Where to start?

upferret

Hi, could somebody help in giving my boyfriend some advice with his debts please? He is currently on incapacity benefit of £68 a week, He owes £950 on his overdraft, and £1100 on his HSBC mastercard. Seeing as he has to pay out £65 a week for food, rent and bills hes not going to pay it off any time soon! He probably wont be able to get a job til hes seen a psychologist for cognitive behavioural therepy, which could be some time yet as he has been on the waiting list since 2003! He has severe Obsessive compulsive disorder which resulted in him being unable to carry on with his job. He applied for DLA twice and was refused even though he cant make himself a meal or go into a supermarket or do simple household tasks.He has a lot of stuff he can sell on ebay (collectable nintendo stuff ) So we will start listing that. I work 32 hours a week(£144 per week) and Im just about out of my overdraft this payday. How can we reduce the debt (or stop it snowballing) while we try to pay it off? I was thinking of applying for a 0% credit card and moving his mastercard balance to it as the intrest on that keeps snowballing. Im not sure I could get a 0% card though as I dont earn that much. Any ideas?!

Thanks
Nicola

Broken_hearted

I dont see how he should get dla as he is not disabled. You should talk to the companies involved and explain the situation.

upferret

He is disabled. OCD is a mental disabiltiy

Broken_hearted

If his body is healthy then he doesn't require the mobility element and carers is even harder to get.

queenofthedump

Actually OCD is a very horrid thing to have and can be life crippling. Tell your other half to reapply for DLA and get someone to help fill in the forms if you can get it for depression surely you can get it for OCD. Hope the CBT works for him when you finally get some.

slash40

a close friend gets high disability for ocd. i think what helped was good letters from their gp and mental health support group. mental illness is classed as a disability.

Broken_hearted

They are changing the rules to stop people getting it for depression because of all the false claims. I agree that it's hard but we have been fighting the DLA for 6 years now, 3 tribunals (sp).
Also I think you need to have the condition long term (for 3 years) to get it fully.

CLAPTON

i wont think i understand the situation fully, you say you might apply for a zero % card and move his debt to it? then it becomes your debt and not his ...is that ok with you.
are you a couple jointing sharing costs etc.....if so why not post a joint Statement of Affairs (SoA), if not and you keep things separately why not post his SoA here?

fatbelly

Nicola - a few points

(1) I think he should apply for DLA. Here are some of the rules. The bold bits are my additions. Don't let previous postings put you off.

You have to have care needs for at least three months before you can get Disability Living Allowance care component, and you must be likely to carry on having these needs for at least six months. You do not actually have to be receiving help for your care needs. As long as you have the needs, it does not matter whether you are getting or planning to get care.

You have care needs if you need help with ‘bodily functions’, for example, eating, washing, getting dressed and going to the toilet. These care needs can also include help, which allows you to take part in social activities. You may have care needs because you need someone to supervise you to stop you being a danger to yourself and others.

The care component of Disability Living Allowance is paid at three different rates. You get the lower rate if you need help with cooking a main meal or care for a significant part of the day. You get the middle rate if you need frequent care throughout the day or night, or continual supervision throughout the day or night. You get the higher rate if you need frequent care or supervision throughout the day and night, or if you are terminally ill.

(2) Moving his debt over to you doesn't sound like a good idea.

(3) He is on higher rate short term IB so this should rise by £8 or £9 per week after 12 months of incapacity. Ok, that's not a lot but every little helps.

(4) If he only has a few pounds a week available for his creditors, then that's what he should pay. Try to get an appointment with the CAB (you can go with him) and they will set up a plan for him.

Hope this helps

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