Hit with £13,000+ vet bill - how do we pay it?

phillw

Nebulous2 said:

This seems like a tragic circumstance where one thing has led to another, which has got out of control. Did you notify the benefits people that you owned 25% of a house that you don’t live in? 

That could be a reason for them investigating. 

I'm no expert, but don't they disregard capital in a property that your pension age parents live in? Although he isn't that long retired, so I hope it was declared.

macman

From what I can make out, your only income is from benefits. Therefore you are not going to get a mortgage or a loan of any kind (low-cost or otherwise), because you have no way to service either a loan or a mortgage.

MalMonroe

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear about your cat.

According to the information in this link from the UK government and contrary to what others here are saying, you CAN get a loan while you are in receipt of benefits -

https://www.gov.uk/budgeting-help-benefits/eligibility

There is also this -

https://www.nerdwallet.com/uk/loans/loans-for-people-on-benefits-explained/

You shouldn't be discriminated against just because you are in receipt of benefits.

Although in your case, as it's such a large sum, you may be better off just using your savings. Then the bill is out of the way and you can start building up savings again, rather than paying off a large debt.

Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best. 

MalMonroe

enthusiasticsaver said:

As none of you are working you won't get a mortgage or loan. Benefits do not usually count as income. Your best bet is to pay as much cash as possible and ask if the vets do a repayment plan. Sorry about your cat.  

That isn't true. Loans are available for those on benefits - and benefits do count as income. 

[Deleted User]

MalMonroe said:

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear about your cat.

According to the information in this link from the UK government and contrary to what others here are saying, you CAN get a loan while you are in receipt of benefits -

https://www.gov.uk/budgeting-help-benefits/eligibility

There is also this -

https://www.nerdwallet.com/uk/loans/loans-for-people-on-benefits-explained/

You shouldn't be discriminated against just because you are in receipt of benefits.

Although in your case, as it's such a large sum, you may be better off just using your savings. Then the bill is out of the way and you can start building up savings again, rather than paying off a large debt.

Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best. 

That is a government issue loan where repayments are taken from your benefits and it literally tells you on the third page that the most you can get is £812 and it has eligibility criteria e.g. if you have £1000 in savings (£2000 for 63+) you don't qualify so of course OP won't, do you even read what you link to?

People are not discriminated against if they are on benefits and a lender won't lend to them - they are not charities, they judge commercial risk and someone on benefits is a risk of not being able to repay in full or the repayments are such that it leaves them with no money for food. A £13000 loan over 3 years at 9.9% APR is £416.29 a month repayments, for the new basic state pension that's over twice the weekly amount of £179.60 so of course they aren't going to lend

[Deleted User]

MalMonroe said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

As none of you are working you won't get a mortgage or loan. Benefits do not usually count as income. Your best bet is to pay as much cash as possible and ask if the vets do a repayment plan. Sorry about your cat.  

That isn't true. Loans are available for those on benefits - and benefits do count as income. 

Very minimal amounts yes, pensioners and those on benefits, particularly those with little money coming in, are not going to get a £13,000 loan as they clearly cannot afford it. Your nerd wallet link even tells you that much - ignoring them using the credit score myth (which is always a worrying sign about the rest of their advice) it clearly states you need a regular income and it would need to be affordable for you to repay it.

redpete

What are you holding the savings for?  If it's an emergency fund then it seems reasonable to use them for this emergency.

confused.com2

Who did the cat belong to? Also I've seen suggestions of payment plans, many vets won't allow payment plans. My vet has a sign up stating they don't accept payment plans and invoices must be paid in full. A phenomenal amount of money and stress for a cat.