Please Help!!!

at_my_wits_end_3

Can someone please help?
I've been trying to deal with my debt problem for literally 12 months and no matter what I do I'm getting more into debt!!!!
I'm a single parent of 2 children and only get £5.70 from their Dad for maintenance who up until a few months ago didn't always pay that on time! He runs his own small business so therefore CSA can't do anything!!!CSA are just another law upon themselves!!
Last October WTC stopped my awards with virtually immediate effect amounting to a reduction in my monthly income of nearly £300.00, this has had a rolling effect on my finances ever since. They said I had been paid too much previously due to me acting fraudiantly, this was not true , I have never told lies about the amount I was earning they already had all the details of my income, and to be quite honest I wouldn't have been able to take the job I have at the moment if it hadn't have been for their original calculations, because of this I ended up using my credit card to get to work/shopping etc
I got in touch with CAB in January who promised faithfully they could help me-not! I was told that they had written to all my creditors which it turns out they hadn't and to change one of my credit cards to a 0% interest card worse thing I could have done as now I have to wait until April for them to look at my debt and come to some arrangement meanwhile I have to payfull amount, I then went to the CCCS who advised me to send out letters to all my creditors to offer £1.00 per month until I could increase my income( this was just to acknowledge that I had a debt with them) thay can't sort anything else out with creditors until this happens.I have used up all my existing savings ,sold shares and stocks, borrowed money off my friends although have paid them back don't want to go down this line anymore, this was to pay off arrears /existing charges,one bank arranged with me that if I paid off my arrears they would freeze interest for 6 months to assist me but as soon as this happened they opened my account again and so the overdraught charges started again!!. Meantime extra bank/credit card charges have gone on which has meant that I have now 3 defaults against my name. At the moment I have managed to come to an arrangement after many many hours on the phone to them so that interest is frozen for 6 months on one credit card,2 bank accounts. Also at the beginning of the year I changed energy supplier from Powergen to Scottish Power and got it capped but then Powergen sent a bill out amounting to £1600 , I had a DD set up monthly which had been increased so it was quite a shock, managed with the help of one of their employees to reduce this down to 832.00 of which I'm paying £10.00/month but has gone to their debt collectors. In November my boss didn't put my wages in on correct day so DD were unpaid and I got charged for the privalige, the bank closed my bank account down while I was on the phone which left me with no money/bank account, I have now set up yet another bank account which is a cashminder and literally spent the whole of November setting up DD again, and in the process WTC/CTC still haven't set their payment up to come out of the new bank so have had to beg A& L to give it me at Post Office, they at one point refused to give it me as my Account was closed and this would go towards paying yet another debt off, apparently it is illegal for them to do this and after saying so to them they agreed to give it me although they kept £10.00 of it!! I have also been charged £30.00 on my Mortgage account because the DD was cancelled as the bank closed my account as my wages were late in!!
To cap it all I have just been given notice that I am to be made reduntant at the end of the year.!!!!!!
I have not been out at all this year/nor on holiday have reduced smoking and now am on roll ups which is markedly cheaper but know I have to give up as will probably kill me by next year if my bad fortune continues, I only go shopping about every 6-8 weeks, I've only bought minimum amount of clothes for my children mainly their school uniform. Started gardening at weekends(although too wet/cold now) and am doing Betterware at night after work.
My total Debt amounts to nearly £20,000 and instead of falling is rising, I don't know how to sort it out now please can anyone help????

Mrs_Sparkle

Welcome to the board first of all. Secondly can you post an SOA for us to have a look at- have a look at Southernscouser's sticky at the top of the board. We will help you to cut down wherever we can.

Stop worrying- you're in the right place and I'm sure we can help you to sort this out. Well done for making the first move.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Yes do an SOA, and although it sounds a bit of a mess at the moment persever with CCCS as they are supposed to be good, but I know it can take time to sort it all out. You will get lots of help here.

looby75

you might also want to look into reclaiming any bank/credit card charges.It sounds as though you have had quite a lot of them and you are entitled by law to claim them back.

Have a look Here for more info.

Good luck, I know it seems really bad now but it will get better if you follow the advice of CCCS and the good posters here (who really do know what they are talking about )

Psykicpup

:grouphug: Oh you poor thing! Things really havent been going your wway have they!:eek:
Never mind, you're in the right place here!:coffee:
Post a SOA like the others have said & one of the whizz kids here will help you out!

iolanthe07

CAB are usually very good - sorry to hear of your experience. Do you rent? If you are buying, how much equity do you have? If you don't have much to lose, it might be worth considering bankruptcy, but you need professional advice. Try CAB again - you may be pleasantly surprised. Anyway, good luck.

taxi73

I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through..but try not to worry too much you are in the right place here...please can you post a SOA..so we can see if we can see any cutbacks for you...have you been in touch with CCS or payplan...as above poster says if you don't own your own property bankruptcy maybe the best option..there are a lot of other posters on here more experienced than me so will be along shortly to help you out

taxi73

Sorry I forgot to mention...if you phone the tax credits up and explain that because they have stopped your payments they have caused you financial hardship...they can look into it and reinstate payments...you can then pay them back later on at £10 month...don't know if this is any use to you

piggeh

If you cannot afford to repay what you owe, then the CCCS are right - you should write sayig you will offer them a quid a month until your circumstances improve. Draw up an income & expenditure plan to show how little disposable income you have (you should be allowed amounts for clothing, etc - the CCCS will help you draw it up). Cancel your DDs for anything other than your necessities like Gas, etc, so they wont take any more money from you then you agree to through the CCCS.

madduck

CCCS have probably already said this to you, but just in case, if your current bank are one of your creditors - it is vitally important that you open another current account (even a very basic one - which is all most of us in your position were able to open anyway to be honest). The reason for this is that most accounts have terms and conditions that allow them to offset any amounts owing against money in your current account. Therefore if you say have a loan or credit card with a bank and go into a DMP or reduced payment arrangement they can take money out of your current account to pay for any outstanding balance.

Stick with CCCS they are very good. It does take time though to work through things.