20 years old - on benefits - and in ALOT of debt

stuckinahole

I am in trouble and dont know what to do now. I have just taken my head out of the sand and decided to stop hiding from my debt. Just looked through my paperwork and i am in approximately £37500 worth of debt from payday loans, bank loans, catalogues, unauthorised overdrafts, phone contracts. and im only 20 is there any hope ort have i really messed my credit history for life

Tixy

How did you get so much debt within 2years?

You will not have messed your credit history for life, but quite possibly for the next 6years.

Can you list your debts individually? How far behind are you with payments? Have any taken court action against you yet?

How long have you been on benefits/when did you stop working?

Lokolo

What did you buy with £37k?

Sell it.

Ames

There is hope! You're only 20, and a messed up credit record only lasts for 6 years usually, so you're young enough to get out of the mess and have a long debt free life ahead of you. I wish I'd got it all out of the way so young.

You say you're on benefits, are they out of work or disabled ones? For now, you need to open a new basic bank account (co-op are recommended) with a bank that's not linked to any of your creditors. Send them a letter explaining your situation and offering £1 a month token payments.

If you stick up your statement of affairs using the link below then people will be able to advise you better. But it's a lot of debt, what's your chances of getting employment soon?

Try not to worry too much, there's always hope and there's always a solution.

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html