Banks etc

[itsybitsy]

whats wrong with making it simple? , maybe even the sheeple might understand that!

So you are saying that anyone who has any debt cannot be a prepper?

[bulldogeagle]

So you are saying that anyone who has any debt cannot be a prepper?

NO, thats NOT what i'm saying at all, and anyway i was quoting from( American) literature on the subject.

[bulldogeagle]

So you are saying that anyone who has any debt cannot be a prepper?

NO, thats NOT what i'm saying at all, and anyway i was quoting from( American) literature on the subject.

check out this guy: www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/spirk04.html

[Technik]

If TSHTF and you can/don't mind bugging out and have a big debt just leave a note for the bailifs "wen't out for cigs, back in 5 mins.... NOT"

[bulldogeagle]

if TSHTF i reckon all bets, and all debts, are off, money wont mean much, although i do have an emergency fund stashed away!

[Bladerunner]

If anyone has CC debt and is struggling, phone them up, tell them you have more going out than coming in and offer them £1 a month.

I guarantee they will take it. They might ask for an income/outcome breakdown but you can make that look as good or bad as you like.

The last thing to do is ignore them. Like I said, they will take £1 a month, GUARANTEED. I know from first hand experience and I told a friend of mine who was struggling and he did the same and they took it, no questions.

Be lucky (and solvent)

[scoobie]

Did that have any impact on your credit rating bladerunner?

[bulldogeagle]

look at these debt companies on TV, they wont touch you unless you are AT LEAST £15K in debt!!

[itsybitsy]

Did that have any impact on your credit rating bladerunner?

YES! It WILL impact on your credit rating. And it's NOT guaranteed that they will take only £1.00.

If you enter into an informal arrangement with a creditor to pay less than the minimum amount owing each month they may still issue you with a default notice. It's not as bad as an IVA (involutary formal agreement or a bankruptcy (they are classed as a 'formal arrangement') on your credit file, BUT it will definitly have an adverse affect on your credit rating. Not for ever, but for some time and certainly for as long as you are in the informal arrangement with them and probably beyond.

It's worth remembering that a lot of CC companies are, if not sympathetic, at least realistic about the fact that times are incredibly difficult for many people right now. If you contact them and explain that you are having difficulty paying many will freeze the interest so at least you are actually paying down the debt each month, not just servicing the interest payments. Some are utter b**tards - Natwest is one of the worst.

Make them a realistic offer - don't just go in gung ho and say you can only afford £1.00 as that will just get their backs up from the get go and you really want to keep them on side if at all possible. Offer them a realistic amount each month that you can afford to pay. Once you're on one of these informal arrangements you then have the opportunity to make them a full and final settlement - if you get a bonus at work or the like. So if you owed £2k, you could offer them a full and final settlement of, say £600 to clear the debt and close the account. Most will accept something like that as it's better to get a lump sum NOW than take a fiver a month for the next 20 years or risk waiting for you to have to take out an IVA or go bankrupt. Your creditors do not, under any circumstances, want you to end up with an IVA or a bankruptcy as they will only get a tiny portion, or in some cases of bankruptcy nothing, of what you owe them...

Got some extra bits to add on to this post, but gotta pop out now so will update later.

[Bladerunner]

I have absolutely no intention of getting credit in the future which is a good thing as my credit rating is probably shot to bits.

I probably have more debt than most, if not everyone on here, and all my creditors have taken £1 a month including Nat West.

Credit card companies throw money at people and it is very tempting to say "Hey, we can buy that Car, Holiday, New Kitchen, etc." It all has to paid back with interest.

There is a website called CCCS.co.uk Go on there and fill in the income/expenditure form and you can send this to your creditors. As long as you make them an offer they are not allowed to take you to court. Some might try but a judge (If he is acting on his oath) should throw it out. That website seems to hold weight with creditors.

I know someone who went to a debt management company. They have paid over £6,000 and owe more now, than when they started. They are bigger sharks than the credit card companies.

I have a friend who has 3 credit cards, on one of them he owes £18,000. They all took £1 month from just one phone call and froze all his interest.

It is just a case of getting over the fear of phoning them. I was as guilty as the next man when it came to that.

If anyone has any questions I would be happy to help if I can.

Be lucky (and nil carborundum illegitemi)