Not sure where to start - impending seperation - lots of debt

yorkshire-rose_2

Hello, me and my husband have been having problems for a while now and we have finally decided that we are going to have to split. We are currently still living together but in separate bedrooms, this is very difficult and I need to organise the finances asap so I can leave. I have decided to take on all of the debts as it is mostly my fault that the marriage has broken down, also if he took on any he wouldn't be able to afford the rent and would have to move. I don't want him to have to move as he isn't really at fault. Debts are as follows;

Halifax overdraft - £2000 - Paying £32pm (charges only)
Co-op credit card - £2000 - Paying £20pm (£10 paid on debt pm)
Co-op loan - £2600 - Paying £127pm (£71 paid on debt pm)
Council tax arrears - £180 - Paying £10pm (no interest)

Is there a way to lump them all together and make one smaller payment, something like £50pm for all of them? I've heard of IVA's but don't know much about them.The credit card is in my name only but the others are joint names. Any help would be great. Thank you.

quantic

Hi Rose, sorry to hear about your situation - it seems you are doing the decent thing with regards to the debts.

Your debts total £6780, not accounting for any fee's or interest. I dont think your going to be able to get it to a situation via a loan or any high street means whereby you pay £50 per month, as this would take 11.3 years to pay back, not accounting for interest.

Realistically your probably looking at £115-120 per month over a 6 year period, if you got a loan. Could you possibly post an SOA so that people can get an idea of your financial situation and recommend the best option for you?

http://www.stoozing.com/msoc/soacalc.php

yorkshire-rose_2

Hi and thanks for the reply, I filled in the form but couldn't put apr for the Halifax as it is an overdraft and we get charged £1 per day for using it. Also my figures were a bit off in my first post, the ones below are more accurate having looked through my paperwork.

A lot of the figures are best guesses as to what my outgoings would be as a single person as I'm not 100% sure. I've left gas/elec the same and cut the food bill in half etc.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 429.65
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 429.65

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 16
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 65
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 183.12


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax overdraft..............2000......32........0
Co-op loan.....................2535.16...127.5.....24.1
Co-op credit card..............1101......20........11.9
Roxburge.......................320.......10........0
Council........................180.......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........6136.16...199.5.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 429.65
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 183.12
Available for debt repayments........... 246.53
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 199.5
Amount left after debt repayments....... 47.03

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,136.16
Net Assets.............................. -6,136.16

downsizer3

How's your credit rating - have you missed any payments before?

yorkshire-rose_2

Not sure what my credit rating is like, the co-op are always asking if we want to borrow more though? That's who we bank with now. There has been a few problems with Roxburge, they're a debt collection agency working on behalf of talk talk. Talk talk sent us a huge bill a while ago and wouldn't accept a payment plan so it went to Roxburge. Other than that I think everything got paid when it should have. Had the odd direct debit not go through because of insufficient funds too. Not a lot, maybe one every 6 months or so. We usually called a few days later to pay it.

dancingfairy

Hi. It's going to depend on whose name the debt(s) are in. If they are in your name then you can arrange payment plans etc. If they are in jont names and you default then they will go after your other half.
I suggest speaking to one of the debt charities to go through the options regarding a dmp/iva etc. Try National Debtline, CCCS or your local CAB.
Best of Luck
df

mildredalien

Sorry to hear about your situation!

Sorry for the personal question, but is there a reason you aren't working? Living as a single person with such a small amount of income and your debts is going to be very difficult! You haven't put rent on your SOA - would that be covered by housing benefit? To be realistic you need to consider all possible expenses - travel, entertainment, emergency funds, haircuts, any possible medical needs/glasses/contacts, insurance etc.

If you could get a loan that would cover all debts for a cost of £200/month or less it would put you in a similar position as you are now, although things look pretty tight and you would have to live frugally. However the problem with this option is that often people build up even more debt by using their newly freed up credit options again - it may not be the intention but it happens all to frequently!

Perhaps you could contact one of the free debt charities, such as CCCS or Payplan, or the CAB, they can be very helpful in laying out your options

RAS

What is Council? CT or rent?

either is going to be more problematic than consumer debt.

Frankly, unless you are working, you really cannot afford to pay off these debts and the fact that you are in arrears on joint debt is going to wreck your ex's credit rating and leave him open to CCJs anyway.

Storm

"I have decided to take on all of the debts as it is mostly my fault that the marriage has broken down, also if he took on any he wouldn't be able to afford the rent and would have to move."

You are taking the guilt you feel about the end of the relationship and punishing yourself by taking all the debt. Unless you alone ran this debt up, then it should be shared between you IMHO.

When a relationship ends, each party will notice a drop in lifestyle & disposable income due to the reduction of income to the household, so I would urge you to not take all of this on your shoulders.

As DancingFairy says, it really depends on whose name(s) the debts are in - Council Tax for example is always in all adults names in the household, and the joint ones he will still be liable for as well.

Also, in your SOA for when you've moved out you've not included anything for rent or mortgage - where are you planning to go? Are you taking furniture and stuff like white goods & kitchen equipment from the current place or will you have to buy new stuff? I know it's a scary prospect, I left my partner a couple of months ago, and part of me wanted to just leave him with as much stuff as possible; similarly to you as I was the one who ended the relationship I felt I should shoulder the financial burden of us separating. Friends & family pointed out to me though that I had a responsibility to myself - as a newly single person I've got to provide my own back up plan, and letting him have everything I thought he'd want wouldn't soften the blow of me leaving.

I'm not prying into the reasons for your break up, but it is incredibly rare to only be one person's fault - please don't start your new single life carrying all the debt & other 'badness' from the relationship.