Bit of a pickle

Fertiv_2

OK, hello there
I've been lurking around this place for a long while both personally and professionaly, but have never posted anything before.
I am currently unemployed having been made redundant last year following basically a nervous breakdown.
I recieved a generous settlement and actually cleared the majority of my debts using the redundancy money, including two credit cards, one loan and a balloon payment on the car.
Unfortunately I've not managed to get a new job, banking or otherwise and things have been drifting to crisis point for several months. A decent tax rebate helped out, but basically I have been living off credit cards and juggling the debt around to cover essentials with the expectation that work and cash are just around the corner.
The imminent crisis became a full blown disaster yesterday when the bank removed my overdraft facility and also corrected my mistaken belief that my outstanding loan was finishing this year (its actually got another 3 years and 6,000 to run, but to be fair to me I was in the Priory when I applied for it)
So that now means, I have absolutely no room for manouvre on this at all. I am in the process of selling my remaining small shareholding and I guess the car has got to go, but if I do raise this cash, it will be automatically swallowed up by the overdraft repayment, leaving me with nothing to live on again.
I'm trying to work out the benefit system to see if I can get any help there, but as I've never been unemployed before, I find it hard to work out how it all works (sounds dumb I'm sure, but I guess these things are easy when you know... who knew that unemployment benefits are paid by the job centre and although you claim housing benefit on the same form its actually nothing to do with them.) The current situation is that I have had to appeal to the benefits tribunal as I have not met the "working conditions" and the housing benefit need me to prove I have no income (how do you prove a negative??) and that I am still responsible for the rent (who else would be??) Anyway, thats a story for another time. The jist of it is that I might get around £280 per month for unemployment benefit and housing benefit of £950 a month (the maximum amount payable is acually more than the rent I pay - I live in central london Btw).
I have so far managed to get council tax benefit so that is being paid automatically.

I guess my question is, what the devil can I do about the mess I'm in?
To add insult to injury the main banking organisation is my ex employer (hence no names below!!), so all the facilities were granted to me as a member of staff...The account was transferred to "normal" banking when I was made redundant and now they have been removed completely. My CC limit has also been frozen at the outstanding debt level, having been £15k until then.

My earnings would be reasonable if I had any and I'd say around £5k per month would be an appropriate figure, so if one assumes I get work soon, then there is a solution, but in the meantime.....???????

Any thoughts gratefully recieved. please excuse the essay...
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet Total Monthly




Household Information


Number of adults in household 1

Number of children in household


Number of cars owned 1





Monthly Income Detail


Monthly income after tax
-
Benefits
25
Other income


Total monthly income
25




Monthly Expense Details


Rent
950
Council tax
25
Electricity
100
Telephone (land line)
25
Mobile phone
35
TV Licence
10
Satellite/Cable TV
52
Internet Services
10
Groceries etc
150
Clothing
50
Petrol/diesel
20
Road tax
10
Car Insurance
35
Other travel
20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc)
10
Contents insurance
10
Total monthly expenses
1,512




Assets


Cash 50

House value (Gross) -

Shares and bonds 1,500

Car(s) 6,000

Other assets


Total Assets 7,550





Unsecured Debts


Description Balance Monthly APR Overdraft Bank 5,000 50 14.85% Credit Card Barclaycard 3,000 100 24.90% Credit Card Bank Gold 7,000 200 16.90% Loan Bank 6,000 190 9.90% Credit Card Barclay Platinum 8,000 190 16.90% Total unsecured debts 29,000 730




Monthly Budget Summary


Total monthly income
25
Expenses (including HP & secured debts)
1,512
Available for debt repayments
-
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments]
730
Amount short for making debt repayments
- 2,217




Personal Balance Sheet Summary


Total assets (things you own)
7,550
Total HP & Secured debt
-
Total Unsecured debt
29,000
Net Assets
- 21,450




Created using the SOA calculator at stoozing Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser

PupPup

Hello
I just lost my job on Monday and am also going through the Benefits system for the first time.
I assume it all works in the same way, just the amounts vary from area to area. I was able to fill in a 'Statement of Nil Income' at my local council by taking in my dismissal letter and some bank statements when I was in there discussing my Housing Benefit application.
Your best bet is to read up about benefits on direct.gov.uk and use their benefits checker to see what you may be able to get.
In regard to the debts, speak to someone like Christians Against Poverty or the CAB - especially if you don't know when you may be back in work.
I haven't dealt with CAP yet, but have an appointment with them on October 18th and the info on their website is quite helpful, especially if you feel able to follow the self-help solutions (I can't due to Asperger's).
Other people here have been very helpful to me, so I'm sure they can offer better advice than I can, but this is what I've been doing since I got back from being dismissed on Monday:
- Applied for JSA online
- Applied for HB/CTB online and took evidence into local council
- Applied for jobs on every jobsearch website I can find (any jobs; even PT and temp work)
- Got advice and support from people on this site
- Arranged Drs appointment to sort my depression issues
- Spoken to my landlord to make sure I don't end up homeless before my HB claim is completed
And some other bits and pieces, such as finding things to sell to make a bit of quick cash so that I can afford to eat this month.

Hopefully that helps a little bit. Best of luck
PupPup

Fertiv_2

Thanks Pup Pup
You sound like you've really got on top of things already and are much more organised than me.
It seems you've taken the correct approach, that is to act immediately and not just let things drift in the hope that something will come along to sort it all out. I guess I'm going to have to learn a difficult lesson here.

Good idea about seeing the CAB, I often feel a bit of a fraud in going to these places where there are so many people out there with much greater problems than I have and not of their own making, which mine ultimately are, but hey beggars can't be chosers eh?

I've had a hunt around on the site and found some useful ideas for places to sell stuff, ebay of course for starters but I found zapper which takes media and books - they don't offer much per item quantity rather than quality might be the key.
I've registered with pretty much every job agency in the book. I do find it hard to be taken seriously when I say that I will literally do ANYTHING...(so long as its legal!!) I'd be willing to work in an office doing filing or something just to earn something (and to kill time because the boredom is driving me nuts too) but firms apparently don't like to touch people in my position as they feel they would be bored and only stick around until they get something better (which is fair enough I suppose) very frustrating.
I registered for something called "hourlies" which is a sort of recruitment site but its for people who are looking for specific pieces of work done (it seems to be quite internet focused so I guess best for people with those sort of IT/Web skills) I shall see if anything comes up that might work for me.

As for the depression thing, well, I must say the only thing I have ever got from the NHS is low dose antidepressants and a place on an 18 month waiting list for CBT. I was fortunate enough in some ways to have private medical care whilst I was at working but obviously now thats gone. I hope that you have better luck than I have with the NHS (not knocking it, free-at- point-of-need healthcare is a wonderful thing... but mental health services are in total crisis right now).

Good luck with everything
F

Fertiv_2

I do go on a bit.... I apologise for my bad case of the verbals today!

PupPup

Don't worry about long replies or waffling. We all need to get it off our chests

I've been fairly lucky with mental health help. Had a couple of sessions of therapy & was on meds before (stopped as I couldn't afford them), but my depression has been very severe & I've been suffering as long as I can remember (since I was a child).

I got dismissed for gross misconduct, no pay-off or anything, so I had to get onto things asap so as not to end up living in my cheap tent in a field somewhere! Nothing like the thought of homelessness to kick you up the a**
I'm bored senseless as well, don't feel like doing any of my hobbies, and feel like giving up. But I'm fighting on because I'm sure there must be a light at the end of the tunnel.
I've put some of my furniture on GumTree today - it's a free-to-list site if you've not heard of it. You might be able to sell some things there? I need to downsize as I've been renting a 2-bed but HB is room rate as I'm under 35, so I can only get a max of £63.50 a week - and possibly no JSA for 6 months as I was sacked. Doesn't give me a lot of options, lol.
I find making a list of things that need sorting helpful, and then I can prioritise the tasks and split them up over a set number of days (prevents them from getting too overwhelming, and gives me something to do every day).
Good luck with things. Sometimes just knowing other people are around to talk to is a good start
PupPup

beanielou

Hello & welcome to MSE.
The best advice I can give you is to open a new bank account away from any of your current creditors & use that for any incoming money that you may have coming your money~that way your creditors dont have first dibs at the money.
Keep posting!

littlegreenpeas

Hello

Reading your post inspired me to register on the forum as I wanted to help. My husband suffers badly with depression and was advised by the doctor to go to a CBT therapist after a short time in hospital. He wasn't prepared to go to a therapist, so we found a website with the GPs help. Its called llttf.com or living life to the full. Hubby is being made redundant and it has helped no end. Best thing, is that's its free.
Good luck and keep posting

Rainbow_Bridge

Hi there,

I am another person made redundant from the banking industry, who suffered a nervous breakdown. Mine was two years ago, and it is just in the last few months that I have begun to feel like me again.

You are doing great to have got yourself into a position where you are accepting your situation, posting here, and looking for the best options.

The big turnaround for me was when I stopped beating myself up and started to challenge any negative self talk.

I now see myself as a survivor rather than a victim, and the reason that this all happened to me was because I cared too much and worked too hard, rather than because I was weak.

I absolutely agree that the mental health services are in crisis. Hunt around for inspirational stories of people who have come right back from situations like yours and got what they wanted out of life. If you can't find the story then write it.

You can do this, keep posting and get it all out. It is better out than in xx.

*Robin*

Hello Fertiv, welcome to MSE :wave:

Great name by the way, I hope you find both comfort and inspiration here on your journey back to employment. I can't help with benefit rules but there are plenty who can - have you found the benefits board for specific questions yet?

What struck me in your initial posts was your rent - £925p.m. - yet you only pay £25 CT - guess you must be in or near London but why is your CT so low? On the other hand £100p.m. for electricity seems high - have you looked into switching suppliers to bring that down?
Sky could go completely as can the £50p.m. spent on clothes - that's £102 off the money you have to find each month, and your food bill looks like there's plenty of room for economising too.

I know what you mean about employers not wishing to take you on in a less qualified position; the best suggestion I have for keeping your CV looking good is to find a voluntary role - a charity shop would welcome some help manning the till and won't mind that you're over-qualified! It could even lead on to paid employment (I have a friend who did this after his firm folded; he was the IT manager, mid fifties, got very depressed chasing jobs alongside younger applicants. His wife pushed him to find a voluntary post where he worked three shifts a week for about six months, then the shop manager recommended him for a paid IT position within the charity. It's less money than he earned before, but enough to live on and has given him back his self respect).

Best of Luck Fertiv I do hope you find the inspiration you're seeking, and will follow your journey.

Fertiv_2

Dammit just deleted a lengthy response to you all so I'll try again!

Firstly thanks for your kind words and helpful suggestions, I do appreciate it.

I did my SoA in a bit of a rush and made a couple of mistakes... firstly council tax - its actually £110, though this is actually the only benefit I'm getting right now so I've not paid it for a while.
The electricity is correct I pay between 2 - 400 a quarter, my house is all electric and has no central heating so its all going on the meter. I do have an outstanding amount with them of around £600 but I will look at reviewing the account as an when this is paid off (I guess I need to add this to the debt column).
The sky TV is my only remaining pleasure! I gave up the gym membership (120pm) and the club membership (150 pm) so I wanted to keep one thing but maybe i should lose some channels there - Sky is the only TV provider I have as my flat is in a TV signal dead zone (too many high buildings blocking signals apparently).
I've applied for a new account with the co op which I guess is just a basic account, no overdraft. This was acccepted (subject to a few checks apparently) so hopefully I can get the account operational soon and get some funds in there. My shares (from a save at work scheme) are in the process of being sold - I am going to make a small loss on these but could be a lot worse, so that should raise enough to keep me afloat for a few weeks, then hopefully the housing benefit people will come through. As suggested I've got together all my bank statements for the past year to show that I have had no income and I've asked my landlord to send me a letter to say that I still need to pay rent. I shall smile and take it in good grace and not seethe that the world is conspiring against me but I do think they are being ridiculous!!!!!

Right enough from me, I must get back to scanning barcodes on all my books... up to £25 pounds so far, which is better than a slap in the face with a wet haddock and besides, I always wanted the minimalist look in the flat...

F

Fertiv_2

BTW Rainbow Bridge - do we have to do weight as well??

Debts up 10,000, Weight up 2 stone
Ah well, such is life, if only it was as easy to lose weight as it was to spend money