Payment of debts whilst on benefits.

podperson

Ok so £16k of debt makes the bankruptcy option a bit more serious. Without knowing her circumstances we can't really advise on that but are her current circumstances likely to be long term? You say she is on income support not job seekers so is she looking for work or can she not for whatever reason. If this is likely to be a long term thing for her then maybe bankruptcy is a viable option. If she is just out of work at the moment but she is aiming to go back or from some other way she thinks her finances will improve relatively soon then £1 token payments are fine but if it is going to be for a long time she might want to at least get information on other options. She needs to go back to cccs and tell them she has underbudgeted and is struggling to manage, she needs to work out a proper budget that she can reasonably live on and then see if there is anything left over for debts. If she can only make £1 payments then that is what they will have to accept.

di3004

Hi there

That is great of you helping out your mate all you can, good one.;)

I would also check to see if your friend has anything to reclaim.

For example, if your friend have taken out finance in the past or even the ones she is still paying out on now, if she was sold insurance on any of them, maybe they were added without her knowledge, she may not have been eligible to make a claim anyway.

There are lots of reasons, but if any, then if I were your friend, I would make a reclaim, this would certainly help to reduce her debt if successful.

So check the link out below for ppi mis selling......
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance

If this applied to her, tell her to go for it, and it would also be worthless to her now as well, its added to the debt (if any insurance) and she will not be able to make a claim for eg: unemployment, sickness etc, and with being on benefits she is not eligible.

Hope this helps, just thought I would mention it that's all, because not everyone are aware they have the insurance until they look into it.;)

JamesY_2

I was on £200 a month jobseekers.

Still managed £300 a month payments for 6 months.

Sell stuff.

mum2one

Shes lucky to have a friend like you to help her out, def agree with the other posts, maybe the SOA she did with the CCCS was off top of her head, again, agree re SOA,
You say shes trying to avoid bankruptcy - I'm only guessing she owns the house / mortgaged and worried about loseing it.

(Just pulled this out of thin air)
Say summer months her gas bill £25 per month, then winter kicks in - heating on, bill £75 per month thats got to be found, hense I would go for a new SOA, and also look at £1 per month, even if your friend does it for 1 month, 3 months, just give her some breathing space.
xx