...*shouts* .....help !!!!!!

Nightlight

Ive just recently separated with my husband - hes moved out and Im left nursing a total of 12 grands worth of credit card debt - all solely in my name - (he could'nt get credit of his own so had an additional card on my credit card account). Im not working at the moment and have just gone onto income support. Friends are throwing several different avenues of 'help' at me ie - get a consolidation loan - sell the house, pay it off and frankly I dont know which way to turn - I have'nt missed anypayments yet but thats gonna happen soon unless I can find a job real quick !
Can anyone tell me what my best option is?

Many thanks

Tixy

Hi

Have you cancelled his additional card? If not then make sure you do that.

A consolidation loan is very unlikely to be the best option.

Might be useful if you could complete a statement of affairs and post on here so that we can see a bit more about your situation and what options might be open to you - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

spursfan14

I would suggest that you don't get any more credit. Have you looked into the debt management option? If you go to your local Citizen's Advice bureau they will discuss the options with you plus they are free and impartial. With debt management you have two options. A free service like National Debtline, that will give you the tools to set up your DMP or a paid service like Debt Line that will negotiate with your creditors on your behalf and you pay them a monthly fee.

Best of luck!

Tixy

spursfan14 wrote: »

I would suggest that you don't get any more credit. Have you looked into the debt management option? If you go to your local Citizen's Advice bureau they will discuss the options with you plus they are free and impartial. With debt management you have two options. A free service like National Debtline, that will give you the tools to set up your DMP or a paid service like Debt Line that will negotiate with your creditors on your behalf and you pay them a monthly fee.

Best of luck!

There are free services that will negotiate with your creditors and handle your whole DMP yourself - such as CCCS.
IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.
There is never any need to pay for a debt management plan -it will just cost you more and keep you in debt longer.

Nightlight

Ive just spoken to someone at National Debt Helpline who said that at the moment - because I dont know what amount of income support Im going to get (- I've just put a claim in - signed this n that - been down there for my interview etc - but apparently the process takes a couple of weeks) - I need to call him back when I have a figure so we could work out what I could afford !

Tixy

If you cannot make your payments in the meantime then this template letter could be useful -
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...9&postcount=52 It buys you a month whilst you sort things out - banks have all agreed not to take any action for 28days if you inform them of a financial problem.

A word of warning though if you have a credit card with the company you bank with and send this letter out they could still choose to offset any funds you have in your bank account to pay the card payment that would be due. Possibly worse is that if you are in an overdraft with that bank they may recall your overdraft straight away.
It may be easy to just send it to creditors not connected with your bank in the short term.

That said if you do have an overdraft and are considering a debt management plan then you'll need to open a new bank account with a bank that you don't owe any money to currently. You could do that anyway in preparation for sorting things out. Then you can have you income support paid straight into the new account so you don't have the hassle of moving it.

If you opt for a basic bank account this won't involve a credit check and won't have an overdraft (which you are not allowed on a DMP). List of all basic accounts (on page 5) http://www.moneymadeclear.org.uk/pdfs/bank_accounts.pdf