Change of circumstance

football1_2

My husband and I have debts with a number of debt management companies that were being paid back at an agreed rate. However, my husband is now unemployed and we are unable to meet these payments. Can anyone suggest what our next course of action should be?

Tixy

Hi

Firstly I would say you need to write out a new statement of affairs (income & expenditure account) to see what you can afford to pay currently in total.
Once you know how much you can afford you could either write to them all, explaining that he is out of work and that you can now only afford a reduced payment of X. Or if you can basically afford nothing because your basic household living costs exceed your income then I would just offer token payments of £1 per month to each debt until your circumstances improve.

This template letter may be of use - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=21654579&postcount=50 you may need to amend to fit your circumstances.

Or if you are not sure about managing this yourself (or not confident in completing your income & expenditure) then I would get advice from one of the debt charities - IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

It might also help if you posted your statement of affairs on here for us to see if we can suggest money saving tips to help you reduce your outgoings. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html