we are screwed :(

funkyfish586

hi all, we are on a dmp with payplan & pay them £300 a month we have no spare cash as the budget they set is v v tight! i have a son who is 19m & a daughter who is 18 days we get by but there is no cash spare at all

anyhoo we have an old car that we have just realised that the MOT is due on the 13th october & tax due at the end. The tax alone is £150
my partners dad works for a car company & he looked at it for us and he knows its going to fail on at least 3 things one of which costs about £200 he reckons as a guide about £400. He isnt a mechanic so cannt fix it for us. We need the car as my partner works 15 miles away in the countryside so buses etc are out we have to have a car

we have tried to sell it but theres no interest & we cant even afford the £30 to put it on autotrader. im crying as i write this as im so upset by it all its just constant worry. What can we do? x

Triggles

MOT & tax due in August? Is he driving this vehicle now? I can't imagine you would want the fine if caught! Is there a family member that can loan you the funds to sort the vehicle out?

Congrats, by the way, on your little one!

isy1011

You need to get a proper quote hun. Not a mate quote.
Then you need to weigh up options. Is there a bus, train, bike, scooter or even taxis that would be a cheaper option than keeping the car going.
We did that this summer and took a car off the road and my husband bikes now.

Sublime_2

Is there anyway you could speak to Payplan and explain the situation. Surely they allow for contingencies, etc?

If they are unreasonable, perhaps you may be better off talking to CCCS, who may come up with a more realistic dmp.

Hannah_10

With a new baby your statement of affairs that Payplan worked your repayments out from is now wrong. You probably set that up when your family was 3 people, now it's 4. Simply call Payplan and tell them you need it looked at again- as of NOW because the car repairs mean you have to hold back the next months payment.

Payments to creditors come AFTER the expenses of life, not before. He can't keep driving this car without an MOT and tax, there are serious consequences, it needs done now. Creditors can be pig headed and stroppy but even they don't have any right to demand you break the law! No court on Earth is gonna side with that in a billion years, so you're perfectly safe witholding payments now that you really need to and if they don't like it tough. If they have anything to say about it point out that a) it's the law and b) getting the sack would mean even £1 a month payments if that! They can threaten, that's ALL they can do.

For the next few days call in a favour, ask mates/family/work to lend him a car/scooter (check his licence and insurance allow) or to ask them to give him lifts, or even to put him up on a sofa if that sofa is within walking distance of work, just to get by for now.

You say he works in the auto industry, can he get work to repair the car for the MOT and take the bill out of his wages at £100 a month till it's cleared, or something less painful than the whole whack? What's more are you sure the tax is £150? You sure that's not £150 for a year? You can put 6 months on, it's still just as legal.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk check this website to make sure you are getting every penny of benefit you are entitled to. It's good practice anyway but especially so with the new littl'un.

And most importantly of all DON'T panic. Your emotions go through the mangle after a new baby, there is a lot you can do to work around the situation you have, you are not screwed.

eyeopener2

Great post Hannah.

Triggles

Good point, Hannah - definitely the budget needs to be changed anyway due to the new baby arriving!

If it's going to be about £400 to fix it, can it be done at the car place your partner works at? And will they allow him to pay £100 per month for the next 4 months or £200 for the next 2 months? And then you can speak to Payplan and adjust your payments accordingly.

Are you renting or are you paying a mortgage? I don't know the details, but I understand that during maternity leave, some mortgage companies will allow a brief payment holiday/break during this time - it will obviously mean the payments will have to be made at the end of the mortgage period, but it's better than nothing if it helps you get the car straightened out for use.

funkyfish586

thanks all, sorry im so sleep deprived i put August its not due until the 13th of October so next month & its his dad who works in the car industry but as he is not a mechanic he cant fix it. I dont think a taxi would be very cost effective & he might die by bike lol

I will def look in to payplan but they havent been very good with us. We are self managing our dmp from christmas as they have been so bad xx

funkyfish586

Triggles wrote: »

Good point, Hannah - definitely the budget needs to be changed anyway due to the new baby arriving!

If it's going to be about £400 to fix it, can it be done at the car place your partner works at? And will they allow him to pay £100 per month for the next 4 months or £200 for the next 2 months? And then you can speak to Payplan and adjust your payments accordingly.

Are you renting or are you paying a mortgage? I don't know the details, but I understand that during maternity leave, some mortgage companies will allow a brief payment holiday/break during this time - it will obviously mean the payments will have to be made at the end of the mortgage period, but it's better than nothing if it helps you get the car straightened out for use.

thanks we are renting and im not on maternity leave as i am a SAHM ( i want to go back to work but childcare is £700 pm for them both :eek:) we are not entitled to any benefits other than the £10.50 a week tax & CB & sorry for the confusion its my partners dad who works at a garage. x

gratefulforhelp_2

Congrats on the baby. Could you put the car on ebay if you really need to flog it?

eyeopener2

Maybe a SOA is needed to give you ideas for trimming/rearranging your spend? That way you could approach PayPlan with a more realistic budget, and it will help if you go self managed in the New Year.