help re: welcome & vanquis-request for lower payments

sarah03_2

Today my o/h has been laid off (finished) thing is the loan with welcome is in my name and so is the vanquis & asda credit card, we have been paying this jointly but obviously payment protection won't kick in because of them only being in my name oh and we also have a car on finance (creation finance) which is in my mums name (couldn't get the credit for it) which I pay monthly.
My question is: tomorrow I plan to ring the above companies to see if I get can payments lowered, I do work part time but given with the choice of paying the rent and feeding our 2 children (aged 3&5) then i won;t be paying the above which is not what I want to do - has anyone had dealings with these companies for this sort of situation? I've read the threads about welcome but i've been with them since 2003 and have never had any problems with them so i'm hoping that we can come to some sort of arrangement, as for the car finance with creation i'm not sure - tried to get the payments lowered a few weeks ago by them suggesting to refinance but then they turned my mum down because of her earnings (she too only works part-time & my dad was made redundant in april).....
any help & advice greatly apprecciated...
x

Fire_Fox

Has your partner been to find out about what benefits he is entitled to yet? JSA at least starts from the day you make contact, so the sooner the better. Assuming you live together you will be assessed for benefits together and I think Payplan or CCCS (free debt charities) will also look at your joint situation.

Is there any possibility you can simply hand the car back to the finance company? I think you usually have to have paid more than half of the agreement off. Check Creation's paperwork.

Don't make any telephone calls, it is rarely successful. Instead use some of the template letters from this board to explain your circumstances and offer £1 token payments while you seek further advice from CCCS or Payplan. Rent, council tax and food are considered priority bills, so pay these if at all possible.

You will find this helpful for putting together a budget of your new circumstances. It's helpful if you want specific advice from this board, and also if you choose to go down the DMP (Debt Management Plan) route:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

sarah03_2

thanks for your help firefox, have spoken with national debt line and they also adv to write letters and not telephone. The trouble with the car is its in my mums name and negative equity was carried over from previous car so think would still end up owing even if i could hand the car back - but will speak to creation and see what they say