Debt Help Needed Please :)

laudrup1979

Hi all,

I am new to the forum and have found myself in a bit of a mess financially and would be incredibly grateful of any help or advice you could give me.

I was laid off in February and have been earning £60 per week in JSA. I have no savings having spent them travelling around Australia & New Zealand. The loss of my job was unforseen and unanticipated as business was still good despite the "credit crunch". My boss ran a small business and was a law unto himself with no regard for employment law. A customer frustrated him and he took it out on me because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and then sacked me for no good reason.

I have been struggling to meet my monthly outgoings, and as a result I have been charged by my bank Halifax which despite my circumstances have refused to re-imburse my charges citing that the refund of charges has been suspended until such time as bank charges have been proved to be illegal/unfair. This meant that I have had barely a penny to live on. I have been ebaying any junk to raise cash however this has barely met the cost of basic living costs such as food and have run out of things to get rid of.

I have contacted the people that I owe money to inform them of the change in my circumstances and asked for breathing space to repay any arrears.

I have applied for a multitude of jobs ranging from well paid jobs I would expect to get in less difficult economic circumstances and minimum wage positions in factories.

Sadly I have not been offered anything to date.

I have falled into arrears with my loan of £6000 at 7% with A&L, I have been paying £142 per month but have not been able to meet my payment for the last three months.

I took out payment protection because I hadn't found this site yet and was less informed at the time, however my previous employer is refusing to complete the paperwork because I am in the process of taking industrial action against him for trying to physically bully me in the work place.

This means that I am unable to complete the paperwork and lodge a claim. I also owe £120 to my mobile phone provider and have had my phone cut off.

I know that if i had a job i could probably get myself back on track relatively quickly however with the economic downturn and lack of jobs I woundered if there was anything I could do to buy some breathing space or resolve this situation?

I am also in danger of becoming homeless because I live with my girlfriend at her house and we are having a tough time because we have no money and things understandably tense.

I hope that this kind of topic hasn't been posted too frequently and would be grateful for your help

All the best

Laudrup

angelicmary85

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

Hiya and welcome,
start by filling this out..Then we can all tell you where to make changes!!

RAS

hi

please open a new basci bank account with someone not asscoiated with any of your debts,

Have you checked whether you can claim CTB,HB, or any other benefits?See www.entitledto.com

steph100

Hi

We have received a letter from a debt collection agency for a debt that has been paid directly to the supplier of the goods (a health club) we also have a receipt from them confirming the payment. The letter from the agency states they are going to commence court action and that we have to pay them a further £60.00 on the debt. This is the first letter from them and arrived a day later after paying the outstanding balance. Can they still charge us this £60.00 or should i refer them back to the health club . I wondered if by accepting the money from us directly whether the health club will have to call the agency off. Also the letter states if we dont pay it will have a severe inpact on our credit rating and aslo that of other family members. I believe this is an incorrect statement as I thought the law changed and you can dissacciate yourself from any one in your family at your address who has a poor credit rating, so even if they did continue any detrimental credit rating agains my husbans should not affect me as I was not party to the original agreement the letter is addressed only to my husband and it was a single membership. Any advice appreciated.

RAS

Steph

Can you start your own thread please.

steph100

Hello sorry about that I did but I dont know how to find it again to see if any ones replied.

slig

Steph, your other thread is here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1658769&highlight. It hasn't got any replies yet because you have posted it in the wrong forum. Your best bet is to start a new threat in the debt free wannabe forum.

Laprup, are you claiming Job Seekers Allowance? Also, it might be worth you contacting Citizens Advice Bureau to see if they can help at all, I don't know if unfair dismissal might be something worth exploring?