Just some general advise please regarding various debts

frenchplonka · 28 September 2016 at 4:29PM

Good afternoon MSE

Ok so like many on here i have chucked letters away waited for final demands and let numerous CCJ pile up in my name making my credit score worthless so today id like to take the step to pay all that off or reduce it or anything positive.

At the moment I am on jobseekers allowance I have not yet got my figure for what I will be awarded but I believe it will be roughly £150 per fortnight so £300 a month.

Here are my debts that im aware of.

Council Tax 2010/2013/2014 £817.19 Previous Flat
'' '' 2016 £586.00 Current

Cabot Financial credit card £221.46

Robinson Way Llyods Debt £595.20

Advantis water rates £1,311.81

GDR LTD Perfect Home £592.53

Total Debt: £4124.79:mad::mad::mad::mad::eek::eek::eek:

Ok so the credit card was taken out in 2014 I belive made a few payments let it lapse.

The llyods debt was way back in 2010 I changed bank and never repaid this

Water rates again some time in 2010/2011 never really caught up with me chased me for it

Perfect homes is a new one to pop up was taken out in 2013 now with a collection agency

I was working up until last week and now will rely on JSA until I get a new job my current commitments are

Rent £415
Gas and Elc £30
Sky£50
Broadband £35
Food £75

In regards my rent im prob going to get a high % paid for me via the benefits but untill I know for sure these are my outgoing and income no idea what to do really

National_Debtline · 28 September 2016 at 4:43PM

Hi there,

You may be able to negotiate with your debts and should prioritise the council tax and perfect homes (to a certain degree - depends how the agreements ended). Your council tax should be offered no less than £3.70per week until you are back in work and if you have or are being threatened with bailiffs then just remember - do not let them in and hide anything valuable outside.

Alternatively, you could try a Debt Relief Order to write everything off. It will cost £90, cause the debts to be written off and even more damage to your credit file, but if you can't deal with everything this may help.

You may even find some of your debts have trust funds to help clear the arrears (like the water) or may be too old to be chased in the course (possibly the Lloyds debt), so you may be able to get some written off this way and then negotiate with the rest. Good luck,

Laura
@natdebtline

frenchplonka · 28 September 2016 at 4:52PM

Yes the council are asking for a income and outgoings plan in regards the perfect homes it was for a dell laptop and im not sure what you mean by how the agreements ended.

If i went down the debt relief order what is this am i sure to get one? how would i go about it?

frenchplonka · 28 September 2016 at 7:30PM

Anyone wanna chime in on the DRO thing?

fatbelly · 28 September 2016 at 7:47PM

JSA is £73.10 per week if you're 25+

Your housing benefit will not cover all your rent if it is more than the LHA rates that apply in your area (private rented) and council tax support probably won't cover all this year's council tax but the council should issue a revised bill.

https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx

remember the shared accom rate applies if you are under 35

Now it is quite likely you would qualify for a DRO, having under 20k debt, surplus income <50 per month and no car (or one worth under £1k).

But if you breach those limits in the year after getting one, it is revoked, the debts come back and you can't have another one for 6 years.

So if you are likely to find a job in the next year, what I would do now is sort the priority debt (council tax, £3.70 direct deduction from your JSA) as Laura suggests (Perfect Homes is not priority), and look at the situation again when the situation is stable as you would either still qualify for a DRO or have loads of money to pay them all off!

You can read about a DRO here:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/debt-solutions/debt-relief-orders/debt-relief-orders-explained/debt-relief-orders-what-you-need-to-know/

Just thought ... can you edit your original post and label the debts that have a ccj on them. Ta

frenchplonka · 28 September 2016 at 7:58PM

Cheers guys and gals So the tax is this years plus a lot of previous years how do I get them to accept 3.70 deduction from my JSA as this would take years to clear?

Also what about the other debts ie Water perfect homes robinson way etc etc what do i do with those in the meantime?

Also forgot to add another 900 owed to lowell for phones

fatbelly · 29 September 2016 at 8:36AM

frenchplonka wrote: »

Cheers guys and gals So the tax is this years plus a lot of previous years how do I get them to accept 3.70 deduction from my JSA as this would take years to clear?

Also what about the other debts ie Water perfect homes robinson way etc etc what do i do with those in the meantime?

Also forgot to add another 900 owed to lowell for phones

It's a standard deduction for those on a means tested benefit. Ask for a 'stacked' arrangement.

We're just trying to keep the bailiffs away on that one.

You've ignored some of these debts for 6 years and now you're on JSA you want to deal with them. You are not going to have any surplus income so a DRO is the way forward, probably. But see my comments in my last post.

frenchplonka · 29 September 2016 at 3:13PM

Yea I doubr a DRO is a good idea as I plan to get back into work and hopefully tackle this mess in which case a DRO would be pointless unless I dont look for work for a year but that seems a awful step back

National_Debtline · 29 September 2016 at 4:51PM

Hello again,

There are a few things to consider from what you have said. (1). If you still have the item from perfect homes and you wish to keep it then you must maintain the payments. If you are behind you will need to pay the normal payment plus extra to try and keep it. Perfect Homes is a hire purchase agreement, and you can find out more from our factsheet - https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/hire-purchase-debt/hire-purchase-and-conditional-sale.aspx

And (2) with a DRO you would have to be conscious of earning potential during the 12months of your moratorium because if you have more than £50pcm surplus in the 12months of your DRO it will be cancelled. But it wouldn't necessarily mean you couldn't look for work because you have a DRO. Remember that when you return to work you would lose your housing benefit and council tax support. You may have more travel and/or food costs (at work). Your budget now is likely to be very restricted at the moment so you may build in a budget for emergencies, clothes, etc. that you may not be able to do now. Just some more food for thought to help you,

Laura
@natdebtline

Just some general advise please regarding various debts

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free