joint debt?

homealone_2

my husband left me last month and besides leaving me he has also left me in £32,000 of debt, £24,000 of which is in my name alone. is there anything i can do? or am i just stuckk with it? i live on disability benefits and am in no position to get extra work to help with payments and carried out an SOA on here and am currently -£275 a month and that was after cutting out all the frivolous things like clothes, entertainment, presents etc

daphne_descends

Hi homealone, I'm so sorry to read this - you should post on the DFW board for help with this, the experts there will know what you can do...

alwaysonthego_2

Hi, you need to go to your local cab for debt advice. What type of debt is it? Is it priority (rent, council tax, utility bills, mortgage/secured loan) or is it non priority (credit cards, overdraft, personal loans). If you are claming benefits on non priority debts you should be making token payments of a £1 per month. The www.nationaldebtline.co.uk have good template letters which we use at the cab. You should pay rent/mortage, council tax and any priority debts over any non priority debts.

P.s any debts in your name is soley your responsiblity.

discountshoppers

you are stuck with it i'm afraid as it is in your name, however I used to work for a finance company and yes you can go to the CAB and they will write to all the companies for you and offer something silly like above say £1 a week.

However, if you are likely to be on long term disability and there is no chance of them really recovering the debt I would ask for them to write it off. If the CAB write the letters appropriate they have been known to accept this as it costs them more to keep sending letters/phoning you etc than it's worth so they will write off.

MrsTinks

Yes anything in your name is your responcibility - BUT if they were debts accrued together then you might be able to get something written into the divorce settlement about he has to take on x amount etc - that however is a new territory to me - but others on the DFW board might be able to help you with that one

homealone_2

alwaysonthego wrote: »

Hi, you need to go to your local cab for debt advice. What type of debt is it? Is it priority (rent, council tax, utility bills, mortgage/secured loan) or is it non priority (credit cards, overdraft, personal loans). If you are claming benefits on non priority debts you should be making token payments of a £1 per month. The www.nationaldebtline.co.uk have good template letters which we use at the cab. You should pay rent/mortage, council tax and any priority debts over any non priority debts.

P.s any debts in your name is soley your responsiblity.

it is non priority debt, 2 credit cards total £6000. halifax loan £9000, tax credit overpayment £8809 and in joint names a further £7500 of tax credit overpayment. i have a claim in process for housing and council tax benefit

alwaysonthego_2

homealone wrote: »

it is non priority debt, 2 credit cards total £6000. halifax loan £9000, tax credit overpayment £8809 and in joint names a further £7500 of tax credit overpayment. i have a claim in process for housing and council tax benefit

The credit card bills and unsecured personal loans are non priority debt. Tax credits are priority but you can make a case for hardship and pay it over a longer period and the cab will help you with this.