Debt Advise Needed - Re Living Together

StephenSimmons

Hello Everyone,

I have multiple debt issues which with the help from the Citizens Advise Bureau are now under control and I pay £1 to each of my 6 creditors. I work part time and I have had a lot of problems with mental health, benefits etc over the year but I am now independent and working again, all be it I can only manage part time hours.

I have a partner who lives separate to me and she wants me to move in. I can not risk moving in with her due to my debts. Every few months they have a review of my finances and I am worried anyone of them will be passed to another debt collection agency who may over look my mental health problems and aggressively impose themselves on my new partner and the children she has, this would be unfair on here, nor does she know of the tactics these companies use to hold her possessions to ransom and dupe her out of her own monies for something that has nothing to do with her.

Is it possible for me to move in with here with no problems coming to her address ??

Living independent from her I can manage these companies and any threats they use, but I can not guarantee how they will behave if I was to move in with her ??

I can not see how I can ever move in with her and live together if I can not control these companies. I can not do a Debt Relief Order as my debts are about £25.000.

I have mental health issues and it is unlikely I will be able to work full time and ever pay these debts off.

Do I have to live independent for ever ?

What is my best route in order to live with my partner in the future??

Thank you for any help you can give.

DCFC79

They wont hold her possessions to ransom and dupe her out of her own monies for something that has nothing to do with her.

As long as you don't let them in they cant take anything can they, if she has a car they won't just take it they get proof of who the owner is.

Is bankruptcy an option ? Maybe ask on the bankruptcy board.

Have you spoken to 1 of the free debt charities, stepchnage, payplan, christians against poverty are a few, are others around.

National_Debtline

Hi Stephen and welcome to MSE,


It sounds as though your debts may all be non priorities (credit cards, loans, overdrafts etc.) as you mentioned you have negotiated to pay £1 per month per debt. If that is the case, then they couldn't use bailiffs unless any of the debts have a County Court Judgement (CCJ). So, I doubt that you need to worry about anyone knocking the door (as you don't mention having a CCJ). Even if you do have bailiffs in the future, you do not need to worry about them taking your partners goods, as you can stop them gaining access to the property by locking the doors and refusing them entry.


If you and your partner would like to live together, then that is something you can do if you want to. Although creditors may want to see a joint budget to check you are sharing the bills fairly, it is not a requirement as your partner is not named on the debts. You can still do a separate budget plan if you don't want to share your finances, and one of the free debt charities should help you to do this.


You could also look into bankruptcy, if you think long term repayments would be unable to clear the debts. You can post in the bankruptcy forum or give one of the free charities a call for advice.

Laura
@natdebtline

StephenSimmons

Hello,

Yes I do not have any CCJ's at the moment as I got to the Citizens Advice Bureau immediately when I was signed off from work 2 years ago to explain I would no longer be able to keep up repayments to my credit cards and loans etc. The Citizens Advice Bureau immediately wrote to all my creditors and offered £1.00 to each of them as this is all I could afford to pay. None of the debts are priority debts and since setting up the repayments almost 2 years ago, I have never once missed a payment to any of them. The only thing that has changed in this time is that some of the creditors changed from banks to collection agencies. They each write to me every 6 months to undertake a review and I always do all correspondance through the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Question.
If I am currently paying my creditors (banks and debt collection agencies, no CCJ's or priority debts) a token payment of per month £1.00, what is the likelihood that any of these debts could progress to a CCJ ?

Question.
Can they apply for a CCJ if I am always in contact with them and that I always make a payment every month, even though the amount of monies may not be what they desire. The payment I make is what the Citizen Advise Bureau say I can afford having completed a common financial statement every 6 months. This is compiled having systematically gone through all my monthly receipts with the Citizens Advice Bureau to confirm my income and my outgoings.

I have further questions but I will await the answer to this one first.

Thank you for your help everyone.

enthusiasticsaver

I would think it unlikely your creditors would take you to court unless your income was upped and you refused to pay more than the token payment.

If you do move in with your partner make sure you don't open any joint accounts as that will financially link you which would impact on your partners credit record.

The main thing is to keep in contact with your creditors and keep to any arrangement set. They will continue to review regularly. If you are able to save you might try offering full and finals on a few to get the overall debt figure down.

sourcrates

Hi,

Your living arrangements are absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any of your creditors, if you want to live together, then do so, it has as much to do with them, as it does me..........nothing !!

Your debts will not impact on her at all.

You may owe these companies money, but they do not rule your life.

As long as you are paying what your budget says you can afford, then there is no benefit to the creditor to take legal action, it would be a waste of time and money.

fatbelly

You say that you would qualify for a DRO, except your debt total is 5k too high.

Are any of the debts excluded debts (which would not contribute to the total) - social fund loans, Child Maintenance arrears, student loans, tv licence arrears?

Are any of the debts being paid down substantially, e.g. benefit overpayments with money being deducted from an existing award?

Could you get a grant to pay any of them off, e.g water arrears, elec & gas arrears.

If there is no way to get the total down, is there any reason why bankruptcy would not do the job for you?

Fireflyaway

Does your partner know about your debt? There may be calls / letters every so often so maybe best to explain if you haven't already.
I had a debt management plan and was sure to keep my partner out of it. If you have to do income and expenditures ensure you mention only your money. Say you live alone if you want. They can't come after your partner for your debt.
The only cautionary thing, don't link yourselves financially. Your bad credit will impact her if you have joint bank accounts or a shared mortgage etc.
Lastly don't ever feel ashamed about your debt. Its extremely easy to get into debt and most people have it!

StephenSimmons

Hello,

Thank for all your help.

My debts are purely credit cards and loans. So no option at the moment to reduce it to below the limit in order to consider a debt relief order, so that is not an option right now.

I also work in a job that you can not be bankrupt, so until I improve my mental health and find a different job, I am unable to consider bankruptcy.

My partner is not aware of my debts yet, although if I ever intend to move in, this topic will be discussed at length and in full detail for her to decide if she still feels me moving in it is an option she desires.

It is so difficult, I feel completely trapped....