Newbie. Any advice on situation appreciated - pulling my hair out!!!

davearnie

Hi everyone. Just came across this site. First I would like to apologise, but I am pulling my hair out and do not know what to do.

My situation is basically i owe about £16,000.

I have a number of crediators. The largest being Bank Of Scotland - i am overdrawn by £5000. I also have a 2 credit cards totaling £2000. I also have a number of store cards and loans from provident and similar companies.

I have also been served notice for eviction. The court case is in a few days. I am not overally worried about the eviction part - i found somewhere else to stay. But I am worried about what they are claiming - rent + Solicitors fees which come to about £3,800.

I got into this situation because of a series of bad events. I now have means to start paying off my debt. Also I have been served a few CCJs from the council and water company - with intended balif action - what do i do?

I contacted Payplan the other day. They said that because most of the companies are not ones they deal with - or are sponsered by, because they are sponsered by certain financial organisations - they cannot give me a DMP. They actually advised I go bankrupt.

I do not want this either though. My total income after tax in £1023 per month, my partnet makes around £800 per month.

I have a car on HP which i need due to disability. My total bills including food come to around £1300 per month. I therefore have £523 surplus income. I need to keep back some for other things like clothing, footware and general expenses. I believe I could reasonable afford to pay back £300 per month. Which - assuming all charges and interest were frozen - would take me around 54 Months to pay off.

I have a few questions though.

1. Are payplan right in saying i need to go bankrupt?
2. How do I deal with old CCJs which I have ignored?
3. Is there anywhere that could set up a DWP for me?
4. My job is a sales job, I have the potential to make commission on top of my basic salary, how will this be affected? Do i declare it? If so do i declare an average figure or just as and when I get it?

5. I am very worried after not paying anything for a number of months. What can happen to me, I keep getting letters and phone calls and I did not know what to do. My partner just started back work after illness - I was trying to support us but couldnt pay debt back.

Thankyou for your time reading this.

Kylie

Welcome to the site. You will have many people here to support you and provide good advice. The very first thing I suggest is Martin's article: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan

After this, provide a full Statement of Affairs and people here will be able to go through and suggest some things for you to do next.

itsnever2lateisit?

Hi and welcome to the DFW board, you will find many helpful people here, and thats all they want to do, help you. No judgement or anything like that. Having read this board extensively I can assure you that there are many cases, finacially more challenging than yours which, with help, have been turned round, or at least well on the way.

What the folks here will ask you for is a Statement Of Affairs (SOA) there is a sticky at the top of the thread, make a brew and read it. Draw up the SOA and post it here

Folks will suggest ways of making savings, in the first instance without affecting you lifestyle, if thats not enough then they will study the 'nn-essential' element of your spend and make suggestions there

Council tax is a must pay debt and must be tackled head on ASAP

You have taken the first, and hardest step, in your quest to tackle your debt:T and from hereon in you are not alone
A problem shared and all that..........

tigerfeet2006

Hi and welcome to the board.

As has already been mentioned a full SOA is your first thing to do. It will help the good people on here make suggestions and it is good for you to see where all the money is going.

Aspending diary is also another good idea. Just a little book where you and your partner write down everything you spend on. Even that bag of crisps you get when you pay for your petrol.

I think given the limited info you have given us that BR might be a bit extreme but also contacy CCCS (see my sig.) and have a chat with them.

chevalier

I would suggest that you prioritise your debts. Do you really want to move? If not is it worth trying to get up to date with the arrears and getting a stay of eviction?

Likewise debts to utilities and council tax are priority debts because you need them to keep warm, or are a legal requirement (council tax).

I would also open an basic bank account (ie one that allows the payment of direct debits and standing orders, but has no overdraft facility) and use this to pay your joint wages into. That way the over draft just becomes another non priority debt.

I would in the meantime write to the other creditors - the credit card companies/store cards etc. And say that you are having difficulties paying them back due to illness, and then enclose a token payment of £1 to show willing. Once you have done that they will know that you want to pay, so might help out.

If Payplan can't help then try CCCS their number is in the purple sig of the post above. They may be able to help you set up a DMP.

Best of luck
chev

davearnie

Ok here is my SOA per month:

Income

My wages - £1023
Partners wages - £800
Total = £1823

Outgoings

Rent - £625
Car HP - £161
Car Insurance - £63
Petrol - £50
Travel (tram to work) - £63
Gas/Electricity - £50
Water - £27
Council Tax - £73
Food - £200
Household (laundry, cleaning etc) - £30
Pets (food, insurance, vet) - £40
Telephone - £30

Total = £1412

Surplus
£411

I have not including anything to do with socialising or having to buy clothes etc.

Hope this helps. Thanks in advance for advice.

Kylie

You need to list details of each loan, credit card etc, with outstanding balance and interest rates etc.

Shineyhappy

If there are only the two of you, it should be fairly easy to reduce your food shopping by quite a bit to help pay off the debts faster if thats what you choose to do.

30 pounds a month on cleaning products seems very expensive! Is that really all used up every month? Maybe try Stardrops as recommended on the Old Style board. I would pop over there to have a look at cheap receipe ideas and for advice on how to bring down your cleaning bill.

I would also have a look at selling off unwanted goods on Ebay or Amazon and maybe other ways of raising some extra cash

In_Search_Of_Me

Just wanted to say welcome. You can get extra cash from quidco etc and by doing survey (there is a maximising income thread).
Try starting a spending diary to see where the extra money goes and try to be lethal with spending. In my experience its the bits here & there that cost and shopping at places like wilkinsons for cleaning stuff (sorry bu hate stardrops!) makes a big difference...You also need to identify the reason that you are in the position you are in now so that you can avoid the pitfalls in the future and move forward.
As OP said I would recc that you ring CCCS to get some urgent advice about the current situation...welcome to the boards meanwhile and I'm not sure if they will let you go bankrupt if you have the ability to pay but someone on the bankrucy board would knw better I would think. Keep us posted & keep posting remember we DO know how it feels so huge hugs for you - once all the sorting is done it does get easier!