BOB.T

Is it a good idea?

Basically I'm maxed out on four credit cards and I have a loan I'm meeting my payments but not making even a small dent on the overall figure. My original plan was to pop it all onto one big loan but I can't get a loan due to a crap credit rating/history.

I've now been offered a deal from Gregory Penningtons which involves defaulting on all my payments, paying them 400 quid a month for 29 months and that's it! They deal with my creditors, freeze any interest and share my 400 squids out. I'm paying about that now but not really getting anywhere for it!

I'm not sure about it, summat doesn't sit right with me

Anyone got any thoughts, other than robbing a bank and or leaving the country

Oh and I don't need telling I'm a ***** for being in this situation, thanks

Cheers, Bob

frisby

Get a bar job to pay things off quicker!!

I work hard through the day in my proper job, but working in a bar in the past has been a good laugh and is extra money for buying stuff such as new lenses for Canon and Nikon cameras

laters

Stu

south-star

Personally i've never had dealings with debt consolidation but the only advice i'd give you is get all your debts onto 0% credit cards.This will give you breathing space,secondly work overtime/extra job and pay them off.
Probably not what you want to hear but to me there's no other way.

Lastly try and cut down on spending(sorry for stating the obvious)

basal_lobe

Please listen to me:

Do not use a debt consolidation agency such as the one you suggested. The result of doing this will be greater cost to you and possible court action against you. These scenarios are very common when dealing with consolodation agencies. An ex-girlfriend worked for Lloyds tsb in debt recovery and they had a dept especially to deal with these agencies and the problems they cause. You can do everything they offer as a service yourself.

Try negotiaiting with your creditors yourself. I know "someone" who negotiated a debt of over £90,000 with a bank down to £16K for cash on behalf of someone else. You need to take a hard position with them and you WILL be able to restructure your debts without paying these robbing agencies.

Go and talk to your local CAB office they will also help.

Reffro

Bob avoid the deal you mentioned above like the plague. Very bad deal for you and the credit card companies, the only people who get what they want from the deal is the so called agent. They do not remove the debt from you or absolve you from paying it.

There are ways of sorting this out, but none of them are easier or painless. You mention being unable to raise a loan to consildate the credit card borrowing, which would be the best idea, though that presumes the new loan has a reasonable interest rate. Have you tried your high street bank, they might not offer the lowest rates, but they should be cheaper than the credit cards interest rates. If you can't get a loan or transfer the debt onto low rate or 0% rate cards, you'll need to do it the hard way.

Which ever way you have to tackle this problem, first call the credit card companies and put a stop on the accounts. This will stop you spending anymore on the cards. Ask what they would prefer you did with the redundant cards, some like to have the cut up cards returned, some aren't bothered, but once the stop has been put in place, cut the cards up. Then simply continue to repay the card companies until the debt is gone. Remember you will need to pay more than the minimum amount to actually reduce the debt. This method is not easy but it will guarantee you eventually remove the debt and more importantly you don't default on your cards.

If you default on all your cards at the same time, as advised by Gregory whatsitname, forget any chance of future borrowing, and that includes a mortgage. Its not going to be easy, the loan repayments are the easy bit, the tough bit is stopping spending the money you don't have, which is what you have effectively been doing to run up these card debts. You are going to have to tighten your belt and cut out any and all unnecessary expense, forget the splurge purchases etc. Give your switch or delta card back to the bank and just get a simple cash card. This will stop you being able to spend without money being in your account.

All of the above will eventually get you back on an even footing. I was in a similar position, but I was able to raise a loan, and am paying back my credit card debt now. I have a simple cash card for my day to day expenses, all my major bills are paid by direct debit at the start of every month, so what is left after the bills are paid is mine to spend. If I run out of money towards the end of the month, I go hungry, its that simple.

[Edited by Reffro - 4/23/2003 4:58:11 PM]

Mungo

Blimey, Basal's actually talking sense for once. Yes, you're much better off negociating out of this position yourself. Like he says, use a CAB - it's free!
I don't think the 0% credit card option is likely to be open to you with your history. Also, as you've managed to max out 4 cards, getting another one is only asking for trouble. What interest rates are you paying on these 4 cards? Credit cards are about the most expensive way of borrowing money. If you can trust yourself, you could try to get a personal loan from a bank (maybe one of the banks that issued your cards - again, negociation) to consolidate the balances. This must then be followed by cancelling all the cards and living to a budget for a while (3 years?) - or get another income to pay it off quick. Don't fall into the trap of borrowing on your mortgage to fund a more extravagant lifestyle.
And good luck!!

damian666

Do you enjoy driving around like a loon? I do! I decided the best way to make an extra bit of cash was to deliver pizzas. I'm not joking you, its the best way to make cash of an evening - the tips are good and you will take home an extra hundred quid a week working 5 evenings which isnt bad. Free pizzas too!

Domino's pay better than Pizza hut, but the bikes tend to be older.

Its a laugh!

basal_lobe

Really try negotiating with them, produce a financial statement and depending on the company (this probably won't work with companies like Lombard, MBNA and all the others of their ilk).

You may be able to get the interest frozen and monthly payments sent direct to them to clear the debt. Whatever you do don;t default all at the same time- as said earlier this will have dire implications for obtaining future credit.

You can do a deal with these people- they are eager after all to get their money back which makes it more their problem than yours.

I used to do this professionaly and had very,very good results.

AliWrx Mk2

Bob,
Agree with everything that has been said, avoid these debt consolidation people like the plague.

Are you a home owner?

If so why not consider a homeowner loan, good rates of interest available regardless of your credit rating. If you start defaulting on stuff you will just dig yourself deeper and deeper.

Only other option is to sell your scoob , seems harsh i know but you would be surprised how much better of you would be.

Just my 10p worth.
Ali

TopBanana

I agree that you should try negotiating, you'll be amazed how much they'll let you get away with paying

Gordo

Not all debt consolidators are the evil beasts being described - credit card companies write off their debt after a period (typically 90-120 days). Beyond this, they're only interested in getting back what they can. As long as you have defaulted on the debt then you have a black mark against your credit. This is where the consolidators step in, however. The reputable ones negotiate with the credit card companies on your behalf, thereby genuinely reducing your total liability - once you have demonstrated a period of payments to the consoidator, they will then 'repair' your credit rating and it will stay this way as long as you continue paying (hence the deal they have offered you).

The key, therefore, is to only deal with a consolidator which, as part of its terms, offers a legally binding commitment to sort your credit history out following a certain number of payments.

The consolidators are successful with their negotiations with the credit card companies because of the volumes they process. The cost of admin and monitoring systems means credit card companies will rarely deal with individuals.

Gordo

basal_lobe

Gordo believe me on this if nothing else.........they are a lot happier to deal with individuals rather than an agency. Negotiate with them yourself you will get a better deal. For one thing you won't be paying an agency, who incidentally try to make themselves out to be the friend of the debtor.

As an example a £10,000+ debt a friend of mine ran up was reduced to £7000 by a combination of repayments and a small lump sum. The interest was also frozen. Play hard ball with them.

camk

Redemption at last, scoobynet speaks sense including Basal ....well done gents all round

BOB.T

WOW!

Many many thanks for your sensible and useful replies, including Basal!

I think these guys will get told to burger off 2moro...I thought it was all too good to be true!

There was deffo no mention of repairing your credit history, I think they went as far as saying they have no involvement at all with it and defaults will be recorded on said history.

If I'd gone ahead with it, they'd of taken £1500 off me in comission...I'd rather pay that off what I owe, thanks all the same!

Unfortunately I don't have a scoob to sell, largely due to to these stoopid debts! I don't have a house to secure a loan on either, another reason why I'd like a good credit history, to get a mortgage. Personally, I think the chances of me getting another credit card are between slim and none...none just left town aswell Still, with me that's no bad thing

Right then, guess I'll have to knuckle down to some hard graft Anyone need some work doing in the Yorkshire area?

Many thanks again

Bob (open to cash donations....will sell body to fit females, if I really must)

Bottomfeeder

One other thought for you..........Make an appointment at your local CAB, they have financial advisors (FREE) They sit with you, go thro everything, help you with a budget plan, and have all these funky forms you can fil out and send to your creditors, requesting help. I did this for a friend of mine and it does help you.

BOB.T

ooh, FREE things, we like that

I'll try popping in there, I'd tried once before when I nearly got fired and they were always shut

Fanks

unclebuck

Headline: "basal_lobe in 'talk sense' SHOCKER!!"

Good work, keep it up old chap

[Edited by unclebuck - 4/24/2003 12:25:44 AM]

MattN

max'd out 4 credit cards, thats like 100k - you must have some good stuff to sell.

Dream Weaver

Matt - my first credit card had a £500 limit, so it could only be £2k.

Bob, been through all of this in the past, sometimes not actually my fault (like the time I worked 75 miles away and ended up spending more on fuel and mortgage than I earned per month)

The only way to do it is sell everything you own, pay off your debts, dont go out or spend any money and then start again after 12 months.

It is tough, but worth it in the end. Think I owed about £15k 6 years back. Paid it all back now.

CarpetCleaner

have you anything worth selling such as a car?

Stueyb

Try http://www.payplan.com/ as they are a free service on behalf of the banks that do all this and help you out of debt. Dont go to these sharks. To see why look here: http://www.thisismoney.com/20030417/ht61924_s.html

CarpetCleaner

ignore my last post

Nikko2

I hear barclaycard will give you 0% on balance transfers for life. As long as you make one purchase a month on the card.

This would give you some breathing space and you wouldnt need to swap cards every six months.

All you need to do is fill you car up once a month with the barclaycard and then pay that purchase off promptly.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Nikko,

The thing is you are not paying off the petrol you bought, you are paying off the balance you transfered. This means the purchase is sat there at whatever rate they charge (18%?) until you have paid off the transfered balance. Plus they charge you for transfering the balance also. Not a great deal IMHO

Guy

south-star

hear barclaycard will give you 0% on balance transfers for life. As long as you make one purchase a month on the card.

This would give you some breathing space and you wouldnt need to swap cards every six months.

All you need to do is fill you car up once a month with the barclaycard and then pay that purchase off promptly.


I've applied for the Barclays one.The one i applied for is not for life,approx a year,free balance transfer,and 0% on transfer.I will buy a newspaper once a month on it to comply with usage conditions.

BOB.T

I told them I wasn't interested, yay! The guy was quite good about it actually, I thought he'd give me the big speach but he just said "oh, ok then" and the line went dead!

I'm in for abour 8K and not 100, luckily! Unfortunately I've got burger all to show for it God only knows what I've blown it all on, wish I hadn't got involved though

Thanks again for all your time and effort guys

Crapaud62

BOB

Been there, done that mate.

Maxed out 5 cards at £10k each. Ouch!

Its surprising how much better you feel once you start to reduce the debt levels even if they can't be wiped out completely.

My bank weren't interested at first until I showed them in detail that I was paying out thousands every month to different credit card companies and that meant that other companies were making a bit profit out of me. I explained that I would far rather that they make the profit out of me by arranging on large loan to cover all the cards.

You MUST cut up the cards and immediately bin all the mailshots from new card companies. The companies that I told to cancel my cards still mailshot me offering cards regularly.

You are not alone. Over spending is like speeding, we all do it but it can get out of hand.

Hope you get it sorted mate!

BOB.T

All mi cards are the bottom of land fills in teeny tiny pieces now, goddam evil things!

I'm also gonna set some direct debits up for the begining of the month too, that way I can't forget or do it 2moro

Cheers again