Can’t afford new loan

Jersey497

I am currently in a DMP with stepchange for old store card debt. I pay every month and have never missed a payment, it really works well for me.  

However 3 weeks ago I took out a £1000 loan to help with the cost of a family friends childs funeral. I know I shouldn’t have done this but I was offered it even after being completely transparent and letting the loan company know that I was in a debt management plan so I accepted as I was desperate however upon coming home from Scotland where the funeral was (I’m in in the south of England so not cheap to get there) one of the parents, who is the close family friend to me, took their own life. This resulted in me having to go back to Scotland, take time off of work and spend some time up there to help the other parent after all of this had happened. 

I had to spend extra money going back up there and dealing with this situation etc and my fridge also broke last week so I had to buy a new fridge and I have now ended up in an even bigger hole financially and I’m not going to be able to keep up with my loan repayments or I am going to fall behind on my priority bills like rent and council text. I can’t afford to pay even the first payment at the end of May, I don’t even know how I’m going to be able to afford my priority bills or food.  

I’m so scared and in just such a bad place right now really suffering with the loss in my life as well as my anxiety, I’m just really scared that even if I call stepchange and explain the situation and ask them to add this debt to my debt management plan, I’m so worried that the company isn’t going to accept it because I haven’t even made the first payment which is due at the end of May.

My question is; if I reach out to the loan company and explain everything and say that stepchange will be dealing with them going forward, are they likely to decline stepchange because of it being so new? Are they allowed to decline stepchange? I had no idea this was going to happen, I am so sorry and so embarrassed and there was no way that I could have predicted this happening so at the time of taking out the loan I did not know that it was going to be unaffordable, but there’s no way of proving this, because it’s not something like a vet bill for example that I can provide proof of.

Any advice would be really appreciated. 

stu12345_2

stop the direct debit to step change at your bank and tell stepchange you are behind with priority bills, tell them you have a new loan and add it to your dmp.

even though step change frown upon taking on more credit when on a dmp.

last year I was on stepchange, I now manage my own dmp by myself. I had to go to Scotland from England by plane as mum was close to death.

i told stepchange, they agreed to not collect payment for 2 months and said they would say to creditors I had emergency car repairs.

I've been with stepchange twice, they do cancel your dmp if you miss 3 payments in a row, if that happens, just catch up with your priority bills, forget paying creditors for a while, then reapply to stepchange for a fresh dmp.

after all it's just credit debt, you can't go to jail or anything, but you don't want to lose your home or fall behind with rent council tax etc.

ps my microwave has just broke, life is hard at times, but you never ever want to give priority to consumer credit debt over rent council tax arrears, never ever.
good luck and relax, there are always answers and solutions to problems 

kimwp

 I agree with stopping paying everything except the priority bills. You need to build up an emergency fund before you start paying the non-priority debt.

stu12345_2

 I feel your pain and can relate to you. over the last 2.5 years whilst on and off a dmp due to poor management of money and getting my priorities wrong I've had to sell jewellery, DVDs just to buy food.( even whilst on a dmp!)

but I see blue skies now, like I said catch up with priority debt, stop stepchange d debit

leonard_455

Given what you're going through, it's crucial to focus on taking care of yourself and reaching out for help when you need it. Getting in touch with StepChange to talk about your money worries is a good move. They're experts at helping folks deal with debt problems like yours.

stu12345_2

is the loan a type from say lending stream, drafty, where they take your repayments via continuous debit card payments, this is important, as it's harder to stop, but can be done.

I've think it maybe, as your on a dmp and thus  now you have poor credit score, so lenders are likely to be say lending stream etc.

they ask are you on a dmp in their application, you can say no if you want, like you did, they only see in your credit file that your other debts are being paid back via a payment arrangement, but they can't see you are on a dmp

RAS

Sorry about your family friend's situation, please look after yourself. Not just Stepchange but also Samaritans or other bereavement help-line. My own experience was that it's hard enough when someone dies and my emotions were even more more volatile when someone I loved took their own life. I hope you find it a bit easier but you don't need financial stress as well.

A couple of pointer re your debts. It looks like you don't have any or much emergency fund? Please stop paying Stepchange until you've built up enough to fund the at least one failure of white goods and urgent travel if you have loved ones who live at a distance. It's important you do this to prevent this sort of situation happening again. 

Wishing you well.