Where do I begin?

katsplat1

Morning all.

I have lurked on here for ages plucking up the courage to accept that me and my husband are in a financial mess!!

We have been married for 3 years and during those years have constantly spent beyond our means.

I now want to stop this and get control of our finances but I don't even know where to begin.

Some of our debts are with debt collection agencies and we kept ignoring the letters to the point where they have stopped!! How do I go about finding out about these debts?

I have a massive debt from my past that I refuse to do anything about. The basics of it is is that I had a joint mortgage with my previous partner. We split up and during the process of me trying to buy him out, he declared bankruptcy and the property was repossessed. I wasn't living in the property at the time and was very mad when he did this.

The house was sold at auction which left a shortfall of approx £12,000. The mortgage company came to me for that money but I was in no financial position at this point to get that kind of money. Two reasons really - one was my credit rating was battered because of the joint mortgage repossession - and two because i thought 'why should I'. He wiped his debts the 'easy' way so why should I pay for his mistakes! They ended up getting an attachment on my wages but I changed jobs and moved after paying for 6 months and never informed them. This was in 1999. Then out of the blue at xmas 2005 I started getting letters from a debt collection agency about this debt. I presume they got my details off the electoral roll because since 1999 I have married and moved about 4 times!! I have not acknowledge any of the letters they have sent and wondered how long they can chase me for? I know I should just accept this and pay but it's £12,000 and I feel I shouldn't have to pay. When I lived in the house and was responsible for paying all the bills one was never missed. I moved out after the seperation and within 6 months my ex was bankrupt. It's not my fault he drank and gambled his wages and never paid a bill so why should I pay the price?

Can anyone put me on a path to getting all my debts wrote down so I can admit just how much debt we are in. I inherited debt with hubby too so that is another minefield I am trying to get through too.

I really believe this is the time to get it sorted so any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kat
xx

floridadreamin

Welcome Katsplat1. I'm not in a position to offer any advice at the moment but in no time at all someone with a wealth of advice will be along to start you on the road to DFW. Well done for taking your head out of the sand. Perhaps you could start with a SOA. Listing all you incomings and outgoings. If you know your APRs for CC etc that would also be useful to those who come along to help.

jesster_2

Hi Kat
I don't have the answers to your specific situation i'm afraid, but just wanted to say well done for posting, there's bound to be a way through this for you, and this is the first step. you WILL be able to sort this out. Keep posting

CLAPTON

if you dont know what debts you have i would suggest you get your credit files from the credit reference agencies....costs £2 per agency or you can get them free if you use their offer of a free month and cancel before the month runs out

see as follows:

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/index.html

https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/consumer/uk/sitepage.ehtml?forward=gb_elearning_credit14

http://www.callcredit.plc.uk/corporate_scripts/consumer_creditreport.asp


i would suggest you post a SoA here

see

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Apple_2

Hi Kat
As CLAPTON said if you run credit reports on yourself you will find most of the debts listed. Some may be missing but most will be there. A word of caution, if you apply for these reports it may alert your creditors to where you are now and may start the letter flood.
On the old mortgage shortfall. As it was joint you are liable. Your ex isn't because of his bankrupcy. I'm not getting into the rights and wrongs of it, it's just the law. As far as I know mortgage shortfalls are enforceable for 12 years so this one is definately 'live'.
You mentioned 1999 as the time you split with ex. On the debt front ( excluding CCJ's ) there's a six year limitation front so if creditor's haven't got CCJ's some of these may be statute barred by now. But you also mention current debts belonging to your husband.
If this were me, first off I'd need to know who I owed what to. Others might know how to get the reports without disclosing where you are. Then I'd discount the ones more than 6 years old without CCJ's ( you said you'd made no contact ). Then I'd go to the CAB and made sure I talked to a debt specialist. I would go through the list, talk it through and come up with a plan. This might be an iva, dmp or bankrupcy. Your husband's position may or may not complicate things, as might whether you own your house or anything of value.

First things first. Find out who you owe what to. Then telephone CAB and find out your options. Listen to their recommendations. Talk to hubbie. Then make up your own mind.

Well done for taking the first step ! and best of Luck.

Annie_Fanny

Try the National Debtline http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/ or on 0808 808 4000. They will give you free and confidential advice...

For now you could post up your Statement of Affairs (SOA). Look at this thread for guidance:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

If you could list all of your debts and APRS/time remaining etc that will help both us and yourself get a handle on the situation. Well done you are doing the right thing!

Good luck!

Annie

katsplat1

Thanks for all your advice folks. I have filled in application forms for credit files from the three companies. I am also working on my SOA and will try to include hubby's debt.

Does anyone know if I can send 2 credit file applications in one envelope with a cheque for £4 or do they have to be sent seperately?