Who has the highest training related debt?

[sky-diver]

I’ll add my info, just for the fun of it all!

Debt is circa £65K. This was for a modular course, MCC and partial payment for a 73 rating. Debts are across loans (when rates were cheap), credit cards (when 0% was around) and a training loan at 2% above base rate!

Like a few others out there and many more to come I’m sure, I have been made redundant. However, I have a good enough rating behind me and close to 2000hrs TT, with the best part of 1700hrs on type for when it picks up again – and it will!

I had been paying, note the word had, close to £1100 per month on a monthly basis with no problems as it was affordable. However when I heard of redundancies, I knew I’d be on the list due to the selection criteria. c'est la vie!

How am I paying for it all? Well, I pay each of my creditors £1 per month as a contribution, which is agreed with each company and will keep any court action at bay. This way, I can retain as much of my remaining salary for when I am not working! When I secure employment, I will go through my options with my creditors with regard to a trust deed, more of that below!

I was surprised how easy going the banks are about my situation. Most are helpful, with one of my creditors being forceful about the situation. Just be careful what you tell them.

For those who are facing redundancy, get solid financial advice as soon as possible. I cannot stress this enough. At the moment, banks are doing all they can to recover funds as they know people are loosing their jobs. They are more than happy to take any contribution you can afford. Any county Judge or local Sheriff will fall in your favour if you are paying contributions, be that £1 – especially if you have no income!! A win win situation.

With the banks being so desperate to recover funds, I would urge anyone with financial difficulties, after seeking advice, to look at IVA’s if you are in England or Trust Deeds in Scotland. Not sure if such things exist elsewhere in Europe. These are legal debt recovery schemes, which aim to recover a minimum of 10p for every £1 of debt – meaning if you have £70k of debt, you can if your situation allows, reduce this to £7k + legal costs over a period of 3 years.

Also, if you have any financial agreements such as loans or credit cards each with less than £25k in the UK prior to 1st April 2007, there are a number of companies who will look at writing your debt off due to contractual errors in the financial system. No April fool joke there, just search the web!!

For those in trouble, or very close to – try these links:


Payplan

Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS)

Citizens Advice


Caveat Emptor……

Redundancy will leave you in a terrible financial situation, period!

Do as much research as you can, double check what you have read and been told and take nothing for granted. I have spent hours on the net and discussed at length my actions with the banks. Yes my credit rating will be screwed for the next few years, but I could not have borrowed more, or moved funds around when the cheap offers dried up.

Debt will be one of the downfalls of this country and we, just as much as the banks are to blame no matter what many say. We borrowed the money on the never never and the bankers took the risks just the same.

On the positive side, my actions with the use of a trust deed will have me debt clear in three years and although there is a small financial penalty for doing so, for me it is worth it.



Best of luck to us all!!