Credit card debt

[rmcrr4]

We have 3 credit cards, with a approx total of £8500 debt on them.

The main one is for £7400, the others are just over £200 and £800.

We also have 3 catalogue debts of £440,£887 & £1023.

We are paying just above the minimum payments each month.

Sometimes I wake up and feel physically sick thinking this is never going to end and we are always going to end each month with nothing left at the end of it. But I can't go on like this and friday I woke up and decided enough really is enough,we need to sort ourselves out.

We had hoped to remortgage we have 9 years left on a repayment mortgage and now owe £47,000 our existing mortgage provider turned us down due to affordability, even though if we had borrowed more and spread what we already owe over another 10 years, mortgage payments would be £20 cheaper a month and we'd clear all the debt so would have more money each month.

Thinking about it though they have probably done us a favour, if we remortgaged everything we have already paid for the past 11 years would be for nothing as we'd have to start over again.

I can clear the catalogues as I'm doing by paying monthly, and they will be finished by november. I just need to accept that this year is going to be tight for us financially and not order birthday presents etc from catalogues because I can't afford to buy as much as I would like. It's a vicious circle, you order things because you think a few pounds a week is easier that finding a large amount in one go, then suddenly those few pounds have spiralled and you find yourself paying more than you can afford each month.

I know I've been silly with running things up, but the time has come to stop and do something about it!

My only problem is the main £7400 we owe on a credit card, we pay just over the minimum each month but with the interest rates, it's 16.9% on this card at the moment, it's hardly making a dent in it.

Is there anything we can do to maybe try and reduce the interest rate for a few months to try and make a dent in it. Our credit rating is not great so we won't be able to transfer to a 0% interest card.

Once we clear the other bits and pieces I can use the money I would normally pay on those to put towards the credit card debt, but this won't be for several months. Am I thinking this through properly or would anyone suggest a different way of sorting out our debt.

Thanks for sticking with me if you've managed to read this far!! I'm hoping I've put this in the right place, still finding my feet here.

[ScabHunter]

Re: Credit card debt

Hello rmcrr4 and welcome to the site.

When were these catalogue and credit card accounts opened? Before or after 6th April 2007?

SH

[rmcrr4]

Re: Credit card debt

Credit cards all before 2007, 2 of the catalogues are too, will have to just double check on the £887 one, think that was about 2005 but will check

[MrsD]

Re: Credit card debt

You could look at UE but must be aware that it will trash your credit record for 6 years/ 5 in Scotland

I would suggest you have a good read around the forum before you make any decisions.

There is sadly no way to have banks reduce your interest for a couple of months to give you breathing space, that probably would have saved a lot of us here from further grief but I'm afraid banks don't do joined up thinking. It's all or nothing with them, there are loads of testimonies from guys in finacial trouble being told they have to default before the banks will look at stopping/reducing interest. Most banks react by putting up interest rates if they get a whiff of financial problems. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear.

[rmcrr4]

Re: Credit card debt

Thankyou for that, have been reading the UE forum, need to read some more I think.

[ScabHunter]

Re: Credit card debt

The credit file is going to be trashed anyway, so I would say here that there is nothing to lose. I would follow a UE course in this situation without the slightest hesitation. Being a homeowner obviously complicates matters, but when you consider that you have zero protection against court judgments and charging orders without s. 78 in any case, there really is no choice to be made.

SH

[rmcrr4]

Re: Credit card debt

If we went down the UE road, I can pay all the other things off monthly, it would just be the main credit card debt that we would look at UE for, is that what you would suggest, have read a bit need to get my head round it a bit more,takes a while for things to sink in I'm afraid, which is why I'm in the state I'm in probably!

[MrsD]

Re: Credit card debt

not to worry

it takes a wee while

If you looked at UE on the main one it would still trash your record, one default is as bad as 10

if you could list everything we could have a look and try to find a way forward

you need to have a good read at the UE stuff, it works but it is not an easy or quick fix.

[ScabHunter]

Re: Credit card debt

If we went down the UE road, I can pay all the other things off monthly, it would just be the main credit card debt that we would look at UE for, is that what you would suggest, have read a bit need to get my head round it a bit more,takes a while for things to sink in I'm afraid, which is why I'm in the state I'm in probably!

If it was me, I would initiate a UE strategy on everything. I would send the CCA request letters, and cease all payments. They can always be reinstated later if there is a good enough reason.

To do this, you would need to make sure that your back was covered first. The first essential is to make sure that any income you get goes into an account which is totally unrelated to any group of companies with which you have an alleged debt. If this is not happening, you will need to open another basic bank account and have your income transferred.

SH

[ken100464]

Re: Credit card debt

Hey rmcrr

Obviously we are looking at your Littlewoods PPI. Is there any PPI on the other accounts?

[rmcrr4]

Re: Credit card debt

Thanks SH, the £200 credit card is with our bank, so will make sure we clear that one before deciding on anything, I'm reading my way through UE and hope I don't have too many questions at the end of it!

ken100464 the other two catalogues don't have any ppi's on them, I had 2 empire stores and a great universal one in the past, they are all closed accounts now, but I know the empire stores ones had insurances on them. Don't think I still have statements for any of them, but am off into the loft next week to see what I can find.

[ScabHunter]

Re: Credit card debt

hope I don't have too many questions at the end of it!

Don't worry about asking questions. It is much better to prepare yourself with the right knowledge before you start, and to prepare yourself psychologically. As with anything else in this life, some find it easier than others.

SH

[ken100464]

Re: Credit card debt

ken100464 the other two catalogues don't have any ppi's on them, I had 2 empire stores and a great universal one in the past, they are all closed accounts now, but I know the empire stores ones had insurances on them. Don't think I still have statements for any of them, but am off into the loft next week to see what I can find.

If you have no details at all and are very sure you had PPI then it is possible to proceed on a reclaim. As they are closed accounts it will be nothing to do with a decision on all the other stuff and would be just a pure PPI claim.

Come back to us when you done the expedition to the loft as you may need to SAR Empire.

[mgfboy]

Re: Credit card debt

The credit file is going to be trashed anyway, so I would say here that there is nothing to lose. I would follow a UE course in this situation without the slightest hesitation. Being a homeowner obviously complicates matters, but when you consider that you have zero protection against court judgments and charging orders without s. 78 in any case, there really is no choice to be made.

SH

SH their credit record isn't trashed yet and I think they have alot of lose!!! If you have the income , I would look at maybe another lender to remortgage ( speak to a good broker) in the big scheme of thing the balances arn't that big , I would certainly look at all the other options before going down the UE path.

[ScabHunter]

Re: Credit card debt

SH their credit record isn't trashed yet and I think they have alot of lose!!! If you have the income , I would look at maybe another lender to remortgage ( speak to a good broker) in the big scheme of thing the balances arn't that big , I would certainly look at all the other options before going down the UE path.

Sincere apologies. If you have managed to keep making minimum payments, then indeed your credit file will not (or at least should not) be trashed. How much longer could you keep that up, though?

The balances aren't that big? Over £10,000. I suppose it depends on your definition of "big". Where I come from that would be called a fortune.

I'm certainly not an expert on mortgages, so I'll leave it to those who are. They may see strategies of which I would be completely unaware. If you could take in a lodger, you could gain a regular tax free income and use it to pay the alleged debts. That is the only way I know to turn home ownership from a liability into a potential asset.

I am a CCA 1974 and UE specialist, so I am completely out of my depth here. I'll leave the floor to those who can suggest alternative approaches. If you did decide to go down the UE route, I'll come back in and see what I can do.

SH