How to pay off Credit card debt when disabled and unemployed

willowangel

Hello,

I'm hoping someone can help me out here - not sure if there's anything that can be done but I'm getting desperate. I am registered unable to work, but don't get any help from the state because the disease I have is variable and so they keep cancelling my benefits if they think I'm getting better, forgetting that I can quickly get worse again. My doctors think it would be bad for me to go back to work in the forseeable future as it would aggravate my condition, but that's seeming more and more likely to be the only option.

I have £2800 on an egg card and £700 on a John Lewis card, and while I haven't made any purchases on either of them for more than a year, the debt just isn't going down because the interest matches the payments I can make. It's hanging over my head and I hate knowing it's there, paying all this money every month just into nothing. But I can't get a loan or a balance transfer because I am unemployed. I do have an income as my wonderful mother helps me with bills etc, while writing lots of letters to the benefits agency as to why they're so crap, but that doesn't seem to be taken into account by any of the companies. Does anyone have any idea what I can do? I can afford about £50 a month repayments. I can't believe I've been so stupid as to get into this problem in the first place - most of it came from when I was very sick and wheelchair bound - I kept spending money hoping it would make the days I couldn't do anything a little more bearable. And it did actually serve its purpose, but now I'm left with the hangover.

Please help!
Fiona

sdj25

Fiona,

Even though you say your disability allowance comes & goes - does this mean that you can claim unemployment benefits (i.e. the dole) when you're not recieving the disability allowance?

Another thought: Write to your local MP! Explain the situatoin to him, and the frustration you suffer from the governments "On & Off" support. If you get someone in power behind you, then you may be able to rely on the disability income much more, and clearing your cards off will be somewhat easier.

If all that goes well, and you do have more money coming in - you may want to clear off the smaller debt first, and get yourself down to one card.

Hope this helps