Remember anything over 6 years remains barred.
Debt Help
- Thread starter Jasoncmor
- Start date
I wouldn't do this. First of all, the chances of getting another credit card could well be quite low and even if you get one, the temptation is still there to use the other cards again once you've cleared them off.
Stepchange are fantastic at this sort of thing, they're really good at what they do and they can make the whole process so much easier. Just hope that none of the debts get sold to Mortimer Clarke who are utter scum.
It's not quite that simple, there has to have been no contact or attempt to recover the debt for 6 years, so if the OP has been paying it then that's irrelevant.
Only if:
- The creditor has not already taken court action
- No payments have been made in relation to the debt within the set time period
- No acknowledgement has been made by the borrower to the lender that they owe them money within the set time period
Thanks everyone for your replies so far, its been a good help and I have started an account with Step Change to see what help is available to me.
I just want to add that things spiraled out of control around 12 years ago.
I had just got out working full time, I had a credit card and a small loan of 2k, a laptop on HP and a small amount of debt on a clothing account, I had maybe 4k worth of debt, then the bank rang me one day, saying they needed to see me, and didn't say why.
So organized a time to go in, being young and naïve, I said yes to everything, and was given a brand new credit card, a new 5k loan (iirc) which gave me extra to keep back, then a packaged bank account, nothing I had asked for, but not knowing any better, I accepted it all, then that's when things started going pear shaped.
Years later after I saw the mis sold package bank accounts, I was able to get a sizeable refund from the bank.
The debt is spread over 3 credit cards, and a loan, the loan of around 9.5k, and the credit cards adding up to over 8k aswell.
The loan was to help with college costs and paying off other debt, the credit cards started at 1 card, then I got a 0% card, transferred the existing cards credit across to try and manage it, then things got out of hand, so I found another 0% card and its just built up again.
While I have been foolish, most of the debt has been from paying for things I needed, and playing catch up, but also the debt has amounted to what it has due to the interest, i've moved things around regularly to try and help myself out, but its never gone as intended.
I know in the past i've made mistakes, but my biggest problem is i've never been able to save anything up for the things that I need, for example, car insurance comes around, then next month I may need car repairs / service, then dental care, then something else comes along, so I've been playing catchup for many years.
This is something I want to work towards soon, budgeting and planning my finances.
For quite a while now, I have been making spreadsheets of exactly what I've been spending money on at the end of each month.
All debts are paid on time, I have no defaults or anything, I've always done what I need to do to make sure I make the payments on time.
And thanks for the recommendation on MSE, I will check it out!
Currently got 2 0% cards, one virgin and the 0% rate ended last year, my 2nd one I think it has a few months left on the offer.
Due to my credit score, im not able to get any more cards at the moment.
I have a low score due to the amount of credit I have.
I'm able to meet the payments month on month, but I dont earn enough to save any money, or to pay any extra, i'm living pay check to pay check because I cant escape.
Thanks again all
I just want to add that things spiraled out of control around 12 years ago.
I had just got out working full time, I had a credit card and a small loan of 2k, a laptop on HP and a small amount of debt on a clothing account, I had maybe 4k worth of debt, then the bank rang me one day, saying they needed to see me, and didn't say why.
So organized a time to go in, being young and naïve, I said yes to everything, and was given a brand new credit card, a new 5k loan (iirc) which gave me extra to keep back, then a packaged bank account, nothing I had asked for, but not knowing any better, I accepted it all, then that's when things started going pear shaped.
Years later after I saw the mis sold package bank accounts, I was able to get a sizeable refund from the bank.
The debt is spread over 3 credit cards, and a loan, the loan of around 9.5k, and the credit cards adding up to over 8k aswell.
The loan was to help with college costs and paying off other debt, the credit cards started at 1 card, then I got a 0% card, transferred the existing cards credit across to try and manage it, then things got out of hand, so I found another 0% card and its just built up again.
While I have been foolish, most of the debt has been from paying for things I needed, and playing catch up, but also the debt has amounted to what it has due to the interest, i've moved things around regularly to try and help myself out, but its never gone as intended.
I know in the past i've made mistakes, but my biggest problem is i've never been able to save anything up for the things that I need, for example, car insurance comes around, then next month I may need car repairs / service, then dental care, then something else comes along, so I've been playing catchup for many years.
This is something I want to work towards soon, budgeting and planning my finances.
For quite a while now, I have been making spreadsheets of exactly what I've been spending money on at the end of each month.
All debts are paid on time, I have no defaults or anything, I've always done what I need to do to make sure I make the payments on time.
And thanks for the recommendation on MSE, I will check it out!
Currently got 2 0% cards, one virgin and the 0% rate ended last year, my 2nd one I think it has a few months left on the offer.
Due to my credit score, im not able to get any more cards at the moment.
I have a low score due to the amount of credit I have.
I'm able to meet the payments month on month, but I dont earn enough to save any money, or to pay any extra, i'm living pay check to pay check because I cant escape.
Thanks again all
Soldato
- Joined
- 21 Oct 2011
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- ST4
Never having been in debt I don't know how these things work, but what happens if you declare yourself bankrupt? Assuming that you're renting and don't own your own home.
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Its a last resort move to be honest. Im pretty sure it costs £600-700 to file for it which is mental considering people considering bankruptcy prob wont have the money to file for it. It will trash your credit file for 6 years and you will find it near impossible to get anything more than a bank account. If the OP owns their home then it could put that at risk but if they rent then it shouldnt effect it
@Jasoncmor Sixy's option would be good if you were already defaulting on your credit file but entering a DRO would probably murder your credit file and considering you say you havent got any defaults it would need to be well thought out before going down that option as it will bugger your credit file. You would be capped at borrowing £500 max, it would show on your credit file for 6 years and would hinder any decision that use a credit check.
Are you able to give a breakdown of the figures for each credit card and the interest % on them as well as the loan?
Do you know what your credit score is?
Do you have any disposable income or anywhere where you could cut back?
Also reading what you have put in your latest post it kinda suggests you maybe fell foul of some predatory lending given you had a credit card bal, £2k loan, HP agreement and storecard debt then the bank offered you another credit card and a loan around the same size as the debt obligations you already had. I assume you weren't earning fancy money when you first started working so the fact they basically offered you the means to double your debt is a bit horrifying to be honest. It may be worth looking at raising a case with the ombudsman for predatory lending but i think we would need to get a better idea of the circumstances at the time.
I helped a friend raise 2 predatory/unaffordable lending ombudsman cases against WONGA and PeachyLoans as they got caught in the payday lending trap. They upheld 14/16 wonga loans and 21/27 Peachyloans as predatory if my memory serves me. They were removed from their credit file and the interest on the loans was instructed to be paid back to them but sadly Wonga went under and they got a fraction of what they were owed (thousands) but they did get the full payment from Peachyloans days before they went under.
Are you able to give a breakdown of the figures for each credit card and the interest % on them as well as the loan?
Do you know what your credit score is?
Do you have any disposable income or anywhere where you could cut back?
Also reading what you have put in your latest post it kinda suggests you maybe fell foul of some predatory lending given you had a credit card bal, £2k loan, HP agreement and storecard debt then the bank offered you another credit card and a loan around the same size as the debt obligations you already had. I assume you weren't earning fancy money when you first started working so the fact they basically offered you the means to double your debt is a bit horrifying to be honest. It may be worth looking at raising a case with the ombudsman for predatory lending but i think we would need to get a better idea of the circumstances at the time.
I helped a friend raise 2 predatory/unaffordable lending ombudsman cases against WONGA and PeachyLoans as they got caught in the payday lending trap. They upheld 14/16 wonga loans and 21/27 Peachyloans as predatory if my memory serves me. They were removed from their credit file and the interest on the loans was instructed to be paid back to them but sadly Wonga went under and they got a fraction of what they were owed (thousands) but they did get the full payment from Peachyloans days before they went under.
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can you not do overtime or get a second job to make extra income ?
Pretty much this. There are a couple of other things, such as not being able to become a company director, and certain jobs in financial sectors will be out of the question too.
It absolutely should be seen as a last resort, due to the implications as posted above, however it is perfectly possible to recover from as well. While the £600 fee is a bit stupid, once you've decided to go through with it, it should be relatively "easy" to get that money together by missing a few payments to your cards etc. (it basically longer matters at this point).
I declared myself bankrupt in 2009 after an ex left me with £20k+ of debt that I had no way of paying on my own, and while it was tough at the time, looking back it was definitely the right decision - I had no assets to speak of, and being free from all the debt left me in a position where I was able to go back to uni and finish the final year of my degree. To start with I was only able to get a managed bank account (with Think Money), and I can imagine it would have been difficult to get most kinds of credit the first few years (I didn't try), but after a few years I was accepted for a mortgage and able to buy my own house. These days I have no issues at all - the question does occasionally come up in certain financial applications, but I don't think it's ever caused an issue, since it was so long ago and has long since been resolved.
13 years on and I'm in a much better position than I would have been otherwise - better paid job due to the degree, and learned a valuable (if painful at the time) lesson!
However - if you are managing the debt at the moment, it's almost certainly better to try and pay it off, even if it does take a few years.
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Dont be a nob. Very few people have good financial acumen at a young age, parents do a poor job if any at all at teaching it (unless if you're already from a wealthy family from what ive seen) and schools do naff all to teach people "how to adult" with finances.
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I reserve the right to be a nob when people reject responsibility.
How has he rejected responsibility? He has shown naivety and made some poor decisions however hes 18k in the hole , paying every debt on time, even if its the minimum and hasnt missed a payment. If anything that tells me he knows hes ****** up hard and made poor choices but hasn't said screw it and let everything default. He's doing the responsible thing to try and pay it all off.
Soldato
- Joined
- 10 Sep 2003
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- 5,017
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- Midlands
Some great advice in this thread. I am got trapped once where I needed a new balance transfer but there were few offers out there. Nearly caught me out and ended up splitting it between 3 cards.
I've learned one useful tip to make sure you always have 0% offers available to you, is to manage your credit availability. This may mean leaving cards open and even increasing your credit limit on some older cards, but not at a time you want to apply for new credit. A lender wants to see you have plenty of financial headroom.
Also, always leave your oldest card open (even if a 0 balance)
I've learned one useful tip to make sure you always have 0% offers available to you, is to manage your credit availability. This may mean leaving cards open and even increasing your credit limit on some older cards, but not at a time you want to apply for new credit. A lender wants to see you have plenty of financial headroom.
Also, always leave your oldest card open (even if a 0 balance)
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You mentioned you do use a spreadsheet to show ingoings and outgoings already?
I wonder what that actually looks like? How much on there is an absolute neccesity vs wants?
After you have factored in mortgage/rent, electricity, gas, water, car payments, petrol, council tax, Basic food requirements (not fast food or eating out) etc what is left after your pay cheque?
I've been keeping one for many years just because I like to keep track of things. Never had any debt although I'm a very frugal person to a point where my parents have expressed worry over how "tight" I am thinking I have some kind of ADHD or autism some reason? I look at it more as not wanting to spend more than necessary on anything and will take the time to find what I want at the best price and doing research to make sure it's actually something I need rather than just fancy.
I wonder what that actually looks like? How much on there is an absolute neccesity vs wants?
After you have factored in mortgage/rent, electricity, gas, water, car payments, petrol, council tax, Basic food requirements (not fast food or eating out) etc what is left after your pay cheque?
I've been keeping one for many years just because I like to keep track of things. Never had any debt although I'm a very frugal person to a point where my parents have expressed worry over how "tight" I am thinking I have some kind of ADHD or autism some reason? I look at it more as not wanting to spend more than necessary on anything and will take the time to find what I want at the best price and doing research to make sure it's actually something I need rather than just fancy.
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Fair enough - I wasn't sure at what stage you were with your debt struggles, if you haven't defaulted yet then definitely try and find an option that prevents this, a single default on file can cause all sorts of issues for 6 years after the date of filing.
My bankruptcy in 2007 came at the end of 3 years of trying to sort out around £21k of debt after a massive life upheaval and significant drop of earnings in a very short space of time in 2004. (perfect storm of events that could be a thread in itself) After crippling myself on repayments for 3 years, I contact CCCS, who are now Stepchange and they were fantastic, alongside the support on the MSE forums. The recommendation was bankruptcy and cost £465 iirc.
Had to wait a few weeks for the appointment, felt sick to my stomach the morning I went in. The man dealing with my case was fantastic, he sat and read through my application again when I was there, could see my nerves. He told me to relax, said i'd leave, walk down the street and pass 4 people in an hour that had gone bankrupt and there was no shame in it.
I was lucky that I had relocated in the 6 months after bankruptcy and between jobs so got an early discharge and no payments to be made. Often when you're working you have to make payments towards the creditors for 3 years after filing. I'd say even before the 6 years were up, maybe 2011/12, i was getting fantastic low rate credit and loan offers pre-approved, it's not a total financial death sentence for the 6 years. Now 15 years later, it's like it never happened and was absolutely the right choice.
@Jasoncmor To expand on this, factor in car MOT/insurance/maintenance, opticians, dentist, clothing/shoes (for kids as well if you have any), birthday/xmas gifts for family - these are all 'stealth' bills that are generally one offs that no one really pays any mind to. I also do my monthly income/expenditure on a spreadsheet and have all these included on a division by 12 for each and put that money aside until the month arrives they have to be paid.
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Caporegime
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Can you do another job on your days off like Uber eats or van deliveries at weekends and solely use that money to pay off debt? Will be a hard couple of years but will soon be paid off.
Call Stepchange for help. With interest rates climbing, you'll be paying even more interest and no capital off.
I used them back in the early 2000s for a 4 year stint to clear my debts. Was amazing feeling when that extra £160 a month STAYED in my account on payday...i,e, I'd paid off my debts. Good luck!
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