Advice...please!

hlcarroll

Ok, I will try and shorten this down, but please bear with me!

Me and my partner (both 19) live in a lovely area, in a lovely house that costs almost £500 a month rent. Unfortunately I was recently made redundant, and my partner also had to take a lower paid job. He is now earning around £130 a week. Before this all happened we were earning between is around £2500 a month, and so our outgoings were well within our means ( we weren't just being silly!) we have a car which we got on finance (not the best idea retrospectivelly, but we both thought our jobs were safe) which costs £230 a month.

With all the other things we owe and will need to pay out in the next 3 months we will need around £5000, but in that time he will only earn around £1400, i'm sure you can see the problem! I am frantically searching for a job and would happily do ANYTHING at the moment, despite the fact that I have serious back problems making it a struggle to even walk at the moment. I have also applied for jobseekers allowance but have not even heard from them yet.

This weekend we have our rent due, and the car repayments are coming out (already over a month late, so double the amount) and we do not have the money.

We have desperately tried to find a loan, but have been repeatedly lied to and ripped off (they obviously saw us coming!) and instead we are £110 down, and have found out that we wont find a loan so quickly and especially seen as we have now defaulted on payments!! We now have 4 days to come up with nearly £1000 (and that would only sort us out for a few days!) and no way of doing it.

I hate to say it, but the loan sharks are seriously beginning to look like our only option (this sure isn't what I was expecting to be doing at 19!!) I am basically hoping that someone can point out a way to get hold of money (I arent holding my breath!!).

Please, dont comment if you dont have anything nice to say, I cant cope with it at the moment, and am seriously depressed. I know we should have saved, I know we have been stupid, but its too late to tell us that now!!

(Also slightly off topic, does anyone know how you go about applying for a council house? This is obviously not going to fix our problem, but would be very helpful!)

Thank you all, and sorry for the massively long post!! :A xx

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Probably best off putting it or getting the post moved to the benefits board.

You might be entitled to tax credit I suspect.

hlcarroll

Does anyone know how to move the thread or get it moved, please?? xx

getmore4less

Report your own post and explain you want it moved red triangle ->

Debtfreewnabbe or benifits boards are probably best.

My initial thought is don't borrow money that will just make things worse.

highguyuk

I agree - don't borrow anymore!!!

hlcarroll

Thanks for the help reporting it and asking for it to be moved.
I don't want to borrow any more, but our alternative?
Live on the streets?? I have been given one idea, that a crisis loan could be a possibility, but it is a very slim chance, oh well, off to the jobcentre!
Had the finance company come around today to tell us we have until Tuesday or they would be taking back the car! Fabulous, house bound for me! xx

karenx

You could try claim JSA if you are looking for work. And housing benefit to help with the rent. You arent entitled to working tax credits as you need to be over 25 to get that. You wont get any government help for paying debts/cars etc.

paulofessex

Sorry to say this, but it may mean that you have to lose the car. Yes the money will still be owed to them, however you have look at priorities, a roof over your heads is more important. In you current situation how much longer would you be able to run the car? You mentioned that double payments are due to be taken from your account for the car, stop them payment asap, use the money to pay the rent. Contact the finance copmany in writing advising of your situation in case there is anything they can offer, but to be honest they may not be interested. Dont allow the finance company to pressure you, they cant have what you havent got. Also if asked for a list of you income/outgoings l would consider not providing it, l would only provide this type of document to a court upon request.

I would also contact JSA, don't wait for them to contact you. Have you looked possibly claiming housing benefit. Make a appointment to see the homelessness prevention officer at the local council for advice.

Try not to panic, its clear that you are experiencing a major change in lifestyle and as l say you need prioritise issues. You know already that this site and forum will be able to provide you with advice and support at this time.

dmg24

How much does your partner earn?

For how long have you been in employment/ paying NI?

UnderPressure

Hello, I am sorry to hear of your situation there is nothing worst than thinking you have everything in order only for it all to be pulled from underneath you with no fault on your part

The sad fact of the matter is if you start to borrw money from companies or indeed loan sharks you ARE going to make things worst, you simply do not have the income to pay them back and you dont know for sure when things are going to improve.

You need an action plan and I hate to say it but if it is a possibility this may involve for the time being at least admitting defeat and moving back to your parents, hopefully the both of you could stay either at your parents or your partners parents if being together is frowned upon the for your own sake and the sake of your partner you may have to move back individually, not what you want to hear I am sure but at the end of the day you are at the moment getting a little taste of what things could be like.

Lets no kid ourselves here, it could take months for the both of you to find well paid jobs again, your landlord for one really is not going to be happy, you may get away with 1 or 2 missed / late payments but if it is going to be a regular occurance you are going to end up with your notice to leave and TBH you really cant blame them for that. Do you rent through an agency or direct with a landlord? If its through an agency the chances are you wont get much sympathy, all is not lost though they have to give you 3 months notice to move unless it is stated differently in your contract (which Im 99% sure would be illegal anyhow if it was), if your landlord is the guy that owns the house then you could do an awful lot worst than ringing him asking him to come round and explain the situation to him, you never know he may be in a position where he can grant a bit of leniancy not all landlords are horrid, my is terrific a real salt of the earth kin of guy that put up with an awful lot from me 2 years ago.

Council house forget for 1 simple reason you have no immediate need for a house, the most you would get is a flat probably in an area you dont really want to live, and even then you would probably have to do some time in an Emergancy B&B before they actually gave you anywhere, sadly so far as the council they will punish you for being sensible and not having 20 kids!!

The car................................ Do yourself a favour phone the finance company and tell them to come and collect it, if you dont bring the account up to date it will be reposessed and probably quite quickly, just had it back the money you will save and petrol and insurance will make a difference, Im sure the bus will do for now, I live in a rural are in the middle of nowhere in South Wales and if I had to I could get into my local town for work with public transport so really cant be any worst for you guys. The finance company will charge you quite a lot of money to give the car back but at least you know where you stand, they will probably take you to county court and try to get a CCJ, again communicate with the court and reply to their letters explaining your circumstances county court judges ten "m ost of the time" to be quite sensible people, if you have nothing in the way of finances to offer the judge will take that into consideration and you may only have to pay a small amount each month until things improve.

A CCJ will kill your credit records for 6 years but TBH in your situation you will already be getting defaults so they are already on the way to being of no good, also within that 6 years of not being able to easily get credit you will learn some valuable lessons believe me I have been there.

You need to take a step back and look at the situation properly, sometimes it just is not worth fighting especially at the tender age of 19 you should be enjoying yourselves now instead of worried to death about rent and debts.

Most importantly communicate with your landlord whoever they are the will be more willing to listen if you approach them before your rent is due rather than them having to chase you when it is late, as said either way even if they do give you your notice you have 3 months before you have to be out, so you are not going to end up on the streets next week. Both of you speak to your parents and see if you could move in with them for a while, Im sure most parents would rather you be at home than going through such problems.

Chin up, you got to where you are through hard work you will get there again one day bigger and better but next time you will have learnt the importance of saving and having a security net, in your defence the UK as with most countries is a terrible place to live at the moment, there really is not much in the way of oppurtunity, it will get better honest...................

Lastly I just want to re-iterate DO NOT lend any money from anyone take it from someone who knows

Best of luck

viktory

hlcarroll wrote: »

Me and my partner (both 19) live in a lovely area, in a lovely house that costs almost £500 a month rent.
(Also slightly off topic, does anyone know how you go about applying for a council house? This is obviously not going to fix our problem, but would be very helpful!)

First thought is that your rent is actually quite low - I live in HA house and pay the same as you. Secondly, you have absolutely no chance of getting a council home - they are in desperately short supply and you will be so far down the list as to fall off the bottom. If you are still interested, then you need to get an application form from your local council.

I would advise that you immediately stop paying all bills etc, except priority debts, i.e., rent, council tax, utilities. You cannot afford the car anyway so would be better off getting rid of it.

Get over to the debt free board where you will get excellent, non judgemental help.