facing up to debt for the first time & need a hand holding

dancingfairy

Hopefully it will only be for a short time though until you get things sorted job wise. Hope the new job works out for you.
df

forgetfulelephant

is it possible to speak to people like barclaycard, and ask for a reduced settlement? or would that mean they would want the agreed amount in one lump sum?

Tixy

Generally if you offer a reduced full & final settlement and its accepted by the creditor you'll need to pay in a single lump sum by x date (usually a couple of weeks or so of their acceptance). Occasionally people manage to negotiate to pay in a couple of installments but thats generally risky, in case a change in circumstances means you cannot make the second payment, it would usually be advised to just wait and make the offer once you can afford a lump sum.

But when the debts are still held/owned by the original creditor they often won't accept much of a reduction at all as an offer - some will not accept any reduced offer, even if they then choose to sell the debt on a few weeks later for loads less.

If you are going to try to obtain full & final settlment deals you need to have it confirmed in writing from them first, most people choose to do the whole exercise in writing rather than calling (as the people you speak to rarely have the authority).

forgetfulelephant

morning,

how do I pay for my phone and isnurance then? do i move them over to new bank account? They are things I must keep paying.

also, do you think for 12 k debt, a DRO is viable and sensible?


I feel im stuck:(

Magpie23

Hi There,
Just wanted to offer my support, I've been in a similar situation to you. Putting myself through Uni as a mature student with the student loan not even coming close to paying for the childcare.

I just wanted to say well done for getting your degree, and when your children grow up they will be so proud of you too. It's a mammoth achievement; more so with little ones.

With regards to owing Tax Credits, welcome to the club! How ironical that a government system set up to help struggling families has actually crippled them further (not bitter much ). Anyhow, we were stung with a £7,000 :eek: bill, which we will still be paying it off until 2014! However, what they did with us was go through absolutely everything in our budget to see how much we could afford to pay back. (Although, their very first question was 'What car do you drive?'. So, if we weren't driving a L-reg Rover at the time I think they might have taken the car!) They were very good in fact though, as when I listed all of the kids clubs and our other cc's they only asked for £25, but as we'd felt we'd be paying it up for the rest of our lives, we up-ed it to £100 per month.

We too have been in the position of living off of our cc's for food and petrol when there truely were no other other options , so all I can say is that you will get there, VERY PAINFULLY SLOWLY at first but then little by little things will pick up and gain momentum and one day you'll see the difference you've been making over the months. Especially, as you become employed, every little helps, just be careful when the new money comes .

Best of Luck on your journey,
Magpie23
-x-

forgetfulelephant

sorry to be so negative but how will I get out of this when what I earn still doesnt cover essentials, I cant really earn much more without paying Huge child care bills (which would be more than I earn)

It all seems so bleak

Tixy

A DRO might well be a solution for someone in £12k of debt. But to do a DRO you need to be able to show you can meet your ongoing financial outgoings (ie that you will be solvent if you don't have the debts anymore). Obviously at the moment you are not. so they wouldn't let you do a DRO as you would still look to be likely to get into further debt.

I would try to work out a statement of affairs for the whole household including partners income/outgoings and debts etc to see if you can manage finanically between you. Then once you have that info as well as your statement of affairs of what you are currently trying to pay, I would then seek some advice from one of the debt charities to see what they would suggest and if you might qualify for a DRO.

The car, if owned by you not your partner would be an issue in a DRO. You'd have to sell it, maybe get something cheaper, or something.
Do you have student loans that you also owe? Student loans are not wiped out in a DRO. If you do owe student loans, I'm not sure if they are counted when looking at the £15k maximum dent for a DRO.

This is a list of debt charities - IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

Tixy

forgetfulelephant wrote: »

how do I pay for my phone and isnurance then? do i move them over to new bank account? They are things I must keep paying.

Anything that is essential move over to the new bank account. Are you in contract for your mobile phone? if you are I would try seeing if they will allow you to drop down to a cheaper tariff. If not in contract then look around for a cheaper deal as £45 a month is expensive. You might want to consider some of the good PAYG deals that are around at the moment, so you are not tied in to paying more than you can afford.

forgetfulelephant

I cant reduce my phone - have contacted them this morning, Have moved the direct debit to my new account though.

Partner has said he will take the car and house insurance payments on.