Debt advice... please!! about £20,000 in debt, phone calls all the time, terrified...

AppleCrumble_2

I would be so grateful for any advice anyone can offer me.

I owe about £20,000 ... credit card debts/loands mostly (unsecured, Ii live in a rented flat):
£800 on a capital one credit card (2.2% a month)
about £3,200 on a Sainsburys credit card - interest frozen
about £3,500 on a Halifax credit card - interest frozen
about £3,500 on a Cetelem loan. not sure of interest as they made some kind of arrangement with me whereby monthly payments went down from £120 to £65 over a longer period.
£400 on an old council tax debt.
There might be other old ones knocking around too.:eek:
Also about £8,000 in student loans (deferred at present)

I was unemployed two years ago when I left teacher training college (I was mature student, am a lone parent) and so got in a horrible mess. I was fine, financially, when I started college but lived off credit cards when I was there. I also had over £4,000 in rent and council tax arrears at one point but have managed to repay most of that over the last year when I had a temporary job, but that ended in the Summer. I was also evicted a few months ago so have had all sorts of upheaval recently and let things slide a bit, now I am getting phone calls from people I'm not sure of (eg Mackenzie hall) and scared to answer the phone.

Currently I am unemployed and receive income support, I'm looking for a job but I know that even when I get one, with the rent etc I have to pay it is going to take me years to repay these debts without some kind of help.

Today I found this website by accident and I am having my lightbulb moment now. I have been hiding my head in the sand so long and I want to start to deal with this, somehow, properly.

Two years ago I wrote to the two big credit card debts and they agreed to £10 a month and they also did freeze the interest, eventually, (but meanwhile they were piling on fees, interest at over £100 a month, the two credit cards were about £3,000 each when I cut them up and returned them so the actual debt has increased not gone down).

So I would really appreciate some advice on where to begin - I have read some stuff on here about bank charges, and I am going to look at my bank account charges and see if I can reclaim some. Where else? Waht next?

With the two credit cards - which have been frozen - if i was to do that with them, (ie look for refunds of bank charges) would that be worth trying? Or would that annoy the lender and make them start charging me interest again?

any help/advice would be really appreciated.

AppleCrumble_2

Also, one of the credit card debts recently wrote to me to say the debt was beign transferred to another company and I would be negotiating with them can they do that?

smokybabe

Well done for posting hun, that must have taken some guts. The 'experts' if not around now will all be here in the morning with loads of brilliant advice for you. They usually ask for a SOA - statement of affairs as explained in the sticky at the top of the board by Southern Scouser as this can help them to get a better picture of the problem and start to help you on the way to tackling the debts. You are in the right place here now for help and I wish you all the best.

AppleCrumble_2

thank you very much for the reply Smokeybabe.
You are right it took alot to post I thought I was about to throw up! I feel sick and headachey as I have been reading this site & the bank action site for about 3 hours now .. but I feel excited as there seems to be hope other then dreaming of a lottery win (which i don't do)

SOA
income of £75 a week IS/child ben +
every four weeks also £178 child tax credit +
every two weeks £200 housing benefit
expenditure
£900 pcm rent
£38 phone pcm
£24 pcm water
£35 electricity pcm
gas - is paid on a card meter approx £40 a month
gettign council tax benefit so that is not being paid
Currently paying £10 each on cc's and £65 on a loan each month

smokybabe

OKay, well done, you also need to include other costs such as food, birthdays,cleaning articles, etc. Also you recieve child benefit, how old is your child/children? - costs here on your budget could be nappies, formula etc.

all_hours

Please can you clarify how much housing benefit you get? You put £200 every two weeks but that means you're only getting £400 a month with a rent of £900 - shouldn't you get full hb on IS?

AppleCrumble_2

sorry yes you are right it is £200 a week housing benefit - the rent is actually £208 a week but the council (london one) won't pay the full amount.

Food/household - I guess about £45 a week
my child is old enough not to need nappies now she's just started 2ndary school!!

jobeyonekenobi

Hang in there Apple - I know its early, and at this time in the morning, everything can feel overwhelming. I know - been getting up at stupid O'clock for 5 years now....in about an hour, people will start coming on the boards and divulging their pearls....
its not long now, and you're not alone in this. Quite a few of us will be thinking of you

loulouloulou_2

Hi there Applecrumble,

Just wanted to add that i know how you feel - i'm £15000 in debt and it was a shocker when i realised this - only two weeks ago!!!!!!!!

Since then i've been on this site everyday. The people here will really help you and give you excellent advice.... plus it keeps you really motivated!!

I had a bad weekend this weekend when i got myself into a bit of a state about it all... but really its not worth it. We got ourselves into this situation - well done you've done the hardest bit by facing up to it - now we can move on and start to get our lives sorted!

Well done for finding the site honey and good luck for the future!!

lynzpower

Hi there Applecrumble

Well done for finding us

I suggest you do a full SOA as per Southern Scousers sticky, and get your head around what debts are where.

Once weve seen this we can then help you work out what goes where, ifd there are any savings to be made, and how to tackle your debts best

Love
lynz

QueenB.

Welcome Applecrumble. It is a scary journey but you have made a start and on here you will find lots of support and advice.

I agree you should go back and do a full SOA with a complete breakdown of incomings and outgoings and the debts themselves.

A spending diary is always a great idea, especially if you are unsure of a food/everyday expenditure.

Good luck.