Committal proceedings, bailiffs and over £16,000 debt!

nowhere2run2

Hi everyone

I'm at a bit of a loss as where to start with sorting out my debt crisis. We have had bailiffs at the door and now being threatened with committal proceedings from the CSA bailiffs. We have about 21 seperate debts, all unsecured, but some are CouncilTax, Rent arrears, Tax Credits and also the Tax office. I have done a quick SOA with estimated amounts, not sure how to find out exact amounts of some of them.

Here is the SOA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 80
Benefits................................ 871
Other income............................ 80
Total monthly income.................... 1031
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 40
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 80
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 13.52
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 450
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 52
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 41
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 976.52

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
Marsons CSA....................2111......40........0
Barclaycard....................2111......40........0
Council Tax....................1500......40........0
FashionWorld...................125.......20........0
Studio.........................100.......20........0
Water..........................300.......46........0
NI ............................300.......300.......0
Tax Office.....................300.......300.......0
NDR............................375.......60........0
EmpireStores...................300.......48........0
HSBC Overdraft.................130.......0.........0
HSBC loan......................1400......45........0
Electricity....................1000......60........0
Rent Arrears...................600.......40........0
Working Tax....................450.......20........0
Working Tax....................1200......40........0
Provident .....................500.......80........0
Studio.........................1200......60........0
Capital One ...................650.......33........0
Overdraft......................1200......40........0
Council Tax....................555.......20........0
Total unsecured debts..........16407.....1352......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,031
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 976.52
Available for debt repayments........... 54.48
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,352
Amount short for making debt repayments. -1,297.52
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,407
Net Assets.............................. -16,407
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

I have added in the clothing and christmas payments as we have 5 children between us and all need clothing and presents at xmas!

Any idea as to where is the best place to start with all of this debt? What is the best way to go, bankruptcy??

Very stressed, and deeply worried and depressed.

Many thanks in advance!

L.

combo81

As your not a homeowner and on benefits Id say BC was the only option.

nowhere2run2

Thanks for such a fast response.

I should have added that I am self employed but haven't managed to get any work in the last 10 months. I'm in the builing trade and the jobs I have been offered in this period are driving and I don't have a licence. I am on waiting lists with all of the agencies in our area, but nthing has come from it. My partner has taken on Avon and AnnSummers parties which has meant we are able to recieve the WTC.

L.

nowhere2run2

How would I go about bankruptcy?

Numpty_Monkey

I think the best advice I can offer is to call one of the Debt Charities
Non-profit Debt Counsellors' List

:A

nowhere2run2

Many thanks!!

L

noodledoodle78

One other thing that may be worth trying is approaching the building companies directly rather than through an agency, or call around to a couple of building sites personally and speak to the Site Manager and the subbies on site. Or ask for a list of their subbies and phone them up. This will cut out the cost that they would potentially be paying a recruitment agency. Plus it would help you in building up contacts and networking in your industry.

trina2010

personally i would take any job thats going, stacking shelves in a supermarket, answering phones etc

building trade isnt the way to go at the minute, even the largest most established firms are dying fast. (my other half has just got out of a utilities company, so i know how its been from that side as well)
Nothing is stopping you going back in the future when it picks up again, but you need to think about the here and now to keep your family afloat

tomterm8

At this stage, it's important to check you are getting all benefits you are entitled to, including job seekers allowance, and prioritise your debt repayments.

You also need to get into contact with some legal advice with regard to the child support. It seems highly likely to me that you have grounds to appeal the CSA's assessment. It is well worth contacting citizens advice.

Personally, I think your immediate aim should be to get any job whatsoever, whether it is a bin man, mcdonalds staff, or whatever. Your SOA seems dodgy, you don't even have any payment for council tax! If you are really paying 450 for groceries, it should be possible to get over to the old style money saving board, and find ways to cut down your costs.

Changingme

I agree with the food bill you could cut aleast £100 of that,what about cutting mobile as that seems high then pay of some of the smaller debts to free up more to pay others,as for clothes does your school have a thrift shop as this helps with uniform costs or car boot it all cuts down and helps.Hope you get sorted.