Debt Free Wannabie - Newbie

spanky1982

Hi everyone,

Am new to the forum and thought i would post my soa. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

I have already made a start and negotiated reduced payments for some of my debts. Barclay Card, Southern Water, CRS were all very happy to accept these, but others like northern rock, and the council tax arrears i owe were not willing to budge.

I have Provident, and Welcme Finance on my list of debts and at present i have managed to keep up to date with these so have not approached them for reduced payments as they do not have much longer to run and could be useful in the future should i need to arrange F+FS with the others to reduce the interest.

Whilst my northern rock loan is quiet high, this was taken as a joint loan with my ex but at present they are on jsa and cannot afford anything so Northern Rock are demanding full payment of the monthly instalment from myself. Can they do this or should they accept half the amount from me?

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 233
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 75
TV Licence.............................. 15
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 80
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 738


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Northern Rock..................11458.....133.7.....0
Barclay Card...................2560......30........0
Welcome Finance................3221......145.......0
CRS............................635.......15........0
Water arrears..................739.6.....15........0
Council Tax Arrears............1621......134.......0
Provident......................1514......180.......0
Total unsecured debts..........21748.6...652.7.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 738
Available for debt repayments........... 362
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 652.7
Amount short for making debt repayments. -290.7

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -21,748.6
Net Assets.............................. -21,748.6



Any suggestions on what i could reduce would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Spanky.

10past6

Hi spanky

spanky1982 wrote: »

the council tax arrears i owe were not willing to budge.

Your council tax is a PRIORITY bill, and must be paid, reduce payment towards Provident / NR / Welcome if required as they are non-priority bills.

spanky1982

Thanks 10past6. The council tax arrears are for a previous address which i shared with 3 others but none are willing to pay so it falls to me. As it has already been thorugh the court and is with baliffs does this make a difference as i am up to date with my current properties council tax.

RAS

Starting point here - could you get a loan from you credit union to cover part of the provident loan? They charge about 180% APR.

And your mobile costs are massive. You need to cut that right back. Then go payg.

As for the joint account, the whole idea is that they can chase either of you for the whole amount.

RAS

spanky1982 wrote: »

Thanks 10past6. The council tax arrears are for a previous address which i shared with 3 others but none are willing to pay so it falls to me. As it has already been thorugh the court and is with baliffs does this make a difference as i am up to date with my current properties council tax.

have you ever let them in the house, let them do a levy, or WPO?

spanky1982

No i have always been told never to let them in. What is a levy or wpo?

spanky1982

also the mobile costs are high cos i work for a mobile phone company and was silly enough to take out the data agreements etc. These still have a while to run and i dont think it would be good for me to not pay my employer. Once each of the agreements up i shall be ending them and just having my phone which i get at reduced rate.

RAS

spanky1982 wrote: »

No i have always been told never to let them in. What is a levy or wpo?

If they ever get into the house or find your car outside, they can levy or make a walking possession order, which means that they can effectively hold them at ramson until you pay the debt, or remove them if you do not pay up.

To be avoided.

mum2one

spanky1982 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Am new to the forum and thought i would post my soa. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

I have already made a start and negotiated reduced payments for some of my debts. Barclay Card, Southern Water, CRS were all very happy to accept these, but others like northern rock, and the council tax arrears i owe were not willing to budge.

I have Provident, and Welcme Finance on my list of debts and at present i have managed to keep up to date with these so have not approached them for reduced payments as they do not have much longer to run and could be useful in the future should i need to arrange F+FS with the others to reduce the interest.

Whilst my northern rock loan is quiet high, this was taken as a joint loan with my ex but at present they are on jsa and cannot afford anything so Northern Rock are demanding full payment of the monthly instalment from myself. Can they do this or should they accept half the amount from me?

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 233
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50 - can you try and get the next years bill over 12 months and not 10
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30- if its just you, would a water meter be cheaper
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 75 -WAY TO HIGH - GOT TO GO reduce it if u can and when contract up look at maybe tmobile - sim only deal, unlimted texts, free calls
TV Licence.............................. 15
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 80
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 738


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Northern Rock..................11458.....133.7.....0 -
Barclay Card...................2560......30........0
Welcome Finance................3221......145.......0
CRS............................635.......15........0
Water arrears..................739.6.....15........0
Council Tax Arrears............1621......134.......0
Provident......................1514......180.......0
Total unsecured debts..........21748.6...652.7.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 738
Available for debt repayments........... 362
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 652.7
Amount short for making debt repayments. -290.7

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -21,748.6
Net Assets.............................. -21,748.6



Any suggestions on what i could reduce would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Spanky.

Hi Spanky
I've put a couple of comments on, the phone is a major issue, the other thing that concerned me is you have no contents insurance? is it just u + child in the house.

Your important debts rent, council tax, water, as these are MAJOR

I know u dont want to rock the boat with provident etc, but if it was say £10 to £50 a month short, then yes, theres ways and means to cut here, nip there etc, but your £290 a month short, the only way that difference can be recouped is cut the debt exoenditure. You say you havent got much time left on Provident etc, how long is that exactly (sorry I sound a right bossy boots dont mean to be).

Have u looked at www.entitledto.com (or co.uk) always get muddled up, to see whether there is any benefits etc that you may be missing out on. You really need to renogiate those payments down.xx

spanky1982

Thanks Ras, i will make sure they never get in. Is there anything i can do about the fact the 2 of my debts are not solely mine? With regards to Northern Rock, this was the unsecured part of a mortgage which i had a few years ago and had to sell the house leaving this part of the debt as the house sold for less than what was owed. As it is an unsecured loan is it worth me requesting the CCA? Northern rock have told me over the phone that a ccj has been registered against me however i have never seen any letters or correspondence to suggest this or informing me that they are taking this action.

spanky1982

Thanks Mum2one. The water is already on a meter. It is for both water supply and sewage so i thought that was acceptable. I will look into it as it is only myself. The child costs are for maintenance, a reduction on what the csa say i have to pay as my ex knows my situation and is in a better situation.