Help and Advice

danc123

Hi all,

I am in need of some advice. Used this before for my own personal problems and am now very happy! But I am in need of help for my Brother who is in a right old state!

Basically his mortgage is in arrears and the bank are threatening court action, one bank is taking him to court over unsecured of about £10k and probably has another £10k in cards outstanding. His credit report must but shot to pieces and he is so depressed. He has being living this life for approx 2 years since his girlfriend left him. I do not have all of his exact detail but just know he is tens of thousands in debt and has been missing payemnts for the last 2 years. He owns a house but cannot sell it with only a little equity in it, and soon as the market is going probably none!!! He has already tried suicide at the start of the year and i am so deperately worried that he will not be able to cope with much more. He hides away from it a lot and doesnt tell me about everything.

He has a job but just needs some real help in stopping the constant calls and letters and so he can just smile a bit.

Would like advise and suggestions on IVA's and who to use as a start, and the best case scenario's. I do not want to try to help him up one route if he still cannot cope properly. I really want him to just go bankrupt, quit work and look after himself but he still wants to fight.

I really do not care at present with regards to morals and rights and wrongs of how these things are conducted just about my brothers life. Sod the banks for throwing money at people then hounding them because they cannot repay. Anyway sorry for the rant. If anyone could offer some good advice, companies etc, it would be appriciated.

Thank you all

**Amy**

Hi

I am so sorry to hear about your brother.

I would suggest he contacts CCCS or National Debtline. These are charities that are free and deal with people in debt.

www.cccs.co.uk or www.nationaldebtline.co.uk

They should be able to help him on the financial side of things.

I would also suggest your brother needs to talk to someone, whether be it you or a professional, as hiding it all is not going to help him as a person.

Anyway, i deffinitely suggest phoning/contacting one of the above as soon as possible.

x

fermi

I agree. Please get him to contact one (or more) of the organisations here:

Non-profit Debt Counsellors' List

As Martin says in that article:

"Most importantly they're not judgmental, they're not there to tell you off, they're just there to help you sort out the problem. The sooner you talk to them the better. It may help you sleep at night."

He may feel that it is not a positive step, but in reality asking for some free and impartial help will be one of the biggest he can take towards sorting this.

They will help him work out the best route to solving these problems, whatever that may be.

GeorgeUK

As above - CCCS would be first on my list. I believe they can also set up an IVA if that is required. Without knowing what the full extent of his debt is or who it is owed to, then we can't really say what would be best.

I suggest you get him to visit this site and either he or you post up a statement of affairs (SOA). This way we may be able to spot anywhere he can make savings from his current expenditure and get to grips with the best way to deal with the banks.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

He should be paying priority debts before all others. Pay the mortgage, utilities food and tax first. Anything else can wait. If that means giving the creditcards or loan companies only £1 token payment a month then so be it. He may be able to do a debt management plan, but it depends on his finances. CCCS should be able to advise though.

If any of the debts are with a debt collection agency (DCA) then he could ask for a copy of the consumer credit agreement (CCA). If they cannot provide a copy of the agreement then the debt is not enforcable. He can pay this back when he is in a more stable position if he feels like it.
Template: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11636295#post11636295
Details: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=578486


There are templates that should help him to stop the phone calls etc, although they sometimes take a bit of time to work. If anyone calls him he should just say that all communication should be in writing.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11571485#post11571485

danc123

Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice, really really appriciated!!!

RAS

Hi

There are a number of options so please get him to talk to the debt charities. Just do not do an IVA UNLESS the debt charities all agree it is the right thing.