Wow, what a site! :)

[robbiecrusoe]

Hi all, I was referred to this site by a friend of mine who has some large claims going through, so I thought I had better have a look.

 

I am in a bit of a quandry though . From the age of 18 to 30 I was, for want of a better expression, reckless with money. I ended up with 4 credit cards and a huge loan to pay off. Once I hit 30, I suffered a bout of depression which lasted about 2 and a half years, and I stopped paying any payments on my debts.

 

I was with First Direct who ended up withdrawing their services.

I was left with credit cards from FD, Barclaycard, EGG and MBNA, a £1200 overdraft from FD, and a large loan (c20k) from egg. Payments on these have not been made for about 2 years now.

 

Basically, I now owe about £38k and am looking into the possibility of bankruptcy.

 

I am wondering if it is worth pursuing any claims for charges against these organistations? Or is it better just to keep my head down and not draw attention to myself?

 

Any advice would be greatfully appreciated.

 

Cheers.

 

Andy...

[mechs]

Andy,

 

Have you been in touch with The Consumer Credit Counselling Service? Its a registered charity whose purpose is to assist people who are in financial difficulty by providing free, independent, impartial and realistic advice.

 

mechs

[BankFodder]

If you haven't made any payments for 2 yrs, this probably means that they have another 4 yrs left to sort you out.

 

They may well do that - very likely, in fact.

 

If you go for bankruptcy then that will be the end of the matter. It would probably not be worth trying to recover any unlawful charges as the bankruptcy will take care of all of that and any money you did recover would have to go to your creditors anyway.

If you decide not to go the bankruptcy route then you should try and calculate how much of the debt is actually legit and how much is not enforceable.

[robbiecrusoe]

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Mechs: I contacted CCCS a while ago, but never took it much further than the interview call they made... I've been an idiot in the past . I have started to read a lot of good info on the national debt helpline site though, and am hoping to get something started this weekend.

 

Bankfodder: I suspected that may be the case.

 

I am currently reading some very interesting messages in the DCA threads, a lot of useful information in there.

 

Andy...

[MortgageMan]

Hi

If its any help I would say that if no payments have been made for over 2 years the chances are the the debts will die, as a newcomer my self to this site I note reading the various cases the banks and credit cards dont seem to take any one to court I say just keep your nerve and let them go a way

Trevor

[robbiecrusoe]

Hi Trevor

 

I have noticed a sever drop off in the number of letters I have been receiving lately. Although one company (Capquest) contacted me at work the other day which I wasn;t happy about. They will be getting my YAC number on monday (22ppm evenings / 32ppm daytime).

 

My initial thoughts about going through some of the procedures on this site for getting charges refunded etc after I was told about this by a friend, was that if I pursued anything, I would be sticking my head above the parapet and my creditors would know I am still alive, hence the post here

 

I know I shouldn't ignore my debts, but they were a major cause of my depression, and there is no way in hell I want to get back into that frame of mind. So I am dedicating this weekend to finding solutions

[jonni2bad]

Trevor,

 

I suspect you might be confusing banks not defending themselves in court with creditors not pursuing debts.

 

They are certainly not connected.

 

Just because a bank is not prepared to defend a claim for charges imposed, it does not follow that they will not pursue a genuine debt. If there is money involved, and they feel they have a realistic chance of recovery, I'm quite certain they will pursue the matter.

 

Andy, I sincerely hope that they will not do so, but if they do I would recommend giving the CCCS another go - I know from personal experience that they can be tremendously helpful and unbiased.

[MortgageMan]

Hi Jonni2 bad

I know what you are saying and yes thats true, but the point I was trying to make is I went through this with credit cards and loans etc I found that once they placed the debt with collection agents and the older the debt the less chance it will end up in court

If Robbiecursoe has not paid any of his creditors for two years the chances are they will die but of course if he went after them to claim back charges it would relight the debt. I would personally not even consider going bankrupt or even offering to pay them now but may be I have have skin and good nerves but believe me in the past I have had more debt than most I am not saying I am proud of it, but thats why I love this site and will try and assist any one

Trevor

[jonni2bad]

OK Trevor, and many thanks for your input, which I'm sure is also appreciated by Andy.

[robbiecrusoe]

Trevor, I suppose I was hoping that the debts would "die", reviewing things over the weekend I think it is near to 3 - 3 and a half years now since I paid anything (bad I know, but dire circumstances at the time). My main concern is that now that Capquest have gotten in contact with me at work, that particular debt will be pursued more heavily again (it is the biggest debt, making more than 50% of total owed). I;m going to tell them that I will inform our secretary not to transfer their calls from now on, and to only communicate by post, but they know I am alive and well... drat

 

Jonni, I am in the process of reading as much as I can about IVAs, I agree that debts should be paid off, and hope that any monies I can offer will be accepted. If they aren;t (and I;m thinking more of Capquest here), then I;m afraid bankruptcy may be my only recourse.

 

And typically, my lottery numbers didn;t come up again!

 

Thanks for the comments guys, I really appreciate it.

[jonni2bad]

It didn't quite reach that stage for me, thankfully, so I'm not too familiar with bankruptcy in and outs - certainly not enough to offer meaningful advice on that subject alone.

 

The only thing I would say is to gain as much free advice as possible, in case there are differing views on your unique situation. Some shown below.....

 

CCCS -[/url]

 

National Debtline, for FREE CONFIDENTIAL and INDEPENDENT ADVICE call 0808 808 4000

 

Free debt advice, no fees debt management plans, IVA advice, bankruptcy, protected trust deeds advisory service and solutions, debt problems solved.

 

Debt Questions. Information regarding debt issues

 

CAP: Christians Against Poverty

 

and another good forum for legalities

 

Just Claim Forum

[londonlad]

Hi Andy

Look if you are going down the bankruptcy route, a few tips. If you own property with someone else make sure you are JOINT TENANTS not tenants in common. They cannot take your house to pay your debt ( unless you are both going under ).

My house was in neg. equity I could have paid the receiver an admin cost of £200 or so (1994) and a nominal payment of £1 would have got me back the deeds.

Didn`t find out till four years later with over £40k equity built up, that was when I received a statement of my acc. from the receiver, nearly a year after I was discharged.

Regards

Ian

Moderated : some text deleted for privacy reasons

[MortgageMan]

Hi

I have been away thats why I have not posted for a while, Most of these debt collectors will in time go a way, They hate it when you wont talk to them and assist on them writing. Take it from me if you dont give them any money you have more chance of them going away than if you you pay them a little. They will use the little to fight you.

If you get the door knockers like Robinsons Way tell them the account is in dispute and dont sign any thing and dont pay them any thing.

I have known debt companies who have made payments them selfs to keep accounts alive because of the legal time limits. The old coinage is dont admit to oweing any thing and promise even less. I have which I say with no pride in my past owed £1000s. So I know what I am talking about

Trevor

[BankFodder]

It would be much better of this discussion continued in the appropriate forum now.

Thanks