Help! Pregnancy throwing out all debt-free plans!!

flossiejo

I'll admit, I'm in a bit of a panic at the mo.

It looks like I'm pregnant (all the symptoms, to be confirmed with DR tomorrow morning)

I'm in a newish full time job and do mystery shoping on the side - total annual income is approx £29k before tax.

Having left my ex in 2008 in a very messy way (police involved, going to court in less then a month) I've been stuggling to keep myself afloat with clearing my debts while sorting out the house (joint mortgage), dealing with the court thing and stabilising my income/expenditure and debt repayments.

Of my £1700 net wage, £540 goes to the mortgage on the house (no point in sorting that out until I know if he's going to prison or not) and £800 goes on repaying debts. The £200 ish I get pcm from mystery shopping goes straight onto the bills.

I've got it all worked out and, bar the mortgage, everything will be cleared within 5 years.

Then I missed a couple of periods, felt really ill and did a test last night. It was positive.

I don't want to go the bankruptcy route as I'll lose too much. but if I AM pregnant, my earning potential is scuppered and I won't be able to keep up the regular payments I've worked out to clear it all.

What are my options? What should I be looking at doing to get through this?

dehaani

flossiejo wrote: »

Having left my ex in 2008 in a very messy way

did a test last night. It was positive.

You're 11+ months pregnant?

flossiejo

11+ months - I could get money for that!!

This is from a new relationship lol!

mum2one

Congratulations on the pregnancy, the 1st thng to do, (I know your doing is the drs for conformation), your best bet would get some advice maybe try the CAB, you mention the house, the divorce, whether he goes to prison, it seems llike your juggling a lot, if you have a solicitor re the divorce, may be worth asking them about the house, they may put you in contact with another solicitor, / or better still ask for a free introduction consultation for another solicitor re your rights etc over the house.

Then sort out a SOA - statement of affairs, contact a non-profit debt help agency think ones alled cccs?, but theres links on the tabs at the top.

Sorry to run, but just wanted to say its all doeable and people will help x

dancingfairy

Without knowing the full picture it's difficult to say however a dmp (debt management plan) may be suitable for you. Basically you would pay all your bills eg gas/electric, water, mortgage etc and what's left would be split between your creditors each month - the creditor you owe most to would get the biggest share down to the smallest creditor who would get the smallest share. The idea being they will stop interest and charges to allow you to pay the debt off. It is not legally binding like an IVA or bankruptcy is so there is no guarantee they will stop interest and charges although most companies do even if it takes them months to get used to the idea.
It might be worth having a chat with CCCS or your local CAB or phoning National Debtline but do avoid the 'one easy solution and we will wipe out your debt' type companies or the 'use a legal loophole' type ones.
df

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi floss welcome to the boards, good luck with the journey hope you can sort things out re pregnancy and debt :-) x

immoral_angeluk

Any DMP you're in will be amended to take into account new circumstances. This includes extra benefit income from child benefit and child tax credits which you claim once the baby's born, but also from the added costs of having a baby. So when the baby was born you would need to do a new financial statement and make new offers to your creditors.
Without knowing your exact circumstances it's difficult to know what you'd be eligible for benefit wise, but worth looking into to see if you are eligible. Don't have my files currently to hand but you could do a google....

£190 health in pregnancy grant
£500 sure start maternity grant (if you claim and recieve more than the family element of child tax credit when the baby's born. You can apply up to 3 months after the birth)
Child tax credit
Child benefit
help with health costs such as dental treatment, prescriptions etc if you get more than the family element of Child tax credit, you will recieve a tax creedit exemption card.
Statutory maternity pay from your employer, or maternity allowance if you don't qualify for SMP.

Check out entitledto.co.uk for a better idea of what you'd be eligible for. Just put the baby's birthday as today to see what you'd get.

Oh and congrats!

flossiejo

Slight, cheeky bump, but also an update.

Dr says I'm 5 weeks. I know it's early days, but I figure it doesn't hurt to plan now - that way if all goes well with the pregnancy then I'm prepared and if it doesn't go well then I've got a solid way forward financially.

gonzo127

well congrates and good luck with everything, just also think on top of the benefits you will be entitled to (www.entitledto.co.uk) you should also get maintenance from the father

can i also recommend www.babycentre.co.uk for some pregnancy info and some great people to talk to (can even suggest it to the father as i found it great when my wife was pregnant)

immoral_angeluk

Congratulations! Another site to check out is babyworld.co.uk!

flossiejo

Happily the father is fully supportive, if a little shocked :eek:

And a quick Thank You to Cahoot for removing the 'Flexible' from their Flexible Loan - cheers guys, great timing!!