Unable to pay secured loan - help and advice needed

pepsimax25

It’s a long story so in a nutshell…I’m a full-time teacher of 10 years, my husband has been a self-employed plasterer for 21 years. We are homeowners with a mortgage and two children. In April 2018 he caught some type of virus (undiagnosed) and this developed into an auto immune disease – we think Fibromyalgia but after 2 years we are still waiting for a final diagnosis.  He is unable to work, drive or do much at all due to the depilating nature of this illness. He applied for ESA and PiP in November 2018.  Both were declined.  Having always worked we were novices about how the DWP really operates so now we are in appeal process with PiP.  Husband’s income has been £0 for 2 years and we have had no help covering a two income household on one income with all the same bills and debts.

I’m getting to the point…what I need advice on is the secured loan we took out on our house in 2017 with the plan to re-mortgage and tie it in on a better rate later.  Of course, we have been unable to re-mortgage and I am now finding it impossible to pay £820 for the secured loan which is 40k on 34%APR plus my mortgage of £595.  I’ve taken payment holidays because that is the only ‘help’ we’ve had to take the pressure off.  We’ve had to borrow money from family to cover our monthly outgoings and this generosity can only last for so long.  We are in a DMP for unsecured debt.

Is there anyway to reduce the secured loan or anything to help us?  I know the differences and help for unsecured debt but what about secured debt?  I fear we will eventually have to sell our home because my husband is ill and there is NO financial help from the government.  We have tried turntous – no help. We get no tax credits and I earn too much (£40k)  for universal credit, carers grant etc. although I have been trying to run our home on £8k less per year.

 Please – is there any advice about how to deal with secured debt based on the information I’ve given?

ict_guy

As you can see, I am fairly new to this forum and there are many people who may offer better advice than I can regarding the financial position. But, I do have extensive knowledge of the PIP system and also extensive knowledge of Neurological and autoimmune conditions too - CRPS, FND, Fibromyalgia and such like. So, please PM me and I can offer some very good advice for preparing your ‘fight’ should the PIP mandatory reconsideration not change the outcome. I have recent experience of completing a PIP application for a family member with CRPS, which resulted in enhanced payments for both daily living and mobility.

fatbelly

If you could provide a statement of affairs we could look at the whole picture
https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php
Please format for mse.

My first question is about the dmp - you shouldn't be paying anything to non-priority debts if it stops you paying the priorities.
A secured loan is a priority debt - if you stopped paying the dmp could you afford the monthly instalments on the loan?
A 40k secured loan at 34% is going to be difficult and, long-term, selling in the market may be a better option than the alternative of repossession.

Post the soa and let's have a look at it

sourcrates

Agree with fatbelly, worst that can happen with unsecured debts is a county court judgement of say £1 a month.

If you don`t pay your secured debts,  you may be able to spread your payments over a longer period, with creditor consent, however non payment would obviously result in losing the house.

pepsimax25

Thank you so much for the advice.  Tomorrow I will have a look into what has been suggested

sourcrates

Other thread closed for clarity.
Continue on this thread please.