Debt write off for mental health

Newmum92

Hi all

has anyone managed to get debts written off due to the impact it is having on your mental health? If so, what process did you follow? Did you need to submit evidence to them as well or just you just write a letter explaining the affect it is having on your day to day living

thanks a lot 

kimwp

Are you unable to meet your debt payments?

Brie

A bank or other creditor may consider your mental health but it will be more on the side of were you capable of making a correct decision when the line of credit was offered to you.  Any of them should be willing to help you manage down debt at least temporarily perhaps by stop the use of the credit (revoke a credit card) or not charge interest while you find a solution.  

In my opinion it will take a heck of a lot more than you simply writing a letter.  And I've never heard of anyone ever submitting evidence from a doctor or similar.  Sorry - I would guess that's not what you wanted to read.

Jude57

If you're unable to meet your contractual payments to your unsecured debts there's likely to be other options than write-off. Creditors rarely write debts off without a lot of persuasion and evidence and, with respect, I have to ask you to consider whether your mental health is up to that level of persistence?

Why not speak to one of the free debt advice charities mentioned at the top of this board or try StepChange's Debt Remedy online tool? No one will judge you but they will help you to find the solution that's best for you. 

If going online for he, please use the links at the top of this board as web searches often bring up lookalike websites.

fatbelly

Newmum92 said:

Hi all

has anyone managed to get debts written off due to the impact it is having on your mental health? If so, what process did you follow? Did you need to submit evidence to them as well or just you just write a letter explaining the affect it is having on your day to day living

thanks a lot 

Start  with a letter, then see what they ask for.

https://nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/write-debt-ew/

https://nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/debt-and-mental-health-ew/

Write-offs (or agreement not to pursue, amounts to the same thing) do happen, and I've negotiated a lot over the years. But each one has to be done individually and is time consuming. Most people just assume it will fail and so go straight for another strategy, and in many cases that's understandable. Nevertheless, best practice is to ask for write off first.

sourcrates

Creditors/debt purchasers, will only write debts off under certain, quite specific circumstances.

The term "mental health issues", can cover a multitude of very different scenarios, some issues can be short term, others more longer term, that can and will affect your earning ability going forwards, under those circumstances, if income has fallen, and you can`t work due to your condition, then writing off is a possibility.

It all starts with a letter though, most lenders all have specialist care teams that deal with customers in this category, the first step would be for them to transfer all contact between you to there specialist team.

Lets be clear, there are numerous ways to tackle problem debt, you will be treated sympathetically, but don`t be expecting miracles, only if your health is connected to your ability to earn, will they consider write offs, so mental health on its own won`t get you that result, however if you can`t work due to your health condition, then that goes a long way to support your claim, in all cases you will have to evidence how this is affecting you.

kimwp

Have you spoken to your GP?

Onebrokelady

I've had to cut my hours down to 22.5 a week due to ill health that effects me physically and no one is writing my debt off even though my income has dropped. I also suffer with depression but it's never been taken into account. I would think it's highly unlikely they would write anything off just for mental health problems to be honest 

Newmum92

fatbelly said:

Newmum92 said:

Hi all

has anyone managed to get debts written off due to the impact it is having on your mental health? If so, what process did you follow? Did you need to submit evidence to them as well or just you just write a letter explaining the affect it is having on your day to day living

thanks a lot 

Start  with a letter, then see what they ask for.

https://nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/write-debt-ew/

https://nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/debt-and-mental-health-ew/

Write-offs (or agreement not to pursue, amounts to the same thing) do happen, and I've negotiated a lot over the years. But each one has to be done individually and is time consuming. Most people just assume it will fail and so go straight for another strategy, and in many cases that's understandable. Nevertheless, best practice is to ask for write off first.

Hiya, thanks very much for your advice the other day. I wrote to my creditors, one of them has replied so far and kindly agreed to write off my balance once I explained my circumstances. 

Do I need to ensure anything else is done? I assume they can’t decide to chase me again for it in the future?

They have emailed me this: 

I’m writing further to our email below and wished to provide you with an update.

 

We are pleased to confirm that the balance write off request has been approved.

 

A letter confirming the partial settlement will be issued to you in due course, please note that the letter does state that we have received a payment but in this instance the payment will be £0.

 

The team are ensuring that all of the appropriate actions are carried out to reflect the above agreement.

 

Kind Regards

Newmum92

Evening everyone

a couple of my creditors have asked me to fill out the “debt mental health evidence form” with my GP. 

Does anyone know how detailed it needs to be, does the gp fill it out for you or just sign it? My GP changes every time I have an appointment so not sure how much of a true reflection they are going to give. 

fatbelly

Newmum - that's a result. Well done. You can forget  that one now.

The DMHEF is a standard form that you & your GP or other support worker* completes - I think it's linked to in my earlier links

If not, it's here

https://www.moneyadvicetrust.org/advice-services/dmhef/

* could be social workers, nurses, general practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists, mental health therapists, or other health or social care professionals - the important thing is to use the professional who knows you and how your condition affects you, best