I Need Help Please - I don't know where to start

MarneyMB · 6 February 2016 at 4:40PM

Nargleblast wrote: »

Have a look at the DMP Mutual Support thread, you might find you can sort out your own Debt Management Plan.

Thanks so much, I hadn't seen that thread - looks very useful

fatbelly · 6 February 2016 at 4:58PM

MarneyMB wrote: »

My minimum monthly payments just on the debts are currently £833, with a balance of just under £26k owed. Income is now £300, I'd need to give OH about £150, leaving me with £150 to pay towards debts. We keep our finances separate, in the past he's covered all the household bills, I've given him a contribution towards that each month, then paid for the groceries and stuff for the kids. He can for now cover everything with just a £150 contribution from me.

I went through the StepChange Debt remedy tool earlier, and the solution it came out with was a lump sum IVA, using equity in the house, but the mortgage company won't free up any of that, we've also tried to reduce monthly payments and/or extend the term of the mortgage, but they won't help at all. Debt remedy also suggested selling the house to pay off the debts which scared me a little, if we fall off the housing ladder now, we will NEVER be in a position to get back on, so keeping the house is a priority.

sourcrates wrote: »

You need to put to one side what you have been doing,

You simply can't afford the payments now, end of discussion.

For the short term, they get a £1 a month, along with an explanation letter, then you will need a longer term strategy, for when you are earning again.

Until that happens, you can't do anything else but tread water.

Sounds like the Sourcrates online debt remedy service is better than the Stepchange one...

If the situation where you only have £150 surplus looks like becoming long term, I still wouldn't rule out a conventional IVA. I've seen them set up on 26k at around that monthly figure. It'd be worth asking some questions on the IVA board. That's a 6-year plan, most probably, which beats a 150 per month debt management plan by about 8.5 years!

The other thing is to start a savings pot to try full & final settlements somewhere down the line.

MarneyMB · 6 February 2016 at 5:15PM

fatbelly wrote: »

If the situation where you only have £150 surplus looks like becoming long term, I still wouldn't rule out a conventional IVA. I've seen them set up on 26k at around that monthly figure. It'd be worth asking some questions on the IVA board. That's a 6-year plan, most probably, which beats a 150 per month debt management plan by about 8.5 years!

The other thing is to start a savings pot to try full & final settlements somewhere down the line.

IVA was what I was considering first, but when I started reading into it, I started getting a bit freaked out and it didn't seem to be a good solution for me. My gut feeling is to start with a DMP for say 6 months to take the immediate pressure off, see how my situation is towards the end of the year and look at IVA then if nothing's changed.

Can you build savings into a SOA - I'd always just assumed creditors want everything you have.

sourcrates · 6 February 2016 at 5:32PM

MarneyMB wrote: »

Can you build savings into a SOA - I'd always just assumed creditors want everything you have.

Of course you can.

Creditors can "want" what they like, you don't have to give them any more than you can afford.

I've said this many times, budgeting correctly is paramount, an emergency fund is an essential part of that budgeting.

Any debt solution has to be fair to both sides, so you make sure you budget for every little thing you need to spend money on, what's left, goes to your creditors.

dancingfairy · 7 February 2016 at 8:31PM

I'm just wondering why/ how your hours are being cut so much? Are you on a 0 hours contract? Or is your contract for a small number of hours but you've do e lots of overtime? Or is it a short week situation? Basically have you checked what they are doing is legal? Have you sought union advice?
If it's not likely to be a short term thing then I guess you will need to look for another job ( ie another a part time job to fit around your reduced hours, or anither full time job ( which will almost certainly pay more than 300 a month)). I appreciate its easier said than done

In terms of the debt repayments then you've got to work with what you've got. If you have to make reduced payments then you'll have to make reduced payments.
I'm not sure regarding the job situation etc but I wouldn't want to commit to a 5 year ivs if my situation was uncertain as you are pretty much bound by the agreement for 5 years. It might be best to make token payments/ do a DMP for 6 months and then review things.
I'm assuming that your hours have been cut drastically ( and its not just a massive pay cut) so it might be worth having a review of all the bills just to check you are getting a good deal on all of them eg gas, electric, phones, broadband. I appreciate its not going to make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things but presumably any savings you can make will make paying those vital bills just a tiny bit easier. Maybe your someone who's fairly in top of these things anyway so can't save a lot ( it all helps) but if you've never checkrd you could be wasting hundreds a month.
Good luck with the job hunt. Make the most of any contacts you've got and write to companies you'd like to work for. You come across more proactively and there is obviously a lot less competition if you can get your CV out there before a job is even advertised. Ask everyone you know if their work place is hiring.
Good luck
Df

January2015 · 7 February 2016 at 11:05PM

If your contract is changing that much, are you entitled to redundancy?

I know some hours are better than no hours, but if redundancy payout is an option it may be worth considering.

MarneyMB · 7 February 2016 at 11:53PM

January2015 wrote: »

If your contract is changing that much, are you entitled to redundancy?

I know some hours are better than no hours, but if redundancy payout is an option it may be worth considering.

I was made redundant.

OH doesn't know, and I've been living off the redundancy for the last 2 months, head buried firmly in the sand, acting like a complete fool pretending nothing's wrong. OH doesn't know the full extend of my debt either, but that's a whole other story....

I've been promised a few token hours with the same company in the hope things will pick up, but that's looking unlikely, so now the money's run out and I'm finally realising I need to face up to things.

I've had this level of debt for years, just managing to keep going paying the minimum each month. Bills are I think as low as we can get them, we've switched wherever possible. So now I can't even pay the minimum, maybe this is the kick up the butt I need to sort it out. Just don't know how.

sourcrates · 8 February 2016 at 12:07AM

MarneyMB wrote: »

I was made redundant.

OH doesn't know, and I've been living off the redundancy for the last 2 months, head buried firmly in the sand, acting like a complete fool pretending nothing's wrong. OH doesn't know the full extend of my debt either, but that's a whole other story....

I've been promised a few token hours with the same company in the hope things will pick up, but that's looking unlikely, so now the money's run out and I'm finally realising I need to face up to things.

I've had this level of debt for years, just managing to keep going paying the minimum each month. Bills are I think as low as we can get them, we've switched wherever possible. So now I can't even pay the minimum, maybe this is the kick up the butt I need to sort it out. Just don't know how.

Possible debt relief order if your not a homeowner and meet other criteria ?

Edit, scratch that you have a house I beleive ?

MarneyMB · 8 February 2016 at 12:17AM

sourcrates wrote: »

Possible debt relief order if your not a homeowner and meet other criteria ?

Edit, scratch that you have a house I beleive ?

Yes, joint mortgage.

jchrispin · 8 February 2016 at 9:22AM

I would redo the step change questionnaire thing excluding your husbands income from it, using just yours. Use the £150 you want to give him and divide it against food etc. It will then probably suggest a DMP. I am in the same situation where my husband covers the bills but i didn't want him to know about my debts (he now knows I owe around £20k as he is retiring soon and wanted to help me get rid of them).

If you want to take some pressure of, CCA the credit card companies. Also check to see if any of the cards have PPI and start claiming that all back.

If you don't want to use step change, write to your creditors asking them to freeze interest and charges and offer £1 token payments. I wish I'd know a bit more 5 years ago because I would probably have gone down the self managed route but we are always frightened that our house is going to get used as a charge. Move currently got one creditor threatening a charging order but have reported them to the FOS for this as its wrong to threaten people to try and make them pay more than they can.

Get yourself a couple of hours where you can sit down and type up a standard letter (I'm sure there are probably templates on here for it) and send them out. Check PPI' and do that. Just don't worry about it, because it's not always as bad as you think.

I Need Help Please - I don't know where to start

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