Debt help for elderly please

sukie_3

Hi

I am helping some friends who are on DLA and attendance allowance sort out there financial problems, one has a terminal illness, they are elderly and owe over £26,000 which they can not afford to pay, they are both retired, live in a council flat, and have no value in goods and only the basics of furniture, no savings and nothing of any value, my question is :'they need there disability money for there disabilities' ...however can debtors take this into consideration when requesting payments they are in receipt of DLA ( under the special rules) attendance allowance at the lower rate, & Pension Credit. the company agreed to accept £5 per calendar month from them however this has now been passed over to debt agency and l have again explained the circumstances to them and that they can only afford £5, also if they declared themselves bankrupt this would cost money they dont have, as the debt is in both there names it would be twice they needed to pay and they cant afford once ...can anyone advise me please thank you for your help

philnicandamy

Your first port of call should be to contact one of the Debt Charities; see links below. Their services are free; they have no vested interest to serve; their advisors are professionally trained and the advice they give will be objective and in your best interests only. CCCS operate a system of telephone appointments that are designed to be flexible and don’t require you to attend an office based interview. At the CAB you will need to make an appointment with a specialist Financial Advisor; other advisors may not have the specialist knowledge you’ll need.
http://www.cccs.co.uk/
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index.htm
If and only if you’re advised that bankruptcy is the most suitable solution to your financial problems then the guys & gals here will help any way they can.
For more specific advice and support, in an environment that is managed by people with first hand experience of bankruptcy, and moderated to ensure that no deliberately inflammatory or abusive posts are made then please visit:
http://bankruptcysupportersclub.co.uk/default.aspx

as for costs some of the major utilities companies offer a trust fund with help towards costs of bankrupcy

have a look here

http://www.edfenergytrust.org.uk/documents/UtilityTrustsandSchemesforVulnerableCustomersDec06.pdf

it's a list of trusts that you can apply to for possible help with BR costs, a couple of members on here were in similar situations & had their fees paid this way..BUT you must contact one of the debt charitys 1st before attempting trust fund payments otherwise they'll throw the application out

I've been on the higher rate DLA for many years & recently claiming incapacity benefit now as my conditions deteriorated, the official receivers who deal with bankrupcy cases will not take any benefits into consideration so they will be safe