Disabled and considering bankrupsy

jackieB_5

I live on my own and may in the near future have to go into a sheltered council flat. My disability is progressive.
My income is only just sustainable, with pension and benefits of £800 a month and my only luxury is this computer. But due to me having to replace washing machine(second hand)vacumm cleaner and new specs, my debts have risen via two credit cards and plus I have a personal loan of £2,000 taken over two years ago.
In total I am in debt for over £3,000. I am considering taking bankrupsy, I have no dependants. I dont own my property I am a private tenent.

Any advice would be grateful. I am robbing peter to pay paul at the moment just so I could buy food and petrol (motorbility car)

uther_2

Hi jackie. I would suggest you get in touch with one of the debt help charities (payplan,cccs or citizens advice bureau) £3000 is not a great deal of money to owe,but if you can't pay it then it might as well be 30000! Bankruptcy will cost you £335 + £150 court fee's (the court fee you might be exempt).The motability car will be safe,as your DLA is protected income and the official receiver will have no interest in it.We have a motability car so thats how we know.Make sure you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled too.

fermi

uther is correct. You should probably take some free professional advice from one or more of the bodies listed below. Your options are far wider than just bankruptcy, and there will be a way to sort this out so you can live within your means once again.
Taking professional advice will allow you to find the one that suits your circumstances best

You can contact.

* Citizens Advice - http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ making sure you request a debt advisor.

* Consumer Credit Counselling Service- http://www.cccs.co.uk/ - also operate a free Debt Management Plan (DMP) (never pay a company a fee for one of these)

* PayPlan - http://www.payplan.com/ - - also operate a free Debt Management Plan (DMP)

* NationalDebtLine - http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

* Insolvency Helpline - http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/ - a lot of info on alternatives to bankruptcy.

Hope things work out...

Broken_hearted

£800 a month is a lot of money for one person so you shoild be able to find a way to repay your debts.

Miss_Scarlett

Broken_hearted wrote: »

£800 a month is a lot of money for one person so you shoild be able to find a way to repay your debts.

Without knowing what Jackie's outgoings are how can you say this? Obviously she doesn't find it easy to manage or she wouldn't a) be in debt or b) be considering bankruptcy.

misspoppy

Broken_hearted wrote: »

£800 a month is a lot of money for one person so you shoild be able to find a way to repay your debts.

£800 is not a lot of money for one person who has a progressive disability, you have no idea how much money it costs to keep well. This isn't a helpful comment when the OP is clearly distressed.

JackieB: I don't have any further practical advice as you've been given some good advice but have you heard of freecycle? Have a look on https://www.freecycle.org to find out if there is a local one to you. People post up items they no longer want and you can have it for free. It is usual to collect it but if you explained your situation I'm sure people would help with heavy items.

Good luck but try not to worry, you need to concentrate on keep well for as long as possible.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

jackieB wrote: »

I live on my own and may in the near future have to go into a sheltered council flat. My disability is progressive.
My income is only just sustainable, with pension and benefits of £800 a month and my only luxury is this computer. But due to me having to replace washing machine(second hand)vacumm cleaner and new specs, my debts have risen via two credit cards and plus I have a personal loan of £2,000 taken over two years ago.
In total I am in debt for over £3,000. I am considering taking bankrupsy, I have no dependants. I dont own my property I am a private tenent.

Any advice would be grateful. I am robbing peter to pay paul at the moment just so I could buy food and petrol (motorbility car)

I am disabled too so I understand where you are coming from on this issue.

I do, however, think that taking bankruptcy for £3K is a big step.

If you speak to CCCS or similar I am sure that they could help you with a DMP to pay off your debts without having to take such a drastic step.

Richard_S

Hi Jackie,

I'll echo the previous posters about contacting the debt charities.

I would also say that if things are bad enough for you to consider bankruptcy why not write to all your creditors and explain that your financial circumstances are such that you can only afford to pay them a nominal £1 per month until you've had chance to review your finances. They'll whinge and complain like fury but they'll ultimately accept.

This is of course going to have a serious negative impact on your credit rating but if this doesn't concern you then it will certainly give you some breathing space.

You also need to start working on a Domestic Budget, Income & Expenditure A/C, Statement of Affairs (SOA) whichever terminology you prefer. This usually highlights areas where you can make savings and if you post your Budget on the DFW Thread they are particularly good at maximising income and making savings on expenditure.

The DFW Board are like cousins to us; we've all got problems with debt, some worse than others. We're the "Last Chance Saloon".

Best regards

Richard

jackieB_5

Thanks folks.
My outgoings are all direct debits apart from petrol and food. My rent is my biggest outlay a month of £395 (private landlord so cannot expect help there).
Loan £77 then credit cards approx £40.00 council tax £63.00.
I have roughly about £60.00 a month to live on.Having to spend out on those items mentioned a month has not helped. I am £400 overdrawn on the bank. so my money has gone as soon as its in!.

I will ask citizens advice.

NekoZombie

I'm sure that for debts below £5000 you can have them administered by a court. Or at least I think someone mentioned this somewhere.

Not much help, I know.

Richard_S

NekoZombie wrote: »

I'm sure that for debts below £5000 you can have them administered by a court. Or at least I think someone mentioned this somewhere.

Not much help, I know.

Hi Neko,

I think it's called an "Administration Order" and it's part of some new legislation but I don't know if it's been implemented yet. It's not as severe as bankruptcy and unlike a DMP or IVA the creditors don't have to agree; it's imposed by a court. There's also a limit on the debt level allowed, I'll see what I can find out because it seems more appropriate for people with smaller debts but insufficient income to repay them.

It's quiet in here, time for a :coffee: I think.

Rich