Money management club 4th Sept
Well we had our best turn out so far for this informal meeting of forum members.
Aguise[Ang],Lily,the bear[Dave],Gavin and his wife Donna all made the trip to the Brittania Hotel last night.
We discussed the reasons for getting into debt and nearly all agreed that consolidation loans were the main downfall of someone in debt.We all had experience of this and the worst part of a consolidation loan is the fact that the credit cards that are paid off from a loan are infact still “live” and it,s all too easy to start using them again.Before you know it you are back up to the limits and further in debt.We all agreed that a condition of consolidation loans should be that you cut up your cards and close the accounts once they are paid off.
We discussed the various methods of debt collection used by creditors and agreed that many scare tactics are employed and that if you are not “in the know” then you can be scared into making payments that you simply can,t afford.We all agreed that the forum educates and helps people but often that they find it too late.Hopefully as the forum grows more people will be educated by it and be able to see through the scare tactics of creditors.Such tactics used are threatening the repossession of cars,ignoring IVAs,stating that charging orders can be placed in several days on the debtors property and the threat of door step collectors.
We then discussed bankruptcy compared to an IVA and agreed that the allowances seem easier and fairer in bankruptcy with only a 70% maximum of the disposible income having to be paid,over three years, compared to the 100% over five years in an IVA.We would also like to see the property in an IVA dealt with at the start of the agreement,as in bankruptcy,rather than at year four.
Donna then spoke of the time that she realised that she and Gavin had to do something about their debt when the CCCS said that it would take 18 years under a DMP to repay their debts.
Finally we had a good discussion on contact lenses as Dave is an optician !!!
A great evening and thanks to everyone.
My next social is planned for Manchester on Tuesday 2nd October
