Where do I start?

jessicarabbitrachel1980

Long story short. In 2010 I left a nasty relationship in a hurry, without a lot of paperwork. Couple of months later I lost my job. I had a few accounts that were all up to date but I started to miss payments and was issued with default notices. Buried my head in the sand.

Now I'm married to someone else, got a new baby and want to sort out my debts and credit file so I can move on financially.

The situation:
I'm still named on deeds and mortgage with ex. He lives there I don't have access to the property. This is up to date. It's with a solicitor so hopefully will be resolved soonish. There is also a CCJ charging order on the property for £2000 hopefully this will be cleared when property is sold (he can't take over mortage)

I also owe:
££2500 to Cabot (default 11/2010)
£777 to HSBC (default 05/2010)
£32 to Lloyds (default 03/2010)
£525 to motor mile (default 11/2011)
£919 to vodaphone/lowell (default 06/2011)
And finally there is a joint account with ex -balance was £0 when I left, he was supposed to sign to remove my name but instead ran up £4500 debt on it and the account is in default. He seems to be paying it off in fits and starts the balance is now £2700. No payments into the account from me since 2010.


Question is, where do I start. Unsurprisingly my credit rating is 'very poor'. I've taken out a credit rebuilder card and set up a direct debit to clear full balance every month but in terms of the debt, do I wait for things to hopefully drop off file at 6 year point (seems a long way off!) or try to repay but start the clock ticking again? I'm on Statutory Maternity Pay at present until middle of next year so I can't raise vast sums but I'm trying to get my house in order for my family. I know I've cocked up but I want to deal with it now. Any constructive advice would be fab. Thanks

rockm87

Hi and welcome

start by completing this: http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

fully and honestly so we can see your situation.

Honestly I would get rid of the credit builder card, it's to tempting to use, and you dont want to add to your problems.

Id let all your debts default, and then send them a letter outlining your sitation and giving them a payment plan as to what you can afford each month, even if it is £1 a month. (there are template letter somewhere)

jessicarabbitrachel1980

Thanks for your reply. Current situation is slightly complicated as I am on SMP until April 2016 I only get around 600 per month (varies depending on length of the month) My husband's finances are totally separate and he pays most of the bills. I pay for my own phone plus car and gas and electric and a couple of insurance policies and we split the food bills. I'm reluctant to include him On any financial statement because our finances are not really connected and my debt issues are a bone of contention because they relate to my ex. I don't feel it's fair for him to pay towards this.
Also I'm concerned that if I make £1 p/m offers that will restart the clock ticking on debts where there is sometimes less than a year before statute barred?
I have a 12 week old baby and it's hard to work out costs at the minute I was hopeful that on occasion I could set money aside in a lump to tackle individual debts and so where to start with those. If I make token offers of payment there really will be no end in sight to this situation.
I can fill out the template but it's hard to do it honestly at the moment because I'm finding my feet with new family set up. Any money I have left at the moment goes into a saving account so I do have a little cash but it really varies from month to month.
So if I could tackle one debt first which should I tackle?

andyfromotley

If the house sells is there any equity for you?

sourcrates

Hi,
So all accounts have defaulted, some are still with original creditors, the rest are with DCA`s, honestly, if your on maternity pay, you cant afford to be paying anything to these debts right now.
You could stop paying the debts still with the OC, allow them to sell the accounts on, as for the rest of them, the debt collection process can take many months, even years, so I doubt anything will happen anytime soon, to get worried about, if some are close to been SB, then making payment now would be foolish.


Keep a close eye on any correspondence you receive, to avert any chance of court action, DCA`s have a nasty habit of doing this just before an account is due to go SB.


There is a process a creditor must go through in order to take you to court, its called the "civil procedure rules, pre-action protocol", basically they have to write to you saying that unless you settle or agree terms, we will take you to court.


So keep an eye on the post, see how things are in a few months time.

rockm87

You've really got to get a budget together though, you really should have something in black and white as to where the money is going, or it will be gone and you'll wonder what happened!

It's ok, just put down your income and expenses, as well as your debts.

jessicarabbitrachel1980

Probably not unfortunately.
I should also mention that I have a couple of credit agreements which are up to date so don't want to do DMP as this will affect them too. 2010-11 was a really bad time for me in a lot of ways and this is the hangover from that. I'm now in a position where I can deal with things emotionally and I'm motivated to do so. I would like to rebuild my credit as quickly as I can because we are very cramped in our current home with the baby but unless I sort things out I'll never be able to get added to mortage with my husband and extend or move

jessicarabbitrachel1980

Pretty rough:
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 600
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 80
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 680

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 124
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 60
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 35
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 20
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 594


Assets
Cash.................................... 1000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 5000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 800......(124)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 800.......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-

jessicarabbitrachel1980

Didn't put debts down as there are on original post. No creditors are chasing me at present.

DawnW

Electricity and gas look quite high.
Can you go sim only on your mobile?
Do you really need to spend £60 per month on clothes?

Just a little bit of food for thought...

Good luck x

patman99

The charging order on the home you co-own with your ex may well not be enforceable (there is a thread somewhere that explains why),

As for the other debts, wait and see what happens. Either the DCAs will notice the debts are rapidly getting close to being SB and start action to get payment, or they will not notice and the debts become SB and they are stuffed.

As you don't appear to be on the mortgage for your current home, if the DCAs do start recovery of the debts, you could try for a DRO (through one of the debt management charities). Costs £90 to apply for and if you are successful, all the debts you include will be gone.