Ok newbie alert. 7 years burying my head in the sand...

Bradley_1984

Ok first things first - SOA:

Incomings

Wages £1057.35
Housing Benefit £314.99
Council Tax Benefit - £120.00
Child Benefit £173.33
Child Tax Credits £645.66
Working Tax Credits £125.66


Total = £2436.99

Outgoings

Car Insurance £65.00
Tax £11.00
MOT £3.00
Travel / Petrol £130.00
Gas / Elec £120.00
Water £80.00
TV Licence £28.50
Rent £541.67
Council Tax £120.00
Sky £44.00
Food £250.00
Forbes £43.00

Total = £1436.17

Debts

Capital Oneb £386.99
SAV Credit £455.87
Aqua £542.35
Vanquis £372.77
O2 £60.73
Capital One £488.03
Auto Direct £112.14
Chase £58.93
Three £67.25
EDF £472.76
TV £59.00
Provident £78.15
1st Quote £104.83
Sky £129.92
Water £347.94
Metropolitan £3,799.46
Aktiv Capital £927.10
Southern Water £655.15
Naturally Close £745.41
Barclays Loan £3,381.72
Littlewoods £619.94
BT £240.00
Rossendales Total £3,753.93

Total £17,860.37

Now I know people will look at this and be like £1000.82 is loads left but I seriously just dont know where it goes...I dont...The best thing for me right now is to keep a spending diary...Not sure my wife will be up for this as she gets really upset when we go back and look at what we have spent.

Now I need some advice if its not too early to ask...basically Rossendales! I owe them £3753.93. This equates to 21.02% of my total debt. This means they should get £207.20 per month. So i wrote to them to tell them this and they came back and said I need to pay £210.35 per week!!! Bloomin eck! They advised that the rest of the debts are non-priority as they are bailiffs acting for the council re: council tax and they have been to the magistrates court. They said that I shouldnt worry about the rest as credit cards/loans cannot go to the magistrates courts therefore I cant get a CCJ!! Is this true?

Im starting to worry as I dont want to get another CCJ. I have 2 and no chance of ever buying a house to leave for my 3 little ones! Im pretty clued up on benefits and what Im entitled to as I used to work for the Jobcentre Plus. Believe it or not, I was training to be a Financial Advisor for a firm at one point in my career! Joke eh!!

Well this is it, warts and all...come on people, let me have it!!!

immoral_angeluk

I'm intriuged as to how your housing benefit/council tax benefit is that high with your income?

DarkConvict

Fill out the SOA we use, it might show where some of your money is going - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Further to this, keep a spending diary for the next 3 months. write down everything you spend money and see see what is happening.

Bradley_1984

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

I'm intriuged as to how your housing benefit/council tax benefit is that high with your income?

Housing benefit now doesnt count Child Benefit as an income if you have made a change to your claim since 01/10/2009. Also it is done on number of people and living requirements rather than the hosue you are in. I live in a LHA(Local Housing Allowance) area. The council have my details totally up to date. Thanks for your concern though eh???

bargainbetty

You can get a CCJ from anyone if they choose to take that course of action. Rossendales are using their usual bully boy tactics to get you to pay them more than every one else.

I'm sorry your wife gets upset about looking at what she has spent, but sadly, she has to grow up and do it. If you continue to spend without thinking it will get worse. She is responsible for this too, and needs to be on board, or it cannot work.

You need to work out your monthly payments to these creditors and see the total monthly spend. That will give you a starting point.

If you are doing a DMP, you can ask them all to freeze the interest. If you are trying to continue making payments, then find out all the APRs on your debts and after the council tax is done, throw every penny at the highest APR debt. Start the spending diary (both of you) and only carry cash so you know how much is gone each day.

Write to Rossenadales explaining that this is the maximum you can afford, but will notify them if you can increase the payments or overpay for any reason. Include the cheque for the first payment and say you only want contact in writing and will not accept calls. You are not legally obliged to provide them with a SOA, just details of the the payment available to them. If they threaten court, you will be able to settle it with the judge.

Good luck x

Tixy

Hi

Council tax is a priority debt and should be paid in preference to unsecured debts. It should not be pro-rataed with other debts.

All the other consumer credit debts could lead to CCJs, if you are not paying the contracted minimums. If that happens and you get court papers come on here for advice.

That said it looks like you should be able to meet all your minimum repayments if you can find this missing money.

As suggested it would help if you could post in the format from the link above as this tells us more about your household, number of cars etc, and might help prompt you to think where some of it is going.

immoral_angeluk

Bradley_1984 wrote: »

Housing benefit now doesnt count Child Benefit as an income if you have made a change to your claim since 01/10/2009. Also it is done on number of people and living requirements rather than the hosue you are in. I live in a LHA(Local Housing Allowance) area. The council have my details totally up to date. Thanks for your concern though eh???

Please don't misread my intentions, I get the impression by the last comment you think I'm being nasty or something, I'm not, I was just genuinely intrigued as your income seems very high to be eligible, although as you say, the criteria has recently changed and as I work in the advice industry debt/benefits so was interested to see how the changes are taking effect 'on the ground' so to speak.

dancingfairy

Council Tax is a priority debt and you can go to prison for not paying it. :eek:. However the council must have got liability orders against you and have passed the debt to the bailiffs for recovery. If the bailiffs pass the debt back to the council then the council could in theory go for a comittal hearing - ie they can ask you to have you taken to prison for non-payment. They can find you guilty of culpable neglect or willful refusal - culpable neglect means you are just an idiot and haven't paid and willful refusal means you are deliberately not paying - you really don't want to get to this situation so you must get this sorted.
National Debtline factsheet here:
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=02_bailiffs_and_council_tax

The only other comments I can make at this moment are 1) you need a spending diary and 2) you need to get a grip before things get much worse.
Good Luck
df

Bradley_1984

bargainbetty wrote: »

You can get a CCJ from anyone if they choose to take that course of action. Rossendales are using their usual bully boy tactics to get you to pay them more than every one else.

I'm sorry your wife gets upset about looking at what she has spent, but sadly, she has to grow up and do it. If you continue to spend without thinking it will get worse. She is responsible for this too, and needs to be on board, or it cannot work.

You need to work out your monthly payments to these creditors and see the total monthly spend. That will give you a starting point.

If you are doing a DMP, you can ask them all to freeze the interest. If you are trying to continue making payments, then find out all the APRs on your debts and after the council tax is done, throw every penny at the highest APR debt. Start the spending diary (both of you) and only carry cash so you know how much is gone each day.

Write to Rossenadales explaining that this is the maximum you can afford, but will notify them if you can increase the payments or overpay for any reason. Include the cheque for the first payment and say you only want contact in writing and will not accept calls. You are not legally obliged to provide them with a SOA, just details of the the payment available to them. If they threaten court, you will be able to settle it with the judge.

Good luck x

The trouble is, I sent them a very detailed financial statement with percentages and monthly/weekly amounts. It has already been to court and as I have 3 kids, I cant have them come round and take my items which they threatened to do. I know they cannot take the kids stuff but the thought of them doing it in front of my children scares the hell out of me...

My wife is a very responsible person, probably more so than me, its the black and white she doesnt fair well with...but keeping the sums in our heads is what got us into this position...

Thanks for your help though, I appreciate you taking time to respond

koloko

deleted as work colleagues found username and forwaded on all posts to laugh at

RAS

Is all the Rossendale debt for Council Tax?

They are not correct that you cannot get a CCJ for the other debts.

But they are right that most of your other debts are consumer credit and council tax and utilties are priority debts.

Until you get the CT sorted, you need to pay the consumer debts a token amount.

What is Forbes?

And if you get Child tax credit, do you use any child care?