Please please someone help

em_lou_01

hi all
I am new to here so please be gentle
I am in a real mess. I seem to owe monet here there and everywhere
I owe approx £11000 to one lender £3000 to another and £600 on credit cards yikes, made me cry typing that, didnt realise i owed so so much.
I currently have a payment plan set up with the creditors for the £11000, but want to pay off the rest (the £3000 owed is an overdraft and due to the interest i am strugglig to pay anything towards it monthly) What is my best option. I considered bankruptcy but know nothing about it. I am not a home owner and not behind on rent etc and my credit file is already battered. Would i loose my current account? also, my car is on finance, would i loose that also. My dad is the guarantor on this though? I heard about a possible loophole where i could get the debts written off if writen proof of my signing for the debt needs to be provided and if isnt, i can deny the debts? please please please. someone help
Thanks
emma
any help much appreciated?

Waspeze

Hi em_lou_01

If you are considering bankruptcy then your first point of call should be to contact one of the debt charities: CCCS, National Debtline or your local CAB, if they recommend it then pop over to the bankruptcy board and the posters there will help with any questions you may have.

If you want help trying to curb your spending or ways to pay more off your debts then pop up your SoA (statement of affairs) and the good people here will be able to help.


To answer one of your questions though, you would probably lose your current account but you can open a basic account with either Coop or Barclays (they are both bankrupt friendly), the coop one offers a visa electron and online banking, not sure about the barclays one.


Not sure what would happen to the car with the guarantor.


I think you're referring to CCA requests? this does not write off your debt, just makes it unenforceable. There are more experienced people than me here so I'll let them explain it to you

Waspeze

Here's the contact details :

• Consumer Credit Counselling Service - Website: CCCS Telephone: 0800 138 1111
• National Debtline - Website: National Debtline Telephone: 0808 808 4000
• Citizens Advice Bureau - Website: Citizens Advice or visit your local CAB centre (find nearest)

dancingfairy

Hi. I can't add anything else right now apart from just reassuarance you are not alone. The 2 best things you can do now are an SOA - a list of absolutely everything that comes into and goes out of your salary and to contact one of the debt charities (they will probably ask for your SOA) so that would be a good start.
There is one at makesenseofcards.com that you can fill in and post on here and everyone will be able to give you more specific advice.
Apart from that grab a cup of tea and a piece of cake to get you going.
Best of Luck
df

em_lou_01

Thank you so so much for replying. it sounds silly but i dont know what the best option is? i dont know whether to just continue as i am and never get debt free (or get debt free in around 40 years) i'll start writing it all down now etc and will visit the site quoted. does anyone know how ivas work and what you have to do to qualify?
thanks again

Ryan_Taylor

Hi Em,

The first thing you want to do it take a good hard look at your finances and figure out how to stop accumulating debt. This may sound obvious, but your income has to be higher than what you are spending.

If you're racking up your credit card because your living expenses are too high, you need to do something about that. Increase your income, downsize, or both. You can't recover if you need to continue to rely on credit.

You might have to get a second job or do something to increase your income. By doing so, you can also start to repay your debt - which is the ideal solution. It may seem like a lot of money you owe right now, but paying small chunks at a time will allow you to recover quicker than you think.

It can be stressful and shocking to look at your income/expenses, but it's one of those things that just needs to be done.

Waspeze

em_lou_01 wrote: »

does anyone know how ivas work and what you have to do to qualify?
thanks again

There's some info on them here
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/pdf-iva-guide.pdf

however if you don't own your own home and your job wouldn't be affected by going bankrupt then it's unlikely that one would be suitable.

em_lou_01

Ryan- Thanks for replying. I have maxed out credit cards etc.....all but one of which im paying off monthly bit by bit. i dont know the pin number (which isnt a bad thing ) so unable to spend on it I would definately get another job but as a single parent, the hours i work currently are beneficial with benefits etc so working more hours would only mean more child care and less benefits. Once my son is 4 i will return to work full time and things should pick up a bit then with regards to working and income......but i cant wait another 3 years

waspeze- i am not a home owner nor would it affect my employment going bankrupt. Is it true that bankrupt peoples names are listed in the local newspaper? the thought of family knowing about my financial trouble scares me the most

Waspeze

em_lou_01 wrote: »

waspeze- i am not a home owner nor would it affect my employment going bankrupt. Is it true that bankrupt peoples names are listed in the local newspaper? the thought of family knowing about my financial trouble scares me the most

Yes your name does get published, I think there's legislation coming in to stop this but not sure when or if it's true.

A lot of people worry about their names being published, I never actually saw mine and to this date wouldn't know where to find them?

Are your family likely to be reading the list of bankrupts in your local paper?

I just want to say, i'm in no way suggesting you go bankrupt, it's not my place to do that! I'm just answering your questions regarding it as i've been there

em_lou_01

waspeze- i have never seen a list as such myself. but i know family and friends read the local newspaper each week and knowing my luck would see it how long are you actually classed as bankrupt for?

Jesthar

Hi, em, and welcome! *hugs* Well done on posting

Just thought I'd give you a direct link to the Sttement of Affairs calculator:

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Put absolutely EVERYTHING into it, then use the 'MSE' button in the 'Format resuts for discussion board' part near the bottom, and you will be able to copy and paste everything into a post in here.

Once we can see exactly where you stand, people can then suggest the best options for you. You mentioned an IVA, but there may well be better options for you, especially as you are not a homeowner. A Debt Management Plan could be a better option - PLEASE remember that you don't even need to pay for one of those. There are a lot of companies out there who will be happy to arrane you a DMP and take part of your money as fees, but debt charities like PayPlan and CCCS will do exactly the same for free, so more of your money can go towards paying off your debts quicker!

You mentioned you are paying off your credit cards bit by bit? If you are overpaying, have you checked out 'snowballing' - the art of paying minumum payments on all the cards, then throwing all spare cash at the card with the highest interest rate? You can clear these debts a lot quicker that way - a handy calculator for that can be found here:

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

*hugs*

~Jes