I need help

enthusiasticsaver

So you have already done a debt relief order? 

The answer to your original question as to whether it is worth paying more than minimums and yes the answer is definitely if they are charging interest it makes no sense to save up to pay in full.  Every payment made off the debt will save you interest. 

However if you are then needing to resort to credit to live then you are best off defaulting and getting the interest frozen.  I am not sure if you can do a second debt relief order but getting out of the credit spiral is essential as you will be paying so much interest and presumably really cannot afford to pay it back. 

EssexHebridean

I think you need to pare things back here - you should not be making payments to unsecured debt at the expense of general living expenses - and that means using just your income and not any amount of overdraft you have access to. So if you have income of £1300 per month, and outgoings before debt payments of £1250 per month - you have £50 remaining to throw at the debt - NOT that you have that £50 plus £100 of overdraft! 

The SOA will be crucial to you I think - as it means you will be able to go right back to basics and see exactly what you should be spending each month, and also that you will know whether paying anything to the debts is actually achievable or whether as suggested, you'd be better stopping payments and allowing them to default. 

Is there a plan in place to try to get your child in to school in the longer term? That is probably fairly critical not only to your financial wellbeing but to your mental wellbeing as well. 

GlitterGem17

Yes that’s my plan regarding the overdraft. Fingers crossed school works out for my youngest this school year so I can start working again. Thanks for your advice. You’ve all been most helpful 

fatbelly

You can have a second DRO six years after the first.

Without a soa it's difficult to advise but this situation sounds like there's a lot of juggling going on and no net debt repayment - at least not in a short timescale.

If you qualify for a DRO this gives a fresh start. The government was sensible enough to build into the rules that people may need to do this more than once in their lives.

PS the rules have changed since 2009 - that was the year they came in!