The start of a debt free life

[Frosty873]

Re: The start of a debt free life

Thanks Nanna58 - definitely feel far more empowered now than I did few days ago! Going to get a very good nights sleep tonight xx

[nanna58]

Re: The start of a debt free life

Pop in the statute bar for a nightcap first xx

[marypoppins]

Re: The start of a debt free life

Hi Marypoppins

Thanks for sharing your diary - I see you had a similar loan amount with Sainsburys which was unenforceable, was this because it was pre 2007?

No Frosty the Sainsburys one was looked at by Niddy and he considered it enforceable even though it was pre 2007 and because this was the highest balance I had, I chickened out and carried on paying it for longer than the others but it did eventually get to statute barred.

All of mine were pre 2007, my Barclaycard went back to the eighties when I first started work and opened a bank account!

[Frosty873]

Re: The start of a debt free life

Ahh that's a shame, sorry I misread your diaries! Although it was enforceable, did it take a long time to get the wolves off your back? The fun and games begins today... didn't pay my lending stream payday loan yesterday and the following day (today) I've received a nice default notice in my inbox already! Just about to update my own diary...

[nanna58]

Re: The start of a debt free life

SaltnVinegar is our PDL expert ,perhaps drop him aline ? Just a thought .

[Frosty873]

Re: The start of a debt free life

Thanks Nanna will have a look for him xx

[Pixie]

Re: The start of a debt free life

Well done on making a start Frosty.

I'm pretty amazed at the amount of credit you got just since the beginning of 2016 - almost £36k! Don't think that I'm judging you because I'm definitely not. I'm just wondering if there could be a case for irresponsible lending?

[Frosty873]

Re: The start of a debt free life

No idea, not even sure how we'd go about challenging that or raising it as a dispute somehow

[Frosty873]

Re: The start of a debt free life

I'll try and find a few cases during the week when I get a few mins to research - any idea how long the complaints process takes? I'm thinking we'll need to default first, request the CCA and then write to explain we can't pay, not agree a payment plan with the lender, then complain to the lender who won't resolve our complaint, then go to the financial Omnibudsman etc etc?

We are trying to save as much as possible each month so if everything is enforceable we'll have a bit tucked away to be able to offer a final settlement figure somewhere along the line- do you all think it's unreasonable to think this could all take at least 12 months? Also, our outstanding balances show the full amount of interest due should the agreements run their full course- will this lower as soon as we default and the interest is frozen?

sorry for all the questions! X

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: The start of a debt free life

No. Irresponsible lending won't apply. If you apply for a loan or two how is that irresponsible?

Stick to the facts at hand not presumptions guys. Based on the OP already saying more than once that they didn't want to go BR as they'd lose excess income, that tells you they're not in distress or hardship earning £15k lol

Clutching at straws is the worst thing you can do. Stick to the facts at hand.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: The start of a debt free life

I'll try and find a few cases during the week when I get a few mins to research - any idea how long the complaints process takes? I'm thinking we'll need to default first, request the CCA and then write to explain we can't pay, not agree a payment plan with the lender, then complain to the lender who won't resolve our complaint, then go to the financial Omnibudsman etc etc?

We are trying to save as much as possible each month so if everything is enforceable we'll have a bit tucked away to be able to offer a final settlement figure somewhere along the line- do you all think it's unreasonable to think this could all take at least 12 months? Also, our outstanding balances show the full amount of interest due should the agreements run their full course- will this lower as soon as we default and the interest is frozen?

sorry for all the questions! X

complain to who and for what? Why?

Defaulting has no bearing on complaining but you must have grounds - what are your grounds for complaint, and to whom?

You need to try stop worrying about intetest. I've explained once. In detail. Just let your debt default. Don't do anything. At the point you make an offer then you'll argue interest. Pointless arguing now when it could be 3 years before you have to settle. So you argue each point at the point you're prepared to deal with it. if Tesco issue a claim we'd deal with that. Not the others - same goes here. Interest will be sorted long before default / termination and regardless stop worrying about it as chances are you won't pay any anyway!! Pushing then lender forces them to issue proceedings faster.

1. Send a CCA
2. Relax

simples. That's it.

[Frosty873]

Re: The start of a debt free life

I'm feeling a bit sad now I thought this was supposed to be none judgemental and supportive. Yes we don't want to go bankrupt because we could (in theory) pay it off quicker than the order would last.

we have more going out than we have coming in, after paying all our priority debts - hence coming here to get some advice. We thought if we stopped paying all our none priority debts, because no one was interested in helping whilst we were paying we could tuck whatever 'spare' income we have each month and then try to deal with it later down the line. We do want to pay what we owe, no doubt about that just wanted a break from all the interest and of course, getting out of the cycle of getting into more and more debt every month... I was only asking additional questions from what others had mentioned.

will see what happens next and keep you updated

[PlanB]

Re: The start of a debt free life

I'm feeling a bit sad now I thought this was supposed to be none judgemental and supportive. Yes we don't want to go bankrupt because we could (in theory) pay it off quicker than the order would last.

. . . . We do want to pay what we owe, no doubt about that just wanted a break from all the interest and of course, getting out of the cycle of getting into more and more debt every month

No need to feel sad. No one is judging you.

When a new member joins there are lots of questions to establish the best help and support to suggest. It's also right to let you know the worst case scenario so you can guard against it. We take a holistic approach to debt.

In your case a number of the debts are fairly recent (2015/16) so there's no point in kidding you that they will easily be unenforceable based on the credit agreements alone. However there may be other flaws so don't lose hope. We're just exploring ideas with you so you can chose which option to go with.

On one hand it seems you may want to pay (and can afford to pay) some of these accounts but resent all the interest and charges being added. If you want to do that then ask them to freeze the interest using a template letter from National Debtline > https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/...e-name%29.aspx

They also have a version for joint debts > https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/...nt-names).aspx

You should still get defaulted since you won't be making the contractual payments. Your CRA file will be free of those markers in six years time.

However it makes sense to check out if any of them are potentially unenforceable by sending off the CCA Requests first and see what comes back.

It doesn't have to be an 'all or nothing' situation. Some may be UE while others not.

You say you have 18 debts. I had 23 in 2010 and I haven't paid back a penny. They are now all Statute Barred even the ones which were enforceable

Hang on in there.

Di

PS is/was there PPI on any of these accounts? If so you may be able to reclaim that.

[Frosty873]

Re: The start of a debt free life

Hi Di,

Many thanks for your reply- feeling extremely low today. I know there's no point getting upset about money we don't have; but everyday I'm in tears feeling like 'what's the point'- yes we are totally to blame for the amount of debt we are in but somewhere along the line something has to give..we simply can't continue taking our more money each month just to pay someone else back. We don't exactly live a lavish lifestyle, just find after all our bills we don't have enough for petrol and food; let along anything else.

You mention you had 23 debts in 2010- were they all pre 2007? We will probably put in writing about a request to try and freeze charges and make arrangements to pay (if it is enforceable) will it be too late to ask after they've issued a default notice? Niddy has advised defaulting first and then requesting the CCA's just in case there is something flawed with the process. I'm 95% they will all be enforceable debts; be interesting to see how quickly they threaten to go to court. Do you mind me asking how much debt there was the enforceable ones? I'm worried that two of our biggest debts won't give up easily...

Sadly no PPI

thanks again for your pointers

[PlanB]

Re: The start of a debt free life

I think what Niddy said was don't send the CCA Requests just yet, wait until the letters 'hot up' first. The way UE tends to work is to follow a process until the debt becomes SB years years later.

Once defaulted (because you fail to make payments) the interest will stop anyway so no need to write and ask for that.

I was simply making you aware of another option if you actually want to pay these without the added interest because that's what you implied.

It has to be your choice ultimately.

Di