Thanks everyone, I will do as suggested. vselym, I have done an income/expenditure sheet both with CAB and CCCS and both of them and National debtline have said that bankruptcy is my best option now, I'm only got Incapacity Benefit for income, no assests such as car or house and while I have been able to bring down some of my min. payments, not all of them will budge and now I can't managed the min. payments either not with the way my everyday bills are going up and I'm not splashing out by any means it's just the essentials Now I just need to try and get myself some breathing space while I try to get the money to afford to go bankrupt, which will probly take me a couple of months at least.

Do I need to send the harrassment by telephone letter recorded deliver? I am in the process of doing CCA's to DCA Triton just to try and get myself a bit of space while I sort things out, can I put the telephone harrassment letter in with these and ask for all communication to be in writting? I'm decided to send them a token payment of £1 each per month just to show goodwill, this is instead of the £5 CAB suggested, to people who have not sent it to a DCA yet, would you also do this for Triton even though i'm sending them CCA.

Yes my store cards Evans and Debenhams are GE Money, at the moment they are not bothering me because I have been able to meet min. payments, but CCCS have told me to cancel my direct debts with them and give them token amonts too. There is not much on the store cards, Evans is under £200 and Deb's under £300 My other cards are 2 for Natwest, Goldfish and Barclays but I'v just had a letter from Goldfish to say they are sending the debt to Barclays, but it does not say when, just to keep paying money to goldfish in the meantime.

Thanks again for the reply. the newest credit card i'v got is about 5 years old or maybe a bit longer, the others are 10 years or more for the store cards.

Do you think I should still send CCA's to my credit cards?

Thanks Rory, you have confirmed what I sort of already knew, but I just want to make sure I'v thought of everyway before my next meeting with the CAB. Some of the DCA's that have rung have been really nasty but compared to how I think my family is going to react they are not bothering me at all, since my breakdown alot of things don't even seem to registar in my mind, the dca's just seem like annoying little fly's, but my family have held me together and now I feel like i'm going to blow everything apart again. The figure of £17 which CCCS came up with seems to match up more with one I do have spare each month, but I think that figure CAB came up with was my fault, i did not want to look like I was wasting money so tried not to put any down for clothes etc. which CCCS insisted I should. It's hard because i'm not sure whats an acceptable amount to say and not look like I'm living it up, which I'm most def. not. I have rung the National Debtline today, the person on there suggested I stopped paying even the £5 token amounts and use that to save up for the bankruptcy but not sure about this because I think the phone calls would get even more and while I can shut them out of my mind when they have gone, just a ringing phone can cause me to have a panic attack depending on my mood, I can go from very high to very low and it don't take much to tip the balance.

If it had not been for the help of CAB I would have just chucked mine in the bin, I got panic just looking at it. I'm still waiting for a reply.

I have asked on another thread about bankruptcy, both Cab and CCCS have advised me this is my best option. I have nearly £27,000 in debts all unsecured, credit cards and an overdraft. Due to a mental breakdown (this was not due to my debts) and other health problems I'm no longer working, my income at the moment is Incapacity Benefit, I have no house or car. So on the face of it, I can see this may be my best option, but i'm still very weary of doing this, my dad went bankrupt when i was young and i can still remember all the family trouble it caused. I have not even been able to bring the subject up because of all the trouble and memories I know it will unlease and at the moment family trouble is just something extra I could not cope with. So I have made another appointment with CAB and I just want to make sure I'v there is no other way, before I go down the bankruptcy route. I have tried to lower my payments myself, but Natwest will not budge on the credit cards min payment and they are adding interest to the loan at an alarming rate. Both Barclays and Goldfish have lowered a bit, Barclays to £25 and froze interest and Goldfish to £30 but still adding interest, but now I can't even pay that. I have started to make a £5 token payment to all these as advised by CAB. Littlewoods Direct Catalogue, Evans, Debenhams store cards i have been able to meet min. payments on so far. According to CCCS I have not got enought for a payment plan as with there working out i'v only got £17 spare a month, though CAB worked it out at £55. I think this would also mean I can not have an IVA So is there any other suggestions, how could I advoid going bankrupt.? Thanks for reading.

Thanks for all the advice so far, I've thought of a few more questions if anyone can help me out please. 1) At the moment the moment I'v been trying to make just token payments of £5 to my credit cards (this is the amount CAB suggested), thought the way the DCA's talk on the phone, it hardly seems worth it, but it is the maximum I've got at the moment and even this is sometimes a struggle if anything extra like this month with a vets bill to pay and I'm sorry but my dog will always come first, he's the only thing thats kept me alive for the last couple of years. I have not been paying anything at all on my Natwest overdraft, they are very nasty though I have told them I'm trying to sort stuff out with CAB and CCCS, they want me to borrow from my family which I just can't do. Anyway today I have spoken with Debt line and the person on there suggested I stop paying these token amounts and save up for this bankruptcy, is this a good idea do you think? also if I do this, can anyone tell me how I can keep the debt people at bay, i'm worried stiff they will turn up at the door, barclays have said they may do this. I don't dispute the debt i just don't have the money to pay with now being on benefit, do you think if I sent them the CCA i'v been reading about on here it would keep them quite for a bit while i saved up and what about the overdraft one? I can't change my phone number it's not my phone. 2) If I go for bankruptcy which is looking like my best option from what the advice lines have said, though i'v got another appointment with cab to check that out. Who do the bankruptcy court tell, I know it goes in the paper, but would they involve my parents directly, I paid board/rent, whould they have to get in touch with them to check that out? Thanks, sorry there was quite a few questions there.

Thank you for that link fermi

Can someone please tell me what happends with a person's credit report after bankruptcy, I know that the bankrupt report stays on I think it's for 6 years, but what about the other stuff, defaults, and the fact you have not been able to pay, does it still show how much debt you are in?

Thank you Could I ask another question, I'm currently having to live back at home and I pay rent/board out of my benefits to my parents, would I still be entilted to keep enough money to do this and also because I live at this address would it affect my parents credit rateing if I went bankrupt?

Thanks for the replies, nether CAB or CCCS mentioned an IVA so maybe I don't have enough for one of them either, I don't know ? but I am going to make another appointment at CAB and I'll mention it to them and see what they say. According to the person I spoked to today at CCCS I don't have any assets either, No car or house. What could the court take off me if I went Bankrupt? I'v got a few bits of furniture, pc but it's an old one, a small tv, digital camera which i had for my birthday, would they take them things off me? The only income I'v got at the moment is my benefit.

hello I am currently 20 thousand in debt mainly on credit cards and an overdraft, due now to long term ill health i'v not been able to work and it does not look like I will get back to work for a while yet. This has resulted in me being unable to pay my credit card bills, the only income i'm receiving at the moment is Incapacity Benefit though CAB have filled in a form for me for DLA which I am waiting to hear about. I have tried to lower my payments, Natwest did not want to know and the phone calls from them are getting very nasty and Goldfish and Barclays have lowered a bit but I'm now struggling even with this. Both CAB and CCCS have tried to help, CAB worked out i'd got £55. spare a month and CCCS only that i'd £16 after paying prioty things like food, rent etc. They have both suggested I go for Bankruptcy but the thought of that is scaring me to death, I have diffuclty making it out of my front door the thought of going to court is terrifing. Is there anything else I can do? Thank you for reading.

thank you dx for your reply, could you tell me what ppi is please and I know your right and it's all my fault and I know I should be panicing but i'm not I'm just empty and that actully scares me far more then anything else