Hi guys, Have been despairing the last few days over two debts that I have not defaulted on, but will be unable to pay full amount, or the agreed monthly amount due to recent changes of circumstance. The debts are: Wonga: £1396.90 Smart-Pig: £390.00 At the end of all my outgoings, I am probably left with just more than £200 a month, however I already pay Wonga £150 a month, so really its £50 unless I could work out something better with them? Mainly I was wondering how best to approach these two companies? Cheers in advance

I don't know if anyone can cast light on this. I have several friends who have issues with the CSA. The CSA have gained CCJ's against my friends' partners, but they simply do not follow through in terms of enforcing them. One of these CCJ's is now well over 4 years old and there is no sign of one penny being forthcoming under the judgment. With the new regulations coming in, is there anything HCEO's can do that would enable the likes of my friends (there must be many others in the same boat) to get the CSA to enforce the judgments? It seems very unfair that these Mums (though they could also be Dads in this situation I guess) are struggling financially because a properly formed organisation (the CSA) is doing nothing whatsoever to get judgements enforced.

Have been wondering, how these debt collection companies actually make any money....? They have offices, staff, websites etc, usual overheads, they send out letters etc - all of which cost money, yet they appear to be chasing a lost cause with these PCNs so how do they make any money out of them? likewise the companies that issue the PCNs. Are the debts traded, i.e. say Fred's Parking [problem] Ltd issue a PCN, send out a few letters, get nowhere, so do they sell the "£100 debt" on to Dodgy Debt Collectors Ltd, for say £20. DDC Ltd then up the debt to cover costs to £150 and try to recover it with a few letters, get no-where so do they then sell it on to Threatenyouwithallsorts Debts Ltd to recoup their costs, and so the circle continues.... until someone either gives up or attempts a court action. I assume the rely on innocent public paying up the £60 for fear of CCJ's etc, surely this is demanding money with menaces.... or under duress..... which are illegal....??

We have various debts that have been in different states of long-term default, being paid under small monthly arrangement payments to DCAs. We now have a sum of money available, nothing like the totals owed, but I have heard you can good discounts off bad debts to settle and it would presumably help my credit file somewhat in the long run to have them declared satisfied. My question is this - what are the best ways to approach DCAs (or the original lenders) in this situation? What should one say? I've thought of some ruses like saying "oh, I'm facing bankruptcy anyway and you won't get much at all", or "we're going to live in Africa - this is only a formality for us", but I'm not sure if those will cut much ice. What has worked for you? What percentage can I get away with in making offers - how low do people go? Thanks for any input!

Hi I hope you can help me? I really don't know where to start. I have recently split up with my partner of 20 year. We had to sell our large detatched house and go our separate ways. Fortunately i was lucky enough to get enough money from the sale of our house to buy my own little house for me and my son. I am currently unemployed and i suffer from anxiety and stress, i do get some help for my son from my ex. But, i am struggling now to make ends meet and to top it all off, in the next month my catalogue Buy now pay later purchases will come into affect. I currently owe over £3,000 with Kandco, and over £5,000 with Littlewoods. By the end of next month if i cannot pay them off before the interest hits, these will spiral out of control with a massive interest of over 40%, so, all in all i will be looking at a lot of money owing. I have contacted them both, to tell them that i have hit hard times like a lot of people, and asked if they would accept £50.00 per moth for both until i get back on my feet. They basically told me where to go, stated that as this would be below the minimum payment, they will not accept it. Please help, i don't know what to do, my friend was telling me that she knew someone in the same situation, it went on for a year, numerous threats, letters, phonecalls, numerous debt collection agencies, all refusing to help them, then finally they were issued CCJ'S. After all that the courts accepted their offer of £30 a month of which they had made to the catalogues in the first place over a year ago, so, why don't they just try and help in the first place. My main concern is after reading a lot of threads, is the charges they can put on my property. I am a born worrier to start with, and i know i was stupid, putting myself in this situation if the first place, i am a great believer in that if you havn't got it you can't have it, but, i just kept buying and clicking buy now pay later, thinking that when i sell my house i can pay it all off but, the worse happened, i split from my partner, he had a nervous breakdown afterhe lost his business, we tried for 3 year to sell our house. Property prices dropping all the time and i only just managed to walk away with a little house for us to live in. Now am i going to lose that too? I am at the end of breaking point, i thought that if i contacted them before the debt even happens, it might be better but, they really just dont want to know.

Hello, I am almost in the position to start approaching my creditors to give Full and Final settlement offers however I would like a bit of advice first. I am looking to get a mortgage within the next 2 years and want to get myself in the best position possible to apply. I will have money available from family to clear the debts however the majority will come from my local credit union, I have already discussed this with them. I am currently on a DMP with StepChange and one of my creditors has only just defaulted my account so the 6 year clock has only just started ticking.... I have read on this forum that its unlikely I will ever be able to have the defaults removed with the CRA's however I am going to try. Has anybody ever had defaults removed as part of F&F settlement negotiations? I have seen some F&F settlement letters on this forum with default removal as one of the conditions. I am aware that a settled default is not much better in the eyes of mortgage lenders than an unsettled default. Also, I am not sure if I should use Step Change's free F&F settlement service or go alone using templates here. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Many Thanks

I have catalogue debts which have been passed to NDR (I understand these are part of Shop Direct). Like many others, myself and my husband got into a situation where we could not afford pay the minimum amount. I have written numerous letters informing them of our situation and even giving them a StepChange reference (which they requested), all ignored, until this morning. I have now received letters for each account from NDR to say they will not accept a our offer of repayment. What do I do now and where do I go from here. I understand I owe this money and I don't think I could query my agreement as accounts were opened in about 2009/2010. Has anyone ever managed to get NDR to agree to a reduced payment plan??

First thing I'd like to be clear on is that this post is about a friend and not myself, meaning I can't necessarily answer questions or provide documentation. The facts I know are these.. A distress warrant has been issued by a magistrate (TV licence and insurance fines I believe, although in part disputed). The bailiff in question is Marstons. My friend is full time carer for a disabled partner and has three kids, two under 12, his only income is carers allowance. I know his partner gets some DLA but nothing about other finances. The debt total is some £1200, of which £300 is apparently fees - possibly added by the bailiff. CAB haven't been helpful apparently, merely confirming the bailiff can break in. The bailiff is apparently saying that if a payment of £200 - £300 is made he can refer it back to the court to set up a payment plan. The last point concerns me most, quite frankly I don't believe it. Can anyone offer help, advice or would be willing to direct me to somebody more helpful than CAB? As my friend is at the end of his tether and I'm 200 miles away and disabled myself its not easy to advise him because this really isn't my field. It is, however, quite desperate. Thanks in advance for any help

Just looking for a bit of clarification on which type of debts dca,s can and can not merge to create a larger debt when going for ccj bankruptcy etc ??? I am sure i have read on other threads but can not find it now that there are certain types of debts that can not be joined together when taking court action. Thanks

So I had an email from Experian earlier tonight (I have their Credit Expert thingie), and I have just found out that I have a CCJ against me from the start of December, which must have been issued to my old address... So, let me explain. I have a total of around £27k of debts, £25k from old credit cards (Egg/Barclaycard and Co-operative Bank), 1K taxman and 1K lloyds "overdraft" (Who i continue to bank with as a current account only). The cards are all from around 3-4 years ago. All in my name, all caused by My Ex. - However I do realise i am liable for these debts. Anyhow, When I moved out, all were advised by telephone of my new address/info, and i indeed have demands from previous collection companies (for the two cards anyhow) to this address. However it seems like the court documents sent to my old address, and I was completely unaware of this until now. Now i find i have a CCJ and i dont know what i can do. I live on my own, and whilst i get a decent salary, the CSA also deduct lots of money at source for my children (Around 35% of my salary), so I have very little money to live on. I have possessions in the house that i REALLY don't want to loose (having been divorced once, with another pending, I have had to rebuild from scratch twice with the help from money lent to me by my great parents). I live in fear of the bailiffs coming around and taking what I have. It also seems that as part of the CCJ, the amount owing on this one card (previously £13k) has now jumped to £18k.... Seems to have happened just before the court case i wasnt aware of..... I dont know what to do, or where to go to get this sorted out - All i know is that i'll hapilly pay what i can, however because of the size of the debt i doubt it will be enough. I stuck my head in the sand as all I was getting was harassing post and phone calls DAILY to both my home and work numbers I cant sleep since finding all this out, hence my posting at 2:15am I'm so scared Please could someone advise me what i can do Thanks Paul

Hi All, Hoping someone can help....I am taking the first step into sorting out my debts and need some advice. I am looking at a DRO/IVA or bankruptcy and wanted some suitable steps to take. I am in the process of obtaining references etc and want some advice on whether I can challenge these for the I&C added on and ludicrous amounts or whether I admit liability for the lot..... Is there a template to email to obtain balances or request I&C to be frozen? So far I have got.... Bongaloans - £200+ Countrywide Payday - £139 Debitcard Loans - £432 Equidebt (PDUK) - £787 Keyes Whitlock - £223 (Also PDUK - They granted a 2nd loan at new address) Lowell x 3 - £763, £159 and £218 MMF - £250 Pound Access - £300 Quick Quid - £589 Redcastle - £386 Speedcredit - Was £400 loan - they are claiming £4,000+!!!! TxtLoans - £300 Wescot - £387 On my Noddle credit it also shows these but not sure if they have been passed on by other creditors. Indigo Michael - £314 Active Securities Ltd - £813 Next Credit x 2 ---- £400 and £115 EE - £683 Cash On Go Ltd - £115 and I also owe SW Water around £100, British Gas £30. I also have a council tax default of £250+ and £300 from old addresses and a housing benefit overpaymenticon of £1800. Pretty messed up from an old relationship as you can tell! Also have 1st credit at £800 and Lifeboat Loans of £750 and now they are chasing me for £2500

Hi, I'm new to forums and hope that someone can point me in the right direction. My wife and I have accumulated a number of debts over an eight year period two years ago when we decided that we should try and get them sorted as we were paying around £2,500 per month to service them and this wasn't reducing the debt. When we informed the lenders (all credit cards) that we could no longer maintain the minimum payments, our total debts were around £80,000. We've since been paying around £700 per month and the debts have reduced to £63,000. We handled all of the negotiations ourselves and each agreement is reviiewd six monthly. I have a small amount of capital, around £25,000 which I would like to use to try and clear all of the debts by making a full and final settlement offer. Around half the debts (7) are still with banks and the other half are with debt recovery firms. We have been very good payers over the past 2 years. For each of the cards, we have never sought to ask for a CCA nor have we investigated PPI as costs have never appeared on any statement. I've just downloaded my credit report and my credit score is showing as 973, which looks pretty good, although there are lots of defaults showing. My questions are how can I get rid of this debt without paying the full amount? I'd like to move house and increase my mortgage but need to get this sorted first. I've read about requesting a CCA but what can I do if they send me one? If they don't or cant send me a CCA, how do I stand with repaying the debt and/or having it removed from my credit report? I guess it's just perseverence with making a pro-rata offer? We were considering making an offer of a third of the outsnading debt, which equeates to around two years worth of repayments at the current rate. I did speak with a few of the lenders and suggested that I was now redundant and they have accepted a pound per month, alhtough I would prefer to pay more as want the debts cleared. Should I reduce them all down to a pound for a while so that they think I'll never repay it and then suggest a settlement in say six months? thank you if you managed to read this far and please try and point me in the right direction. Thanks, J

In the past few months I've been receiving letters from a company called Past Due Credit Solutions, in relation to an old debt with British Gas. The default date was 21/02/2008 and there has been no contact till recently; during this time I have made no offer to pay and haven't even acknowledge the debt. I recently sent them a letter regarding the alleged debt now being statute barred, the content of which was suggested to me by a very helpful CAG forum member, and which has done the trick with other old debts. Past Due Credit Solutions have just written back and stated that 'the account is still within the 6 years collection period and can still be pursued for payment' The account will be held for 28 days for a response to this letter'. That confuses me, as I'm in Scotland, they're in Scotland, so I assumed the 5 year time-frame would apply in this case? I'm not sure if they're just chancing their arm, or if that's a genuine mistake. I realise that it's now very close to the 6 year mark anyway.. .and if they've put a 28 day hold on this, that would take it to just about to the day of the 6 year period. I've drafted another letter reiterating that it's 5 years in Scotland, and asking them to cease and desist (all the while clearly stating that I'm not acknowledging the debt). But... .if they ignore this letter... can I assume that once it hits the 21st February 2014, that the matter will then be dropped once and for all? I always feel that my posts don't make much sense, and are a bit disjointed and rambling, so I hope all of this makes some kind of sense to someone out there lol

Hi Lots of debts, any help/advice greatly appreciated. Please see attached. Thank you.

My husband went through Security Clearance recently after more than five years off work due to sickness, going back to the same job he had before. He wrote a completely honest covering letter explaining how the debt happened when he went off sick and how PPI should have kicked in to cover it but he didn't get a diagnosis for three years. He had around £18k in debt, more than a years wages. No company has ever taken him to court so no CCJs, but a couple are still on credit reference agency files for around £9k. He told them about all of it though, just in case. All the creditors did was ring us and write a few letters (even the one large £7500 debt). He ignored it all and they eventually got old enough to be statute barred. They sent him a form asking for proof that he was dealing with his debts as well as the latest letter from each debt and to each company. But some of the debts had stopped writing to us a year or more ago. We just sent the latest from each and explained each individual debt. The main problem for us was that although debts disappear off the CRA after six years (as most of ours had), the letter the SC clearance people sent asked if he'd defaulted in the last TEN years. Even though they had no way of telling from CRAs, we had to be honest. Luckily we hadn't taken on any debt or credit at all in the last six years, our rent has been paid on time and we've lived entirely within our basic income and saved up for things instead. They gave him a years clearance and said they wanted it improved by next year when they'd write to him again. We will have to write to companies that gave up on recovering anything over a year ago, for statute barred debts that nobody has any details on. Will SC accept that all of these debts are statute barred, or will we have to start paying them for him to keep his clearance for the job? It would be a shame to lose his job when he's been so careful to avoid any additional debt for six years.

Hi all, I hope someone can help me with some advice. I lived in the UK for 8 years with my English husband. Then our relationship went sour, he moved out of our joint mortgaged property, leaving me to pay all the bills (such as the mortgage) which I couldn't. The house is now being sold but with a huge shortfall (£30k) and I have some smaller debts which are in my name because he was unemployed (credit card £1900, personal loan £1200). First there was talk of voluntarily handing back the property to the mortgage company because of arrears so to avoid being homeless I moved back to the Netherlands where I'm from (moved in with my mother in January 2013). My husband is now saying that he will declare himself bankrupt and leave me with the joint debt (which is the shortfall on the mortgage). I don't see how I can pay back the debts (unemployed) and find it unfair that I will be solely responsible (but understand that's just how it is). I am now also considering bankruptcy but want to do that in the UK where my only debts are. I understand that I will have to move back to the UK for at least 3 months plus 1 day to show that my 'centre of main interest' is in the UK before I can declare bankruptcy which is fine. I can rent a room and find some kind of job. Alternatively, someone suggested that since I still have a house in the UK, I wouldn't need to!? I could just go the local court and apply for bankruptcy. Do you need to prove to the Official Receiver that I've been living in the property? I do pay all the bills still such as council tax and home/content insurance. Will he need to see any bank statements to prove that I've been paying for food and such? How will the official receiver look at me moving back to the Netherlands after I've applied for bankruptcy and before it's been discharged? It will be pretty obvious that I moved to the UK just to declare myself bankrupt, right? But will the OR care??? I read that he might care if I have debts other than in UK and I moved to the UK to clear those foreign debts (to make use of easy UK bankruptcy laws). But these are UK debts only incurred whilst living in UK. I have a child that I'll leave with my mother but don't want to stay away for a year or more. I will remain in full contact with the OR when back in the Netherlands. I don't have assets in either country after the UK property has been sold and no debts in the Netherlands so it makes sense to be bankrupt in the UK only!? I have nothing to hide. I just don't want to be bankrupt in the Netherlands where it takes 6 years for a clean slate instead of 1 year. Sorry for the long story. Any advice would be MUCH appreciated!

I had two credit cards with MBNA, I had problems making the full payments due to health issues, I therefore paid them a token amount as suggested by "mymoneysteps" website. After about 9 months they wrote to me and said that they were recording the accounts as in default. They then (about 2 months later) wrote to me and said they had sold each debt to Aktiv Kapital. I have continued making the token payments to MBNA and have ignored requests from MBNA and Aktiv Kapital to make all future payments to Aktiv Kapital or corresponded with Aktiv Kapital in writing, I believe I may however have spoken to the latter on the phone. My questions are, 1. I assume that MBNA do not have an enforceable CCA otherwise they would have made an effort to collect the debt, and therefore have "sold" the debt to Aktiv Kapital? I have not entered into any correspondence with Aktiv Kapital who regularly send me a discount offer of repayment. 2. a) If the CCA is not enforceable, then I assume they do not have a right to assign the debt either? b) If the CCA is not enforceable do MBNA have a right to mark it as in default as this effectively terminates the agreement but if one doesn't legally exist is it possible for it to be in default? 3. What should be my next step? Should I a) contact MBNA and ask for a CCA and signed agreement of assignment or b) contact Aktiv Kapital and ask them for the same. c) do something else. Credit Report - MBNA and Aktiv Kapital show the default on the same date MBNA show each debt as "settled" and Aktiv Kapital have acknowledged the payment terms, Aktiv Kapital do not record any payments even though MBNA say they pass them on to Aktiv Kapital, MBNA stopped recording the payments from the "date of assignment to CAIS member" although the amount does reduce each month by the correct amount. Other questions 1. as both MBNA have recorded a default for the same defaults does this effect my credit score if one of each pair is shown as settled? 2. The other question is as the debt has been marked as defaulted, when it drops of my Credit file in 6 years from the default date what happens to the debt? Experian do not include the amount of either debt in "Amount of outstanding debt (excluding mortgages)". I hope I haven't asked too many questions at once.

Hi all, Now I know you've had this a million times before but i'm getting confused about where to actually start first. I have 3 debts which i'm looking to try and get rectified as in the future, i'd like to get a mortgage and the like, however at the minute there are a few debts first which I need to try and get resolved. There is also a CCJ in this which has been on my file for a while now but it is just sitting as active and has done for a while, however i've just left this as it seems to run out in a year or so? Namely: Creation consumer finance (Richer Sounds) Capquest (SCS) Lowell (Burtons)? Lowell being the most aggressive with threatening letters (which i've read just seem to be standard scare tactics for them) currently I can spare about £200 maybe a bit more to try and negotiate a full and final settlement with them first? Would this be advisable? I'll list what I have below, editing out some things (name etc) Creation Consumer Finance Ltd Account type: Credit Sale Account status: Default Date last updated: 01/09/2013 Account opened: 21/04/2007 Account opening balance: £788 Regular Payment Amount: £29 Repayment frequency: Monthly Default date: 28/02/2011 Original default balance: £788 CapQuest Investments Ltd Account type: Bank Account status: Default Date last updated: 03/10/2013 Account opened: 01/02/2007 Account opening balance: £932 Repayment frequency: Monthly Default date: 30/11/2009 Original default balance: £932 Lowell Account type: Credit Card Account status: Default Date last updated: 16/09/2013 Account opened: 06/01/2007 Account opening balance: £408 Repayment frequency: Monthly Default date: 29/12/2008 Original default balance: £408 CCJ Amount: £510 Judgment date: 02/02/2009 Court: NORTHAMPTON Status: ActiveI unfortunately have no previous letters from these as in my naivety I threw them away, I do have a recent one from Capquest however which has said they will send a doorstep agent within 10 days but this was over 2 weeks ago. In the past I think Lowells have sent a letter offering a discount. What is the best way of going about all of this? I've read about CCAs/SRAs/Full and Final and the like but i'm confused as to where to start it all. If there's any further information I can provide please don't hesititate to ask, after all, you're doing me a big favour! Thanks in advance. Paul In addition: I have contacted none of these companies nor responded to any of their calls/letters yet it still says the last updated date was recent?

Please can anybody clarify something for me, I apparently had a loan with HSBC taken out in May 2007, my credit file says I made 4 Payments taking me up until October 2007. I have a default date on the credit file dated March 2008. my question is does the 6 years start from the month they claim I stopped making payments or from the date they defaulted my account? Many thanks

Hi All. I have a bunch of debts that have been hanging around for years under a free debt management plan. I want to clear these up now. Firstly, my main concern is that the totals currently 'outstanding' exceed the original borrowed in the first place by quite a while. Also, the debts have been passed between a number of agencies and in some cases I don't even know what the original debt is anymore. I'd also like to note that these collection companies have added plenty of money on the totals too so maybe I need to request a statement from them AND one from the original lender if I can work out how they are? In short, HELP! So here is my plan / questions: Can I / should I contact all the companies listed on my credit file and ask for a breakdown / statement? Is this a subject access request? Can I even send them one if they are not the original loan company? I've attached a screenshot of the debts I am aware of / with my management plan in case there is any specific action I should take based upon the info / people. // I removed the screenshot - realised I had account numbers in there. Whoops! Many thanks in advance.

Hi I have four different debts which have been with me for a very long time. I intent to deal with them now, and any help would be greatly appreciated. Firstly I have 2 separate debts with 1st Credit a company based in Riegate. the first of these two debts with 1st Credit is for a Barclaycard I took out on 3rd of March 1999. The default date for this debt listed on my credit report is 30th December 2008, however I think I stopped paying or contacting barclaycard a lot sooner than this date. I am not sure exactly of the last date when I made a payment or contacted barclaycard in regards to this debt. I am pretty sure however that it has been there or there abouts 6 years since I last acknowledged this debt. Can somebody please advise me as to how I can find out the exact date of my last acknowledgement, so then i can decide what is the best next step to take. The second of the two debts with 1st Credit is for another credit card with a different company. the start date of this card was 7th August 2003 and the default date was 30th April 2008 as listed on my credit report. Same again with this debt it is very close to the 6 year mark, however I need to know what is the best procedure to find out for definite the dates of my last acknowledgement. As far as I can remember I have not been in touch with or paid anything to either of the credit card companies or any subsequent DCA with 1st Credit being the most recent. But i would like to be sure before I make my next move. So Just to summarise, both the above debts are with 1st credit as two separate debts and i have only recently started receiving letter about these debts in the last few month since a company did a credit check on me and asked for my current address. before this time i have not spoke to anyone in regards to these debts for around 6 years and I would like to know the exact dates of my last acknowledgement, please can someone tell me the best way to go about finding this information, and also advising me on what would be the next right step. In regards to my third debt this is with a company called Cabot Financial (UK) LTD. This is also for a credit card debt. I took out this card on 9th September 2003 and defaulted on 21st December 2009. This company does not have my current address and are sending letters to one of my previous addresses, which is a friends house so I know they are still writing. as this debt is listed as default in 09 and I am unaware of my last acknowledgement date, what would you guys advise i do with this debt? I think it has been over 6 years I have not acknowledged anything however I am a little unsure and don't want to end up making a bad situation worse by contacting DCA too soon. Any suggestions as to how i should handle this debt would be greatly appreciated. My Final debt is with a company called Hoist Portfolios. This is listed on my credit report as being started on the 10th May 2006 and defaulted 1st august 2008. If I remember correctly this debt is for a utility bill, and they are not currently contacting me. what would be the best thing to do with this debt? by this i mean in terms of contacting the DCA to find out when a last acknowledgement was made of the debt. Pleased advise as to what is my best next tep in regards to the above four debts. I look forward to your responses. Thanks

Hi, my ex-partner has amassed a pile of debts, in the thousands, on credit cards. It's looking like he may go bankrupt very soon and is doing nothing about it. Head/sand interface. He hasn't contributed anything towards the mortgage, the bills or anything for over a year, apart from the minimum amount of child support. The problem is that the house is in both our names and I'm worried to death about what will happen if he does go bump as I have a young son to support. I'm a full time student at University so I'm not sure if I can buy him out or not or what my options are under the circumstances. Can I buy him out? Can I take his name off the mortgage? If the creditors come after him how will it affect me? DizzyGirl

Hey All, So, as per the title, myself and my wife have unsecured debts (Loans, Overdrafts & CC's) in the UK, but we live in NZ and have done for 3 years. Our house in the UK never sold and so is currently rented out and just about covers itself. It runs at a loss of circa £25 per month. We have never missed a mortgage repayment. For the first 18mths or so after coming to NZ we successfully kept up with UK debt repayments, but then I lost my job and we weren't able to maintain those payments anymore - any of them. I spent quite some time repeatedly writing to the various companies advising them that we were in NZ (up and until that point we had our UK mail redirected out here), requesting freezes of interest and repayment holidays for up to 6 months, initially. Some of them complied without fuss and others either ignored my letters or point-blank refused to help. 6mths came and went and with me still out of work (and I remain so still) I was unable to offer any of of them any form of offer of repayment and with little in the way of help/support from those companies, I simply started sticking my head in the sand, "confident" (to an extent) that being in NZ meant we were somewhat untouchable. The debts have since been sold on to a range of DCA's and apart from perhaps two-or-three letters per month (and one recent phone call to my wife's place of work from an American company on behalf of one of the companies we both owe money to) we don't really hear very much from them. The letters range from offering us discounted settlements, to threatening to pass the debt on to a local firm to pursue us for it. I should though point out that some of the companies that my wife owes money to, continued to refuse to acknowledge we (she) are not in the UK and with them no longer writing to us I'm a little concerned that they're still working with our UK house address. An employment opportunity has now been presented to me/us, that would, if we go with it, involve us moving back to the UK. It's a great opportunity, given that it would get us back to both having a salary (we've been surviving on just my wife's salary alone for the past 18 mths or so and it's been far from easy, particularly with three kids under 7yrs.)... We're very concerned though that if we do this, what would happen once the companies that are chasing us, become aware that we're back in the UK? E.g. we don't want to move back to the UK to accept this job(s) and everything else that such a move would entail, only to then find that the companies we owe money force us in to bankruptcy and we lose the house etc. I figure my options (rightly or wrongly) are: Forgo this opportunity, stay in NZ and continue to ignore everything that comes through from the DCA's, whilst continuing to seek out employment here etc. Move back to the UK, but leave these companies with our NZ PO Box address that they're already writing to. But run the risk of being discovered and incur their wrath as a result. Move back to the UK, attempt to come to an arrangement with each of these companies over a nominal monthly repayment until such time as we can offer something more substantial. Either way, as exciting as this opportunity is, I can't help thinking that moving back to the UK would open the flood-gates to a whole heap of trouble! I can't really see the woods for the trees right now, does anyone fancy trying to shed some light on the pitfalls of us returning to the UK? PS. combined, our mutual debts (prior to whatever charges and interest have been added on since we were no longer able to service them) came to around £45k, split roughly equal between us.

Hi Just reading the newsletter regarding Lowells and Statutory demands can they use this procedure to chase debts that are 10 years old and therefore statute barred Can the defence of a debt being statute barred stop a Statutory Demand I am not being chased by any debt collection agency at this time

Hello I am seeking advice regarding credit card debts. My circumstacnes have changed drastically over past 2 years. I am now in considerable debt to 5 different credit card companies. I also owe money to HMRC (1k) and bank (2K). The overall total is appx £25000. I am now behind with credit card payments our monthly income is limited and I am not sure how best to prioritise debts. I was thinking of writing to each credit card and offering drastically reduced montly payments and asking for freeze of interest and charges. However is it too late now to query fees and charges previously debited to my account would I have had to do this prior to offering reduced payments. Thank you for any advice, or just point me towards the right thread. Ta