Debt - determined to sort it!!

I know this is a common problem, but I'm sick of being in debt and I want to do something about it.
I have about £2300 on credit and store cards and a £700 loan from the bank which am paying off at about £50/month. Struggling to make repayments, but want to keep head above water, have thought about phoning up my creditors and asking to freeze interest so I can make min repayments and actually see the balance decreasing.
Has anyone else done this?
Also, what actually happens once your debt is passed to a debt collecting agency? Can they come round and take your stuff? Some of my cards are registered at my parents' house, does that make them liable?
thanks

Dept

i got into dept,1000 bank over draft, 700 store cards,catalogues.then i had the added stress of mot on the car costing 500, then a repair on the car 200, what i did was live from credit card to clear the over draft, then i only spent money where i had to, lived on nothing hardly,to pay the credit card and the other stuff, next month my dept will be clear , so i can start a fresh , not going there again

Re:

I suggest you a site called debtxfactor.com it is useful for you it gives you Debt Elimination, Immediate Debt Removal so just check this site.
Hope this information helpful to you.

Hope this information provides you help.

I know exactley how you feel!

Hi girl! I understand exactley what your going through! I have £1000 on a credit card (I done a balance transfer to pay off my store cards) £400 bank overdraft and £2500 oweing to a debt collecting agency, which was passed on from a bank. Once they pass it on to an agency they contact you (usually by letter) and ask you to pay the full amount within a set time or contact them to arrange monthly/weekly payment. They always try to scare you into paying more than you can afford, but as long as you offer to pay what you can they have no power! I went to see a solicitor as I was TERRIFIED and she told me that as long as you contact them and even if you offer £5 a week they have to accept it, they threaten but thats all they can do, they try and frighten you but don't worry. I was paying £10 a week. They said they wanted more but I told them I'd been to see a solicitor and I knew my rights, and they just shut up then! Also if you still have store cards, transfer them to a 0% credit card, interest on store cards is a KILLER! Would like to chat more so reply back yeah, sounds like your in the same boat as me!! xx

Hi

I used to work as a debt collector, it was pretty hard work. You're exactly right about what you say though, they don't have much power really, as long as you pay something they will usually leave you a lone. more and more of them go for a softly-softly approach as the problem is so bad now that they pretty much have to accept whatever people offer, they are still raking it in on commission anyway.

In theory, my company could have taken every one of its thousands of debtors to court, but the reality is that they don't bother unless it's for a very large sum and the debtor refuses to pay (this did happen once while I was there and we won), they're not going to bother for a couple of thousand.

I'm not debt-free either, it's important to remember that you've borrowed the money and you must pay it back, but as much as you can afford and if that's only a fiver a month then so be it really. the quicker you pay it off the quicker your credit rating will go back up too.

The Citizen's Advice Bureau is really helpful and the CCCS offers a free debt management service where they'll work out what you should/can pay back to each creditor. They both have wesites I think.

Hope that helps, don't worry, most of the country seems ot be in the same boat. You're right about store cards though, it's daylight robbery.

I think we all know a bit about this one

I worked hard for ages and am now debt-free, apart from student loan, which let's face it, we can't do anything about really.

I do think people should think a bit more about credit, it's not free money... All these people who go on Trisha moaning about how much debt they're in and then just say 'the bank sent the card through the post' as if that absolves them make me laugh!

But sometimes

buying on credit is the only answer for large families on low incomes...
(OK, so maybe they shouldn't ahve so many kids)