get more settled about this.

Hope someone can help x

[jen_br]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

Hi UE can be for loans -- pending how recent.

Right now the best thing is to go back to the CAB (as they seem to have pull with DCAs) and do a statement..

Basically list all income, all expenses and all debts... then the CAB will write to each party they owe and tell them the outcome, this may be that they pay 1.00 or nothing pending on the debts and the amount they are left with ,


Its a scary time but really they can't draw blood from a stone o tell them to sit breathe and get this information together, the more information you get together the better. You can do the above mentioned yourelf but I find banks etc listen to the CAB a bit more.

[MrsD]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

remember to get the priorities sorted first, council tax and mortgage, its very unusual but you can go to jail for non payment of council tax, so try to get it sorted first. Loans (unsecured) and catalogues, Provident and 02 arewaaaay down the line as Jen says. Need to get the details of the CCJ and find out what the payment is, you might need to get them to apply to the court to vary if they can't pay it,
Its sortable but they need to get to grips with it.
take care!

[Gerry]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

Sorry it’s a bit too complex for me to get my head around and offer any help.

According to info in your post they may be eligible to be considered as Financial Hardship case. However, I would have thought that CAB would have mentioned hardship if your friend met the criteria. As Jen suggested CAB is probably their best option for help negotiating with creditors.

Good Luck

Gerry

Under both standard banking regulations and the Lending Code (an agreement that all major banks have signed up to) banks must treat you fairly and be considerate if you are in financial difficulty. This is the criteria from the Ombudsman
•Payments regularly returned. Your payments regularly get returned unpaid as you’ve not enough money in your account
•Can’t pay for necessities. You’re struggling to meet basic necessities eg mortgage, council tax, food, utility bills
•Can’t pay debts. You’re struggling to make loan and credit card repayments
•Substantial drop in income. For example, you’ve lost your job, started a lower paid job, needed to take parental or carers leave, your partner has died, you’ve separated from your partner, you’ve started full time education or you/your partner has been/gone to prison
•Disability or illness. You’ve needed to increase spending on something due to a disability or serious illness
•Going bankrupt or into debt management. You’re going bankrupt, getting an IVA or Debt Relief Order or are in a debt management plan
•Continually living off credit. You’re living off credit and regularly need to increase your credit limit
•Reglar credit card cash withdrawals. You are using regular cash withdrawals from credit cards to
make ends meet
•Bank charges have hurt your situation. The charges have contributed to making your financial hardship situation materially worse
•Frequently over overdraft limit. You frequently go over your overdraft limit. In earlier incarnations of hardship rules this was explained as having more than £500 of charges a year – so that seems a good benchmark
•Income eaten by charges. Your income’s being eaten up by repaying charges (eg you’re being asked to pay £50 of charges from a £100 weekly benefit income)

[alwaysskint]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

Thanks guys

I gather that last year, with the help of the CAB they did do the offer of £1.00 per month, in an attempt to get their affairs in order, however, only one agreed to this, the rest didn't and continued to send letters, make phone calls etc, and with other family/working issues that arose, they threw their hands up in the air and buried heads again - which they know is the wrong thing to do
A little while later, they entered into a DMP, paid 2 months worth (don't have the amount but guessing around the £200 mark) before they realised that NONE of the creditors received any money anyway, and in fact they stepped up their contact.

Should they send out the 'do not call, communicate by letter only' template initially, giving them some time to sort out the more urgent - council tax, mortgage, and utilities, which gives them chance to also go back to CAB.

I'm guessing that they should have maintained the £1 token payments regardless of whether the creditor agreed or not, coz at least that way they were seen to be showing willing?

With regard to the CCJ - this was issued in their abscence on the 14th, so am pushing them to go back to the court tomorrow (Monday) as it says the full amount forthwith. I'm also conscious of the fact that their 14 days are now up so may have a problem in getting it reviewed for new payment terms.

The biggest problem I see is that the self employed income is so erratic at the moment they can't even guess what they may have next week, or next month, making ANY repayment agreement difficult to say the least!

I will be showing them this thread later today - written of course with their permission, as to the suggestions being made by you wonderful wonderful people, although I do think that they are already 'there' with going back to the CAB. We're also going to sit down and do the income and expenditure list, as well as get experian and equifax reports... maybe there's something in there that will help lol

As ever, thanks for your help x

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

Always, I'd seriously reconsider "helping" your mate.

It's a full time job and I won't get involved either as too much crossed info leaves risk of error.

Best of luck, but get your friend to the local cab office. There's nothing much you can do, they need to help themselves first and foremost. Ask them to join here, but trust me - think hard before taking this on.

Sorry but you need to go to cab. Also a dmp with payplan/cccs is free.

Niddy

[billypre]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

Self Employed will qualify for WTC also, depending on this army pension of course.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

Self Employed will qualify for WTC also, depending on this army pension of course.

Army pensions can be high depending on service etc.... Must remember this. ;-))

[alwaysskint]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

His is ;-( 22 year man and pretty stuffed because of it! Doesn't seem fair somehow.

[alwaysskint]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

Always, I'd seriously reconsider "helping" your mate.

It's a full time job and I won't get involved either as too much crossed info leaves risk of error.

Best of luck, but get your friend to the local cab office. There's nothing much you can do, they need to help themselves first and foremost. Ask them to join here, but trust me - think hard before taking this on.

Sorry but you need to go to cab. Also a dmp with payplan/cccs is free.

Niddy

Thanks, Having spent all day sorting out one box of 'bits' yesterday I totally see what you're saying!
I'm not in a position to 'do it for them' and my lesson has been learnt from my cousin, who had help from a family member to sort out her debts, and within 6 months she'd undone all their hard work and was in a worse position than before and then asked for help again...

I shall be suggesting they have a read of some of the posts, think I've read most of them by now myself hahaha, but yes, I agree, CAB or a free DMP does seem to be the best option for them

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

His is ;-( 22 year man and pretty stuffed because of it! Doesn't seem fair somehow.

Hmmm army pension is minimal then so he'd qualify for wftc surely? My 28 year old mate only gets £400 army pension and he gets tax credits.

Anyway, fairness depends or circumstance - he did put himself in this position, HE will therefore need to do the hard work or he'll never learn. You need to get him to join himself or go to cab with him but don't take this on. It's not a walk in the park!! I should know, I try and deal with 100 diaries and struggle haha

Best of luck.

[alwaysskint]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

lol, I meant he was 22 years in the army lol, so on full pension

I see what you're saying, and will advise to join the site, but will be a supportive friend and a sounding block if needed ;-)

Thanks Nid

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

lol, I meant he was 22 years in the army lol, so on full pension

I see what you're saying, and will advise to join the site, but will be a supportive friend and a sounding block if needed ;-)

Thanks Nid

Ahh sorry, unlikely then that he'll get wftc. Best thing you can do, well done.

He needs to take the lead and do the work, or he will never learn. Why would he, knowing someone is doing the work for him?

Not being offensive, more realistic. He's more than welcome here and he will get good advice.

[alwaysskint]

Re: All friends enforceable but with dca - Help

I assure you, no offence taken - sound advice imho ;-)