Really quite badly in the doo-doo!!

dofbeer

Lost my job 4 months ago, after using all my saving to support me while my app for JSA was being processed I now find myself right up the swanny, got unpaid DD's, CC, bank, utilities and store cards all kicking up a stink about missed payments and to be honest I haven't got a clue what to do, never in my time have I found myself so deep in the poop with no light at the end of the poop tunnel

I like all of us who find themselves on the dole only get £135 a fortnight :eek: which is barely enough too feed me let-alone pay bills with it, to make matters worse I cannot ask for a Budgeting Loan because I'm on contributions based JSA, not sure that make me any less needy than a income based JSA claimant at a time like this but hey gotta love governments.

So what should I do, could write letters but what would I say, I have no money sorry... ill end up getting cut off from electric, gas etc..

Trying to stay up-beat but I really am going out of my mind.

Thanks dof

FireWyrm

Hi Dofbeer

OK, stop, take a breath, dont panic. First, you to move your JSA into a seperate bank account which is NOT affiliated with any of your creditors - somewhere like the Co-op for instance. This is to protect what little money you have from being 'offset' against you debts which they might attempt to do. They dont care if it leaves you starving, so you need to be pro-active about this.

Second, when you are ready, write to every one of your creditors outlining your problem and asking them to either give you payment holidays, stop the interest racking up and to give you some room to move. You need to send them a token payment of £1 each and explain that until you are back in employment, this is what you can afford right now. You are not dodging your obligations, just putting them on hold for a little while.

We cant advise on your outgoings without knowing more, so fill out an SOA from the stickies on this forum if you need some advice and we'll do our best to give you some pointers.

Lastly, you need to be actively looking for a job, any job. This might sound obvious but I was told once, never be too proud to do a job. £135 per fortnight is ridiculous and you could probably earn more slinging burgers at your local McDonalds. Get round to the agencies and sign up and also start walking the local industrial estate banging on doors until you get something. It's always worked for me.

You need to keep your creditors informed and you need to be brutally honest with them. Dont be frightened into paying off debt with a credit card, it will only get you into more trouble. Be firm, but polite. They cant ask more than you have and they cant turn you upside down and shake your pockets for what isnt there.

dancingfairy

Hi - JSA is often a 'gateway' benefit. Once you've claimed this you might find that you are entitled to help with housing, council tax, etc - you need to ask.
Secondly you need to prioritise your bills - now the important ones are mortgage, rent, council tax, food, electric, gas, water etc. Less important is paying off credit cards, unsecured personal loans etc. Obviously any money you do have you should try and pay what you can towards the priority debts before the others.
I agree with Firewyrm though you'll need to write to your creditors and point out that you are on JSA and that you can't afford to pay them right now but as soon as you are back in work and earning you'll be in touch- sure they won't like it but hey, what else can you do?
Also are you 100% sure you can't get a budgetting loan? if you need it you need it so double check.
There's sample letters and all sorts of helpful info. on the National Debtlines website, you could always use their helpline or you could try CCCS or your local CAB for support and advice at this time.
You might also want to check out the moneysavingoldstyle board on here for hints and tips to make your budget stretch as far as possible with food etc.
If you are not renting but have a mortgage have you looked at claiming if you have any insurance on it for when you are out of work? Do you have any cover through your previous job that would cover you?
If things get really, really desperate your CAB should have details of organisations that can help with food parcels etc.
Best of Luck
df

Magi74

FireWyrm wrote: »

You need to keep your creditors informed and you need to be brutally honest with them. Dont be frightened into paying off debt with a credit card, it will only get you into more trouble. Be firm, but polite. They cant ask more than you have and they cant turn you upside down and shake your pockets for what isnt there.

This is really key - if you don't have it then they can't have it. Don't get bullied into promising something that you can't deliver. Keep talking to your creditors. They will help if you talk to them... it can be quite a surprise just how helpful they are. It's when they don't know the situation that they become difficult.

Also as dancingfairy said, there's a ton of means-tested benefits out there that you need to ask about. Try www.entitledto.co.uk as it will give you the links to the benefits you're entitled to.

Best of luck

dofbeer

Hey thanks you guys, I have some short term hope of getting out the doo doo then!!!!

Roll on another job, I hate being on the dole!!!