Social Fund Debt ?

roxycola

Hi, Does anybody know if the social fund debt allowance is £1500 in total of budgeting loans and crisis loans ? Only because my crisis loan debt is £1400 almost and was going to apply for a budgeting loan for household items ! Thanks

cifpower

It is the total debt you can have with the Social Fund

karenx

If you are applying for another loan make sure you can afford the repayments also

viktory

roxycola wrote: »

Hi, Does anybody know if the social fund debt allowance is £1500 in total of budgeting loans and crisis loans ? Only because my crisis loan debt is £1400 almost and was going to apply for a budgeting loan for household items ! Thanks

Bloody hell, you owe some serious money. Get over to the OS board for hints and tips on how to cut back - you are clearly living way beyond your means.

honeyD

Have you tried your local freecycle for household items? Or asked family members if they know anyone who has the items spare?

roxycola

viktory wrote: »

Bloody hell, you owe some serious money. Get over to the OS board for hints and tips on how to cut back - you are clearly living way beyond your means.

To be honest you don't know the circumstances under which this debt arose from and I dont wish to disclose them on here, but living beyond my means ?? no !! and try not to be so quick to judge !

Kimitatsu

roxycola wrote: »

Hi, Does anybody know if the social fund debt allowance is £1500 in total of budgeting loans and crisis loans ? Only because my crisis loan debt is £1400 almost and was going to apply for a budgeting loan for household items ! Thanks

I dont know what sort of household items they are but have you checked to see if there is a furniture recycling project near you? Often if you are on means tested benefits they will let you have them for a nominal donation - they are all good quality items, which have been cleaned and PAT tested and it would be cheaper for you than getting another loan.

Have you also checked to see if there are any grants in your area? It may well be that if it is for a specific item or member of the family you can get a grant to fund it instead.

viktory

roxycola wrote: »

To be honest you don't know the circumstances under which this debt arose from and I dont wish to disclose them on here, but living beyond my means ?? no !! and try not to be so quick to judge !

I do know that you owe well over a thousand pounds in crisis loans (and I didn't even know they went that high!) and are looking to borrow more. In this day and age, I find it very hard to believe that you genuinely needed to borrow this much money - there is so much help for those on benefits.

You are not prepared to disclose full details, fair enough. I am however, perfectly entitled to draw whatever conclusions I wish. The fact is my point remains the same - you need help in living within your budget instead of borrowing more money.

It's a shame to notice how many people come to this board at this time of year looking to borrow money.

Kimitatsu

viktory wrote: »

I do know that you owe well over a thousand pounds in crisis loans (and I didn't even know they went that high!) and are looking to borrow more. In this day and age, I find it very hard to believe that you genuinely needed to borrow this much money - there is so much help for those on benefits.

Being fair to the OP though viktory crisis loans and social fund loans are not always to get and the borrower does have to specify what they are for and for whom they will be used.

You are not prepared to disclose full details, fair enough. I am however, perfectly entitled to draw whatever conclusions I wish. The fact is my point remains the same - you need help in living within your budget instead of borrowing more money.

The OP does not have to disclose full details on this forum if they do not wish to, and it is possibly not a case of living within their means but that they are not claiming their full entitlement or they need specialist equipment for another member of the household (you would be amazed how muuch of it is either not funded or you have to know who to ask to get funding). That is why I suggested grant funding rather than a loan, there are many grant giving institutions but again you need to know who to ask :rolleyes:

It's a shame to notice how many people come to this board at this time of year looking to borrow money.

Unfortunately that is always the case, the doorstep lenders have been around long before and many people find it difficult at this time of year. Maybe we should all follow Martins suggestion of cancelling Christmas for all but the necessary people?

viktory

Kimitatsu wrote: »

Unfortunately that is always the case, the doorstep lenders have been around long before and many people find it difficult at this time of year. Maybe we should all follow Martins suggestion of cancelling Christmas for all but the necessary people?

Some fair points - however, the OP owes a considerable sum of money, is on benefits and wants to borrow more for household items. My advice to go to the OS board for hints and tips was sound.

I accept the OP does not have to reveal all on here - I certainly wouldn't, but s/he has to expect people to draw their own conculsions. It happens all the time.

As for cancelling Christmas for all but the necessary people - that is a really daft suggestion. Who are the necessary people? What criteria do they have to meet? Surely it is better to suggest ways that people can have a lovely, peaceful, low cost Christmas without resorting to door step loans. It is possible.

Kimitatsu

viktory wrote: »

Some fair points - however, the OP owes a considerable sum of money, is on benefits and wants to borrow more for household items. My advice to go to the OS board for hints and tips was sound.

I didnt disagree with that

I accept the OP does not have to reveal all on here - I certainly wouldn't, but s/he has to expect people to draw their own conculsions. It happens all the time.

But we could all draw conclusions witha litte more compassion

As for cancelling Christmas for all but the necessary people - that is a really daft suggestion. Who are the necessary people? What criteria do they have to meet? Surely it is better to suggest ways that people can have a lovely, peaceful, low cost Christmas without resorting to door step loans. It is possible.

See Martins blog entry for 13/11 here:

http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2009/11/10/is-it-time-to-ban-christmas-presents/ that explains the necessary people

I dont disagree about Christmas - there is a thread on the loans board right now about just that subject, quite sad to read to be honest but the OP was asking about a loan for household items not Christmas specifically. Of course I could be being a complete muppet and they have spent all their money on Christmas and have nothing left for anything else, but it could also be that the fridge has just packed up