Back in the late 2000's and credit being very easy to obtain I was stupid enough to take out £10,000 worth of credit cards which I soon maxed out on a series of wonderful holidays - not my smartest move - but hey, I have some lovely memories. The days of being able to swap balances easily and change your credit card company have long since vanished and I have found myself ever since just making the minimum payments - now totalling some £300 per month.
Two months ago I was told that there would be no more work for me this coming summer and I have been unable to find any regular work beyond the occasional temping contract.
I figured I needed to keep up the payments on the rent first of all - as if I don't have anywhere to live - I will find it much harder to find gainful employment. So I stopped all my direct debits (so that I don't incur any bank charges from bounced payments) and waited to see what would happen.
The three companies who I had credit cards with Egg, Barclaycard and RBS - soon referred my accounts to debt collection agencies - and that is when the phone calls started. Often calling more than once a day - various debt collection agencies would contact me demanding payments. Life soon became very stressful. I couldn't sleep and the things these companies were telling me about what they were going to do if I didn't pay instilled fear in me and made my life a living hell.
A friend of mine suggested that I use the help of a debt consolidation firm - in the end i decided on using the CCCS as they are a charity and do not charge for their services.
With their help I have managed to get my repayments down from £300 per month to £30 and have stopped all additional charges for the next 6 months whilst I get back on my feet. These guys are amazing.
Here is a link to their site: http://www.cccs.co.uk/
I've been there too! Them phone calls are terrible.
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