What to do now?

pnq06

Hi all,

I have asked for advice on here before and it has always been spot on so I please ask for your help once again

I have an outstanding debt of £568.00 (which is government based), I have been in an ongoing war about not being able to pay it due to being 7 months pregnant and not being able to find work blah, blah, blah so therefore have no income and rely on my partner to support me. This has made no difference to them and even with CAB writing to them to say that I have no income, savings or tangible assets etc. If anything it has made the problem worse and they are now going ahead with legal proceedings 3 weeks before the deadline they originally gave me.

I am understandably becoming really upset by the whole thing and worrying what will happen in court etc. I don't understand how they can harrass me for money when there are people out there owing thousands who can afford some type of payment in return. Where else can I turn if the CAB couldn't even make an impact?

Please help as I really am at my wits end with it all and as a result my health is suffering and my relationship is non-existant with my partner who is fed up with it all...

rayday2

Who is the debt with and what was it for originally? It depends on what it is as to the solution.

Also have you offered token payments what was the letters or offers in the letters that CAB sent?

jo1972

Hi there,

I'm no expert on this, but surely even if you went to court the judge would see that you can't afford to pay it and look at your incomings and outgoings and give you a resonable figure to repay, even if it's a £1 good will payment once a month. Maybe it won't hurt going to court, as scary as it is :eek:

pnq06

Thanks for the quick replies!!!

The debt is with the csa. CAB said that the debt isn't anything to do with my partner so therefore shouldn't have to come out of his income (good job as he has debts of approx £20,000 :eek: ). I have tried making token payments from my partners income before and the £15pm I offered wasn't good enough despite me not working at the time!

The CAB tried to stress that it was a waste of their time and tax payers money taking me to court as there is physically no way I can pay it at the moment. They also made a point for me about the figures they have given me to pay back to maybe be incorrect and to provide proper breakdowns which I have asked for in the past and never received as I believe it should be several hundred cheaper.

I of course understand that it is a debt that needs to be paid but if no one will employ me and I'm not entitled to benefits, what can I do??

Thanks again

rog2

Hi pnq - let me attempt to put your mind at rest, should it ever get to court. You would be asked by a judge, whether you had made any offer of payment by instalments or otherwise. You will be asked about your circumstances and disposable income, including what YOU feel you can afford to pay.
After considering ALL the facts, the judge will make an order for you to pay in instalments that you can afford. This order is just as binding on your creditor as it is on you, and the creditor will no longer be able to harass you.
The law is there for you as much as for your creditor.

chevalier

Are you paying what you offered? As this helps if it goes to court too.
chev

dancingfairy

Hi. Make sure you keep paying what you have decided you can afford even if it is £15 a month or whatever as this will go in your favour if it gets to court.
If the CAB are supporting you then thats good.
I don't know whether going to the doctor and getting him/her to write a letter to the effect that all this stress is making you ill and with being pregnant taking you to court is not going to help much. Not sure whether this would help or not- maybe you could forward that to the agency involved- maybe some other people will have some good ideas.
You are clearly doing your best so try and relax and carry on with doing the best you can.
Also is your partner claiming all the benefits he can get - maybe this provide a little more to offer them?
Also if you get him to post an SOA maybe we can help him make cut backs which can be used to pay off his debt quicker/put towards your debt?
If it does go to court (which from what you've said sounds like a waste of time as they can't get blood out of a stone) can you take someone from the CAB with you as support/maybe your partner/friend ?
All the best. Hang in there.

pnq06

Thanks for the replies...

I have recently had to stop the payments as they were coming out of our WTC award which has now been stopped as we were apparently overpaid in 06/07
(we're not having much luck!).

I know when I go to court that I am quite confident that our bank statements will prove that after all the bills going out each month we will be left with £32 a month to pay for food shopping, travel etc. (when I joined the forum I posted my SOA and there wasn't really anything that could be changed as we're in contract with most of the bill and the loan is already on low payments).

Thanks dancingfairy for the tip to go to the dr's, it may go in my favor as I have been to them recently with high blood pressure, anemia and also hinted at depression from stress but didn't want to say too much in case I was judged of being an unfit parent!

I will also ask if I can have support on the day for the CAB but it took me ages to get an appointment so I think they're (understandably) very busy!

I tried to contact my MP but he's not having any surgeries til September which is slightly to late for me so is there any other MP type people that would be able to help?