Some advice, kinda struggling

abitofajam

Hi,

I used this forum a couple of times over the years, once for a nice ppi claim and once for a client that owed me money but wasnt worth taking to court. Really would like some advice as things are kind of tough at the mo.. Not sure where I stand, where to turn to.

I will try and keep things brief but feel I need to sort of explain things so you can get a better understanding.

Hard worker, never been great with money but my work attitude and enthusiasm always got me by. Got myself in debt as a youngster in 80's, quit work, went to uni, cleared my debts, work very hard, great degree qualifications etc.. Move to rented property in London, setup small company, never made much money but survived. Got in debt to banks, paid it all off. Still renting, No children, partner and I working, didn't live beyond our means, tried to become debt free, almost succeeded. All going ok. A rich guy offers investment, all going great, recession, boom, investment gone, hard work gone, back to square one, go self employed.. Doing ok, partner pregnant, baby born, down to one wage, not doing bad.. Struggle a bit on one wage, notice credit has a bad rating against it, try and remove bad rating, phone courts to see what the £600 they say I owe is for, no one can tell me, spend a week trying to sort it to no avail.. Leave it.. Accept no credit. Work hard, still renting, sometimes falling behind with rent but landlord cool as I always catch up, he understand nature of small business is often cash flow and I usually come good in end. Don't owe banks any money, no overdrafts (£100 each). Notice partner not able to get credit (not sure why), she does part time work while I look after daughter for a couple of days a week whilst working from home, all ok but gradually slipping behind with rent. Bank won't lend me any new as bad credit (see above).. Really push to make more work opportunities, all good, surviving, then bang, start of year - client who owes me a couple of thousand (that was rent back pay that I had promised landlord) closes company and says he cannot pay me what is owed. Another company/client almost goes bust and stops employing freelancers (me). Desperately work as hard as I can to clear old projects, get every penny in but slow slow slow.. Working on outdated tools, almost impossible for me to reach client expectations but cant get anything new as no credit. Push for new clients, doing ok but now maybe £5000 late on rent. Banks can't help.. We're now losing money.. If I get a (normal) job I won't be able to stay where I live, lose deposit so can't really move into new place, will mean I have to leave London, leave clients, go live at parents, 2 adults and kid in one bedroom, with me trying to do my work in same room, partner would lose her part time job.. Kid 1 year away from going to school (just turning 3 yrs old now).. Desperately need to sort something but totally stuck. Can't even pay off the £600 credit problem (see above) even if I wanted to. I now owe a few freelancers money, nothing massive but enough to start to notice they have lost enthusiasm working for me. I'm 42.. Always had a good reputation, always positive in my approach, lot of skills, great cv, over £100,000 rent paid over years, up to date on council tax etc etc... But zero in bank and zero chance of me getting anything. Can't go unemployed because I do have some work here and there. Any advice? I need like £8,000 injection to clear debt to landlord and energy companies like NOW! Really would like to be able to upgrade computers, working in 7 year old machine. I have potentially £5100 worth of ongoing work but very slow for me to complete as tools killing the projects. Have a couple of new clients for next month and sept but major struggling at the moment. Is there anything anyone here could advise? I have two bank accounts, got about £20 in each. Partners part time work covering food but we are making no headway. It's such a shame if I have to give up a career I am known to be an expert in.. just because of a deficit/cash flow caused by other clients going out of business. I am scared to even open emails ow as I know landlords email will be here anywhen soon and will be final nail in coffin. Can't approach parents, they are retired, struggling themselves.. I can't go bankrupt as I don't owe any money to any organisations I could write off.. As I say, sorta debt free but just a massive bill to landlord who has been so good to us hence I am dreading having to try and explain I am £5000 behind and have nothing and no means of getting any. Thanks.

abitofajam

Haha, sorry, should have used some paragraph breaks, trying to get it typed quickly before family wake up. Will check in through day as I can make calls today so up for any advice.

DreamerHelen

Hi There

I don't have a huge amount of advice....but I really felt for you and didn't want to read and run....

My only advice is this - Can you speak to your Landlord and tell him that you will continue to pay the Rent from now on and will pay the Arrears at so much per month/week (depending on how often you get paid)....and then perhaps find a steady Job that pays you regularly....

As you say, you're not in Debt except to the Landlord so maybe explain the situation rather than burying your head in the sand and ignoring Emails....You never know - your landlord might not want the hassle of evicting you and all that hassle of getting new Tenants....

Try talking to your Landlord and see what options you can come up with...

I've subscribed so I'll keep an eye out to see what happens....I wish you all the best...

Upsidedown_Bear

abitofajam wrote: »

Hi,

I used this forum a couple of times over the years, once for a nice ppi claim and once for a client that owed me money but wasnt worth taking to court. Really would like some advice as things are kind of tough at the mo.. Not sure where I stand, where to turn to.

I will try and keep things brief but feel I need to sort of explain things so you can get a better understanding.

Hard worker, never been great with money but my work attitude and enthusiasm always got me by. Got myself in debt as a youngster in 80's, quit work, went to uni, cleared my debts, work very hard, great degree qualifications etc..

Move to rented property in London, setup small company, never made much money but survived. Got in debt to banks, paid it all off. Still renting, No children, partner and I working, didn't live beyond our means, tried to become debt free, almost succeeded. All going ok.

A rich guy offers investment, all going great, recession, boom, investment gone, hard work gone, back to square one, go self employed.. Doing ok, partner pregnant, baby born, down to one wage, not doing bad..

Struggle a bit on one wage, notice credit has a bad rating against it, try and remove bad rating, phone courts to see what the £600 they say I owe is for, no one can tell me, spend a week trying to sort it to no avail.. Leave it.. Accept no credit. Work hard, still renting, sometimes falling behind with rent but landlord cool as I always catch up, he understand nature of small business is often cash flow and I usually come good in end.

Don't owe banks any money, no overdrafts (£100 each). Notice partner not able to get credit (not sure why), she does part time work while I look after daughter for a couple of days a week whilst working from home, all ok but gradually slipping behind with rent.

Bank won't lend me any new as bad credit (see above).. Really push to make more work opportunities, all good, surviving, then bang, start of year - client who owes me a couple of thousand (that was rent back pay that I had promised landlord) closes company and says he cannot pay me what is owed.

Another company/client almost goes bust and stops employing freelancers (me). Desperately work as hard as I can to clear old projects, get every penny in but slow slow slow.. Working on outdated tools, almost impossible for me to reach client expectations but cant get anything new as no credit. Push for new clients, doing ok but now maybe £5000 late on rent. Banks can't help.. We're now losing money..

If I get a (normal) job I won't be able to stay where I live, lose deposit so can't really move into new place, will mean I have to leave London, leave clients, go live at parents, 2 adults and kid in one bedroom, with me trying to do my work in same room, partner would lose her part time job.. Kid 1 year away from going to school (just turning 3 yrs old now)..

Desperately need to sort something but totally stuck. Can't even pay off the £600 credit problem (see above) even if I wanted to. I now owe a few freelancers money, nothing massive but enough to start to notice they have lost enthusiasm working for me.

I'm 42.. Always had a good reputation, always positive in my approach, lot of skills, great cv, over £100,000 rent paid over years, up to date on council tax etc etc... But zero in bank and zero chance of me getting anything. Can't go unemployed because I do have some work here and there. Any advice? I need like £8,000 injection to clear debt to landlord and energy companies like NOW! Really would like to be able to upgrade computers, working in 7 year old machine.

I have potentially £5100 worth of ongoing work but very slow for me to complete as tools killing the projects. Have a couple of new clients for next month and sept but major struggling at the moment.

Is there anything anyone here could advise? I have two bank accounts, got about £20 in each. Partners part time work covering food but we are making no headway. It's such a shame if I have to give up a career I am known to be an expert in.. just because of a deficit/cash flow caused by other clients going out of business. I am scared to even open emails ow as I know landlords email will be here anywhen soon and will be final nail in coffin.

Can't approach parents, they are retired, struggling themselves.. I can't go bankrupt as I don't owe any money to any organisations I could write off.. As I say, sorta debt free but just a massive bill to landlord who has been so good to us hence I am dreading having to try and explain I am £5000 behind and have nothing and no means of getting any. Thanks.

I've put the paragraphs in for you OP:)

kittiej

Just one q, if you are an expert in your field does this mean you could be based where you are but do work for clients in other areas of the country or does the amount of work depend upon your immediate locality?

gizmo111

Struggle a bit on one wage, notice credit has a bad rating against it, try and remove bad rating, phone courts to see what the £600 they say I owe is for, no one can tell me, spend a week trying to sort it to no avail.. Leave it.. Accept no credit. Work hard, still renting, sometimes falling behind with rent but landlord cool as I always catch up, he understand nature of small business is often cash flow and I usually come good in end

Is this a CCJ - if so it must be traceable.
Are you claiming benefits - child tax credit, you may be entitled to some housing benefit.

abitofajam

Thanks for the replies, appreciated. Have spent the morning on the phone to National Debt Helpline, they referred me to Turn2us charity who advised I should be able to get child tax benefit, which would help a bit.

My problem with leaving London is that come sept/oct/nov/dec I get lots of calls - can I be in so and so place for 6am... I might take a £1000 a week those last few months of the year and I would be giving that up if I left. As I said I have tried really hard with new clients and have two meetings next week, both of which have said yes, we're just now planning things but they are not massive projects, but are regular work.. Low ish pay but consistent which will help, a lot. It seems such a shame to invest all I have in rent in London over the years and to get a bit of a name for myself and to have to walk away when I really should be reaping reward. Really things are looking good but I have this urgent defecit. BT breathing down my neck for payment, if I can't pay that I am offline and that's really bad for business.

I have hassled my bank today and they are going to arrange a meeting at a branch with a small business loans person to see if I should setup an account and go for a loan but I just have a feeling it will not help me as I have the credit rating problem.

I have been told to check trustonline.org.uk about the outstanding credit problem but national debt helpline said that should not be a priority - need to focus on landlord - but I don't know because that has caused me so many problems to date in not being able to get loans or anything. I have nothing to give the landlord at present.

I have some money due in but that goes out to people who have worked for me. I don't want to be a person who doesn't pay my way.

Spent about 3 hours on the phone, not all bad but still, I feel there must be some kind of grant or something I might be able to apply for, instead of begging a bank but I can't find anything.

Any thoughts appreciated.. I'm not giving up yet

abitofajam

kittiej wrote: »

Just one q, if you are an expert in your field does this mean you could be based where you are but do work for clients in other areas of the country or does the amount of work depend upon your immediate locality?

It's a good question though kitties and one I have been thinking about a lot. My plan was always to leave London when my daughter hits 3 as I don't want to send her to an inner city school when I can't even arrange I will be staying here. The objective was to be able to afford somewhere to buy in London but I have never been able to get a mortgage because I didn't have a deposit and maybe 12-13 years later I am realising it's probably not going to happen anywhen soon. Over £100,000 rent means nothing to the mortgage companies.

abitofajam

Sorry, meant to say kitttiej - predictive txt

gizmo111

Over £100,000 rent means nothing to the mortgage companies

A year??:eek:

abitofajam

gizmo111 wrote: »

A year??:eek:

No, sorry, over 10 years.. I pay just over £1000 a month, been in London since 1999. 3 years out of the country.. Been in current place since 2004.. Wow.. 9 years and stands for nothing.

Spoke to bank, small business guy, says I need to clear credit issue before I can even apply for an account. If I can do that he would probably say if he can see regular income for 6 months I might be able to get a small business loan and that's my problem. It doesn't help me now and I can't even afford to pay what is owed to whom I have no idea and last time I tried to pay it the court couldn't even tell me who I had to pay the money to.. but going to call and see what they say again. I just know last time I joined Experian to sort it out I got nowhere but it still effects me. I think monthly payments to Experian, which I have met every month for over a year should also go towards my credit rating but alas.. Nope!