HELP! disabled with so much debt

[joshing]

After becoming unexpectibly disabled four years ago and no chance of preparing for the future i have occured a lot of debt both past & present. 3 credit cards & a catalogue.On one card I was paying a smaller amount but recently they have past me onto cougar financial so getting very worried. I have very little money for food at the end of the month so I cannot pay anymore. Any advice would be gratefully received.

[MrsD]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

could you give us a bit more info?

Have a read at this

Unenforceability Diaries - Read me First! - allaboutFORUMS

if you could list the debt like this



Type of account (credit card/loan)

Date commenced (ideally before Apr 2007)

Approx balance

Date last paid (approximate date you last made a FULL payment)

Are you on arrangement or not paying

Status (default/in arrears/up-to-date)

Account owner (who is writing to you, a DCA or the lender)


and stop worrying, we'll help!

[joshing]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

Capital (£2100) one not sure of start date dont seem to have any paperwork but sure its previous to 2007 also vanquish (£2300) again no paperwork, pretty sure these were applied for over the internet. kept up full payments till all savings were gone about 2 years ago, this is when it all went pear shaped when i found i would never go back to work. I had a payment arrangement (capital one) for 6 months but then could not even keep that up but paid what i could. Vanqish is accepting my monthly lower payment but im struggling and i notice they are still charging interest. In arrears on both now. I had a letter from cougar finacial saying capital one has passed the account to them last week i have tried to call but they say systems are down. Catalogue is not much £400 but partner has debt too now as had to give up work to care for me so we are in double trouble. My partner is paying a agreed payment each month but its getting harder and harder for us to keep up with these.

[ScabHunter]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

Welcome to the AAD forum. You have come to exactly the right place to find the help you need.

The first important point to note is that these will not be classed as priority debts, so there is no need to be worried. The next is that it would be extremely silly of any creditor to issue court papers with you in the situation you are in, as even if they were able to secure a judgment it would take them several years to recoup their expenses.

All in all, these alleged debts are not likely to prove to be difficult to handle. Exactly how they should be handled will depend on the exact circumstances, so if you can provide the information in the form Mrs D suggests, we will then know how to proceed.

SH

EDIT - I see you posted at the same time. Crappy One, Vanquish and a catalogue. All vicious in print and toothless in reality.

[joshing]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

I really wish I could but I have no dates or paperwork, A file that i had with statements in got accidently burnt when someone was trying to be helpful! I do not remember when I took these out as part of my disabilty is some memory loss, of course i know these are mine and when I was working I made all payments on time. Such a shock when your lifestyle changes.

[MrsD]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

In your situation the first thing I would do would be to cease paying then send CCA requests to all of them.

You should not be paying these lowlifes if you have no money, as SH says, these are not priority debts.

[joshing]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

CCA? sorry really new to all this.

[ScabHunter]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

CCA? sorry really new to all this.

CCA can mean either Consumer Credit Act or Consumer Credit Agreement. In this context, it means requesting a true copy of your Consumer Credit Agreement, pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act.

I must admit, those of us who are old hands at this do sometimes tend to confuse those just starting out. Have a read of the stickies at the top of the unenforceability section, and then read some of the unenforceability diaries. That will help you to understand the process, and what we are trying to achieve. If you have any questions, always feel free to ask on here as it is your own thread.

Here is the letter which we suggest you should send to each of the alleged creditors. In the case of the Crappy One card, the letter should go to Cougar as they are the current assignee -

CCA Request - allaboutDEBT UK

SH

[joshing]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

Thank you so much, i am so new to this, so all i do is print it out and sign it? I see there is a place for account number? can i do this by just deleting the xxxx, really sorry i must sound so thick.

[ScabHunter]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

Thank you so much, i am so new to this, so all i do is print it out and sign it? I see there is a place for account number? can i do this by just deleting the xxxx, really sorry i must sound so thick.

Aaaarrrrgggghhh, no, that is one thing I should have said. NEVER sign a letter to a bank or debt collector, as you never know the use to which they may put the signature. Do you use a word processor such as Libre Office, Open Office or Microsoft Word? If so, just create a digital signature using one of the elaborate fonts.

If you copy and paste the letter into the word processor, you can just highlight the XXXX part, and then type what needs to replace it.

SH

[pompeyfaith]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

Greetings Jillyiant,

Firstly Thank You for finding us as you really are at the right place for help and assistance.

I am Disabled too having suffered an SAH Stroke however I found this forum a bit late for me although having said that I have had great help going forward and all my debts are now manageable however I do understand that help in this area is much harder what with the Government cuts to CAB and other forms of assistance.

Many Debt Collection Agencies have a special department for vulnerable citizens although it probably is not a department at all and just a marker on a computer screen, however I have found they do go easier if they know your situation they certainly do now for me as my threats have stopped and I just get yearly statements from them on the plans I have set up.

So with that in mind I would recommend you get a "who it may concern" letter from your GP and/or other consultant and keep that as an original and send them all a photocopy attached to a letter.

If you have been dealing with DWP or ATOS for assessments you may already have this info.

They need nothing more and certainly not an income and expenditure form at this stage because as others have stated above you need to ascertain the legality of this debts and whether they have a right to collect and indeed whether they are unenforceable because again that will put you in a better position.

So to cap going forward right now is:

1)CCA request to get hold of copies of the credit agreements
2) Letter detailing proof of disability and it add this should not be a detailed letter as that is too personal so just a letter outlining your main disabilities for instance for me SAH Stroke causing spasticity and the date from is all I sent.

Hope this is of help too

Any questions just shout here.

Regards

[PriorityOne]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

You can also do a "signature" in block capitals..... all of mine were done like that with no problems. Think I also just initialled some of them.....

[joshing]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

Thank you I am in a state of eerr naivity where debts, templates computers etc are concerned, just learning to live again. I thank you for your help and will try to get onto it tomorrow as my brain only functions for a few hours. You are all so helpful and understanding, I am so grateful for finding this site. My attemp at cca will be my first thought in the morning.

[MrsD]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

just stick with the template, just fill in the blanks

then pop them off recorded delivery (so that you have proof of posting)

have you thought about the stopping paying to make things easier for you?

[joshing]

Re: HELP! disabled with so much debt

Got this feeling that if I did that the way my luck is going i would end up in court.