Facing bankruptcy and need advice

Jojo1410

fatbelly, Blair, Oliver and Scott want me to phone them to go through my SOA and set up a payment arrangement. I've read a lot in the forums saying that you should only communicate by letter. I'm happy to phone but worry about being railroaded. Any thoughts?

Rising from the ashes, you've made some good points here and I'll do some digging and some more calculations...

Council tax............................. 93 Is this over 10 months or 12? If 10, switch to 12 to lower the monthly figure a bit I'm not sure as I've just finished paying arrears. I think as this is the year ahead it will be over 10 months but I'll phone and change if it is.
Electricity............................. 50 This is high, check what you leave on, readings against bills, comparison sites etc Estimated bills and a three month period of non payment has left me owing extra so I'm trying to catch up.
Gas..................................... 50 As above - don't leave heating on in rooms you're not in/bedrooms etc. As a comparison I pay £64 total for both G&E (3 bed semi in Scotland) As above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45.5 High for 3 - have you got a meter? Yes, I have a meter. It's underground though? I can phone the water board and ask for a re assessment
TV Licence.............................. 18.18 This should be £12.12 Playing catch up on a few missed payments
Groceries etc. ......................... 320 This is really high - try the Grocery Challenge on the Old Style board - a family of 4 can manage on £220/month incl household cleaning stuff/toiletries etc (incl nappies) - should be able to get £150/month of this with gradual reductions OK, I'll check this out. I'm aware my spending here is high and am learning that planning meals for the week and sticking to the shopping list helps control the spending. I'll work on tightening it up to get to a better figure
Petrol/diesel........................... 320 Keep a lot of how much running around you are doing for the kids - it may need that this needs to be restricted if it's the only way to cut down Mostly commuting costs and a trip to Mr T at the weekend. However, it would be cheaper for me to pay for a delivery charge with online shopping and I'll have more control so I'll try this
Buildings insurance..................... 0 Need to get this ASAP Included in my mortgage payments
Contents insurance...................... 0 As above As above
Haircuts................................ 20 Try student nights, cutting kids yourself etc
Entertainment........................... 40 As per fuel comments Will help my son sort out the local bus to his friends
Emergency fund.......................... 10 Need to try to increase a bit to avoid further debt if something breaks (use £30 from grocery savings)
pocket money............................ 20 Could the kids get a paper round etc? They are both looking for a saturday job
School meals............................ 50 Check you're not entitled to any help with this checked already
Teachers union NASUWT................... 13.95 Is this really essential? at the moment, yes. My place of work is going through some tough times and cut backs are looming

I think that if I am to avoid bankruptcy I need to be far more proactive than I am being now. Coming on here has already strengthened me and I'm feeling as if I could actually face this. I'm thinking I should put the house on the market and rent. That way, I can use my share of the equity, however small, towards my debts and rent in the next town which is where my kids friends are, so no more running around costs and is also closer to the main routes to my work place so a car share would be more feasible.

stuartjl

Jojo1410 wrote: »

I'd be more than happy to find somewhere cheaper to live. But, is the only option to sell my current house and then rent? Renting a 3 bedroom house for me and my two teenagers would be just as expensive as paying my mortgage.
I guess the debt collection agency may have ideas on this. Halifax are of little help with my mortgage.

Your right it could be more expensive to rent, depends on the area you live in and life style you will accept. Yup Halifax are useless i do agree.

Jojo1410

Can anyone tell me the best way to contact the Debt Collection Agency? I received a letter from them on Thursday asking me to phone them to set up a repayment plan. But I've read a lot of threads here, advising people to contact them in writing only. I feel okay with phoning them but don't want to set myself up for problem phone calls in the future.
So for the initial contact, what is best?

taffy056

Put it in writing only, don't contact the DCA over the phone at all as they are not the kind of people to trust to keep to promises. I wouldn't even let them set up a direct debit or give card details to, I would go for a standing order or payment card or book.

fatbelly

Jojo1410 wrote: »

fatbelly, Blair, Oliver and Scott want me to phone them to go through my SOA and set up a payment arrangement. I've read a lot in the forums saying that you should only communicate by letter. I'm happy to phone but worry about being railroaded. Any thoughts?

I agree with Taffy - everything in writing and pay by standing order.

They're not the worst but the basic principles still apply.

Jojo1410

Thanks, you've both been really helpful.

Two last questions...in my letter, should I offer them the same amount of £11 that I have been paying to Halifax and also include my SOA?
And as it has now passed to a DCA, should I cancel May's payment to the Halifax or allow it to go through?

Oh, sorry, another question... Halifax have been allowing me to continue to use the Ultimate reward account which my wages go into. Should I change it to another bank, as the DCA said Halifax are in their rights to take money from that account to pay towards the debt?

DVardysShadow

Jojo1410 wrote: »

Oh, sorry, another question... Halifax have been allowing me to continue to use the Ultimate reward account which my wages go into. Should I change it to another bank, as the DCA said Halifax are in their rights to take money from that account to pay towards the debt?

Yes, you should do this. Never have a credit balance with a bank where you owe money which you have problems paying back.

fatbelly

National debtline have a self-help pack to help you work out how much to offer

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php

but I'm not sure you can do this properly until you know what the payment to the Student Loan will be.

sharp910sh

Do not rent, your mortgage is very cheap you will be foolish to rent. seems like you need to find a better job.

Jojo1410

A better job, if only!
I dunno, but as the mortgage is in joint names with my ex, I doubt I will be here for too long. At some point it's going to be healthier all round to start over in another house. But living in your own home is so much nicer. But I won't rush into a decision on the house situation yet.
Good point about the student loan payment, fatbelly. I'll speak to wages and see if they know what it's going to be yet.
DvardysShadow, thanks. I guess I should get started this week on a new account. I think it will be Coop.