Head firmly buried in the sand :(

shelby1306

Hi everyone

I've been reading through the boards looking at how people get themselves debt free. I really want to dig myself out of this big hole I've landed in but I don't know where to begin!

I don't even know how much debt I'm in or how I find out about it. I've tried with experian a few years back and my letter box became flooded with letters for money I owed so I turned my back on it.

I'm now in my first proper job since graduating as a mature student and want to sort myself out I'm sick of the phone calls/constant letters/ telling the kids to ignore the door, I just don't know where to start 😫

This morning I've received a notice of enforcement for council tax from my last property but truthfully I've not paid council tax this year either and keep hoping it will disappear. I've also received a letter from DWP who will be doing an attachment of earnings for money owed of £340.

Please can someone advise me where do I start?! How do I deal with this being the only earner in the house with two children. How do others in my situation deal with it? I feel pathetic and like I'm drowning and cannot see an end in sight!

Thanks in advance for any advice that will be welcomed!

rockm87

Hi
the best thing to do is get your numbers together a write a statement of affairs.

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Fill this in, try to be as accurate as possible. You can get a free credit report from noddle.

You may need to contact the council too to see how much you owe, you cant just ignore it, it will go nowhere.

best of luck on your journey.

sourcrates

Hi,
I'm sorry but deliberately withholding payment on your council tax is insane, what were your reasons for this ?

There is help available from your council if you are struggling, ignoring it can cause you all kinds of trouble, have you read the posts from other people on this forum, who owe CT, and the hassle they are getting from bailiffs ?

You need to sort the CT. as a matter of urgency, forget the unsecured credit for now, sort your council tax out.

shelby1306

Thanks for the replies... It wasn't so much deliberately withholding council tax more a case of not being able to afford it and being scared to contact them. I know I've been very careless and stupid I keep telling myself I'll sort it tomorrow but tomorrow never comes.

I can't explain the stupidity of it I'm well aware that I've made things a lot more difficult for myself.

I am plucking up the courage to contact the council I'm just scared/embarrassed/ashamed that it's gotten this bad!!

Thanks again appreciate the input 😊

Grumpelstiltskin

Shelby Are you receiving all the benefits you are entitled to?


Are you the only adult in the house? If so have you claimed the Council tax deduction for single people?


You must treat Council tax as your first priority together with rent/mortgage.

sourcrates

shelby1306 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies... It wasn't so much deliberately withholding council tax more a case of not being able to afford it and being scared to contact them. I know I've been very careless and stupid I keep telling myself I'll sort it tomorrow but tomorrow never comes.

I can't explain the stupidity of it I'm well aware that I've made things a lot more difficult for myself.

I am plucking up the courage to contact the council I'm just scared/embarrassed/ashamed that it's gotten this bad!!

Thanks again appreciate the input 😊

You need to contact them urgently to stop the whole years payment becoming liable, if you explain you have been struggling, then they may still allow you to pay by installments, otherwise it will be passed to a bailiff and there fees will seriously increase what you owe.

You should do this now, today, before things get any worse.
They are usually ok on the phone, if my council are anything to go by, and are used to dealing with people in arrears.

engineer_amy

Deal with the council tax issue as a matter of priority as suggested by the posters above, even if it is just picking up the phone to the council to discuss your situation.


Next use the link posted in the first reply to list all your income and current outgoings (make sure you list every expenditure) to find out if you have a surplus of cash at the end that you can pay towards your debt, or if there is a shortfall. if you are short, you can look at the list of expenses to see where you can make savings.


Then make contact with a debt charity. Others in the debt board recommend Stepchange or Christians against Poverty (I think), there are others, hopefully another poster will be able to advise. Whoever you choose, make sure they are not charging a fee for their services, you don't need to be spending anymore money. They will be able to advise on the next steps, such as contacting all creditors to discover outstanding balances, and how you might do this. Depending on the amounts of your debt and the surplus/shortfall found in step 2, they will advise a course of action based on your ability to pay. This could be a debt management plan, an IVA or bankruptcy.


Once you get one of these charities involved, many creditors will freeze interest and stop hounding you as long as you stick to the payment plans.


at least try to do some research yourself first - sign on to Noddle and Clearscore, both free and should list most of your debt/accounts. Then at least you will have an idea of the amount you owe, and will save time in your initial phone call/appointment with the debt charity.

shelby1306

Thanks again everyone for your replies... Good news I phoned the council today with regards to the enforcement and the debt is for am old address when I was a full time student so they have put a hold on the enforcement whilst I provide them the evidence. Feels like a massive relief just taking that step and speaking to them. They are also going to send me a bill in the next 7-10 days for council tax now so at least I can arrange to pay it. I feel so much better having spoken to them and they were very nice on the phone!

I've tried to access my credits score online however as I have a maestro card it won't accept it so I tried with another company who have said they don't have enough info on me to provide a score so not sure what that means? I don't fancy paying £14.99 a month with experian and when I tried the £2 report it said that not enough information could verify who I was so at a bit of a dead end with that one.

Any other ideas as to how I can access my credit rating and finally sort my finances out?

Thanks again everyone 😊

sourcrates

shelby1306 wrote: »

Thanks again everyone for your replies... Good news I phoned the council today with regards to the enforcement and the debt is for am old address when I was a full time student so they have put a hold on the enforcement whilst I provide them the evidence. Feels like a massive relief just taking that step and speaking to them. They are also going to send me a bill in the next 7-10 days for council tax now so at least I can arrange to pay it. I feel so much better having spoken to them and they were very nice on the phone!

I've tried to access my credits score online however as I have a maestro card it won't accept it so I tried with another company who have said they don't have enough info on me to provide a score so not sure what that means? I don't fancy paying £14.99 a month with experian and when I tried the £2 report it said that not enough information could verify who I was so at a bit of a dead end with that one.

Any other ideas as to how I can access my credit rating and finally sort my finances out?

Thanks again everyone 😊

Go to noddle.co.uk (call credit) it's completely free to use for life.

shelby1306

sourcrates wrote: »

Go to noddle.co.uk (call credit) it's completely free to use for life.

It's asking for card details to verify ID and maestro is not accepted so can't sign up to it.

myteeduck

I signed up to clearscore yesterday and didn't have to use a card to confirm details - just answer some q's about my finances. That was free as well.