debts frozen??

continualdiamond

My situation is pretty desperate. Background info is, boyfriend and i sorted out a budget Thurs night for our debts and that back fired because Fri he was sacked.

We went to CAB today and were told he has no ground for unfair dismissal because he hasn't worked with the company for a year, only 3 mths.

His company called him into the office Fri (he was a service driver) and told him they were letting him go because he wasn't getting enough calls done per day.

I was disgusted that they hadn't spoken to him about how much work they needed him to be completing each day, this company is pretty big so thought they would of said something like 2 weeks ago.

So now were facing big problems.

He has signed up for job seekers and where going to claim council tax benefit, unsure as yet how much we'll get if anything.

What do we do about our monthly payments? loan, 2 credit cards, overdraft interest? Anyway these payments can be frozen for a period of months, does that happen?

Where going to be extremely short every month, even with cut backs.

Getting rid of NTL tv and dropping down our internet/phone package, reducing food shopping per week from £45 to between £20-30.

Our mortgage is only £50 a mth, but only till April, so at the moment that is okay, once April comes round then its £435 a mth (0% for 6mths product).



Any other info i could use, that people know about, please post, need as much help as possible.

(from what i can tell, cant get tax credits. i myself am 24, turn 25 in feb, boyfriend is 24, not 25 till Nov)

bank_of_slate

Hi Diamond, and welcome!

I would contact Payplan or CCCS first thing tomorrow for some professional advice, they can help you set up what you can afford to pay.

Has your boyfried contacted ACAS about being fired, he may get some good advice from there.
When he gets his next job he must make sure he gets a contract within 2 months of starting work and ask for expected targets etc so there can be no misunderstandings!
Have you contacted your bank to explain the difficulties and ask for them to increase your overdraft waive charges for the time being (not a permanant solution)
Welcome to the dfw family, we're always here with advice, support and a shoulder to cry on.
...Linda xx

bank_of_slate

...By the way, some people find it useful to post a full SOA on here (all incomings and outgoings) we are excellent at spotting extra areas where you could cut costs/switch utilities etc...
...Linda xx

continualdiamond

Thanks for the reply. I posted a SOA Thurs when i wanted some advice for tackling our debts and people suggested NTL cut back and food shopping.

Basically we don't know any bill details as where FTB's and had no gas/elec or water bill yet, we were going to put away £30 a mth for each one, but now cannot afford to do that.

Everything else is out of our hands. People said to get rid of the car, save on petrol and ins, while that is okay for me, i could get the bus, id actually loose extra hours ( i work in a school, we have 2 sites, 15mins apart by car). I do 3 jobs at the school.

1 site - 8.30 - 9.30 - admin support
- 9.30 - 3.00 - teaching assistant
- 3.00 - 4.00 - bus escort

2nd site - 4.00 - 5.00 - admin support

So i dont wanna loose money, wanna make as much as possible as the 15 extra hours i do not get paid when its school holidays.

bank_of_slate

I think the main issue is contacting your creditors with the exact amount that you can afford to pay them per month and stick to it, some people attempt this themselves but most seem to have success with Payplan and CCCS, (links at the top of this page)
I would at least contact them for professional advice!
If you approach the bank they may suggest a consolidation loan for a very long period, often a bad idea!
...Linda xx

CLAPTON

in these circumstances you can't afford to make meaning payments at the moment.
i would suggest that you contact each creditor explaining that hubby has lost his job and that you can't afford to pay the installments except a nominal amount £1 to show that you wish to pay but can't.
ask them to suspend interest and charges and that you expect hubby to get a new job soon and that you will resume paying as soon as possible.

continualdiamond

Just been reading peoples posts about payplan. Why loose your bank account?

Our bank is TSB, we have an overdraft with them, i have a loan with them, boyfriend a credit card and our other debt is boyfriends barclay credit card.

Whats the connection with your bank account closing??

madduck

It is because the terms and conditions of most bank accounts would allow your bank to take money out of your current account to pay for money owed on other accounts held with the same creditor. For example if you held a credit card account, loan account, etc., with the same creditor.

There are quite a few folks on the board who have had their accounts cleared out without warning.

If you are going into a DMP and your current account is held with one of your creditors you are advised to open up another (even basic account) with another bank prior to advising your bank that you are going into a DMP.

continualdiamond

Thanks for clearing that up...

A few more q's...

Where pretty much set to go into this DMP, but what do we do about oweing money we can't prove?

We owe my boyfriends Mum £1200, she bought us loads of stuff for the house on her Argos card, interest free periods etc, we had a budget and would of paid it off by April.

Surely we cant include that in the DMP because the card isn't in our names, but we can't afford to give her any payments now.

Also when you close your bank account, what happens to these reclaim bank charges, can you still claim?

CLAPTON

i dont think a DMP is appropriate for you at this time. you need a temporary arrrangement because your hubby is unemployed.

once he has gained employment then that is the time to consider whether a long term DMP is appropriate.

in answer to your questions however, a DMP will not include family debts.
and while in principle you can reclaim your bank charges you must remember that you are asking that same bank to do you a favour by freezing interest and charges.