Please help me, SOA completed

bailey59

Hello everyone, this is my first post so please bear with me as its a long one. I am in a right mess and need help!! My financial situation is very bad and I am in a right state. Neither me or my husband are sleeping, we feel sick, dizzy and we are scared we are going to lose our house. I found this website today and I am hoping someone can come to our rescue and give us some much needed advice. I have filled in the SOA hopefully I have remembered everything. There are one or two things I should point out. Our mortgage is fixed until Nov 2011 so I cant switch it, I dont think I can do anything about the secured loan, maybe I could switch it to another company, I have no idea, but as it is secured on the property the mortgage company need to be involved. I dont think there is any equity in the property and it is possible its now in negative equity. The house was valued in 2006 I think at 120,000. I have just had a gas/electric statement saying there is a debit of 600.00 (sorry I cant find the pound sign on my laptop!!) even though I have been paying what they asked for, they have just increased my gas/electric from 97.00 to 137.00 per month. So if I were to switch suppliers I will have to pay off the balance which I cant afford. I am looking on this site how to look for cheaper car insurance at the moment I think I can get it 200.00 cheaper and thats without me even trying properly so thats good news. My cap 1 credit card has now been passed to a debt collection agency (Cap Quest)and because I havent paid anything to them as yet (I wrote to them 2 weeks ago offering a payment but they told me yesterday they havent received the letter) they are demanding 2000.00 by next tuesday or monthly payments of 250.00 which I cant afford. The biggie Lloyds TSB credit card at 25,000, god that makes me feel sick just writing that figure down, hasnt been paid for approx 1 year, we have tried to get them to agree to something but we havent had any luck. We have now received a default notice for 1570.00 to be paid by 6th oct. The other credit cards etc are all up to date so you will see on my SOA that I havent put any monthly payments down for the Lloyds TSB c card or Cap Quest. I hope this is making sense. My husband is on a 12 month mobile contract 15.00 per month and I stick 10.00 per month in pay as you go. We have our phone line, broadband and cals all in one approx 35.00 per month. Not sure if I am on a contract. I think I am on a contract with Sky cos we had sky plus installed about 2 months ago when we lived in cloud cuckoo land.

Our main worry is the big credit card and the debt collection agency we just dont know what to do and we are so confused. DMP, IVA, bankruptcy??????? We have no idea which is the best way to turn, The final amount we have left surely wont be enough for the companies and they wont agree to our tiny payback amounts surely. Please please can anyone give me some hope.


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1280
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2380
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 595
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 198
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115
Electricity............................. 68.5
Gas..................................... 68.5
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37.4
Telephone (land line)................... 35
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21.5
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 320
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 18
Car Insurance........................... 50.22
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 200
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13.59
Buildings insurance..................... 26.2
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 80.88
Other insurance......................... 42.45
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 20
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 2132.24

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 112000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 95000....(595)......0
Secured Debt.................. 22000....(198)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 117000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds TSB C Card. partner.............25000.....0.........0
Cap Quest..........me............7300......0.........0
Nat West credit card..me.........1900......50........0
Nat west overdraft......me.......1000......0.........0
Lloyds TSB overdraft.....partner......2500......0.........0
Co-op Credit card.......me.......300.......5.........0
Freemans..............me.........100.......6.........0
Mint Credit Card......partner.........480.......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........38580.....71........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,380
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,132.24
Available for debt repayments........... 247.76
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 71
Amount left after debt repayments....... 176.76
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 112,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -117,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -38,580
Net Assets.............................. -43,580

Eager_Elephant

Can you edit your first post to show who's debt are who's?

This will help us work out what the best solution will be

EE

bailey59

I hope thats what you meant

Odette

Someone will be along soon who has gone through this and can help you. This is your first step and well done for making it. :j

APR's would be helpful too on the debts that havent defaulted.

Baileys_Babe

In your SOA you have 2 adults and 0 children yet their is £200 for other child related expences, what are these? or is this an error?

Eager_Elephant

How sure are you of the house price?

Although you could cut down on some of your expenses it is not going to help very much and entering into a DMP with the money you have available will take about 13 years.

Can you confirm the occupation of yourself and your partner and also whether you are temporary or permanent?

EE

crazyhazy

bailey59 wrote: »

Hello everyone, this is my first post so please bear with me as its a long one. I am in a right mess and need help!! My financial situation is very bad and I am in a right state. Neither me or my husband are sleeping, we feel sick, dizzy and we are scared we are going to lose our house. I found this website today and I am hoping someone can come to our rescue and give us some much needed advice. I have filled in the SOA hopefully I have remembered everything. There are one or two things I should point out. Our mortgage is fixed until Nov 2011 so I cant switch it, I dont think I can do anything about the secured loan, maybe I could switch it to another company, I have no idea, but as it is secured on the property the mortgage company need to be involved. I dont think there is any equity in the property and it is possible its now in negative equity. The house was valued in 2006 I think at 120,000. I have just had a gas/electric statement saying there is a debit of 600.00 (sorry I cant find the pound sign on my laptop!!) even though I have been paying what they asked for, they have just increased my gas/electric from 97.00 to 137.00 per month. So if I were to switch suppliers I will have to pay off the balance which I cant afford. I am looking on this site how to look for cheaper car insurance at the moment I think I can get it 200.00 cheaper and thats without me even trying properly so thats good news. My cap 1 credit card has now been passed to a debt collection agency (Cap Quest)and because I havent paid anything to them as yet (I wrote to them 2 weeks ago offering a payment but they told me yesterday they havent received the letter) they are demanding 2000.00 by next tuesday or monthly payments of 250.00 which I cant afford. The biggie Lloyds TSB credit card at 25,000, god that makes me feel sick just writing that figure down, hasnt been paid for approx 1 year, we have tried to get them to agree to something but we havent had any luck. We have now received a default notice for 1570.00 to be paid by 6th oct. The other credit cards etc are all up to date so you will see on my SOA that I havent put any monthly payments down for the Lloyds TSB c card or Cap Quest. I hope this is making sense. My husband is on a 12 month mobile contract 15.00 per month and I stick 10.00 per month in pay as you go. We have our phone line, broadband and cals all in one approx 35.00 per month. Not sure if I am on a contract. I think I am on a contract with Sky cos we had sky plus installed about 2 months ago when we lived in cloud cuckoo land.

Our main worry is the big credit card and the debt collection agency we just dont know what to do and we are so confused. DMP, IVA, bankruptcy??????? We have no idea which is the best way to turn, The final amount we have left surely wont be enough for the companies and they wont agree to our tiny payback amounts surely. Please please can anyone give me some hope.


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1280
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2380
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 595
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 198
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115
Electricity............................. 68.5
Gas..................................... 68.5
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37.4
Telephone (land line)................... 35
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21.5
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 320 this is very high for just 2 people and could definately be lowered, check out the money saving oldstyle board for some help getting it down.
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 18
Car Insurance........................... 50.22
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 200 what's this for?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13.59 this seems high for pet ins
Buildings insurance..................... 26.2 this seems high too
Contents insurance...................... 0 no contents ins?
Life assurance ......................... 80.88 very high, does it include critical illness? could you maybe change it to basic life assurance temporarilly
Other insurance......................... 42.45 what's this for?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 20 this should be used for the debts right now
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 2132.24

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 112000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 95000....(595)......0
Secured Debt.................. 22000....(198)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 117000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds TSB C Card. partner.............25000.....0.........0
Cap Quest..........me............7300......0.........0
Nat West credit card..me.........1900......50........0
Nat west overdraft......me.......1000......0.........0
Lloyds TSB overdraft.....partner......2500......0.........0
Co-op Credit card.......me.......300.......5.........0
Freemans..............me.........100.......6.........0
Mint Credit Card......partner.........480.......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........38580.....71........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,380
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,132.24
Available for debt repayments........... 247.76
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 71
Amount left after debt repayments....... 176.76
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 112,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -117,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -38,580
Net Assets.............................. -43,580

It might not seem like it but on a monthly basis you're actually in positive according to your soa, I've put in some suggestions for where you could cut back easily, but am new to all this myself so can't help with what you should do with the other debts.

moneybuster

Hi your Gas Elec look big who are you with, do these figurs per month include paying anything towards your arrears.

Regards Moneybuster

bailey59

Thanks for your replies. 200.00 is for my husbands 2 children who live with their mum. We are both employed, I work in an office and my husband is a scaffolder. Im not 100% sure about the house price, how would I find this out? I put 320.00 for food inc toiletries, cleaning stuff etc plus I have a dog and 3 cats so this includes cat food, cat litter and dog food, most weeks I spend around 80.00, we checked around for pet ins and thought this was ok but I could check again, the 26.20 is for buildings and contants insurance, the 80.88 life cover includes life and critical illness cover, mortgage protection and life cover for my hubands 3 children, we cant cancel or reduce this and I dont want to really either. The 42.45 is unemployment cover and I need that for me as my job is not secure

bailey59

Im with NPower, not sure the monthly payment was just increased to cover the next 6 months so hopefully next 6 month bill will have reduced the debit amount so long as i dont put the heating on and sit in the dark

milliemonster

Ok, firstly, try to relax, I know you must feel in such a desperate situation right now but honestly there are always ways to manage your debt.

Your priorities are your mortgage, secured loan, council tax and utilities as you have rightly been paying.

Even though you are fixed into your mortgage, have you considered going interest only for a while?, this could reduce your monthyl payment substantially to give you some extra to throw at the debt.

Your pet ins I think is reasonable (mine is £20 a month for 1 dog! but he is a pedigree)

You can still cut down your grocery bill substantially, we are a family of 4 and have got ours down from something extortionate like £800 a month to £300 and yes that includes dog food, cleaning stuff etc. Have a look at the Old Style board for ideas, the downshift challenge etc.

I would personally get rid of the critical illness cover if you can, and just keep the life ins for now.

Get rid of sky and go freeview for now.

Now to your debts.
Regarding your debts that have been passed to debt collection agencies, these will usually freeze the interest and you can offer them token payments for now, they may threaten alsorts but there is little they can do.

Your other debts including the loan you haven't paid anything towards for the last year you need to then divide up the surplus you have left in your budget proportionally amongst your creditors, please pay SOMETHING towards each of your creditors, at the moment you are favouring some of your credit cards over others and if Lloyds did take you to court, it would not be looked on very well that you have not paid anything towards this debt, even if you can't meet the monthly payments you must try to offer something to each debt, if they refuse to accept, pay it anyway.

Once you have trimmed your budget, if you then don't have enough to meet your monthly min payments, contact one of the free debt charities like Payplan or CCCS for further advice

But most of all, as long as you continue to pay your mortgage and secured loan you will not lose your house. I know it all seems helpless now but believe me it really isn't, many of us on here have been in desperate situations like you and we''ve come out the other side.

The first step you have taken in acknowledging you have a debt problem which is out of hand, the next is understanding how creditors work, the threats they can offer to scare you (that really are empty threats when you understand just how little power they have) and then gaining control over your budget and debt repayments.

At the end of the day, they can't have it if you haven't got it!