just became unemployed,and in so much debt what can i do?

chillyyyy

hi can anyone help me ive just recently had to give up work and sign on becasue my wife became i,ll and i have to look after her and the kids,ive just signed on at my local jobcenter for income support,im in the process of sorting out DLA,and carers allowance,but the main problem is i aint going to be able to pay any of my loans and credit card bills,i had to stop my direct debits as ive not got any more to pay them,because ive always lived from week to week being a painter and decorater,ive not had any money coming in for the last 3weeks and as income support hasnt been sorted yet.having worked all my life and been debt free,i hit a wall with all these problems and im not sure where to turn,these companies are starting to call me and im not sure what to tell them i dont think im gonna be able to work for a long while due to my wifes i,ll health, would very much appreciate some sound advice,thanks chris hill

Anna39

Hi Chris and welcome to the Forum.

Sorry to hear about your problems - hopefully someoen will be able to advice you soon.

We are all in the same boat here and everyone on the Forum is very helpful.

All the best

DON79

:hello: Hi, call the cccs or national debtline and they will help. you are going to be in a strong position because you will get help with housing costs (mortgage) and council tax. My dad is a carer for my mum and he had to write to all his creditors with fin stmt and props for repayment but if it had been me, I would have got someone else to do it, and nowadays some creditors are not keen to accept proposals if they come direct from you so you would be better to go through cccs or cab or national debtline. whatever you do, don't pay someone to sort out your finances for you as they will just charge stupid fees for not doing very much. if your wife has debts in her name, then ask them to consider defer payments or to even write off the debts if your wife is going to be long term ill and just get medical confirmation from the doctor of your wife's illness.

I am sorry to hear your wife is ill and I hope it is not too serious.

If I were you I would consider changing your home phone number if you start getting harassing calls and make sure it is ex directory. And get caller display so that you can only answer the calls that you want to.

DON79

there is another post on here somewhere (not much help sorry) about writing to your creditors asking them to stop calling you under data protection/information commissioners office but this did not work in my case, I took complaint to the financial ombudsman about the calls and they still didn't stop, the only thing that worked for me was changing my telephone number. Hope this is some help but again there are lots of experts better than me on here who can give more advice.

tigerfeet2006

Hi and welcome to the board.

The first thing you really need to do is contact one of the debt charities listed in my signature. They will be able to take you through all your options and if they feel BR is the only option for you then will be able to help and support you through your process. We can't advise that you go BR as we don't have the full details and it is very much a thing only you can decide. If you have any questions about the process in the meantime then ask away and we will try and help you.

If the debt charities suggest a DMP and you want to go down that route then pop onto the Debt Free Wanabe board and you will get tons of help over there.

chillyyyy

thanks to all above for ur quick reply,will get phoning in the morning with all the info u gave me,once again thank u.

tigerfeet2006

Wishing you and your wife all the best.

I know they are all swamped at the moment. If you ring National Debtline you will probably have to sit with your finger on the redial button for a very long time.

With CCCS it might be worth completing their debt remedy online and then ringing them afterwards with the number that you get.

The CAB you will have to go in to the office and initially see someone who will then arrange an appointment with a debt speciallist.

Please come and tell us what happens.

chelseabun_3

The post Don was referring to:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1223131

This has a template letter to send to creditors asking them to stop calling and communicate by letter only. Very useful indeed!

Hope that helps - all the best and keep us "posted" (sorry really corny joke!:rolleyes:)

CBx;)

So_Sad_Angel

Hi Chris,

Just read your post & could`nt just read & not say `Hi`.

You must be under such stress at the moment & being a carer with children will bring a lot of pressure ...but now you have found this board & believe me you will not be alone in this...the support here won`t make the debt any different but having people who know what you are going through is worth so much more.

So get your coffee in the morning , write down a list of questions so you don`t forget to ask them & get dialling the debt free charities. Get as much advice as you can ...be positive & you will come through this.

So welcome to the board Honey & hope your wife is OK.

Angiesxx

chillyyyy

hi all just a quick update on wots been happening with all the gr8 advice i got from you recently,im now getting income support,and awaiting DLA for my wife,once that is sorted,i,ll be able to get carers allowance,ive just filled in an application for child tax credits which i never thought i was entitled to,my housing benifit and counsil tax benifit is also in process,thats all of my benifits sorted i think,and once i have all of them i will,get back to the cccs and make another oppointment,as they could only give me sound advice once i had all the relevant infomation in front of me,the calls have stopped by way of me contacting the lenders and saying im with cccs and can at this moment in time only make a token payment,which was of a huge relief as i have very little money left,im not sure how this will all end up,but having such alot of sound and helpful advice from people in here has made this so a whole lot easier to deal with,and i would just like to say a big thank you to all those who posted messages,and will keep in touch with updates on how it all pans out,after all is said and done my wifes health and the kids are so much more important than anything else in life,thanx to u all.chris hill

sandywindsor

good luck Chris
i have been unemployed and depressed at times ..
things pick up if you ask for the right sort of help.

Love and all the best

Sandy

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