Help with Debt please

greenlaine

Hi,

I have my own company, but through last year the bottom fell out of our market and I had to borrow money to pay off contractors (rather than leave them owed money) and then stop trading completely.

I now have no income, and personal unsecured debt of c. £52,000 (to Hitachi, Post Office, Visa and Monzo), which costs me £1,170 per month to service, plus essential living expenses of around £1,112 per month (they won’t go any smaller no matter what I do).

My last ditch plan was to sell my house to pay off the debts and provide a cushion, but that sale has just fallen through.

I have cash in the bank which will get me to the end of January and after that nothing. My income last year from the declining company was about £24k, so probably not enough to borrow any more on. (Not that I want to borrow any more!)

Income - I’m looking for casual work, but not finding any success right now. I’m eligible for total benefits of about £400 a month. My house is unsuitable for letting rooms or AirBnB ing.

I’m lucky enough to I have found a bigger job which will start in June and from which I’ll take home about £3k per month.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how best I can handle things till then? Is it going to be possible to stall people till June without CCJs?

Thanks,
Lee

Willing2Learn

Hi Lee and welcome to the forum

greenlaine wrote: »

… Income - I’m looking for casual work, but not finding any success right now. I’m eligible for total benefits of about £400 a month....

You cannot wait for June. You need to apply for benefits asap (you can do that online today). Check your entitlement to benefits using the Turn2Us benefit calculator linked below:
https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou

greenlaine wrote: »

…Does anyone have any suggestions on how best I can handle things till then? Is it going to be possible to stall people till June without CCJs?

If it was me, I would send out holding letters to your creditors whilst you seek advice. That will give you a little breathing space (not until June though). You need to make sure you are receiving your full entitlement to benefits so that you can write to your creditors again, letting them know what is happening.

Hold action on your account - Letter template

sourcrates

Post moved to more appropriate forum.

DCFC79

Get a job to last you until June.

WhenIam64

Is it going to be possible to stall people till June without CCJs?

Wouldn't get too worried about this. The process of recovering monies in the Small Claims Track (under £10K) is slow. If you get a Pre-Action Letter (PAP) it is a minimum of 14 days but usually 30 days before they file a claim. And if the do file a claim, it is 5 - 6 months before a hearing. And if you lose, it is 30 days before the CCJ is permanent on your file.

So it is at least 8 months before a threat is turned into a CCJ (unless you mess up the paperwork)

greenlaine

Thanks guys for all this. Have been out and about this week talking to all my contacts and doing what I can and I've landed another interview tomorrow - if that doesn't go well I'll apply for benefits after that.

I know it takes five weeks or so for benefits to be paid, so that is a gap, but I've been on benefits before, about ten years back, and being part of that system it really demoralises me for some reason. Not sure why, but it seems almost designed to stop you digging yourself out of things.

But thanks for the news about the holding letters (and the comparatively long road to CCJs). While that time can race past, it's still great to hear that I do have just a little more time to get temporary work before things start to ramp up too badly.