help! in major debt at 18 with 2 children too..dont know what to do!!

suki43

Diane,

Firstly about the PND - how long were you on the medication for? generally you feel worse on these pills for 4-6weeks, which is an indication that they are working for your seratonin levels. These don't change overnight. If you come off medication too early, you will regress back to where you were. I would advise you to see another GP about it, and consider a plan of action with that.

Now, re. your outgoings, you're paying £86 a month for your internet, sky and telephone. I called Virgin Media today, was paying £65 a month and now from today pay £35 a month for the same package. I definitely think you could recoup money back here. Your gas and electric seem high as well. I would look at uswitch. We pay £79.50 a month, which is still pretty high, so I think you should look into this as well.

Suki

oakdale_minx

Hi - I can help with the charges bit.

Credit cards - you can claim back any charges where you have either gone over your limit or missed a payment. You can claim them all.

Bank accounts - you can claim back any charges where you have bounced a cheque or direct debit, or if you have gone over your overdraft limit or if you have been charged because they have cleared a payment which took you over your overdraft limit.

catalogues - you can claim back any late payment charges or any charges for going over a credit limit.

The book company - I'm not 100% certain, but I would think that you can claim any charges back from these people too.

The first step is to get all your statements together. If you have them, excellent. If you don't, don't worry. You will need to send a letter to each company requesting them. They have to give you them within 40 days, by law. It costs £10 to get them, so if you don't have enough to do them all, start with one which you think has hammered you the most. If you have your statements, mark off the charges and you need to start the process with what is called a 'preliminary letter'.

There is a bank charges board on MSE, all the letters you need are there. It might be worth starting a thread about your adventure to come! You WILL get them back. Some will take longer than others but you will get them back in the end. I've just had £4,700 refunded from the Abbey.

The Consumer Action Group http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk is where I did all mine through. There are also all the letters you need for each stage on that site as well.

I also know what you mean about the depression. I've been on Prozac since October. Work related not debt related (although debt has made me do some desparate things in the past) and I also know how you feel about not having close friends and being scared of doing things.

Other MSE'ers and my dog are my saviours at the moment. Keep posting and we'll all help.

PM me if you want any help at any stage for claiming back bank charges - I've gone through all the stages including two hearings for citi cards and survived!

oakdale_minx

Just seen that you've already started claiming them back- I can still help if you need it.

pixie1

Just wanted to pop by and say a belated welcome to the boards. You have already recieved some great advice!

Im not sure how this would affect your rent being paid for but could you rent out your spare room? Sorry if this isnt an option but i thought i would try and throw something in to help.

Regards to depression, whilst mine isnt PND i have kind of got the t-shirt on the big D. I would strongly sugest you go bacj to see your gp, the first lot of medication i was given didnt help me at all, it takes a while to find what meds and what dosage ir right. Please dont give up on getting help.

Hugs

Pixie

Oh and one last thing.....stop buying on ebay...SELL only

suki43

Diane,

I called my bank on saturday to request statements over the telephone for the reclaiming of bank charges. It is only £5 to get them if you do it over the phone and the statements are with you in 7 days.

Suki

newmum1

If you got the catalogues when you were 17 then I wouldnt think that you would be liable for the debt as you were 'underage' as it were. Now obviously yes you ran up the debts but surely the catalogue hold some responsibility as they should have made some checks. If im incorrect then forgive me.

iwanttosave_2

Just sending you a little ((((hug))))


As you are paying for the internet, and you are doing cashback sites already, you could in effect use this to pay for your internet by doing daily clicks on cash back sites, there are some that get you £1 a day so it all adds up, I will get you the links

angelavdavis

Why don't you see if someone on Freecycle can supply a slow cooker? You can cook a meal for the electric equivalent of a lightbulb's worth of power. Look over at the old style board to find recipes and advice.

Shop in Lidl rather than Tesco - the fruit and veg are fab and things are so much cheaper.

Use quidco for daily clicks - you get pennies, but they soon become pounds!

iwanttosave_2

newmum1 wrote:

If you got the catalogues when you were 17 then I wouldnt think that you would be liable for the debt as you were 'underage' as it were. Now obviously yes you ran up the debts but surely the catalogue hold some responsibility as they should have made some checks. If im incorrect then forgive me.

I was going to say that also, but then it could fall back on her if she gave false details (fraud) so deleted it :undecided

Mum_on_a_mission_2

Sending you BIG HUGS, and well done on facing this head on - it takes a lot of courage to do that.

Have you thought of contacting Home Start - they can help provide a little support and they should have a local branch https://www.home-start.org.uk/

Children's clothing and toys can be very good value if bought from NCT Nearly New Sales - check out https://www.nct.org.uk for listings near to you.

Good luck

Moam