worried first timer!

debtfreedreamer18

Its my first time on this forum, or any forum actually! so am a tad unsure if i'm in the right place to express my concerns....

Today for the first time in a long while I added up my total debts and the amount made me sick to my stomach. Its so shocking I can't write it...... approx £50,000

The past 5-6 years I have struggled to pay them each month, but nevertheless have always paid them on time as majority of that amount, around £22,000 is an unsecured loan on my mortgage which I have with my brother and we have always paid it.

My husband is a self employed chauffeur and since the middle of December he hasnt had frequent work and i have realised that this is in possible with just my salary and unfortunately i am now already behind wiht payments to my loan.

I have now decided to face up to it and get some proper advice but unsure where to look? I hear about debt management programmes, but am concerned as I can't sell my property as it isnt just mine, it would put my brother and his family in an awkward situation. I wondered is it possible to go on a DMP without selling my property? I hear that you have to?

I feel now I do not have anything to lose as my life is pretty stressful and it would be nice to have one manageable payment.

Any advice would be great.... thanks for taking the time to read my concerns!

JulieGeorgiana

I am not hugely knowledgable in this, but I believe a DMP just freezes your interested and negotiates with your creditors for manageable monthly payments. They will look at your SOA (Statement of Allowance) and see what you can afford after essentials are paid.

DMP won't expect you to sell your property.

I hope someone who knows more will be by shortly to tell you a lot more.

BlushingRose

A DMP (debt management plan) just means that you agree, on your own or through a charity (please don;t go with a paid company) to pay off your unsecured debts at a rate you can afford.
Have a look at the CCCS website ( http://www.cccs.co.uk/ )and perhaps do their 'debt remedy' tool and they'll advise you on what they think you should do.

We started our DMP this month, and you can see from my sig how much debt we're paying off.

debtfreedreamer18

Thanks to both of you for responding! much appreciated and very helpful tips.... I shall defo look into the CCCS.

Thanks again.

brizzledfw

Hey well done for having the courage to post on here and seek advice. That's the most important step. Am sure you will get help from CCCS and do keep posting so we can help support you

Brizzle

princess*daisy

Hi there! First of all, well done on taking the first steps - i.e. facing up to the extent of the problem and admitting you need to act on it :beer:

There are many of us in the same boat here and there is a lot of advice to be gained on this forum.

My tip would be to complete an SOA if you haven't already done one - you can find the template that MSE users use here - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

This will help you to see what your incomings/outgoings actually are, so that you can see realistically how much you can afford to pay and also where any cutbacks in your spending could be made.

If you post it on another thread in the forums once it's completed, other members will help you come up with ideas for how to improve it.

Good luck

stokelady

Please consider C.A.P (Christians Against Poverty) - they come to your home and go through everything with you and are non judgmental! Not once have they preached about God to me ! I found it much easier to speak to someone face to face and the whole thing is sorted out over 3 visits (each a week apart)

Any questions please ask!

debtfreedreamer18

Hi thanks for all the great advice - much appreciated.... already I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders!

sickasachip13

Welcome to the forum and well done on making the big decision to talk about the issues and to seek help - you're doing the right thing.

I'm with CCCS (lovely, non-judgemental people in my experience) on a DMP, for us it's been a great relief (I did two blogs for them which can be found by looking at the info in my sig) but DMPs aren't for everyone - going on one will trash your credit ratings, there's no guarantees that creditors will freeze %, although most do seem to. Also, look at Payplan - CCCS are a debt charity and Payplan are an organisation, but both do DMPs free of charge. There's also the National Debtline, who are lovely, for general debt advice.

CCCS has their online debt remedy tool, I would strongly advise you do this and put up your SOA here for people to make suggestions.

Try not to panic and stress too much - you do have options and an awful lot of people are struggling with debt, so you're not alone.

SAAC