Advice Please - Can't see the light at the end of the tunnel

loopyloulou_3

Me and my partner have a house, probably about £30k equity at the most. I have about £10k debt at the most in credit card and personal loan. My partner had a business which went under and now has £60k debt as a result (personal loans and quite a few credit cards). He has now lost his job (that he only had for three months) and is restarting his business. I am slightly concerned (more than he is) and think he needs to come to some sort of official arrangement with his credit cards at least to make smaller payments, as he really cant afford them all at the current rate. I doubt he can change them either as our credit rating is not good either. I am REALLY worried and cant sleep at night and am a total mess over it all. I could really do with some advice.

We always pay half of everything to do with teh house each and he refuses to have my money or for me to help, so I cant take any of it off of him. I dont really want to go down the route of using all of the equity in our house as i feel he made some mistakes that i dont feel i should have to pay for. seems unfair.

Also what can i do to repair our credit rating? or mine at least!

Please help.

L

crawley_girl

Hang on in there... somebody somewhere will have some sound advice for you

Fran

Hi,

Have you read Where to start with problem debts?

It sounds like a visit to your Citizens Advice Bureau would be useful, they can advise on debts and other issues too.

loopyloulou_3

i know i sound a bit selfish re his debt - but i cant see how i can shave much off to pay anything of his. what is the CCCS thing all about - anyone used this? Sorry i have read so many articles i seem to have confused myself even more! i have been to CAB on a couple of issues, not debt related and they were worse than useless! has anyone had any luck with them?

Kevicho

Are you married? if not then your prob in the clear with regards getting his bad credit score, although if he cant keep up the mortgage then that may come as an isssue

The first thing you need to do is get him to acknowledge the trouble he is in, if he is in denial then we (or you) wont be able to help, he needs to face up to this

The next thing to do is post here what your monthly income/outgoings are and a list of your debts and aprs

The people on here will find ways to stretch your budget further and advise on the best way to get your debt down

loopyloulou_3

with regard to negotiating with credit cards etc, to pay them less per month, how would that work? do you send them a letter - but surely then he will be paying it off for ever more?
we arent married but i think we have bad credit score for silly things like i missed a payment on a catalogue i forgot about and bt bill once. could that cause a bad credit score and how can i get rid of that now it is paid?

loopyloulou_3

he does acknowledge he has a problem and now wants to sort it out. i just am SO depressed about it all and feel like we will never get out of this situation without selling our house. I am so worried about that.

Little_Miss_Winner

Hi there.

You say "We always pay half of everything to do with teh house each and he refuses to have my money or for me to help, so I cant take any of it off of him. I dont really want to go down the route of using all of the equity in our house as i feel he made some mistakes that i dont feel i should have to pay for. seems unfair"

I think you need to make up your mind whether you want this to be a joint effort, or his alone. If you have bought a house together, and are planning your future together, then beacuse this is affecting you (re sleeping) you need to work it out together.

I am not being harsh, and I really do understand that the debt may have been there before you, or was not linked to you.
But unless you now do everything jointly (ie debt payment), then there may be a lot of resentment, which could ultimately drive a wedge between. you.

Post your JOINT incomings and ALL outgoings, and I bet theres loads of ways you would be able to knock that debt down. (together)

Regards,
pot

katana1100

we where in this postion about 8 years ago after we lost our jobs i went to cab and they did everything for me told me to pay mortgage as normal then set about writing me a letter to send to my creditors which was superb and as it had come from cab all the creditors where helpful as well give em a go it costs nothing to try all the best

black-saturn

loopyloulou wrote:

i have been to CAB on a couple of issues, not debt related and they were worse than useless! has anyone had any luck with them?

They were worse than useless with me too. They only give out the basic info of what you need and leave it up to you to delve deeper and seek further advice. Waste of a morning in the waiting room for me.

loopyloulou_3

i cant even tell you his debt, cos i am not entirely sure of how it breaks down. I know it totals £58k ish and £20k of it is a loan in his parents name. My main problem is that he wont let me help him so he feels it is him that has caused this and wants to sort it out himself. BUT if i can save some money on our home bills etc, and my personal account then it would make both our lives easier.

a lot of it is credit cards and 2 loans i think.

As for mine,

My outgoings out of my personal account are:-

Car loan of £207.00
credit cards £110.00 minimum payment
half contrib to mortgage and bills - transfer of £750.00 to joint account
travel £207.00
car insurance £21.00
sofas £50 a month (til dec 06)
mobile £35.00
catalogues £40.00
pet insurance £11.00

which should leave me £273 approx per month but doesnt leave me anything - i know i need to stop buying rubbish to be able to help my boyfriend.

also contact lenses, and vet bills, car tax, fuel (approx £30). aerobics £12 a month

i would ideally like to shave some off my household account
me and my partner put in £750 each and these are our outgoings

mortgage £750.00
Phone line rental £10.00 (talk talk)
broadband £17.99 (talk talk)
Buildings and COntents £48.73
Council Tax £96.00
Water £30.00
Electric £30.00
Gas £30.00
TV Licence £10.99
Life Insurance £31.89
Mortgage Protection £20.00 (for me only)
Food and occasional eating out - the rest!

looking at it like this is a bit of a shock. i think we overspend on food shopping and i overspend on eating out (lunch) and on rubbish that i dont need.

HELP ME! I do seem to spend a bit on rubbish (clothes etc) at the weekends as i cant resist and know this needs to stop.