Helping My Friend (Addiction, Depression)

GeorgeUK

By the time an Administration Order got set up, the interest and charges would definately take this over the limit - don't think this is an option any more.

Not sure what field your friend works in - if it's finance or something then a DRO may impact his employment chances. That said, this looks like it may be his best option right now. I would contact one of the free debt charities such as CCCS or Payplan for advice on the next step and what his long term plan should be. Possibly also nationaldebtline.

I would advise writing to all the creditors to inform them of the situation and request that interest and charges be stopped.

(Taken from Fermi's signature)

Professional, free and impartial advice on debt problems can be obtained from several charitable and 'not for profit' organisations. They never make a penny from the advice they give, which means it will be given with only your best interests at heart. You can contact:

Your local CAB Office and ask to speak to a 'money advisor'
The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) - Tel: 0800 138 1111
National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000
Payplan - Tel: 0800 917 7823

regret70

Hi I don't know if it's a suggestion but does your friend have a social worker?they often can assist with these sorts of difficutlies and will look at housing and rent arrears.I work in social services and I know this is something we deal with quite often.

Thanks

Ames

Hi, I'm going to leave the debt stuff to the experts like George, and concentrate on income.

Is he receiving DLA? If not he needs to apply, get someone like DIAL to help him. A lot of people think that it's only for people with physical illnesses, but it's not. I get it for my mental health problems, for needing supervision and prompting to do things. A lot of people underestimate how depression can affect someone's day to day activities, and don't realise how much help is available

BUT, DLA (and ESA for that matter) is not there to pay debts with. It's there to make life easier for disabled people. He needs to concentrate on getting better rather than debts. There are far more important things than money, health is one of them. Is he getting all the help he's entitled to for his problems, a psychiatrist/CPN/support worker/social worker? Is his GP fully aware of the alcohol addiction as well as the depression?

One word about the debts though. CCCS took my DLA as income and wouldn't let me have any care needs to pay for. So it's worth getting opinions from as many of the free companies as possible, so CCCS/CAB/National Debt Line/Christians Against Poverty.

immoral_angeluk

Unless he had a CCJ he wouldn't be able to do an admin order. He'd be looking more at whether a DRO was appropriate if something formal debtwise was required.. can you answer the following questions?

Has he ever paid into any kind of pension that he is not currently receiving payment from?
Does he have a car? If so is it valued over £1000 on parkers?

Does he have assets (not including the car) of over £300?

Has he ever had any other insolvency proceedings DRO/IVA/bankruptcy etc? If so when?

Does he have any other income than his ESA and housing/council tax benefit? If so what?

Does he have any secured debt, hire purchase, bill of sale, mortgage etc?

AnInkling

Thanks everyone who has contributed help and suggestions to this thread.

He will leave the unit on Friday so I'll pass some of the suggestions (in particular, the contact numbers for free debt charities in GeorgeUK's post) on to him.

Ames, regret70: He is in touch with an a recovery organisation and another disability advice organisation. Hopefully these will help him with the benefits applications. His GP is aware of his problems, as that's how he was able to get the referral to the unit he is currently in.

immoral_angeluk: Yes, he has paid into a pension that he is not currently receiving payment from. I don't know the amount the pension is worth but it is in the thousands. He worked in the same job for around 10 years before being made redundant. Unfortunately (largely due to the alcohol problem) the redundancy money didn't last long.

He doesn't have a car. If he sold everything he has that is saleable he would probably be able to get more than £300, but then he would have no bicycle, computer, TV, hi-fi etc.

I am not aware of his having had a previous debt-related agreement. He certainly has not been bankrupt.

He has no income other than ESA and housing benefit.

He has no mortgage or hire purchase. The major debts are to the Halifax bank and Monument credit card.

GeorgeUK

If he has a pension then the DRO would probably not be suitable.

There are quite a few people on the board doing their own debt management plan - paying as much as they can afford to their creditors each month - even if it's only £1. I would definately get him to check if he had payment protection insurance on anything though as this should have kicked in when he was made redundant.