Do I have any options ??

BenjysDad

Hi,

I'm a bit new to this so I'm hoping someone can help !! It's a bit of a long story so please bear with me

At the end of 2007 (before the backside fell out of the world !!) I left a very well paid job to join a small company with expansion plans in a leadership role. Unfortunately things didn't go according to plan and despite posting profits for the majority of 2008 and into 2009 the group that owned us removed funding and essentially closed us down overnight.

As a result I was out of work for just over three months and used up all the savings I had (including on a blown boiler and having to buy a cheap car) before returning to the company I'd left in the first place - on a lower basic salary but back in work !! Now, I work in sales, and the vast majority of my income has always been commission based. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I'm good at what I do, and have been paid well as a result - I've also always lived to my means.

Unfortunately - and despite, in context, a very successfull year, I'm earning approximately half what I was on a year ago and about a third of what I earnt in 2007. I still have the bills of someone that earns considerably more though.

When I was first made redundant I approached my bank (I've been a customer with them since I was 14 - so about 19 years), explained my situation and asked if the could help. They said they were happy to and consolidated various things into a personal loan that with the benefit of hindsight was a huge mistake. Having said that, I was genuinely asking for help and trusted their advice - another mistake.

Since then I've approached the bank again to try to renegotiate the amount I'm paying on my loan and the bank manager that I deal with basically said it wasn't an option. He then proceeded to give me a £3k overdraft I didn't want and paid my loan with it. Since then I've run myself ragged trying to earn enough money to pay everything - even with my wife's income included we can barely afford to cover the bills.

The problem is that every time I contact the bank they just forward me back to the same guy (I have paid for private banking for years) and I don't feel like I can trust him after the loan and the overdraft.

I have never defaulted on a payment in my life - and I'm not the sort of person that tries to get out of his obligations either. I borrowed the money originally, I spent it and I owe it, therefore I'll pay it back - however, surely there must be some way that I can get some support to make things more manageable ??

Do I actually have any options ??

Beast

So first things first, the bank aren't really obliged to do anything at this stage and this seems to be where you're realising they're not really your friend.

The best solution right now would be to try and identify ways you can cut back to make the difference each month - there's a load of people on this site who are really good at this and can advise.

fatbelly

Stop trying to get impartial help from your bank.

You may want to post on the debt-free wannabee forum - that's more where you are now. They'll ask you to do a statement of affairs (soa)

If you want to start exploring your options, a good place to start is CCCS' s debt remedy