Hi Thanks again - I have attached the letter that I received yesterday. I just have to go out for a while but will sort out getting my credit file later Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it! NationWide Edited.pdf

Oh right - I just assumed they would include anything on there and it was up to the debtor to 'spot' these things and force the issue re: the legality of it etc I'll get a credit report tomorrow and see if it is there - if it is, would you then recommend doing a CCA request - or would you assume that they are certain about it to take it to county court? Cheers again for your help/advice

OK, I'll get a report tomorrow - stupid question perhaps, but for what reason wouldn't it show? I will have to order a report in the morning so I can see what kind of things are shown on it - I haven't got a clue

Hi Thanks for your reply. Yes, it definitely says 'A claim has today been sent to the County Court to recover the full sum outstanding together with court fees totalling £xxxx' It does then say that 'we remain prepared to consider reasonable payment proposals....' and tells me to contact their recovery team to discuss it. The last paragraph then says 'you will shortly receive NW's claim from the court with info detailing how you should respond. If you do not take any action a CCJ will be registered against you' I presume my CRA file is my credit rating? I have not had a look at one of these in years - where is the best place to get one from? I guess I can just order one online at somewhere like Experien?? What should I be looking for an my CRA relating to this? Many thanks again for taking the time to help, I really appreciate it

Hi Just a quick update on this. I did not do a CCA request or a DSAR - it all went quiet again and I carried on paying the monthly pro rata payment. I have just received a letter today though which basically says 'You have failed to pay the amount outstanding. A claim has today been sent to the County Court to recover the full sum outstanding together with court fees (£264)' It says that they are still prepared to consider a reasonable offer from me either as a lump sum or payment by instalments in order to halt any further legal action. This letter is now on Nationwide headed paper rather than being from KPI. PayPlan were firm with me that I should not favour one creditor over another and to continue paying the pro rata payments. What I'm wondering is - at this stage should I now do a CCA request or a DSAR? I do not really fully understand what this involves and how long it takes - am I too late now? Many thanks in advance for any help/advice

Thanks for your replies. To be honest I am not sure when I first got the card, maybe 5yrs ago approx. I used the card and always paid the balance off but then it started to build up etc... Approx a year ago I realised that I could not keep up with the amount of debt and contacted PayPlan for help. I never missed any payments and since going into the DMP I have always paid the agreed amount every month. I was issued with a default notice last September and then KPI started contacting me a little while after. Early this year I received a letter re: a charging order on the house to secure the debt. After speaking to KPI they allowed me to carry on with the pro rata payment with a view to me increasing the monthly payment sometime in the future. It must be about three months since they last called, but they have now made contact again (via phone) requesting the increase and offering the settlement figure. To be fair to them, as soon as I set up the DMP they froze the interest etc and the settlement offer is appealing but I realise that borrowing further money to finance this is probably not the best idea. PayPlan also advised me when KPI were demanding extra payments last time that I should not treat them favourably as other creditors may find out and that will not work in my favour. A couple of other creditors are owed more money than Nationwide also but up to now have been OK with the pro rate payments. If I was to settle anything by borrowing from family I would only do it if it was a full and final settlement and that this fact is confirmed in writing prior to me sending any payment. Funny really, I had a phone call from PayPlan this morning re: my first annual review so I will speak to them about this again this week during my review. From the feedback given here so far and the fact I have other creditors with what could be considered a bigger claim on any additional funding from family etc I may well be best to stick to what PayPlan have calculated and keep sending the pro rata payments. I just hope this doesn't mean that Nationwide will be able to take me to court and place a charging order against the house as I have also read in places that this can force the sale of the house in order to pay the money owed immediately. I do realise that I have borrowed the money that I owe and do intend to pay it back. I read so much on here about CCA's, SAR's etc and to be honest it is quite confusing to know what to do. I also think it does seem a bit strange that they are offering a settlement figure in this way - would it be very naive to think that this is them being reasonable about things and looking to get a return of some funds rather than them not having the CCA info etc...? After all this anyway, I might not even be able to borrow money from family - if this is not an option then that's the decision made anyway!! if I can borrow sufficient money to reach a settlement I do not want to create further problems with other creditors either! Confused

Hi dx Thanks for your reply. It's a credit card debt. I did wonder why they would offer a settlement figure in this way, at what is a fairly low level I suppose (40% of total debt). I do not have any of the documentation with me at the moment, but I have always declined the offer of protecting payments on any loans/cards so I don't think it can be this. Also, they were pretty good from day one with my DMP - the froze interest unlike many other creditors. I have never requested any additional info re: my account with them like SAR or to request a copy of my agreement etc. I had always fully intended to make every effort to repay what I owe, but I am now concerned that the possibility of taking me to court is a little scary - more for my wife than me I suppose. But, if they take it to court and get a decision which forces full repayment of the £5k it would mean selling the house. Is this the possible outcome of this situation? On the other hand, even in I can get some money together from parents etc to maybe make a counter offer and propose a lower settlement I am concerned about other creditors finding out and then them demanding additional payments. I know what you are saying re: there must be something wrong with the account but it's the first one of our creditors to take this direction and I am confused as to what I should do! I'm not sure about how I would stop the payments as PayPlan obviously send the pro-rata payment on our behalf - I guess they would advise me to keep paying them and see what happens. Should I send a letter asking them for a copy of the CCA and the SAR (not really sure what this is and if I need it) I think I have red so much on here today/tonight that I've got myself even more confused!! Thanks again for your reply, I have seen that you provide a lot of good help to people on here!

Hi Please can somebody offer me a bit of advice if possible. I have been in a DMP with PayPlan for approx 12 months and have kept up the agreed monthly payment without any issues. I have been contacted again by KPR (Nationwide DCA) saying that my pro rata payment is insufficient and that I need to increase my monthly payment by approx 10x (not possible of course). They rang me up a lot earlier in the year with demands like this, but they have never offered me a settlement figure before. They offered me a settlement figure of £2k over the phone which is approx 40% of the outstanding balance. I do not have access to this amount of money so the only option seems to be the worst case which they said would be to take me to court and get the debt secured against our house. I have asked my parents if they would consider lending me the funds to pay the settlement figure as I don't really want to go to court. I do not know if they can afford to lend me this to be honest, they are currently thinking it over to see what they can do to help. Even if I could borrow enough to offer a lower settlement figure, would this be the right thing to do? I am concerned that if I do this I will be seen to be favouring one creditor over all others and it could make things worse in this respect. If any other creditors become aware of the fact I have paid another creditor off early will this cause more problems for me? They are not the largest creditor either. I read another post on this forum earlier that someone had received a letter saying that a creditor was aware that another balance had been paid off! If I do discuss the idea of a settlement figure with a view to my parents helping out do I need to ensure that we receive correspondence which confirms it is a final settlement to ensure they do not return for the balance in the future? I guess PayPlan would not be too keen on us doing this either would they? I guess they would say all payments should be made pro rata to all creditors? I'm confused and could really do with some advice! Many thanks in advance!

Hi Please can somebody offer me a bit of advice if possible. I am in a DMP with PayPlan and one of my creditors were constantly ringing me regarding the low value of the pro rata payment earlier this year, demanding that it is increased. I continued with the pro rata payment and they have now called again after a few months saying they either now need an increased monthly payment (approx 9x what the pro rata payment is) or have offered me a settlement figure which is approx 40% of the outstanding debt. The other alternative that they have offered is to go to court and have the debt (£5k) secured against our home. Please can anyone advise me what I should do. I see that settlement figures of a lot less that 40% have been discussed on this forum. My parents may be able to help us out in terms of funding a settlement but I'm not sure what to do. If I do discuss the idea of a settlement figure with a view to my parents helping out do I need to ensure that we receive correspondence which confirms it is a final settlement to ensure they do not return for the balance in the future? I'm confused and could really do with some advice! Many thanks in advance!

OK, thanks very much for your advice it is greatly appreciated! I have just checked my online banking and Mondays Egg payment has already been taken! It shows the date as the 26th but it's already gone so I can't change that now anyway! I guess that at least gives me a few days to sort things out and talk to CAB again, Payplan or whichever I decide to use. The Santander payment is due to go out on the 28th so I will cancel that one and that'll stop another £250'ish going out - this'll be used for food shopping instead of having to put more on cards! Thanks for your help again. I'm not looking forward to sorting this all out but as you say it can't go on like this!

Thanks TT Out of interest, what would you advise doing re: the payments that are due to go out now? I have £1600 available in the bank and all of that will be gone on credit card payments, mortgage, council tax etc within the next 10 days. £570 is due to go out this week to Egg and Santander - basically if this did not go out it would pay the food bill, petrol, general expenditure etc for the next 4 weeks. If it goes out I will have to use cards again to fund the food bill and other stuff. It just feels so wrong stopping the payments from going prior to actually agreeing anything with creditors - should I keep paying and struggle away until something is agreed via Payplan/CCCS? Thanks again for your input, it really helps!

Thanks a lot! Just sitting going through CCCS stuff now - thanks for taking the time to help Is there any preference do you think between CCCS and Payplan? Thanks again!!

Thanks a lot for your reply I have always been told it takes a few days to stop a DD - maybe that is just through the online banking site not in branch. I guess I am too late for the Monday payment then! I suppose it is better to let that go through than move the funds out of the account and let it fail isn't it? How quickly can CCCS or Payplan set things up? I haven't looked at either but will do now - thanks. I presume this is better than trying to do it yourself is it? Cheers!

Hi everyone I have been struggling to afford my monthly payments for a long while now and am basically in a mess with it all. I have been juggling debts from card to card, to overdraft to loans etc etc for too long now in the hope that my situation would change but it hasn't yet. I am self employed but things haven't taken off like I initially expected. I have really painful hands a lot of the time and it affects my work, which involves a lot of time on the computer and then other time making the products that I sell. I have been going to the doctors for around 3yrs and they still don't know what the problem is Anyway... we have a house worth around £140k. A £40k mortgage and another loan secured on the house of around £50k. I have £57k in debt, as follows: Egg Credit Card £12k Virgin (MBNA) Credit Card £15k Nationwide Credit Card £4750 Capital One Credit Card £8000 Santander Loan (was Cahoot) £12k Natwest Overdraft £3500 Natwest Loan £2000 I have been juggling it all over the shop for along time and have also borrowed money from family to keep up with payments. My wife rang CAB this week who were quite helpful and sent out a book which was really interesting, with sample letters in to send to card companies etc. I did not realise that people were doing things like freezing interest etc!! So.. I am now considering my options. I genuinely feel that my financial situation will improve in the coming months. I work on the internet and my websites should soon start ranking better (I hope) which will then start increasing my income. My current monthly expenditure, on all direct debits (so all the cards, gas, water, council tax, mortgage, TV Licence etc etc) is around £2600. On top of the £2600 we also have four kids, run one car, have food to buy etc etc. My income is normally about £1600 which is why I am in the position I am in. My wife does not work and it's not really feasible for her to do so as the kids are young. Ideally, if all of my creditors would allow me to make a nominal £1 payment each month and then freeze interest etc for 6 months I would expect to be in a better position to afford the expenditure further down the line (I hope!). I have never considered for one minute that I should try and get the loans written off, I didn't realise that people could!!! It has been a bit of an eye opener reading around the forum tonight I really could do with some urgent advice. I have £1600 in my bank (well, I haven't - I have £1600 available on my agreed overdraft! I don't look at £0 in the bank as £0. Minus £3500 is my 'zero') This is painful typing this, it is actually really demoralising realising how bad things are. I was thinking of using one of the letters in the 'Dealing With Your Debts' guide that the CAB sent out to us today and requesting the interest is frozen and I pay the nominal £1 for say 6 months on the credit card debts and the Santander loan. I would complete the Statement of Affair calculator found here (Statement of Affairs Calculator) and include all of the info with my letters to my creditors. It is awful that every penny that comes into our house is spent on these debts. Just the Virgin card has me paying almost £300 a month in pure interest - I can't keep doing this. I have just managed to get £1700 into the bank but £1600 is due to go out in the next 10 days. With four kids to feed and other things to pay for there is no money for anything else, ever. We never buy anything for us or the kids - it is not a good situation to be in and I am desparate to change it. I work about 60 to 70hrs a week, and this week for example have been up until 2>3am every night despite my hands being in serious pain. I am confident that the rewards for my hard work will come, but we need a bit of breathing space now. I have a payment of £320 due to go out to Egg on Monday followed by £250 to Santander on Weds. If I am basically 'declaring' that I can't afford this anymore what do I do?? Do I let the payments go out and struggle as usual. The problem is that if I let the £1600 go out again on debts/bills this will mean buying food/petrol etc on credit card which starts the whole process again. Should I cancel the direct debits to Egg/Santander and send a letter to them? In fact I do not have time to cancel the direct debits, so do I make sure there are not enough funds in the account where these are paid from. Or do I let the payments be taken and then write to them advising them that next month I cannot afford to pay them. I will then struggle through the month but will not have the pressure of getting the funds available again this time next month. If I take the available funds away into my other account and the attempt at taking the funds fail, this will then get the bank charging me as well though - it's a no win situation really I guess. Should I send out a letter ASAP to each creditor explaining the situation and requesting that the account is frozen with no further interest to be added. The book sent out by the CAB says to either offer a pro rata payment or a token payment. To be honest I do not have any funds left over after paying the mortgage, secure loan, food, council tax etc to pay a pro rata payment. It really needs to be a nominal £1 for a period of time. I know this is a long post - sorry- I really hope someone will be able to spare a bit of time to have a read and offer us some advice. It's been feeling desparate for a long time now and I didn't realise that there are options to help. This makes me feel a little bit of relief but I dread the phone calls that I know I will get. I had an Indian guy from Virgin hassling me the other night in the bath as I was ten days late with last months payment!! The phone calls are a nightmare as they seem to make a habit of ringing at night when the kids are just trying to get to sleep. I am not looking forward to more of them calls but I am at the point where continuing the same as we have been is no longer an option I would really appreciate any advice - quite urgent if possible (before Mondays payment goes out!!) What a nightmare, but at least I have now seen that we are not alone in this struggle!!! Thanks!