Debt Arrangement Scheme

[Lilliepotts]

I am reading this crying. Our remortgage has been refused because of my debts. I can’t seem to get clear of them and now my husband is talking about selling our house and renting just to pay them off.. we have no life because of them.
I have never considered something like StepChange. Would this effect my husband as it’s my debt I don’t want him to be effected in anyway. Would they help me even though I have a mortgage? I am so glad I found this forum x

 

[a.pain]

Well I had a slightly happy moment the other day, got a letter from MBNA (we had six of their cards between us which got put into our joint DMP they had sold on five of them to a debt collector who we have been paying but apparently there was one rogue one that we were paying them direct for)- they said they made a mistake with the account we still had with them and to fix it they were removing the defaulted account from our credit reports and clearing the debt! They confirmed this to step change as well. No idea why it’s happened but it’s 3k written off, I’ll take it!

 

[Sallycinnamon_]

I’m currently paying into a DMP with stepchange. They have been incredibly helpful and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Should be debt free by 2024

 

[BettyCrockerr]

can i not apply under my mums name

No!!!!! For goodness sake. Do you have any idea about fraud?! You cannot apply for anything like this using your mum’s name - for the love of god! Your father is the person in debt and it would have to be your father that would admit this and then take steps to sorting it out. You cannot do this and pretend to be him or your mother. Does she even know what’s going on - you said she doesn’t understand English, have either you or your father told her what he’s been doing??

 

[nurseren]

Hi! We just finished an IVA. We managed to pay it off a year early. Best thing we ever did. We used McCambridge Duffy.

 

[bubblebar1317]

Thanks so much for the replies!

 

[MissSL]

I think you’re right @JoeBloggs - I think she is delusional. She’s saying that there is 200k equity in the house, half and half, and that they can’t touch her part. I’m not sure on that- the debt is in his name but he has Pg’d it against their house. How he’s done that without her signing anything I don’t know.
so she seems to think if they can’t touch her part of the equity, then they’ll give her 12 months to raise the other half to buy him out. He’s run hundreds of thousands up on Amex cards and loans.
i know it’s not my problem and I shouldn’t concern myself with it as I am. I think ultimately, you’re right- neither of them facing reality and think this isn’t as bad as it is

 

[Gossgirl12]

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, I really appreciate it. Going to sit down and work out exactly what I owe this evening and then make the call!

Stepchange also have a tool on their website that you can use before calling them, they'll ask a few questions and they'll advise what situation is best for you based on your circumstances, it will save on your account so when you call them, you don't have to answer the questions again.

 

[bubblebar1317]

I mentioned upthread, I finished my DMP in 2017 and have just bought my first house with a mortgage.

My credit rating was shot to smithereens when it finished. I got a credit building credit card that I put my fuel on and paid in full each month, and didn’t take out any other forms of credit in between it ending and applying for a mortgage.

My last failed payment was 52 months prior to my mortgage application so I got a decent mortgage, but I know there are a few lenders for people with adverse credit. I never thought it’d be possible but it is

this gives me hope! Well done you xx

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Ergh I just spoke with the Iva advisor about setting it up. Essentially I will have to sell my car even though I have it because I’m disabled as is my son. I have a life limiting illness and will likely be dead within ten years so now I can’t stop crying becaus what time I have got will be stuck in this house because I won’t have my car.

Could you not apply for PIP and get a car via the motability scheme??

 

[Fintonagirl]

They probably are best to file for bankruptcy if the equity in the house won’t cover the debt etc. that’s a nightmare but can happen easily! I’m not sure an IVA would be suitable if unlikely they can repay the debts owed at this stage

 

[JoeBloggs]

Hi. I know this thread hasn’t been active in a while but I’m really hoping I get a response.
My sister and her husband, have managed to get themselves into nearly 1 million (yes 1 million pounds) worth of debt.
It sounds unbelievable - but they have. And £650k of that is on personal guarantees against their house (that her husband managed to sign without needing her signature- so she says to me). Long story short, they had a limited business, were not paid by their client for a number of weeks, and the husband made the absolutely catastrophic decision of raiding their savings/taking out more and more loans and allowing his contractors to work without being paid (on the promise the money would come good and he would pay people).
my sister is complicit in not stopping him and continuing to spend outside of their means (I mean really OTT spending).
they have been told by their privately hired debt consultant person that the best Thing for him to now do is declare bankruptcy. But he is refusing to- telling my sister he will apply for an IVA. Has anyone got any advice for me to support her? I’ve never known anything like it and am so worried for her even though this mess is collectively of their own making. Please help if you can!

Wow what a mess. My aunt and uncle went through this, though not for anywhere near this amount. Sadly he did a similar thing and it ended in bankruptcy and divorce.

While bankruptcy isn’t ideal it will stop them coming for the debt, can they sell the house and move? It sounds like neither are willing to take advice, even from professionals, so I think all you can do is be an ear and remind her you are there for her. Their advisor is the best person to give advice, but until they are willing to listen all advice will fall on deaf ears.

 

[a.pain]

Has anyone been able to remortgage within a DMP? My fix term ends in 4 years and I’m really stressing my DMP won’t end for 9 years at the rate I’m paying it off..

Yes I have managed to get a mortgage with a DMP. You will need a specialist lender if it’s still active. I’d contact a broker who is experienced with bad credit. Depends what the SVR is on your current mortgage as to whether it’s worth going into that or remortgaging so you can see nearer the time but you should have a range of options.

 

[bubblebar1317]

Thank you for that insight!!

 

[Dancing_in_the_dark]

I have MS and I managed to get all my debt (£20,000) written off with the help of a letter from my MS nurse which said, amongst other things, that I am unlikely to ever work again (I'd been off sick for a year at this point and then came to an mutual agreement with my employers to leave - basically they offered me money to avoid a constructive dismissal claim because they promoted my junior staff, during my absence, without inviting me to apply for the job or even telling me) I wrote to all my creditors myself with the letter and they all agreed - I'd been paying either £1 or nothing for a year with the help of StepChange.

I’ve spoken to step change again and things are looking better now. My specialist is being a twat tbh and won’t even bother taking my calls least not write a letter saying I won’t work again unfortunately. We now do have a plan going forward though that I’m happy with, but when I speak to the hospital next I will discuss it and see what can be done xx

Could you not apply for PIP and get a car via the motability scheme??

Bloody pip rejected my claim as I’m not disabled enough would you believe

 

[MissSL]

That’s interesting @Fintonagirl - I wonder if she is actually on the deeds. I did wonder how anyone could sign a guarantee against a house that someone else lives in without their consent. She said she didn’t ever sign any personal guarantees (and seemed to think it was more £400k not £600k - not that that’s any better) so who knows.
i might try and call CAB anyway just so I can understand the process more with the information I know - if they can help me. I’m dreaming about her having her house repossessed! Every debt chat room I have visited talks about debts in the thousands but not so much in the hundreds of thousands!

 

[JoeBloggs]

Revisiting this thread- I’m trying to help my friend. She’s in debt- not to a large amount (under 5k) but it’s enough that she’s worried sick about it. We’ve sat down and gone through all of the bills and she’s making minimum payments but not having enough to live on. Had a look at step change but it says that they cannot help as she’s self employed. Ideally she wanted to go on a debt management plan to freeze the interest so she could make a dent in clearing the balances.

Not sure what else to do? She can’t get a loan to consolidate as her credit rating is crap. I feel awful as I really thought Stepchange would be able to help and it’s taken her a lot to get her head out of the sand and address the debts head on.

Any ideas?

As Betty said StepChange should be able to help, regardless.

If she is self employed could she not look at upping her prices, adding to her services, taking on more clients etc?

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Erm I'm not sure if honest, either the debt is written off after a lengthy period or someone has stepped in to make an agreement ..

Lots of info on here about it. Talk to them to discuss in detail. I know some are only suitable for certain people/situations etc

What Is Debt Write Off? How To Write Off Debts. StepChange

 

[Helena Sell]

It’s so scary and I was worried about the same as you with houses etc. but I’m at peace now that this is how I’m paying it off! You’d never get a mortgage with that amount of debt anyway and would be even worse off. At least now we can get the credit scores back up once paid off & still be able to get a mortgage!

Once you’re in it, it feels so much better. It’s taken a huge weight off my mind and I feel like I’ve got some control back finally!

You’ve got this xx

Definitely sounds like the best way to get the ball rolling!
Sorry, can I ask how long it took for a plan to be put in place?

Glad it’s helped you out and made you feel better about things!!
xx

 

[Helena Sell]

Hi everybody, signed up to hopefully get some advice!
I have a fair amount of debt and have now got to a point where my incomings are not covering my outgoings - I am going to contact stepchange but I was wondering if anybody knew how much a DMP can drop monthly payments down to?

Sorry if this has already been answered!