OK, I went to the CAB today and they really were quite helpful (considering the amount of pressure they have to contend with in the volume of people they have to see in a day!).
They provided me with a sheet with loads of places that help people navigate through the quagmire of debt, the person at the CAB recommended a company called "Fair Finance", she has dealt with them extensively and said people who dealt with them were extremely pleased with them.
I phoned them today and outlined my situation, my initial impression is that they seem astute and utterly professional and most importantly, know what to do! I booked an appointment for this Friday afternoon, which is only two days away, thank goodness, at least things seem to be happening after that "false start".
Another question, however. I asked the CAB what I should do in terms of communicating with my bank, as I outlined earlier, the assistant manager last week requested I inform them when I have spoken to the CAB. The person at the CAB said to call them once I leave the office and simply state I am returning the call at the request of the assistant manager to say I am honouring her request that I inform her that the matter is being dealt with by the CAB. I spoke to someone at the bank, the assistant manager wasn't there, but this person said they would pass this information on to her.
Now that I got that task out of the way, I just had a frightening thought. Would the bank attempt to stripmine my account to essentially get what they can, now that a third party is being involved? As I said, I'm going to the Co-Op bank tomorrow for a meet with a customer service person so I can open an account there. I really couldn't get a conclusive answer or indication from the CAB person (as it was only a 10 minute meeting) as to what I should do, so what I need to know is:
1) Once I get the other account open, do I transfer what money I have into it?
2) I need to cancel my direct debits, three of them were for frivoulous non vital stuff that I haven't even been using. The two main debits are for the loan and Virgin Media (for phone/TV/broadband). I am looking at Fair Finance to contact my creditors proposing a repayment plan, I've drawn up the budget and what I could realistically afford (approx £375 pcm between the bank & the three credit cards). With the phone/TV I am going to contact Virgin and request I go back to being sent a bill each month as opposed to the standing order. What I'm getting at is --once the new account is in place, do I get my money in there ASAP and close my existing account?
