In need of advice

sp1987

Good to know you won't let them bully you.

Open all letters that arrive, file them safely.

Write to each creditor stating that due to your present financial situation (i.e. income only benefits) you are in a position to offer them £1 a month. Send letters (getting free proof of postage slip from post office). Pay your £1 a month.

At the end of the day, they can't take what you don't have and what you need now is some time to get your head around everything, not these plonkers.

You are seemingly paying £10+£54 for internet/phone and mobile which is quite high. Could you go on pay as you go (if you are not already) and find a cheaper form of internet? I am on o2 for my mobile, and o2 also sells me my phone line rental and broadband. My phone and broadband = £17.50 a month. I am certainly not saying cancel the internet, but for goodness sake get it as cheap as you possibly can! You should at least be able to do mobile, phone and broadband for £35 a month.

Reidy1982

I tried to lower my internet speed with company i was with last year back hoping to save some money but was told because of all fiber optic broadband packages they have that was now lowest package they do. I was ready for cancelling with them but man and his supervisors told me they would give me a discount between the broadband and my phone line and it worked out 9 pound less. That worked out ok but then between my dad being ill bk then and him being in and out of hospital and my partner father being in and out of hospital (he lives down south) i ended up i wasnt saving anything because all landline calls were running up my bill so when i contacted my phone company again they suggested talk unlimited means i could call any landline for 8 pounds a month and no charges only calls i would be charged for was if i called 0844 number and so on which was my catalogues. So when that went on i ended up saving only a pound off my bill. I normally wouldnt have taken the call plan but at time and even now we still need the landline plan because of everything going on and my mum being ill through grieveing or my phone bill would be a lot more than it was. Its a vicious circle. I even tried bt last year and they wanted 80 pound connection or installation i cant remember which just to go with them and was same with some other companies. I couldn't win.

I even had a 02 dongle at one point couldnt get it to work called 02 they sat on phone with me for ages trying to get it to work then found out the sim card that goes into dongle was actually out of date and was no longer in affect and 02 wouldnt give me new one unless paid 25 pound for it i told them no took it back to shop and had hell of time with it ended up they kept saying was down to 02 to replace card for it they even called 02 while i was in shop. I had no luck and ended up demanded my money back and made formal complaint about it all. My future mother in law then gave us i think was tmobile dongle she wasnt using i couldnt get that to work again partner phone them for support and we tried everything and the only conclusion they came up with was that it had somthing to do with signal strength because im in steel house. I gave up with pay and go dongles cause they just didnt seem to like me.

cappuchinokid

I don't post very often but I am quite angry at your situation. You haven't posted the APR on the debts but I would imagine they are at high rates of interest and I'm angry at the amount of money these companies make out of people who are struggling.

You are trying to survive on benefits - and benefits are set at a survival level so will not take into account that you are struggling to repay these debts.

I agree with the other posters that you need to write to all your creditors saying you are on benefits and cannot afford payments, offer a token £1 a month and set up a standing order to pay them. I think it would also be worth sending the letter requesting that they do not contact you by phone - and don't phone them either, they will try every trick in the book to get more money out of you but you cannot afford it. Redo your SOA to send to the creditors (regardless of what your real one is) clearly showing that you only have 'spare' funds to be able to offer them £1 a month.

Someone will be able to post the links to the letters - think they are on the national debtline site.

You run a car and whilst motability will pay for the 'standard' expenses you will need to try to put a little money aside for emergencies as an accident or unexpected repairs will completely throw your budget out. Do you have a credit union near to you who you can start saving with? Otherwise open a savings account away from any banks connected to your creditors and set up a standing order so you can build up an emergency fund.

Now to other practicalities. £100 a month on food for 2 is very low. Do you have a food bank near to you? If you are on benefits you can get a basic food parcel from them, some of them also do clothing as well. You may feel too proud to approach them but pride will not put food on the table or clothes on your back.

You both have long term conditions and I agree that you need to approach the voluntary organisations connected with your conditions for help. If you go to patient.co.uk and search for your condition there should be a patient information leaflet which lists the contact details for organisations who can help people with your condition. It sounds as though you are in no fit state to sort this out on your own and need someone fighting your corner. Your doctor should be able to help point you in the right direction.

Also join freecycle/freegle so if the TV or kettle blows up you can get a replacement for nothing. They also often have things on there you can get to give away as gifts, many of these are in very good condition and people prefer to give items away rather than go through the hassle of trying to sell or dump them if they know other people can use them.

I think you do need to speak to one of the debt charities and not just about a DMP or DAS but if bankruptcy would be a possibility. It does not look as though your financial situation is going to improve any time soon and it looks as though you have been through enough already. Don't feel guilty about it, these companies have had their blood already and no-one bothers to read the notices in the paper, you will have to save for the fee but it will be lower as you are on benefits. If you do decide to go for bankruptcy then your credit rating will be shot to pieces anyway by a DMP and it doesn't look as though you have assets to protect and it may be best for you in the longer term.

I do hope you are able to get the help you need and please come back with any questions. The people on this board are fantastic and will support you through this whatever you decide.

[Deleted User]

Reidy1982 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 712 Any way to increase?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 Any way to get something here?
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 712

Monthly Expense Details
Council tax............................. 20
Electricity............................. 50 This seems a little on the high side? Are you in any arrears? If not then check with the comparison sites to see if you are on the cheapest tariff for your area (eg USwitch etc) and if switching is cheaper then see if there are incentives through one of the comparison sites (eg onepoll, topcashback, quidco etc). Also ensure that you are using your electric efficiently - turn the thermostat down on the boiler a few degrees, switch things off instead of on standby, use energy saving bulbs, only have lights etc on when you are actually in the room etc
Gas..................................... 38 as above
Telephone (land line)................... 54 This is high, shop around - you should be able to get home phone and internet for £20-£25 per month inclusive of free calls (evening and weekend), avoid calling mobiles and premium numbers. Make use of your internet to make free/cheap calls outwith your home phone package eg Sktpe, voip cheap. If this includes paid for TV then look at alternatives such as freesat, freeview
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 24.25 when will this reduce to the usual 12.44?
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 Although this is not extravagant, see if you can reduce this a little (try dropping brands, meal planning, batch cooking etc)
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 40 stick with what you have for now - sell any goodd condition ones that you no longer wear/don't fit on e-bay
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 6
Contents insurance...................... 0 you might want to consider this
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 never?
Haircuts................................ 0 never?
Entertainment........................... 0 nothing?
Total monthly expenses.................. 362.25


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1 If you have a car do you not need to pay insurance? tax? maintenance? MOT? parking? Petrol?
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR You need to find out what your APR's being charged are. Also, have you stopped spending on the catelogues/cards?
catalogue 1....................3139......159.......0
catalogue 2....................3475......88........0
catalogue 3....................2276......101.......0
txtloan........................349.......50........0
wonga..........................426.......60.12.....0
capital one ...................250.......8.........0
aqua...........................350.......12........0
vanquis........................1250......68........0
provident 2....................442.......42........0
provident 1....................506.......56........0
morses club 2..................784.......84........0
morses club 1..................95........20........0
Total unsecured debts..........13342.....748.12....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 712
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 362.25
Available for debt repayments........... 349.75
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 748.12
Amount short for making debt repayments. -398.37 This is a bit to make up in your SOA, and unless your income is likely to improve any time soon then you urgently need to speak with someone from one of the free debt charities for advice - I see you have already been in touch with CCCS (this, I am sure, will help you enourmously)

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,342
Net Assets.............................. -13,341

Here is a work out of my finacial affairs. Would like to say though i have one car which is a mobility one and it is needed due to my ill health and various hospital appointments and doctors appointments so that is one thing i cant change as i still have 2 years lease on that and it is a essential even though i dont spend more than 40 pounds in petrol a month on it for only basic trip such as shopping and doctors you need to include your petrol spends in your SOA. Also you may wonder why there no stated income for my partner at the moment we are in process of him waiting for an award of his own as he has ill health too but when hes tried in the past we always got told he wasn't entitle to money as we were set as a couple claim and law says we would have more to live on than required and it was a case that whatever they gave him would be removed from my own money so we wouldnt be better off when will you hear the outcome of this?. (That was citizens advice that told us that).

Hi,

Comments made above - hope they help,

Welcome to the boards,

D9

dancingfairy

Good, I'm glad you refuse to be bullied by them. Remember you took credit out when things were different. You know you have a problem and are going to take steps to sort things out but like you said - them having a go isn't going to get the money any faster.

Stay Strong
df

Reidy1982

Well so far this week i have been to the citizens advice bureau twice, i thought it would be a good step to speak face to face with someone about possible debt solutions or at least have advice on them so could go from there. So i went to cab at start of the week to try and get a benefit check and debt help. I left there after 4 hours feeling as if i was still on step one.
The women really wasn't help full when i was trying to explain about changes to our benefits and we were not sure if my partner was entitle to any benefits. At first she said oh she couldn't deal with my partner just me but i told her when i had initle talk with first lady we had mentioned he was to be included as it was one of the reason we were there in first place to find out if he was entitle to any of his own, she left the room for 20 minutes then came back and said she spoke to collegue and was willing to add my partners name to it. I tried again to explain the situation and show her my recent updated letter showing what money had stopped and i felt as if she wasn't listening to me even though it was in black and front on letter in front of her. She eventually said let me fill in the form and we will just do a benefit check instead of continuing to discuss it. I then told her about my debts and she said most she could do was send holding letters to my catalogues and i would have to come back to the drop in clinic again at a further date, i said to her what about the rest and she said i would need expenditure breakdown. I handed her one as i came prepared and she left room again and was gone for a while came back with three pages for me to sign to send holding letter to my catolgues and i said to her what about the other debts and she said she would deal with them through time. Had i contacted any of the rest. I said yes but was not getting anywhere and had mentioned someone had said to me about a DAS plan and was wondering if i could get some information about it. she said that i would have to speak to someone else in regards to that and said she would send out the benefit check when it was done and it would take about 2 to 3 weeks. She then handed me an appointment for a money adviser.

I had the money adviser appointment this morning and explained situation it was a long process as when i had to explain about my dads passing away i broke down. She was very nice and she suggested various things like opening a credit union account to start saving a little for emergency's. When we got onto topic about debts she said she read the file from start of week that had been created and that would be on the cab side as she was really just for how to stretch my money further. Which was far enough shes going to send me out other literature to read and i've to go back and see her again in august with a spending diary.

so i am still in limbo about whole debt situation as i still haven't had any DAS information or how i go about it from start. So i'm basically back to square one.

Reidy1982

Domino9 in answer to your questions

Ive tried to increase my income but i'm not entitle to anything else apart from what i am getting and im not fit enough to work.
My partner income: We are waiting for benefit check to come they said because of his health issues he maybe able to get DLA but he was refused before as they said he was still walking so we will try again.

Electricty- I am in arrears and trying to catch up so i cant swap companies for now and have to keep paying at rate i am as not to get cut off.

Gas - is the lowest payment i have ever had with them and lowest they offered and thats on disability tariff.

Telephone - this includes my broadband and call package for free calls to landlines thats the reason its so high and i couldnt switch to bt as they wanted a installation fee.

Tv Licence - 3 months left before it reduces to 12.12

Groceries - That 100 is actually me hiting bare minimum on its own type shop brands allready and feeding two. I need to be carefull what i buy as i am on a certain type of diet because of my illness. I cant eat certain foods and veg so it makes things harder.

Clothing - Is mostly replacing items because of wear and tear because of my illness my washing machine is never off and after washing items constently they become worn and the material begins to stretch and split. i try to avoid this as much as possible but unfortunetly its sometimes unavaoidable.

Birthday presents and christmas - All my previous stuff was bought through catalogues as i dont get out a lot one of reason its so high. To be truthfull i'll probably just stick to buying vouchers from now on simple and effective.

Haircuts - As i explained before to this question i cut this out because i was trying to save money.

Entertainment - We have freesat box, because of my illness we rarley go out as it is and when we do everythings just so expensive these days u need tidy bank balance to have a good night.


Assets

Car mot and insurance and maintenance - As explained earlier my car is a mobility one and all the maintences and insurance is allready taken from my monthly payments.
Petrol- varies between 40 to 60 a month


Unsecured debts
I have no idea what all the apr's are on any of them sorry.

binnie

Hi Reidy,
What a mess. I bet you and your husband are getting so frustrated. It's as though no-one seems to know what they are doing to help you. I'm sure they have so many cases now where people are struggling or are on the breadline, that they cannot cope with the demand for help.
I really don't have any advice to give you I'm afraid as even though I am working and my husband is, we are both robbing Peter to pay Paul too and also my catalogue stuff won't be paid off as I expected it to be on the "Buy now pay later scheme". I wanted it to be paid off by August, but will now be paying the added interest because I can't afford to pay it off any earlier.

I will be following your thread and hope that someone comes along and can really help you out of this mess. The Citizens Advice Bureau didn't sound too good in your case, maybe they had a new person who didn't really know the rules and regulations.
I hear that the company Payplan are good and they can get the ball rolling.
It's very stressful isn't it, I hate not being able to pay the monthly amounts on time and worry if I am a day late. The phone calls I got when I missed paying a loan for 3 weeks got unbearable and just to stop them, we gave in and borrowed the money off my dad to pay just one months payment.
I lost my mum 18 months ago and hated asking my dad for money as he his on his own now, but luckily he could afford to help and eased the stress for a while. Things are so hard when you are going through a bereavement and struggling to keep up with bills. Somedays I just want to runaway from it all.

I'm here if you ever need to chat, please just Private message me if need be.
xxx

Reidy1982

Hi Binnie i totally know how you feel the *The Buy Now Pay later scheme* on my catalogues is how i got into such large amounts of debts with them. It was fine at first and i always managed to pay it off before the time came around but everytime i paid somthing off they upped my credit and i thought oh i'll just buy this and pay it later it wont hurt. That later has become now and i'm like a sinking ship. If i could have gotten rid of my catalogues i would have been so much better off and wouldnt be financially stuck and been able to live but ive tried to be resonable with them but its got me nowhere. i even asked them for a smaller reduced payment for now to cover 4 months by then i could have paid off two loans and money i was paying out to those could have gone on catalogue but that wasnt good enough for them.

robsmum_2

Reidy: Just wanted to pop in and say "hello" - hope your weekend wasn't too hard. Keep posting here, just so you have some support if not actual help. Hugs to you.