Disgraced & ashamed of myself!

PRINCESSX87

Firstly I would like to say that I find this so hard explaining considering, I’m ashamed of myself for getting in this mess in the first place.

Around a year ago, I started showing signs of depression, To me, I was “normal” It was others around me that noticed that there was a huge change in my behaviour and that I was shielding myself away from reality. Although I say I felt normal, I did feel like I couldn’t keep up with the everyday life, IE paying bills, Controlling our money ect.

During this time, I didn’t relies just how behind I had got on everything.
* Many of our bills wasn’t paid, Although I had convinced myself I had pay them.
* Over spending on money we never have on stupid things / In my mind, They WAS needed!

Plus much more, Long story short, I have managed to get myself & partner in debt & now I have no clue how to get us out of it.

List of debts:-

* x2 Catalogues, One, refuses me to pay lower instalments and are sending letters of bailiff notice. I have tried everything to start making payments but they want unrealistic amounts like £150 Per month ect.

* Water:- Over £80 worth of water debts, With a meter installed. They have kindly listened to my request and offers me a £4 per week repayment

* EDF energy have been a disgrace, And my doctor had assured me that I DO need help with these, As I know their attitude has made me have sleepless nights, Ect.

This debt was caused from a faulty meter, Which they refused to change or come and check, A year & £800+ later, They are now telling me that I have been at fault even after all my attempts to contact them- Now they want repayments like £120 per month. Or they will change me to a pp meter, At the rate of £36 per week!

These are my main debts, Which are making me more ill, With fear, worry ect.

I need some advice or help to get me back on the right road! I’m worried that I will have bailiffs banging down my front door anytime soon!

Thanks for reading my essay…..And thanks in advance to anyone able to help!

Mupette

ok lets start with a few things

Well done, huge thing to admit about debt, yes we all feel shame,
been there myself, now i can't help with the MH side of it but, i am local to you and it would be Bristol water?

I owed them 10 years worth of bills, not MH just denial as ex husband had left me in debt and i did the bury head in sand thing... in 1 year i have paid it all back at 100 pm.

one thing to remember, bristol water can not cut you off, no utility can be cut off for debt, they threaten it, but it is law, bristol water told me this themselves that utility debts are secondrate debts and it is illegal to cut you off, so thats water, electric sorted, write letters explaining whats happened and what you are planning to do, make an offer and start paying that offer asap, don't wait until they reply.

This shows that you are sticking to an offer you made, doesn't matter how small it is, its the fact you are making an effort.

edf i would suggest contacting the watchdog for them, explaining all and copy edf, and explain what you are prepared to do, they may want a statement of facts (or something similar named) basically a breakdown of your monthly in and outgoings, would be a good idea to do one anyway to see where you could make cuts.

catalogs no experience really just write to them with an offer,

bristol water, water sure i think it is called, its a scheme to help you get out of debt, they come to you, sit down and do a monthly in and out goings and then see if you qualify to go onto their scheme, you both come to a realistic monthly plan.

£1200 in a year, just finished it off, the plan was for me to stay on it for 2 years and they would pay half the bill, reality is i worked out that i would pay all i owed in 1 year, so the scheme didnt help in one sense to me, but it did as i am now out of debt with them too.

Also go check your credit status online, keep on top of what you know you owe, don't worry about the amounts, really don't
your meds are more important for you to worry about,

Remember they can't take what you don't have.

Please don't ignore them, Bristol water had me up in court, and i was weeks away from this...

None of this is expert advice, just based on what i have gone through myself. good luck

With a lot of support from hubby to be, i am now debt free.

MonkeyMad

Mupette wrote: »

one

one thing to remember, bristol water can not cut you off, no utility can be cut off for debt, they threaten it, but it is law, bristol water told me this themselves that utility debts are secondrate debts and it is illegal to cut you off, so thats water, electric sorted

Be careful with this kind of advice as you may put the OP in an even worse situation.

Only water utilities cannot be cut off. Bristol Water can't cut you off but EDF and all others may certainly remove their service if you do not pay for them. They may also place you onto a pre-pay meter. Their codes of practice will generally not cut you off if you have a repayment plan and you stick to it, but you are expected to make reasonable attempts to come to an arrangement.

Mupette

MonkeyMad, thanks for bringing this up, :j just had a search and yes you are right, it's just the water companies that can not cut you off..

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/moneytaxandbenefits/managingdebt/debtsandarrears/dg_10025592




OP have a read hopefully it will help you, don't bury your head, unfortunately bills won't go away, but at least you are making a start.

PRINCESSX87

Thank you for all the replies. So far, I have done the following hoping its the right place to start.

Contacted the water board, Explaining...As above they have arranged a repayment plan with me at a very reasonable £4 weekly! This is a massive weight off.

Contacted EDF - Who has still, Haven't been any help. Just got to wait for a reply!

Catalogues:- They are still sending me letters of bailiff action, However this morning i have written them a letter also, Explaining the above and i will send that with a cheque. Can they still send bailiff IF i'm sending payments, Even though its not the amount they are requesting - Either wrong or right, I feel i'm trying to make a start at clearing the debt.

Thank you for the advice & kind words peeps :embarassed

Voyager2002

PRINCESSX87 wrote: »

Catalogues:- They are still sending me letters of bailiff action, However this morning i have written them a letter also, Explaining the above and i will send that with a cheque. Can they still send bailiff IF i'm sending payments, Even though its not the amount they are requesting - Either wrong or right, I feel i'm trying to make a start at clearing the debt.

Thank you for the advice & kind words peeps :embarassed

The catalogue companies are being more aggressive and frightening because they actually have less power than the others. Obviously they will stop supplying you with their products, but beyond that they are just like any other creditor. They can take court action against you, but that would actually work in your favour since you could explain details of your finances to the court and agree a reasonable payment plan, and that would be that. Bailiffs only get involved if you fail to make payments ordered by a court (e.g. if you did not turn up to a court hearing), and there are strict limits on their powers.

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi PRINCESSX87, thank you for your query regarding your debts.

Firstly let me say you have taken the first steps by realising you have a debt problem and trying to address it. As has been mentioned above the electricity arrears are a priority debt and this is because you can be cut off if you do not pay but if there is a fault on the meter we would suggest you write to EDF and state reason why you think your bill in wrong and that you wish to dispute and give them a time limit within which to respond and also ask them to hold any action whilst they are investigating. We would suggest you send the letter recorded delivery and keep a copy and if they ignore the letter, do not respond or you are not happy with their response you can contact the Ombudsman Services; Energy. We would also suggest you inform EDF that you should be treated as a vulnerable person due to your mental health problems and you may need to send medical evidence which you can request from your GP.

Regarding your catalogue threatening bailiff action. Bailiffs can only be used to collect consumer credit act regulated debts such as catalogues, credit cards and overdrafts if the creditor has taken county court action and obtained a county court judgement. As part of the process of obtaining a county court judgement you will be given an opportunity to make an affordable offer of repayment.

Regarding your other debts we would suggest you seek assistance from a debt specialist who can discuss your options for dealing with your debts which will depend on your individual circumstances. You can find details of your local Citizens Advice Bureau at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk. You can also find template letters and further advice on negotiating with creditors yourself at https://www.adviceguide.org.uk.

Hope this is of assistance.

lemontart

Congratulations on making a very brave step and by far the biggest one in recognizing that you have been ill, now you have take on the advise in the guides here and there is one that specifically deals with money and mental health issues, I feel sure that you will come out the other end with the hardest step - the first one haven already been taken.

Hugs to you