New here. Please Help.

Drakob

Hello everyone,

I've very new to this website, although it is a complete godsend I have found it.

I am 22, soon to be 23.

I have two sources of debt:
-Unpaid University Accommodation
-Royal Bank of Scotland Credit Card.

The accommodation is: £3913.73
Credit Card is: £1768.98

I am currently on Job Seekers after having graduating University (£50 a week).

I have been contacted by several debt collection companies to pay the accommodation, but being a complete idiot until now have ignored them. Only once when they contacted me by phone did I explain I was unable to pay the entire amount there and then, and was unable to pay the £60 fee they asked at the time.

I received a letter of "Judgement for Claimant" from the local court ordering me to pay the full amount "forthwith".
This morning I received a letter from bailiffs saying they would be round soon.
(I should note at this time I was unable to attend the court date as I did not receive the letter from them saying about the case (I was away in another part of the country at the time)).

I have NO way of paying the court, and I live at home with my parents so very little in the house belongs to me.
I am very concerned that if and when the bailiffs come they will try to seize assets that do not belong to me.

Please give me some help as to what I can do in the mean time to either buy myself some time, or.. well.. anything!

The credit card.. well, I'll deal with that after this is over to be honest. I need to sort one thing at a time.

Thanks very much in advance.

consultant31

Hi and welcome to DFW. I'm afraid I can't be if much help but just wanted you to know that there will be heaps of clever people about later in the day who can offer all sorts of good advice.

I don't know much but I'm absolutely sure that any bailiffs cannot seize anything they cannot prove is yours, so your parents stuff will be safe.

Don't panic, there's always a way through.....good luck

ste_coxy

Being cooperative with them and offering token payments will definitely help your situation.

Even if it is only £1 - you can't be accused of ignoring their letters then.

Have you spoken to the Debt Management companies and explained your circumstances?

I would recommend speaking to your local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) www.citizensadvice.org.uk and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) www.cccs.co.uk who may be able to assist you when it comes to working out what budget you have to pay towards these outstanding amounts... ignoring the companies is not an option as it will only lead to your situation being worsened.

Even if it means offering 1p per week until you are back on your feet you need to do something about it.

I hope you get back on your feet soon. Keep in there and get applying for anything that is available - bar work, retail etc etc - a job is better than no job and so, even though you might be rooting for your chosen career with your degree you did at uni, the current climate means the amount of unemployed graduates out there is enormous due to the competition being massive and the roles not being there (as you probably already know). It will be hard to stomach but if minimum wage jobs are all that are available to you at the moment then this might be better than having a big hole on your CV when it comes to it later down the line.

DizzyDizzy

When was the court date? Have you still got time to appeal? What was the judgement - is it ordering you to pay the whole thing immediately?

Drakob

Court letter was 26h August.

Can someone recommend a letter I can send to someone (and tell me who to send it to) to try and get them off my back a while whilst I can get on my feet etc.

Very worried the bailiffs are going to come tomorrow and I have no idea about what to do about it.

Oh, and yes, I was ordered to pay the full amount by the 5th September else face bailiffs (which is obviously the case at the moment).

theoretica

Are your parents aware of the situation? I think it would be a really bad idea for them to find out when bailiffs turn up- they need to be aware and prepared to deal with a bailiff's lies/pressure/bullying/tactics.

I suggest you do not totally ignore the credit card debt - it is when debts are ignored that they are most likely to turn to legal routes. If you send them proof of your JSA status and a token payment each month they are much more likely to keep quiet.

Drakob

They are aware that I have letters from court and aware of the debt, but not about the bailiffs.

Sent a letter yesterday to the court - recorded before 9am - explaining my situation and offering a token £30 a month payment.

Hopefully they'll agree and when Im in a better situation to pay the debt I can.


Edit: If they don't agree I was considering a DRO (Debt Relief Order)... any ideas about that?