Actions speak louder than words.

InTheDeepEnd_3

Hello,

I trust this finds you all in the greatest of health.

Please do bare with me, I have a feeling this will get quite long - I find myself in a bit of a pickle and hope someone will be able to help with this and offer some direction.

A little bit of background: I started University in September 2011 without the blessing of my parents (we ended on a sour note) and whilst I wasn't expecting to receive any financial backing, I massively underestimated my financial situation. I found that my loans and bursaries would nowhere near cover my true basic living expenditure (next to no social life etc). Luckily I found a job pretty much straight away and was managing - working all my spare hours to survive at university. Unfortunately, I was made redundant at the end of my first semester and struggled massively - I was overwhelmed to the point I decided to quit.

On returning home, I found the atmosphere tense between my parents and I to the point we weren't talking. I was struggling to find work and felt I was now worse off. Sadly, I had no one to turn to - all of my close friends were busy at university and being broke and living in a relatively small and remote village and not being able to see them, I tried to take my own life after a couple of months.

Whilst being in and out of hospital for depression and suicide watch (something I am not proud of), I had some debts accumulate with my parents opting to hide or destroy any letters for obvious reasons. Despite my situation, my university considered my dropping out as not sufficient enough to release me from my accommodation tenancy and were therefore chasing £2,400 outstanding rent (remaining semesters). In the height of financially struggling, I took out a Vanquis credit card (with a limit of £250) that I was making minimum payments on whilst I was working at University - having activated the payment protection when I was made redundant. This seemingly didn't mean anything as they continued to add interest and other fees - the balance is now £460. I had a mobile phone contract which I defaulted on whilst in and out of hospital which was naturally terminated - default balance £79. I also have a student overdraft currently sitting at £950. In total, I believe I owe around £4,000.

I firmly believe I am now well and recovered and in a position to start dealing with the debt and my finances. Sadly, I do not know where to start. The university progressed their collection to a CCJ stage and not having access to my post etc this was granted - the CCJ is for the full £2,400. I have spoken to the University who are having none of it and keep passing me to their solicitors and the enforcement officer that's dealing with the collection.

I do not deny that I owe Vanquis money, but I don't believe I owe them £460 - at max £250 due to the fact I activated the payment protection which I believed froze interests and charges. Where do I stand on this? Vanquis won't speak to me and claim I need to speak to the collection agency.

I am still unemployment but on Job Seekers Allowance now (had to wait before I could sign-on due to having received state support as a student). I have been turned down for a number of jobs due to failing their background checks - when I have this clarified they state it's the 'financial security checks'. It's a catch-22. I can't clear the debt because I don't have a job. I don't have a job because I have debt.

I also have very little spare money. I get ~£113 JSA. However, this week coming - I have three job interviews which I need to travel to via train - at £15 for a return - I've almost used up the week's JSA.

I'm just at a loss for what I'm supposed to be doing here? I know ~£4,000 isn't the largest of amounts but that CCJ has knocked my credit score to near enough junk status and is actually preventing me from getting work.

Trajal

Hi there, it sounds like there is quite a lot which can be done in the first instance.

Remember that they cannot get blood out of a stone, so if you don't have it, you just can't give it to them - they're going to have to wait until circumstances move in your favour.

There are several strategies which can be deployed in order to get this fact hit home on them, involving either self managing or charity-assisted repayment programmes.

Before any of that though, could you put up an SoA (Statement of Affairs) which you can use to calculate your incomings, outgoings, total debts etc?

There is a link here which provides output that you can copy and paste into this thread: http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

That's a start, more advice when we get a bit more info

Also, could you please explain why a CCJ is going to prevent you from getting work? There are certain professions where it is a problem but in general it's not relevant to an employer.

InTheDeepEnd_3

I guess that's quite true - if I don't have it, I can't possibly give it to them. But it's such a massive weight on my chest at the moment and I really need to shift it.

Unfortunately, I'm struggling to find work - my CV (to date) is quite limited - I have had a few clerical admin type jobs within financial services organisations - which I enjoyed and was good at. I have registered with a few employment agencies - whenever I apply for a position that I know wouldn't have any such checks (basic manual work), I get turned down because I am not suitable - that's the agency saying it, not the employer - I don't even get to convince the employer (who they won't even name). I've tried all-sorts - warehouses, cleaning, night shifts etc

For positions where I've been able to apply directly, once I explain the gap in my CV (been to Uni, dropped out) I get the inevitable rejection. I asked for feedback on one and was told the interviewer was 'concerned I would be returning to university and thus unlikely to be with the organisation for the long-term', even when I show so much enthusiasm for the role and don't mention anything about returning Uni - I don't even have any intention of returning.

Here's the statement of affairs.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 246
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 246

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 25
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 17.5
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
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)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 42.5


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
Vanquis........................460.......0.........0
T-Mobile.......................97........0.........0
University.....................2400......0.........0
Overdraft......................950.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3907......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 246
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 42.5
Available for debt repayments........... 203.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 203.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,907
Net Assets.............................. -3,907

patman99

InTheDeepEnd wrote: »

Here's the statement of affairs.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 246
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 246

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 25
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 17.5
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0 - Put £10 in here
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)...... 0 - Raise this to £10
Haircuts................................ 0 - Raise this to £10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 42.5


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
Vanquis........................460.......0.........0
T-Mobile.......................97........0.........0
University.....................2400......0.........0
Overdraft......................950.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3907......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 246
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 42.5
Available for debt repayments........... 203.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 203.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,907
Net Assets.............................. -3,907

Looks like you have £200 left over each month. As you need clothes & a haircut, I would put £10 in each of these along with £10 in presents.

Your overdraft will reduce each time your benefits come in, so i would look at tackling your debts thus -

T-Mobile - You could pay this off out of what is left-over from next months benefits.

Vanquis - Offer £25 a month.
University - Offer £25 per month.

There is nothing to say they will accept this, but remember, if they went to Court the Judge would ask you to submit an SoA on which s/he would base their decision. There is always the likelyhood that the Judge would set a lower monthly payment, so they are more likely to accept a payment plan from you than risk Court.

Another alternative is to look at a '0% on b/t' c/card. If you can get one, there is nothing stopping you transferring the entire balance from the Vanquis card which would then be paid-off interest free.
If you could get a normal c/card with a good limit (say £2,500), you could pay-off the University & then b/t it onto the 0% card as well.

Your issue with jobs is that in the financial services industry you need a squeaky clean financial history. You don't as you have a CCJ on your file.

patman99

Meant to add that there is nothing stopping you signing-up to the OU & continuing the course you started once you are in a better position financially.