BrightHouse/Council Tax Arrears Advice

B..

Hi all.

I've been reading through the forums on here recently so thought i'd sign up myself.

Ok where do i begin!

I am considering going Bankrupt or getting a DRO, as i simply cannot afford to pay any of my debts any more. My partner is a stay at home dad and is in receipt of no benefits or anything, and i work full time.

I have circa £10k debt, with another 3-4k being added soon (Brighthouse)

CCCS have advised me that Brighthouse are a priority debt and do need to be paid, i have been told to offer them half my weekly payment for the time being which i will do this saturday when the payments due.

Now the other thing is council tax. Including this years we have around £2570 arrears. We've been in arrears with council tax for about 2 years now and we've not had any bailiffs come around, which must be lucky because a friend of mine had bailiffs visit him after he was only two months behind with his council tax!

For the past year or so we've been sent expenditure sheets etc, filled them in and offered what we can realistically afford but it's been refused every single time.

Now the issue i have is if i go Bankrupt or get a DRO, if i qualify for one, what will the council be able to do regarding the debt? Will they bankrupt my partner with him not having any income? As i'm told they will pursue him for it with both our names being on the account. Or would they be more likely to accept a reasonable payment from him?

The problem with my debts is that i don't even have £1 spare at the end of the month. If i were to offer all the creditors £1 per month i'd have to stop paying something like TV License, to be able to pay it. I have no uncessary outgoings at the present time, all bills which need to be paid.

I do understand 10k (however it will rise to about 14k with brighthouse) is a small amount to go bankrupt for and i do know the seriousness of it. this isn't something i've just thought about overnight, it's been in the back of my head for months. I would rather not have the hassle of companies constantly threatening me, refusing my offers, going to court, and struggling with money again making sure i pay them etc, and just go BR/DRO, get them off my back and start a fresh. I know it lasts for 6 years on my credit file but my credit history is in tatters anyway with defaults, ccj's etc and would take me years to get back to any sort of decent state.
I do have a counselling session with CCCS in 2 weeks time, but i was just wondering if anyone has any advice in the meantime for me, as i am terrified at the minute, especially of BrightHouse and the stories i have read about them.


Thanks for reading :T

angelicmary85

Hi B...

Welcome to DFW!!

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

Start by posting up your SOA (the link above will take you there!)

Good luck with your debt free journey! x

Tixy

Hello B and welcome.

As angelicmary has said the best thing is if we can see your statment of affairs then we can help advise you better - we may even find some areas where you can reduce outgoings. This will also be very useful with your meetings with CCCS so really is worth spending the time to complete.

In the meantime there is a template letter (on nationaldebtline.co.uk) to send to say you cannot even afford token payments in the short term. You can send this to unsecured creditors and state that you will be in touch in a month once you have decided on the best course of action financially.

What did you buy from brighthouse? I assume there is no possibility of returning this and ending up owing a small balance?

Is your OH or the household getting all the benefits you are entitled to? check out entitledto.com website.

Good look and look forward ti reading your SOA.

B..

Thanks for the replies, i have pasted my SOA below.

We have furniture from BH which we really do need, as i can't afford to replace - bed etc..

We get everything we're entitled to, i earn to much for my partner to receive any kind of benefits.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1080
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 480
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1560
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 450
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 60
Electricity............................. 45
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 33
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 22
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 95
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
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................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 10
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Small Loan.............................. 90
Car Lease............................... 199
Total monthly expenses.................. 1567

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
Severn Trent...................137.......0.........0
Welcome Finance................2935.89...0.........0
Npower Gas.....................466.99....0.........0
Brighthouse....................3103.48...0.........0
Southern Electric..............95.36.....0.........0
Cabot..........................516.91....0.........0
Creation.......................1292.92...0.........0
Council Tax....................2655.58...0.........0
DM - Kays......................721.84....0.........0
DM - Npower....................285.07....0.........0
H&M............................313.73....0.........0
Kwik Fit.......................131.49....0.........0
BT.............................752.31....0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........13408.57..0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,560
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,567
Available for debt repayments........... -7
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -7
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,408.57
Net Assets.............................. -13,408.57

bigstevex

Sky/Cable could be cancelled unless your in initial 12 months? Also mobile @ £50 seems quite excessive, again is this contract?

B..

Yep, 10 months remaining on the Sky contract. I took this out mainly because i have no money to go out, so sitting infront of the tv is about the only thing i have left to do!

Phone is a contract, but this is for two lines, one i use and one my partner uses.

angelicmary85

Your petrol, grocery and car insurance are very high

fatpiggy

Ouch, £4K from Brighthouse. You should be able to pick up alot of furniture from the Salvation Army, and I've seen plenty of good quality stuff there, not tat. Or Immaus, the church charity if you have one nearby.

£300 per month for groceries for 3 could be reduced. Your hubby can learn to cook if he is at home! I bet you could easily lop £100 per month off and still eat well. Ditch the satellite fees and get a freeview box cheaply from somewhere like Tesco. Look carefully at your mobile bills if it is a contract phone. Are there calls you could make more cheaply on a landline, or preferably, not make at all? If it is contract, can you negotiate a better deal? BT has a low user rebate system which is now aimed at people on low incomes. Your gas and electric are high - stick a jumper on and limit the hours you have the heating on, and the temperature it reaches. It amazes me how many peoples homes are like furnaces and they are ambling around in t-shirts. If your hubby is busy doing the housework (ha!) he won't feel cold during the day, and with no Sky to distract him, he won't need to spend the day on the sofa . You have a reasonable income - your benefits more than meet your rent so a £10K debt really isn't that bad and can be beaten. It just needs a bit of planning and work. With the suggestions above, you could have enough spare cash to kill the smaller debts in just a couple of months. That will give you the confidence and even more spare money to chew lumps out of the others. Any chance your hubby could earn some cash? Mowing lawns, even walking dogs???

bryanb

Is it essential to have a car on lease?

Tixy

B.. wrote: »

We have furniture from BH which we really do need, as i can't afford to replace - bed etc..In future join freecycle and look on there for free furniture



Electricity............................. 45
Gas..................................... 50
Both quite high - try to cut down on usage as much as possible, energy saving bulbs, turn things off at the plug, turn heating down & wear an extra layer dont use tumble driers and fan heaters. Don't leave an imersion heater on all day. Also make sure you are giving proper readings not estimated on the bills. Check on comparison sites if you can get cheaper and if you switch go through a cashback website such as quidco to earn a bonus

Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 33
Is this unmetered? Would your landlord let you seitch to metered - might save you money
Mobile phone............................ 50
Cut down as much as possible ask to move to the lowest tariff for both of you, aim for nom more than £15 each

Telephone (land line)................... 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 22
Internet Services....................... 10
Together you are paying £43 per month, look at an all includive package such getting all from SKY as you are in contract

Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Should be able to reduce signifincantly. Best tips are on oldstyle board - you need to cook from scratch, batch cook and freeze meals, try drop a brand challenge.

Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Are all journeys necessary - read Martins article on how to save up to 30% of your motor fuels bills by how you drive and fill up
Road tax................................ 0
If you have a car you need this
Car Insurance........................... 95
£1140 per year :eek:Very high, check out comparison sites and use cashback site if you switch
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Need to budget something

Contents insurance...................... 0
You should have contents insurance

Small Loan.............................. 90
What for - is it secured, who owed to and how much owed, what interest rate
Car Lease............................... 199
Expensive -£2388 a year. If you stopped this and bought an old efficent car for say £600 you would make big savings
Total monthly expenses.................. 1567

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
Severn Trent...................137.......0.........0
Welcome Finance................2935.89...0.........0
Npower Gas.....................466.99....0.........0
Brighthouse....................3103.48...0.........0
Southern Electric..............95.36.....0.........0
Cabot..........................516.91....0.........0
Creation.......................1292.92...0.........0
Council Tax....................2655.58...0.........0
DM - Kays......................721.84....0.........0
DM - Npower....................285.07....0.........0
H&M............................313.73....0.........0
Kwik Fit.......................131.49....0.........0
BT.............................752.31....0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........13408.57..0.........-
You need to find out interest rates on all these. Brighthouse is probably a secured debt. Council tax is a priority debt as are gas & elec.
You need to think why you have run up such these debts in the past and work out what the money was spent on then stop overspending. You will struggle to get anymore debt so must live within your income.

Sorry this all sounds negative but you need to cut back and there is scope in your budget to reduce spending at least enough to pay token payments.

CCCS will ask you all these same questions so good that you will have had time to think about it in advance.

Good luck.

B..

£300 for groceries still isn't enough to be honest! we both eat fairly healthy so everything is fresh and usually smartprice stuff aswell. things like nappies, baby wipes, laundry tabs shoot the price up.

Our contract phones include pretty much everything apart from 08 numbers, which i call off the landline anyway as some of them are free. We have tried to go for lower tariffs but they won't let us. We've barely ever gone over our allowance and if we have it's been because the landline hasn't been working.

Believe it or not, we don't EVER have the heating on lol. Last time we had it on must of been 6+ months ago. Both electric and gas are on meters, the gas meter still has debt which i have listed, we use that much gas just by heating the water (only when needed) and cooking.

OH doesn't watch tv at all during the day, he's too busy looking after our 2 year old. He has applied for jobs etc with no luck of even an interview, plus we can't afford the childcare. little one is too much of a handful for him to be mowing lawns etc. He will be starting a college course if he can't find work, so we should hopefully get some help from that.

I will take everything you said on board though, hopefully try cut a few costs down.

I still need to cut it down by a big amount as i'm not paying full council tax at the moment. (Should be paying £168)