Can anyone help with some advice?

MarkBTM

I am out of work and in arrears on my mortgage, personal loans and credit cards. Can anyone give me any advice as to what I can do about it? I am on the lookout for a new job. Thanks in advance!

concerned43

Get yourself of to your local Citizen Advice Bureau pronto, they will help set out your priority debts. Don't leave it too late as you don't want to lose your house over this.

fatbelly

Hopefully you're on Jobseekers Allowance with Support for Mortgage Interest kicking in after 13 weeks.

Marisco

Hi Mark, the first thing you must do (unless you already have) is talk to your mortgage provider. That is a priority debt, so if they see you are at least keeping them informed, they will have ways of advising you on the best course for you. But don't ignore them. You could also write to the loan companies and CC's and explain your situation, again they will see you are not ignoring the problem by keeping them informed. You could request that whilst you are on JSA to pay only token amounts, until you get a job. Good luck

spursfan14

concerned43 wrote: »

Get yourself of to your local Citizen Advice Bureau pronto, they will help set out your priority debts. Don't leave it too late as you don't want to lose your house over this.

Agree with this. Sometimes it takes a while for the CAB to see you as they are underfunded in some areas. You could also try talking to the CCCS or Payplan for free advice, especially if you decide a debt management plan would help you get on your feet. Their are also paid services who can help you set up a DMP, like Debt Line, Gregory Pennington and Harrington Brooks.

Have you been to the job centre? That could help you get back into work quicker.

All the best.

fatbelly

spursfan14 wrote: »

Their are also paid services who can help you set up a DMP, like Debt Line, Gregory Pennington and Harrington Brooks.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

spursfan14

fatbelly wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by spursfan14
Their are also paid services who can help you set up a DMP, like Debt Line, Gregory Pennington and Harrington Brooks.


:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Paid services work for some people, free service for others. Free services are fantastic on the whole, but most people don't realise they are financially supported by the very people who are chasing us for money- the creditors (apart from CAB). This means that its challenging for them to be 100% impartial. On the other hand paid services take a management fee that could be going towards paying your debts. But to stay in business, they have to be 100% customer focused and tend to be impartial. To write off either free or paid services out of hand would be presumptuous.

I would suggest that what works to sort out one persons finances might not work for another. I'm my experience there is no one size fits all for financial planning. So it is beneficial to research all avenues to see what suits your own personal circumstances.

Hope that helps!

RAS

The only people Martin recommends are the debt charities listed in his article here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help.

When somoeone is unable to pay thier mortgage, they do not have money to waste paying debt companies.

spursfan14 Which debt companiy do you work for, please?

podperson

CCCS and National Debtline are both registered charities, Payplan is funded from donations by the credit industry but they are under a obligation to treat all creditors on an impartial basis.
The majority of debt management companies I am aware of not only have interests with major financial companies but often work on a commission basis to try and sell bad credit loans or credit cards as an 'alternative solution' which I don't really see as being very impartial.

dancingfairy

Mark - you need to make sure you are getting everything you are entitled to at the moment.
First priorities are eating and keeping a roof over your head - the credit cards and unsecured loans come at the bottom of the pile.

df

fatbelly

spursfan14 wrote: »

Paid services work for some people, free service for others.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Hope that helps!

General rule - when money is tight, the last thing you need is someone new to pay money to