Felt Suicidal

SimIsOnTheUp

Hiya guys.

I am so stressed about what to do, regarding my debts, it's untrue.

Last night, I told my Girlfriend everything, after getting back from the CAB. She's been a star, but I lay awake most of last night, struggling with some very dark thoughts.

Having been to discuss things with a very helpful lady, at the CAB yesterday, I'm still considering a DRO, however I am worried it'll get me into other criminal trouble.

I really don't want to go down the DRO route, however I don't really have a choice.

My huge worry though, is the possibility of being 'done' for fraud :-/

2 weeks ago, I stupidly wrote 5 cheques out, at 'The Money Shop', totalling £500 (one of those 'cash 'til payday' loans)..

I lied at the time, and said I was still working in my old job (which I lost last November '09 / been on ESA since), when I wrote the cheques at 'The Money Shop', giving them my old works address / bank account / Visa debit card and cheque guarantee card details.

Stupid, I realise.

I'm a recovering alcoholic, and have been going through severe depression and anxiety, and fell off the wagon when I did this 2 weeks back, having since got help and climbed back on.

So, my worry now, is that I'm in such a pickle with my debts, I just can not think straight.

The Money Shop are going to present the cheques (£500 worth) to my bank (Alliance & Leicester), on the 8th July, and the money is not going to be there in the account.

I wasn't sure, if the cheques would bounce, or if they would be 'guaranteed' with the card, and so the CAB lady called the A & L bank on behalf of an anonymous client.

The A & L said, that the cheques would indeed be 'honoured', and so my account will go overdrawn, to the tune of £500 + bank charges (probably £25 I think for each cheque + £5 per day for being o / d)

My Girlfriend was going to lend me the £500 - deposit it into my A & L account, making sure that The Money Shop get their £500 back, and that my A & L account is safe / not overdrawn / no charges incurred.

However, having spoken to the CAB, it appears I'm now in even more of a quandry.

If I pay off The Money Shop / A&L, and then subsequently, have to go for a Debt Relief Order, the Official Receiver will then see that I have 'shown preferential treatment toward one creditor over another'.. The DRO would then apparently, be revoked.

Any of you with any experience / knowledge of this on here please - Is this true?

My debts amount to about £11,000 (all unsecured - no assets - rent flat - no car - out of work and on ESA), and so I was told by the CAB yesterday, that yes, I am eligible for the DRO.

We went through all the figures, and the angel of a Woman said that the worst case scenario regarding The Money Shop / A&L bank, will be that The Money Shop get repaid their £500 loan, and the bank overdraft / charges will then be treated as a seperate debt - which can then be included in my DRO, and written off after 12 months.

I am so worried though, that the A&L bank will then come after me for Fraud. Surely they will see, that I obviously wrote the cheques, knowing the funds would not be in my account to cover them. Will I then be looking at criminal proceedings / a jail sentence? I could not sleep last night, because of all this.

Even if the bank 'bounce' the cheques, The Money Shop will still chase me for the money back, and they too (more likely them, as apparently The Money Shop, are quite aggressive when it comes to their collection practices by all accounts) will come after me for fraud.

Either the bank or the Money Shop, are going to wonder, why I could afford the loan 2 weeks ago, and then a month later why I'm going to a Debt Relief Order. Surely this is going to arouse suspicion?

How on earth do I sort this out?

My other 'Priority Debts' are - Severn Trent Water (I called them last Friday, before the CCJ was due to go through this week - they agreed a plan with me - CCJ suspended, pending £45 a month / first payment due in 10 days time - I can't afford this) = £225.00

Also - NPower Electric Arrears = £635 - I called NPower last week also, explaining that I am trying to sort this out, and would discuss it with the CAB. NPower are asking for direct payments, from my ESA each fortnight, of £15.30 - again, I will not be able to afford this, until I'm back into work, so no formal agreement has been made as yet.

TV License Arrears = approx £118 owing - again, I can not afford to repay this at present. I have not been in touch with TV License yet.

DWP Crisis Loans = £710 owing - the DWP are deducting £7.72 from my ESA already - yet more deductions I can not afford.

Council Tax arrears = £459 (Liability Order already been granted) - the Council are not making deductions yet - they are wanting documents back from the CAB, to agree to £3.25 a week - more deductions from my ESA. The CAB lady advised not to return agreement for deductions, to the Council, and to instead include the debt in DRO asap.

I also owe £2,333.24 to the Council, for a Housing Benefit Overpayment - this was 'coded fraud', and so will not be allowed to be included in the DRO - I will continue repaying this at £5 a week.

On top of these debts, I owe £20,784.99 in unsecured debts to my Creditors (Girlfriend / Credit Cards / Catalogues / old mobile contracts) - This also included £13,938.00 of Student Loans though, so it would be £6,846.99 included in the DRO..

Plus the £4,483.88 owing to the Priority Debts

= a Total Owed / to be included in the DRO = £11,330.87

So, obviously I am below the £15,000 limit for a DRO.

This is so tough to face, however I realise I can not repay all of this debt, given that my income is only £57.73 per week (after deducting £7.72 weekly towards repaying the Social Fund Loans to the DWP).

I just can't believe I've been so stupid :-/

Also, if I do go for a DRO (am thinking about going for it in the next couple of weeks), won't this then attract attention to the fraud I committed, regarding The Money Shop / Alliance & Leicester bank.

I really don't want to lose my A&L bank account either - this is the first 'proper' bank account I have had in years..

I am aware though, that this account will probably be close anyway, once / if it goes £600 / 700 into the red..

I do have another seperate basic bank account with the Co - op - I've had this 6 years, and have treated the account well.

Am just so worried I'm going to end up in the Magistrates Court for my wrongdoing at The Money Shop, once they either don't get their money, or the bank lose their money..

Sorry to witter on here, but it's all making me feel quite ill, and I'm trying to get better, so I can return to work and make a fresh start.

At the moment though, I'm so scared that there's no way out of this.

Any pointers would be most appreciated.

Many Thanks,

Sim.

PS - I posted a SOA, on here previously, with all the figures clearly laid out - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2437407 - the figures are slightly higher, since posting that (exact figures posted this morning, as above) but it gives you an idea. Thanks again.

ljonski

come clean to everyone . lj

katsu

Can you not go into the Money Shop ASAP and pay them the cash so that they never bank the cheques?

goggle

girlfriend pays £500 into A/L bank BEFORE cheques are presented, then no fraud/intention to deceive has been committed - the funds are there when cheques presented. It's not a prob where the money came from (wages, g/f etc)

Toe-Jam

As the OP says you can take the £500 in to the money shop and give them the cash and they will rip up the cheques. Also if you do end up falling behind with the Moneyshop for whatever reason, make sure and cancel your debit card. As you have unknowingly given them permission to use it whenever they feel like without telling you first if the cheques arn't cleared.

Priority no 1 get rid of the moneyshop debt the rates are horrendous. Preferable via cash and then it will not affect your DRO as it won't even be on your bank statement.

Get your DRO set up and manage it properly. Its easy to fall into debt and its a struggle to get out of.

At the end of the day its only money, and you have no assets and as the saying goes " you can't take feathers off a frog" try not to fell so bad. Sounds like you have a great understanding girlfriend who will support you.

You also need to open a new bank account not connected with Santander/A&L now before the serious damage is done to your credit file and you can't get one.

Barclays Cashcard
Co Op Cashminder

are two really easy ones to get and have visa debit facilities. And if you have the Co Op one in the worst case scenario you go Bankrupt they will let you keep it.

DEBTMONKEY1A

Sim....as your credit rating is knackered anyway (CCJ's stay on for 6 years) for 6 years why not go Bankrupt-not a DRO? I had huge debts & the stress was making me ill (& causing my alcohol intake to rocket!!!). I did this in 2007 & the relief was GREAT!! Ask the question...DRO or Bankruptcy here http://www.debtquestions.co.uk/forum/index.php ...Simon on there is a qualified advisor & without his help I don't know what 1'd have done. I also think that SOME of the Council tax. On the money-shop thing I think it's HIGHLY unlikely they'll take you to court for fraud-will cost them nearly as much as the £500 anyway! Also...why not call CCCS for FREE advice too...alwasys helps to have more info. I stupidly wrote FIFTEEN cheques (I wrote chq guarantee card no on back) with different dates all to my G'F's bank a/c...all paid -NO legal action (I was scread about this) at all-written off in b/ruptcy completely....& the small matter of not paying tax/ni for TEN years....(I REALLY was scared I'd be locked up for that!) but no....all written off in bankruptcy. Not proud at all but was suffering from depression at the time. Forget A/L bank a/c.....I'd leave £1 in co-op a/c & use that when/if you do the DRO or BR.

Also....why not re-post your SOA & other posts on the 'bankruptcy & living with it' sub-section on here? Some REAL experts on there too!!!!

I should have gone BR years ago...was too scared...it really was EASY. 10 minutes at court, a 1 hour 'one-off' meeting with the official receiver...that was it!

Sure-you will have to raise the fees (& whilst not very honest it's not unknown for people to use money shop loans/credit cards for this-which would of course be written off in the BR)....but what price peace of mind??

Sim-I'd deffo post this on the BR section on here & ask CCCS & also Simon on the link given for advice.

Also....beware of people on here (& indeed ANY forum) who will tell you that bankruptcy is immoral/pay back your debts etc ( i had loads of those!)...its YOUR HEALTH/SANITY thats important....bankruptcy or DRO would be an easy way out I feel (& I'm not being flippant with the 'easy' bit!)....

DON'T WORRY re: magistrates court etc....99.9% not going to happen! Keep your chin up!

Also as Toe-Jam has said-DITCH current debit card & use co-op electron/debit....worse scenario get a cash-plus prepaid mastercard for £15 (ANYONE can get it & its the only pre-paid to protect you from companies going bust)...

Fiddlestick

Toe-Jam wrote: »

As the OP says you can take the £500 in to the money shop and give them the cash and they will rip up the cheques.

If your gf is willing to give you the money to do this, then just go into the shop and give them the cash in exchange for the cheques.

Problem solved.

SimIsOnTheUp

Hi guys,

Thank You so much, for all of your help.

Regarding my Girlfriend lending me the money - we've discussed this in more depth, since I saw the CAB yesterday, and decided that -

1 / I'm not comfortable borrowing more money, from my Girlfriend (she's already helped me out, back in February, to the tune of £1,500 - clearing then Rent arrears / BT arrears). She would struggle to afford it anyway, and that doesn't sit well with me.

2 / Even if my Girlfriend did lend me the £500, in order to repay The Money Shop in cash, I would be breaking the law further, according to the CAB.. as I'd be showing 'preference to one creditor, over another' :-/

3 / Even if I deposit the £500 into my A & L bank account, and let the cheques be paid / go into The Money Shop, and pay £500 cash directly instead of letting the cheques go through, I will almost definitely have to go for a DRO anyway.. End result - my A&L bank account will be closed anyway, so whether the debt stays with The Money Shop (if the cheques bounce), or is shifted to the A&L (in the form of overdraft / charges), the debt will be included in the DRO.

So, the CAB thought I shouldn't pay The Money Shop off, as the A&L told her, that due to the cheques being 'guaranteed' by my old card (since cancelled), they will go through my account, and make me overdrawn :-/

The £500 debt will then be out of the hands of The Money Shop hopefully (lessening the chance of getting into trouble for fraud), and will move to the A&L.

I already have a Co - op Cashminder account (been opened a few years) thankfully.

I've just spoken to the DWP - they are now going to pay my ESA, into my Co - op account from now on (from next week).

I just hope the cheques go through, as the debt will be more 'manageable' I think, as dealing with A&L will be slightly easier than dealing with The Money Shop I would've thought.

DebtMonkey1A - Thanks so much, for the info. The CAB and I discussed both Bankruptcy and DRO - and decided that a DRO will be more suitable.

However, I'm just so worried that if The Money Shop find out I was dishonest re my work situation, they will convict me.

If they don't (ie - if the cheques go through, and they get the money), I'll still have to deal with the A&L bank, and they'll surely want to know, why I wrote £500 worth of cheques, when there were no funds in my account - Won't they still deem it as fraudulent?

I really don't want to borrow more money from my Girlfriend, as I don't think it's right. Also, the CAB thought that the OR would then revoke the DRO anyway, due to my showing preference (the CAB have already taken details of this Money Shop loan) to one debt over another.

Sorry about this. My head is all over the place.

SimIsOnTheUp

PS -

I cancelled both my A&L cheque book, and my A&L Visa debit / cheque guarantee card last week.

Have since received my new card and cheque book from A&L.

I also received a letter from A&L, asking to let them know if I 'find' my old cheque book, and then they will 'remove the stop on the cheques' - I did this today, so do you guys think, that the cheques will be paid?

SimIsOnTheUp

The ideal solution, would obviously be, to pay back The Money Shop early, and then go for a DRO next month. Apparently though, this is not legal :-/

I almost wish I'd never told the CAB, about the Money Shop debt!

Of course, this isn't right either.

Do you guys still think, that I should still pay off the Money Shop debt in cash early, and then still go for a DRO. Is this allowed?

Many Thanks

Sim.

verystupidwithmoney

One think is for sure you're not going to jail!