A complete mess

iregretitall

Hi,

This will be a long one as I am in a right mess.

THE PAST:

It all started when I was 18.

I got a credit card with a limit of £670. I was working at the time and was coping with it ok then after about 3 months I lost my job and it spiralled out of control, the debt owed is now about £1250. This has been on my file as a default since I was 18 (i'm now 25).

Also at the time I was living at home and when things went wrong there I moved and didnt inform them of my new address as I was scared of what would happen with me not being able to pay the bills and my other family member did not want to be receiving debt letters to their address, and they didnt want the score affected by being linked to my debts.

I then found another job and still hid the fact I had this debt. after 6 months this job finished as it was all temp work I did.

I then found a permanent job when I was about 21 and I decided to get a car on finance for about £4995, small payments of £150 a month, i was then earning about £900 a month and was not paying any rent so thought this would be ok. Total reppayable was £8500, probably due to my credit rating from the Barclaycard.

This job then ended as I went through some depressionw ith splitting with an ex partner and didnt feel motivated at all and yet again I avoided the debt and carried driving around in the car for about 2 years until it was taken on a truck from outside my house.

I then moved again in with another family member (nan), she has now passed away unfortunatly and I miss her dearly.

Now these debts have been chasing me at the old address for a few years now sending debt letters and I had a PO box setup. I have recentley met a new partner and we have now moved into a flat together and I really dont know what to do . .

I am short every month on my wages as it is and im worried if i register for council tax at the new address i just moved into it will go on the electoral roll and they will start chasing me at my new address.

Im also worried that they might take my car if they find my new address and i need my car to get to work the pay our landlord. My partner is 23 and has been ill for a long time so has not been working.

Im trying to support the both of us and am stuggling.

Then i use the remaining for food and when that runs out my partner uses her ESA for us both for food.

I don't have a penny spare and want to get this sorted out.

I dont know where to start and i dont want to drag my partner down with me as she is also pregnant aswell.

Current address no one knows im living there, old nans address is where everything is going, new people have moved in there now and have started returning to sender, things like my bank have asked me on the phone, have you moved recently as we have had a letter returned to us. so this is starting to hit the fan now and i need to work out what i can do.

Niv

It would be easier if you filled in an SOA so that everything is clear for otehrs to help advise you.

iregretitall

My SOA is the above really I dont have money for anything else as these "Must Pay" bills take all of my wages.

RAS

Hi

You need to do a proper SOA http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

That adds up your various income, expenditure and debt totals and does all the sums.

podperson

If you are not registered for council tax it is not being paid or is it just in your partner's name? Either way you need to sort this asap as when the council find out (and trust me they generally do!) you are going to be stuck with another debt. Registering for council tax does not automatically put you on the electoral roll anyway.

Have you checked whether you can get any benefits? Should be able to get working tax credits and possibly a bit of housing and council tax benefit.

Have you called T-Mobile and told them you are having financial problems, often they will allow you to drop to a lower tariff.

As mentioned above you need to do a proper soa showing your incomings and budgeting for all your outgoing such as food - then you can see what you have left to go to the debts. Would suggest adding your partner's benefits onto it as well since assume she is contributing them to the household bills/food. When you have this sorted try contacting one of the free debt charities such as cccs or national debtline and they will be able to offer advice on what options are available to you.
It is extremely unlikley that any creditor would take your car when you need it for work and they would have had to take you to court first to get a ccj.

Pernicious

I have a question for you iregretitall - You have been on these boards for years & have several posts amended to "This Thread I Would Like Removed", are you serious about facing up & clearing your debts now or are you just going to return in another year or 2 with more debts & the same attitude of not taking on board the excellent advice given on these forums?

I really hope you're serious, especially with a baby on the way.

iregretitall

I will do a proper SOA as soon as possible, i am serious about doing this, its just that sometimes things have come up that have prevented me from carrying on.

The SOA has asked me for existing debts and I have lost count of what debts i have but if i send off for my report then they will know my new address.

What can i do ? the only option I can see would be to use an online version like checkmyfile.com and pay one lot of £17.99 for all 3 agency reports for a quarter and then cancel it.

Pernicious

Well if you're serious I would suggest getting your report anyway, & going through the motions of slowly paying back everything that you owe so that one day you can be completely debt free & focus all your money onto providing for your family.

The last thing you want is for your child to be starting out on his/her own & you are still so crippled with debt that you can't help them go to uni/buy a house etc. Sort it now & you'll reap the benefits later.

RAS

There are ways to get them free, go to the main forum credit card section.

iregretitall

I understand you can get them free, however this involves a free trial which I had already done a couple of years back and it wont let me do another one. The postal way will not work as I dont want them knowing my current address until I am confident I am capable of doing this. At the moment I see im short on my wages each month already and therefore when I start paying the coucil tax Im going to find it even harder.

I think it is a confidence thing playing on my mind, i just see all my wages go with 4 days of being paid and then if I pay out anymore then I wont have enough for petrol for work and food etc . .

iregretitall

Hi All,

Here is SOA. I really need to sort out this debt on my own as I have not been with my partner long enough to expect her to get involved in my debt's.

Im left with £21 each month and the car is already used minimal, I drive 15 miles a day each way to and from work.

I don't see how I will be able to afford coucil tax.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1169
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1169

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 360
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 60
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 160
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 172
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 4
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 7
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1073


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1300
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1300

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Link Financial (car)...........8500......0.........0
Quickbridge....................474.......0.........0
Lowell.........................222.......0.........0
court..........................1300......100.......0
Barclaycard....................1250......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........11746.....100.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,169
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,073
Available for debt repayments........... 96
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 100
Amount short for making debt repayments. -4

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,300
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,746
Net Assets.............................. -10,446

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.