bad credit scoring

[gossipgirl]

my sister has confided to us that she has got her self into a lot of debt, shes 19 and in over �10,000 worth which is a lot for someone of her age in my opinion and has stopped paying alot of her creditors, stateing to them when they call that they have got the wrong person and she is not the one there trying to contact, in the hope that they will go away and write the debt off. Her creditors are catalouges, doorstep loan companies and overdraft from her previous account etc. were trying to get her to face up to things but she is not budging, shes convinced that they will eventually write off the debts! Is this true? how long will this effect her for? We would love to see her one day settle down and buy her own place if she wanted but with the way shes going we cant ever see that happening.

[ummmm]

They will NOT write off the debts because she ignores them.

[anniebird]

Tell her to go to Citizens Advice Bureau. They will put her in touch with someone who can help her. She must not bury her head in the sand - it only makes things worse.

[Buenchico]

If your sister speaks to her creditors, and tells them that she can't meet the repayments, she'll be able to get the interest on most (or probably all) of the accounts frozen. If she doesn't, the amount she owes will keep going up, making her problems last even longer.

Credit card firms, loan companies and banks never write off debts unless, for example, a debtor dies leaving no money and nothing of value. If your sister doesn't voluntarily enter into repayment agreements with her creditors, they'll seek county court judgements against her. The court orders will force her to repay her creditors. (If she attends the court and completes all of the relevant forms she won't be ordered to pay more than a realistic amount each month. If she ignores the court proceedings the court might order that she repays the whole lot at once).

If your sister ignores the CCJs, the creditors can then seek to enforce the judgements by, for example, getting a court order to have money taken directly from her earnings.

The CAB can be helpful but they've often got long waiting lists before someone can get an appointment with a specialist debt advisor. CCCS is a charity which specialises in helping those in debt. Their services can be much quicker:
http://www.cccs.co.uk/

Chris