Hello all, another Newbie here I’ve read through a lot of posts on the forum and have sought advice from a friend who is very well versed in your work and efforts but I’m at a point where I want to start moving things forward and want to check out some things first with you all my story is this, years and years of credit cards and loans, attempts to get us out of a mess previously just resulted in more loans to try to pay off existing debt etc., it seems to me from reading a lot of stories here that we’re not alone. Husband and I were self-employed for a while, husband still is, me between 1995 and 2003. Credit was being thrown at us and very stupidly we took it. I took a full time job which paid a lot less than my self-employment/contract work had paid (it was a necessity at the time) however this did not make it easy making payments on our debts. Then in 2004 I had a period of 6 months illness that didn’t help followed in 2007 by a period of 2 years severe depression where I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and diagnosed with bi polar disorder. During this period my employer paid me full pay for 6 months and then I received a % of my salary through a company insurance policy. I tried to make claims against credit card PPI but I’ll be honest, in my state of mind at the time and due to the fact that they kept sending form after form to complete and to take to my doctor I gave up. One loan through my bank was easy to claim and I did actually receive payments from them for the full 2 year period I was absent from work. As you can imagine this period put us on the back foot with trying to make headway into our debts and I was actually taken to court over an HP agreement on my car and now have a CCJ – though I’m hoping to have that paid off by the end of this year now. Several of our credit cards are with Debt Collection Agencies and we do have informal agreements with some to pay a reduced amount each month and some have frozen interest. We have an equity release loan on the house that will be paid off next year and a personal loan with the bank that will also be paid off next year. I have been on the CC CS website and completed the information required and they have sent me a debt remedy plan, though I intend on making the agreements with CC companies myself rather than signing up to a dmp. A lot of the things I have done over the last couple of days (CC CS etc.) are as a result of reading these forums. I’m really just looking for advice on what else I can do. I want to try to claim some of the PPI’s back – especially my husbands as he is still self-employed but that debt is now with a DCA – are we still in a position to do this? I need to reduce my outgoings too as my husband’s self-employment has taken a hit during the last 12 months hence my plan to write to all the people we owe to try and make some arrangements. Not sure what else to say at the moment I’m sure other questions will pop into my head I just needed to get it all out and look to you guys for some advice, from what I’ve seen so far you certainly must know how I feel. Btw if I’d written this yesterday it would have been a blur of tears and panic but having spent the day looking through the forums I realise that the light at the end of the tunnel may well not be an oncoming train as I had once believed J Although I did phone in work sick yesterday and have said I need a few days... I'm trying to fight against this within myself because I know the worst case scenario.. Thanks in advance for any help and assistance you might offer x

Hi all, I've posted about this an on-going DCA issue on the boards before and received some great advice but have been unable to resolve the matter. Basically, a DCA have been chasing me for a debt that has never exists, they can't tell me what the alleged debt is actually for but insist I owe it. I've written numerous letters and it's bene going on for over a year but I'm not getting anywhere. The alleged default took place in 2009 but wasn't placed on my CRA file then. The latest DCA chasing payment placed the default on my file in 2011. I have contacted the CRA who simply contacted the DCA who have said they will remove it if I provide proof of previous payment but obviously I haven't made a payment because the debt doesn't exist! Anyway, I'd like to know if there are any guidelines DCAs must follow to prove a debt exists prior to placing a default on your file? As the debt doesn't exist I can't believe they are able to do this Any advice very gratefully received!

Hi I wonder if anyone can help me I had a credit card with Marbles I got into arrears back in 2011 and in May 2011 Marbles issued a default on the account. I telephoned Marbles to agree repayment and they told me the debt had been sold/transferred to 1st Credit. I duly received a phone call from 1st Credit and agreed a payment plan, I never missed a payment and made my final payment in July 2012. I notice from looking at my Experian report that both Marbles and 1st Credit have me showing as defaulted. I checked with 1st Credit and they said it was correct that they would also be showing a default but that it hadnt been marked as satisified but it should be and they will correct that. I have written to Marbles asking them to mark the default as satisifed with the three credit ref agences. My question can Marbles and 1st Credit both show a default for the same debt? Additionally as I never missed a payment with 1st Credit can they still show the default symbol and 8 missed payment marker each month? What is my next approach as I obviously don't want these showing on credit report! Many thanks in advance for any help you can provide. Kelly

Hello everyone I would be very grateful for some advice please. I had a car loan with Welcome Finance for 4 years which came to an end last year. A month before the end of the term, I contacted WF for a settlement balance. After paying on time every month, I was surprised to see that the residual balance was more than what we expected to pay. Therefore, I disputed this and WF put this on account into dispute and on hold until they investigated the issue. During that time, bearing in mind, I had not missed a payment in all the term, my wife received an evening call after 7pm.The person did not ask my wife, who she was, just she was after Mr xxxx regarding welcome finance and stated the whole balance owning. We contacted WF about this and to this day we are still awaiting a response. However, as I have not checked my credit fil until possibly going for a rent to buy scheme, I have not noticed what they have placed on my credit file- a DEFAULT!! Never had a Default notice at all- the account was on hold until they sorted the correct balance of £349. The following really puzzles me: Date of default Date updated Date satisfied is all the 16th July 2011. All green until May 11, then marked numbered 1 June Marked 2 July marked D August S I would be very grateful for some advice on how to tackle the above. Thanks in advance.