Debt management companies

N

netz

Registered User
Messages
85
Ok - I could do with a bit of help - briefly and not going into sob stories - MBNA credit cards x2 totalling 21K. Have been paying interest only for 4 years - they did lower the interest rate last month after a phone call. Still paying out 450(ish) per month to them. I contacted debtmanagement.ie today - based in Derry. Firstly, they will charge 1 months fee upfront - this is equal to what your payment will be, in my case 120 per month. Then out of this 120, 30 goes to management company, and 90 goes off my debts to MBNA. They explained to me that MBNA will not accept only 90, which is fair enough, so after 6 months they will sell debt on to a third party for approx half of the debt, who will then get debt collectors to arrange collection. ICB will be informed of default. I will then come to an agreement with debt collection agency, who will accept the 90 per month as they will eventually get 21K back, even if it is over 19 years. If my circumstances do improve I can pay a little more each month off the debt. I did contact MABS for advice, but they wanted to incorporate everything into their systems, and we are managing ok on a month to month basis, the only struggle we are having is with MBNA. Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated, before I make final decision about going with this company.
 
They deal with MBNA, and re negotiate a more affordable payment. I tried to do this myself with MBNA but they were having none of it at all as Im not in arrears. Really want to sort out this debt and try to get on with my life but this debt is absolutely killing me.
 
I would have thought that before MBNA agree anything they would want to also see your income and expenditure details. If you are keeping up to date with everything else they might not be too happy. This is probably where the difficulty with MABS arose, as they would insist on treating all creditors equally and paying negotiated monthly repayments in proportion to the debt owed.

Nevertheless MABS would be free, what is going to happen with MBNA i.e. sell on debt when not paid, is going to happen anyway whether or not you pay a middle man.

I would try MABS again, maybe ring the helpline and see if they could advise you on how to correspond with MBNA, you could use one of their template letters from their website.
 
wbbs said:
I would have thought that before MBNA agree anything they would want to also see your income and expenditure details. If you are keeping up to date with everything else they might not be too happy. This is probably where the difficulty with MABS arose, as they would insist on treating all creditors equally and paying negotiated monthly repayments in proportion to the debt owed.

Nevertheless MABS would be free, what is going to happen with MBNA i.e. sell on debt when not paid, is going to happen anyway whether or not you pay a middle man.

I would try MABS again, maybe ring the helpline and see if they could advise you on how to correspond with MBNA, you could use one of their template letters from their website.
Click to expand...


Hit the nail on the head.

MBNA will want to see income/expenditure before any negotiation lower payment or settlement. The debt is with yourself and they will continue to attempt to collect this debt regardless of possible sell on to debt collection agency down the line. Your first port of call should be renegotiating through MABS or directly, these 3rd parties are only interested in making money off you end of. I know this from experience and would not recommend as this will not solve the problem of your debt. You cannot expect to pay all your other creditors and bills and treat MBNA or any other company on an unequal footing in relation to outstanding debt. I have no doubt that they will not accept a situation like this and you could end up in court if this is the situation you are proposing.
 
Thanks for all the comments and advice. I rang MBNA again today and spoke to a lovely person who said I can go on a fixed payment plan @ 362 per month for both debts. This will last for 5 years, and it will be recorded on ICB (not worried about that as I will never apply for any kind of credit again) and at least I know at the end of 5 years I will be out of debt. Once you agree to a payment plan with MBNA, if your circumstances improve apparently you can pay them off a bit quicker so I think I might go for this option. Ive heard too many bad things about debt management companies, and feel a bit silly for nearly being sucked in by them, but felt so desperate at the overwhelming debt Im in. It will be a struggle, but I think if I budget wisely, I can just about do it. I will post how I get on with the process of actually going onto a payment plan - Thanks again
 
netz said:
. Ive heard too many bad things about debt management companies, and feel a bit silly for nearly being sucked in by them, but felt so desperate at the overwhelming debt Im in.
Click to expand...

You're not silly just desperate and that is what they play on. Well done on starting to tackle your debt yourself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top