Cannot afford to pay all our bills, what are the options?

Protocol45 · 13 August 2014 at 8:22AM

My financial situation has gotten worse of late. To follow up a previous post, I was dismissed from work in Sept last year. Since that time, my partner has found a full time job and I stay at home and look after our 15 month old son.

We are claiming child benefit, have recently applied for tax credits and are receiving housing benefit (£200 a fortnight). But with all this and her wages, it isn't enough to pay everything. we owe the following:

£800+ in arrears with the electricity company, with the neeed to pay £50 min a month.
£300+ arrears with the water company, with the need to pay £26 a month.
£40 a month for TV/Internet/Phone from Virgin
£30 a month for my mobile (contract ends in November)
£40 a month for my partners contract.
£40 a month for DFS sofa, 1 month arrears.
2 months bounced payments for council tax, now £240 owed.
£200 arrears for the rent. Been paying our £775 a month on time, only been short twice.
There is my partners £160 a month car on finance from Fiat, her insurance also, I forget the amount.

Everything is bouncing in my bank, I'm always in negative numbers or positive depressing amounts like +£0.54. We struggle to buy food for the family and it seems our son is the only thing holding us together.

I thought about going down the debt management road, offering token amounts, but I am unfamiliar with how this works and what they can accept.

Any advice on this would be great, allow me and my partner to sleep a little better at nights, which is difficult currently.

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Pollycat · 13 August 2014 at 8:42AM

I suggest you hop over to the Debt-free Wannabe board, lots of helpful people on there.

There used to be a Statement of Affairs calculator where you put all your income and outgoings but I can't see it now but I'm sure someone on DFW will be able to point you in the right direction.

Good luck.

Protocol45 · 13 August 2014 at 8:51AM

My financial situation has gotten worse of late. To follow up a previous post, I was dismissed from work in Sept last year. Since that time, my partner has found a full time job and I stay at home and look after our 15 month old son.

We are claiming child benefit, have recently applied for tax credits and are receiving housing benefit (£200 a fortnight). But with all this and her wages, it isn't enough to pay everything. we owe the following:

£800+ in arrears with the electricity company, with the neeed to pay £50 min a month.
£300+ arrears with the water company, with the need to pay £26 a month.
£40 a month for TV/Internet/Phone from Virgin
£30 a month for my mobile (contract ends in November)
£40 a month for my partners contract.
£40 a month for DFS sofa, 1 month arrears.
2 months bounced payments for council tax, now £240 owed.
£200 arrears for the rent. Been paying our £775 a month on time, only been short twice.
There is my partners £160 a month car on finance from Fiat, her insurance also, I forget the amount.

Everything is bouncing in my bank, I'm always in negative numbers or positive depressing amounts like +£0.54. We struggle to buy food for the family and it seems our son is the only thing holding us together.

I thought about going down the debt management road, offering token amounts, but I am unfamiliar with how this works and what they can accept.

Any advice on this would be great, allow me and my partner to sleep a little better at nights, which is difficult currently.

Protocol45 · 13 August 2014 at 8:55AM

Thanks, I will do just that.

HappyMJ · 13 August 2014 at 8:59AM

First of all you need to prioritize your payments.

Rent first...get those arrears paid off before anything else.

Now get some food on the table. Pay as little as possible. Either buy supermarket branded food (basics, value range) or shop at Aldi, Lidl.

Next get something sorted with the council. You can negotiate repayments by spreading the cost over 12 months if necessary. If you cannot afford this at this stage they will not imprison you so don't worry too much. But it must be genuine you can't be paying for mobiles and sofa and expect leniency.

Now get your electric, gas sorted. If you really can't pay it on direct debit then let them install a prepayment meter and the arrears can be paid back over a long period of time at the same cost of not paying by direct debit.

Then the home phone, broadband and the minimum TV package if it's only a few pounds more than broadband by itself.

Lastly you consider paying the mobiles. You may be in contract but if you can't afford it do not pay it. Especially if you have rent arrears and council tax arrears they must be paid before any mobile bill.

Can the sofa be repossessed? Let it be and don't pay it. They can't take the roof from over your head nor take you to court to attempt to imprison you.

The water bill I wouldn't worry about too much. Once you get a year into arrears you can apply to a charity to make an arrangement to pay half if you are willing to pay something. They could take you to court so only do that once they decide that's the action they want to take.

Aquamania · 13 August 2014 at 9:02AM

Protocol45 wrote: »

My financial situation has gotten worse of late. To follow up a previous post, I was dismissed from work in Sept last year. Since that time, my partner has found a full time job and I stay at home and look after our 15 month old son.

We are claiming child benefit, have recently applied for tax credits and are receiving housing benefit (£200 a fortnight). But with all this and her wages, it isn't enough to pay everything. we owe the following:

£800+ in arrears with the electricity company, with the neeed to pay £50 min a month.
£300+ arrears with the water company, with the need to pay £26 a month.
£40 a month for TV/Internet/Phone from Virgin
£30 a month for my mobile (contract ends in November)
£40 a month for my partners contract.
£40 a month for DFS sofa, 1 month arrears.
2 months bounced payments for council tax, now £240 owed.
£200 arrears for the rent. Been paying our £775 a month on time, only been short twice.
There is my partners £160 a month car on finance from Fiat, her insurance also, I forget the amount.

Everything is bouncing in my bank, I'm always in negative numbers or positive depressing amounts like +£0.54. We struggle to buy food for the family and it seems our son is the only thing holding us together.

I thought about going down the debt management road, offering token amounts, but I am unfamiliar with how this works and what they can accept.

Any advice on this would be great, allow me and my partner to sleep a little better at nights, which is difficult currently.

Please post a full SOA as described in this thread

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=562271

Protocol45 · 13 August 2014 at 9:23AM

HappyMJ wrote: »

First of all you need to prioritize your payments.

Next get something sorted with the council. You can negotiate repayments by spreading the cost over 12 months if necessary. If you cannot afford this at this stage they will not imprison you so don't worry too much. But it must be genuine you can't be paying for mobiles and sofa and expect leniency.

In regard to the mobile and sofa, how do I go about that? They are pining for their money (I forgot to mention Littlewoods for a TV also, £40 a month). Do I simply ignore them until I have this other stuff sorted? Or is it worth contacting them and telling them my situation and they will get some money, when I can afford it?

Now get your electric, gas sorted. If you really can't pay it on direct debit then let them install a prepayment meter and the arrears can be paid back over a long period of time at the same cost of not paying by direct debit.

I'll look into this one.

Lastly you consider paying the mobiles. You may be in contract but if you can't afford it do not pay it. Especially if you have rent arrears and council tax arrears they must be paid before any mobile bill.

As above, just not paying seems odd to me. But with these direct debits coming out and bouncing my bank isn't happy and no doubt charging me fees everytime this happens.

Indie_Kid · 13 August 2014 at 9:45AM

Have you had a benefits check to see if you're claiming everything you're entitled to?

Protocol45 · 13 August 2014 at 10:18AM

Far as I can see, we are getting everything we can. Working tax credits, child benefit and housing benefit. The big killer was soon as she went back to work, full time the housing benefit over halved plus the addition of the council tax. They cancelled each other out and in fact it's worse. We are about £500 less which she has to make up with her job. You can totally see why people say they are better off on benefits, we lose more money by working full time. than part time.

macman · 13 August 2014 at 10:35AM

You think that paying for a sofa, TV and 2 mobiles more important than your rent and C Tax? Weird priorities...
There is no point in letting DD's go out each month without funds to pay them, you'll just get extra bank fees and worsen your position.
Start by listing your debts fully, since you don't see to know exactly what they are.
Then talk to your creditors and negotiate the repayments: the worst things you can do is ignore them.

Protocol45 · 13 August 2014 at 10:41AM

In what way did I say I was prioritising those debts?
They fly out my bank and either put me in the red or leave me with nothing.
I've spent 10 years trying to repair my credit score from back in my teenage years and it's depressing as hell to see all that work wasted as I miss payment after payment.
I've spoken to these people, Littlewoods for example refuse to accept a penny less than £30 a month. The electricity company have come to an agreement, but it is £50 ish a month and that only keeps us on the level. I still owe them over £800.
Same goes for the water company. Oh and as you know, TV/Baordband and mobile phones are done on a yearly contract or 2 years. I'm locked in to these companies, if I could cancel my mobile, I would do it tomorrow, but I have to wait until November for that and I think early next year for Virgin.

Cannot afford to pay all our bills, what are the options?

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