Had a blip, in a month things will be better again - but what to do in meantime?

allmessedup

I have royally messed things up for myself - basically wound down a company I was running to focus on my job and job search in the same field as otherwise I had no time to even sleep properly so couldn't progress at all, but the job hasn't been paying me enough to support myself. It worked - I now have a new job starting in a few weeks paying £38k and fully in the field I want to be in, but in the meantime I'm terrified everything is going to fall apart...

- I owe two months rent and my landlord has just realised and is threatening court if it's not paid
- I am also letting down my lovely flatmates if I don't pay this and sort it out
- not to mention would have to move out of my flat at very short notice and am feeling pretty run down by the financial stress of the last few months so don't know how I would even start the process of looking for the next one at the same time as the new job. It is exhausting being worried about money all the time
- I owe a bit of council tax too but nothing unmanageable so could be postponed til after job start

Looking at posts on here etc I realise there's so much I could have done while I wasn't earning enough and was interviewing for new jobs; I could have got universal credit to help with rent apparently - I had no idea, I've never taken any benefits from the govt in my life - and could have chased old bank charges and so on. But at the moment the situation is a bit dire and immediate to go down one of those routes... what do I do? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Things are complicated by my bad credit history from when I first started working a few years back and was silly and financially naive and greedy, getting tempted into a load of payday loans I couldn't afford that just ended up like a snake eating its own tail, being taken out to pay each other off. So I wouldn't be approved for a normal loan... what else can I do? Anyone in the market for a healthy young kidney, haha?!

Really though, I feel pretty desperate. Like I'm constantly about to have an aneurysm or pass out; think I'm sort of panicking on the inside, though vaguely holding it together for work etc externally. Any constructive ideas welcomed with open arms!

National_Debtline

Hello, and welcome to MSE,


I would suggest that you write/ email your landlord and send them a copy of your acceptance for the new job that verifies the salary and then do a SOA showing that you will be able to pay the on going rent and you can make an offer to the arrears as well. Your new take home pay should be approx. £2500 per month (depending on whether your have pensions or union fees deducted of course). Make an offer to clear them gradually over a few months.


If the landlord is still unhappy then just remember that a private landlord must issue a Section 21 notice (2months notice) before they can take any court action. If they have already sent this in the past, then it will take time to start court proceedings and they may consider dropping them altogether if you could clear it in full. Do you have any friends or family that could help if you absolutely needed it?


With the council tax, I would suggest that you get in touch with them in a similar way, ask them to recalculate your bill and roll the arrears back into the monthly payments and spread the payments until March 2017 - rather than to January 2017. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

CIS

I agree with above re Council Tax - if you can, ask them to extend the instalments to March (or extend your arrangment if a summons has already been issued).

Whatever you don't miss any payment without having spoken to them first.

Craig

upoiupou

If I understand correctly, you have a job at the moment but it pays little. Could you use some of that to make a small payment to your landlord, alongside the full communication discussed above, to show that you're serious?

Can you do some extra temporary work while waiting for your new job to start? Either something using your skills, or a more generic job like delivering free papers, folding leaflets etc.

I agree about talking to the Council before missing any payments. I missed one due to a mixup and the additional charges started piling up in much less than a month, together with a court summons. But it was OK when I talked to them.

bettyboo71

I am guessing that, as you mention flatmates, the council tax is not just your responsibility, so getting them to do the recalculation might not be an option?

Can you possibly approach your bank? Even with a poor history, you do have a job offer with a good salary, so might be able to arrange some sort of overdraft.

Is there nobody - friends or family - who you might ask for help? I know it is not easy, but it sounds like you would be able to pay it back fairly soon.

nkkingston

Be open and honest with people your blip is going to affect, including the council, your landlord and your housemates. Don't let them worry you're burying your head in the sand. Rent and council tax are priority debts. That is, you could end up homeless or in prison if you ignore them, as opposed to non-priority debts like credit cards and payday loans, which mostly result in lots of annoying phone calls (and could eventually result in bankruptcy, but if you've already got a poor credit record and don't own your home, that won't hurt as much as it might).

A lot of people with priority debts also have non-priority debts. Are you still paying off those payday loans? If you've been paying them over your rent, STOP. It doesn't matter how much they complain, they come after essential expenses in the queue (and they know it, which is why they try and scare you into paying them instead).

Have a look at the payday loan thread to see if you think you might be entitled to compensation for irresponsible lending, there. It won't fix your current problem, but it'll help in future.

Have a go on turn2us to see if there's anything you're missing out on. You can claim some benefits in arrears, so you might be able to get something for the period you were in hardship to put towards the rent.

Will your housemates let you off some of the other bills for a couple of months so you can get the rent up to date and then pay them back?