Large Debt to Pay Off in 2 Weeks - Please Help

lookingforhelp88

Hi

I've got a debt of £2,418 which I've incurred on my company credit card (Visa Corporate, powered by Barclaycard), due to be paid on 15th November.

To help explain things, I have an overdraft of £1,000 (always used) and a loan of £1,555 (initially £2,000). Both are with Lloyds.

I've received an e-mail from an internal team stating if the amount of £2,418 is not paid to Barclays the Firm may take disciplinary action (card is given to all staff and is strictly business use) or withhold some/all of my salary to pay the balance.

The direct debit was initially taken out of my account last month, putting my bank balance at around £3,100 in the red. On the same day I went to my bank and asked for an additional £3,000 to add to my current loan, for which I was rejected. I left having told the advisor I had no money for food, or to pay to get my car out of the car park, but he said there was nothing they could do.

The amount was returned the next day due to insufficient funds which allowed me to carry on for a couple of weeks.

So in summary, I need to pay off £2,418 within 11 days, but I have no money to do so.

Please could someone provide me with some advice on what best to do?

I have had a read through this site and it seems my best option is to get a Balance Transfer at 0%, payable in 17/27 months etc. My knowledge in this area is limited though so I would really appreciate some help. I am not sure if my card being a company one is a factor or not.

I believe I could pay off the amount owed monthly within around 18 months.

For what it's worth, 9 months ago I was recommended by the NHS for long term psychotherapy and diagnosed by a doctor with depression. It's been during this period that I allowed my spending to get out of control.

Thank you for your time

ValHaller

Negotiate a repayment plan with your employer.

Bluntly, you must be crazy to fund your own expenditure off an employers card without having the means to pay it back in full each month when the statement comes.

Tahlullah

Albeit a bit blunt, ValHaller is right about the way to approach this. It appears that you can no longer afford to make repayments on what you owe, which is why you are being rejected for loans. Your credit score must be poor, or it will be now!

Yes, you can approach the likes of Wonga, but that will only push you further into debt due to the extremely high interest charges, which you will incur because you can't afford to meet the repayments.

You could try and get a Barclaycard with a 30 month interest free period, but again, will you be able to meet the repayments and repay before the end of the interest free period?

If you bite the bullet and inform your employer, at least the repayment schedule may be realistic. But, you may be walking into a disciplinary anyway for using the company card for your own expenditure. Cards are usually given on trust and you appear to have breached it.

Good luck. But get in touch with someone like the CAB who can help you to sort out repaying your debts before any other creditors come chasing. You know you are at the end of the road when you are spending someone elses money and risking your income and employment because of debt.

Sazzie23

HI help88

Bit of mess huh? Here are my suggestions, 3 parts,

Fess up to the boss/HR, admitting to the depression too if they don't know already and come up with a plan to repay. If the firm has one ask for referral to counselling too.

Look at Stepchange/Payplan etc for advice on how your total debt is managed?

Make sure you withdraw any available money from the bank before your account gets closed if the direct debit goes out.

beanielou

No ideas,sorry.

bouncydog1

What did you use the card for? If it was business spending presumably you have been reimbursed or is it items that you have charged to the card that the Company now want reimbursed?

You need to go and see HR urgently and speak to your boss.

tripled

If they said they may take disciplinary action, that suggests they may help you out of the hole you're in (for example, by paying in installments). But you'll need to be proactive to resolve this.

I'm sure a regular in this section will come along and give more advice soon. I'd suggest you complete an SOA (detailing your income and commitments) which will help people to assist you. They can help you work out what repayments you could offer. If your company doesn't accept that and you can't obtain reasonable credit, you may need to stop paying non-priority commitments and prioritise the rest. Again, there are people on this forum that can provide advice on this and how to handle the fallout.

Edit: This thread provides some information and a link to a SOA calculator.

lookingforhelp88

Thanks for the responses everyone. It seems I may have no option to contact HR and advise I cannot afford to make the payment, but I really see that as the final option and hope I can avoid that.

Tahlullah - I've met every repayment on the loan I have, and the previous loan, with Lloyds (taken the day after my salary is paid in). However, the overdraft exceeds it's limit on a monthly basis.

In respect to the Barclaycard option, yes, I do believe I can pay back the amount owed within 30 months. I'm two weeks away from changing my rented accommodation which will save me £200 a month, and in 5 months I'll be at the end of an expensive lease car contract. In 9 months I should be getting a good increase in salary as I'll finally be qualified.

How would I go about applying for one? Does it not matter that the company card is "Powered by Barclaycard" (says it on the back but the front is company branded). And do you see my chances as being any good?

Sorry for all the questions.

Sazzie - They are aware of the depression and I've had two meetings with HR (though a different team and location than the one contacting me for the credit card) and been offered the counselling they provide too.

Bouncy dog - It was personal spending so there's no reimbursement but a monthly payment to Barclaycard 6 weeks after the month-end.

Tripled - Thanks, that link is very helpful. I've done an SOA and have calculated how much I can pay back on a monthly basis.

and yes VanHaller I can only agree, it's been a bad year.

bouncydog1

I'm assuming that the internal team have all the bills sent to them which is how they discovered the card had been used for personal spending. You really do need to speak to HR or your Manager in the first instance to try and head off any disciplinary action as clearly using the card for personal spending is in breach of company's conditions.

At least trying to deal with things in this way may head off a disciplinary although it is very possible that they may withhold salary to recover the debt.

I think that by facing up to things is going to be much better than ignoring them.

lookingforhelp88

No they haven't yet discovered that the card has been used for personal spending. The threat of action is solely relating to non payment, which is why I'm keen to resolve this by making payment and avoiding any disciplinary action. I think by speaking to the payments team it'll result in action being taken on me and given I've already had a warning for a separate issue this really would be the last resort option.

dancingfairy

Well option 1 has to be to apply for a loan if you think you can meet the repayments, pay off work and vow never ever to use your work card for spending again (and possibly grovel to work as well).
Option 2 - confess all to work and ask for a payment plan.

Do you not have any family/friends you can borrow the money off?
Anything you can sell? Sell your car?
Hope you can get something sorted.
df