Debt Catching Up

Janner89

Good Afternoon All.

I am in a little bit of bother. My wife and I sat down around March time and reassessed our financial situation. We set up various standing orders etc to come out of a "Bills Account" and in turn had a "Weekly Account" where by we had x amount of money to get food etc.

Anyway, one month after this arrangement I had to go on sick leave due to a bad back problem. This caused me to be off for 5 months and in the process of this I have had to leave the job due to the heavy lifting involved that I just cannot do anymore without risking further, more serious injury.

I have a job in a respite centre however this is on an "as and when" basis. At the moment I am getting around 2 shifts a week which is equating to better money than the dole and its actual work.

However now it has reached tipping point. Rent is due on Monday and we are £278 short ((

We claim Housing, working tax etc. The housing is in process of being put up however they have said that it is going to be at least a week before anything is actioned.

We have been unable to pay water bills,council tax too. CT are aware of the situation and have said we can pay a reduced amount next month than normal and not pay November, Which although helps in the short term, it is obviously still needing paying its just being spread around the rest of the financial year.

We have cut back as much as possible. The only next cut back we can do it to move but it is something we desperately do not want to do.

I don't know if anyone can give any advice to the rent situation, I don't know where to turn.

Tixy

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Regarding the rent - who do you rent from, a private landlord, through a lettings agent or social housing? I think in reality all you can do at the moment is to explain that you have a slight problem with finances and that you can only pay £x on Monday but will pay the remainder as soon as you can (and before the next rent is due).

Do you have any consumer credit debts at all that you are paying? if so then it is best to stop paying these so that you can pay priority debts such as rent and CT.

In terms of the cutting back you have done so far - you might want to consider preparing and posting up a statement of affairs on here in case people can spot other areas you could get things cheaper/switch/ reduce etc? It is rare that people cannot make a few suggestions that may help. If you want to do this then we tend to use this calculator - http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Doing that statement of affairs should also help you see whether you can realisitically afford to live at that property ongoing based on the income/benefits etc you will have (once the housing benefit is sorted).

Janner89

I rent through an estate agent but we know the landlords pretty well. We have a guarantor as well.

We just feel like everytime we get somewhere in regards to debt..We have reduced debt by £5000 in the last four years...something crops up that makes us step five steps back.

Could you explain what consumer credit debts are? Is this credit cards?

Tixy

Yes credit cards or loans, store cards or overdrafts etc. If you are spending money repaying any of these then you may want to speak to one of the debt advice charities about options for reducing your repayments to them in favour of priority debts - which includes rent, council tax, utilities etc.

This factsheet may be useful http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/page.php?page=35_options_for_dealing_with_your_debts

and this is a list of debt advice charities - IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

Janner89

Thank you. We currently pay 31 a month to those sorts of things. If we stop surely they will just join the queue waiting for our last penny to drop on the floor??

Tixy

Well £31 a month isn't much, but these items should be lower priority than rent and council tax.
Obviously you can end up homeless for not paying rent, but if you don't pay a credit card then the consequences are not as severe. Better to miss a repayment on a debt than not to pay your rent.

If you are going to need to miss repayments on your debts then its worth talking to one of the charities, they can advise on whether you would need to move to open a new bank account for example (if you have debts with your current bank) and can help you with writing a letter to your creditors to explain your current circumstances and that you cannot currently afford repayments.

dancingfairy

Great that you did a sit down in march but obviously things have changed so it seems like it might be time to do another budget?
As Tixy has said 31 month isn't much but obviously if you are short on rent then this 31 will help.
Do a budget, make sure you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to and go from there.
Do you have anything you can sell on ebay to make ends meet or have a car boot or something?
In terms of the actual problem of rent being due all I can suggest is getting in touch with them and explaining that you are suffering real financial hardship at the moment and you are aware that the rent is due but you just don't have the money at the moment to pay but that you will pay x amount on y day.
Do you have a food bank or anything like that nearby that may help? Obviously if they are providing a small amount of food then the money that would otherwise have been spent on food can go on rent.
Best of Luck
df