Thanks for the kind thoughts I've received, you can feel on your own in this situation. thanks to this forum I know I'm not on my own, its good to talk as they say. Hopefully my story will help others out...I wrote to all of my creditors after xmas. only a few have contacted me, and the ones who have say they didn't get my letter. So on thursday I will ring them all up. That's going to be fun, automated phone lines, being put on hold and having to explain my situation about 12 times! I'm going to keep a record of all the calls and letters i send so if it goes to a CCJ I can show the judge I have tried to sort it out.
Glad I'm not the only person up at this time of night David!
I think you'll find that responses from your letters will take a few weeks to come back. Some banks and credit card companies are pretty busy at the moment and for many a reply within four weeks would be good going.
A good idea to keep a record of your actions.
Andrew Graveson
Bright Oak Ltd
UK Debt Management Company
Website: www.brightoak.co.uk
I am not confused now and David Brown's post clarified the position - which prior to seeing it was to say the least confusing as to who he went to (Melanie) and then passed to Andrew (Brightoak)
I am sure this forum will offer solace and help and yours and Melanies advice Andrew was good and correct - I would never have doubted it.
Yes I am up at this ridiculous time - but I am on the other side of the world at the moment.
Last edited by David Mond on Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Regards, David Mond, Insolvency Practitioner for over 46 years. Personal Insolvency Practitioner of the year 2012, Personal Insolvency Practitioner of the year finalist 2013 & 2014 awarded by Insolvency & Rescue Magazine and 2015 finalist for Personal Insolvency Firm of the Year.
I phoned up my creditors today, I wasn't looking forward to it. It had to be done though so that they all know my situation and its now on record that I've contacted them.
It wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. I suspect they are getting a lot of calls like mine at the moment. Everyone was polite and nice. When I mention that I've spoken to the CAB they just said ok and gave me an address for CAB to contact them. I suppose it must be the same when you mention that you have an IP for IVA'S and DMP's.
One company said they would not accept my offer of £5 a month and wanted £21 a month. When I said I could not afford that and had already spoken to CAB they straight away said ok we'll accept £5!!The next step will be when CAB write to them all.
I wish I could have done an IVA though, at least you know its over after 60 months. This process doesn't seem to have an ending.
I do feel better for contacting them.I will let you know how I get on.
DB-stop being hard on yourelf-what you done today confronting your creditors was an extremely brave thing to do.
its not ideal but its a stop gap situation. at the moment you dont have the funds to do anymore but you ARE doing something and you ARE keeping your creditors aware of the situation so be proud of yourself for that. youre trying to tackle the debt as best you can. perhaps in a year or two your financial situation may have changed and perhaps then you could go for an iva.
in the mean time you are trying all you can and whenever you need support advice a laugh or a moan we are here for you. you are amongst friends. take care
Thanks for that. I need to get another job really. But that is going to be difficult in the current climate. As long as I can hang on to my flat I will be happy enough.
I've only just caught up with this thread, but I wanted to say I hope that things work out for you. Please keep posting on the forum - you're never in too much trouble to post here and there's always someone here to offer advice or have a 'chat' to.
I've started getting the nasty letters it seems. Nationwide and HSBC have rejected my £5 Token payment offers. Nationwide were ok about it when I called them today and will wait to hear from Citizens Advice. I also rang HSBC, they were not so nice. They want £30 a month and will put my account on the register for 6 years. They also will serve a default notice and send in debt collectors.
Can any one explain what happens with a default notice?
If you have not been paying, you will get a notice saying that you have defaulted on your loan and they want immediate payment - this is just a standard notice. It will go on your credit record.
I doubt they will send in the debt collectors, again this is something that very rarely happens. If one should appear, then you do not have to speak to them, or let them in the house.
You need to write to them again and explain that this is all you can afford. You can always mention that you are thinking of bankruptcy even if you are not. At least £5 per month means they will get something. Bankruptcy means they may not get anything.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Thanks Kallis. I will hopefully hear from CAB next week, the lady dealing with my case is back at work on monday. I will use that bankruptsy idea, thanks.
Just to update my situation now. I have managed to get a 12 month mortgage holiday. That's gonna help tremendously in the short term. The thing is now that I don't have to pay my mortgage for 12 months what do I do? I plan to save as much of it as I can, sell my car and anything else I can do without and maybe raise £12-15k. Then try and offer that as a full and final payment against the £32 I owe. Though am I expected to pay the money I've saved on my mortgage (£430 a month)to my creditors now? It would get swallowed up by them and a year from now I'll be in the same boat.
CAB have written to my creditors offering £5 monthly payments. I got paid today in my new account. So I rang them all to make my £5 payments. 4 of them said they hadn't heard from CAB yet. Alliance & Leicester were the first one I called, the girl on the line wanted to know how much I owed each of my creditors, so I told her. She asked me to hang on and then said I should pay them £12.71 based on my income/outgoings. I said I could only pay £5, she said "we will add £25 charges" i said "you can add £300,000 charges if you want, I still can't pay any more". I said I may as well go bankrupt and you'll get nothing. She said "that's a decision you'll have to make". Charming!! She was just a robot doing her job I suppose. They took the £5 though. It made me nervous about the other calls I had to make, but generally they were ok and all took the £5 on offer. They are waiting for CAB to contact them again.
CAB aren't very communicative, I've e-mailed them with updates on what Contact I've made but they don't reply.
I believe you should seek the advice of a Debt Management and/or IVA provider and discuss all of this with them Visit www.iva.com for reviews on relevant firms. An IVA F&F is not a bad idea -as if acceptable (and assuming this is the most appropriate advice from the firm you have selected. You will then re-start your mortgage after 12 months for example.
Regards, David Mond, Insolvency Practitioner for over 46 years. Personal Insolvency Practitioner of the year 2012, Personal Insolvency Practitioner of the year finalist 2013 & 2014 awarded by Insolvency & Rescue Magazine and 2015 finalist for Personal Insolvency Firm of the Year.
