How Long Before I hear back from StepChange?

EssexHebridean · 11 January at 9:44AM

That’s a very good point on the boiler service - in fact you should absolutely not be paying this, it’s your landlord’s legal obligation to get the boiler serviced and an annual gas safety inspection! (This is certainly the position in England - if you are anywhere else you should check what applies).

You won’t be able to reclaim what you have previously paid, but you can certainly inform the LL that you will not be arranging and paying for this in the future! Something else to bear in mind - if you have been arranging and paying for the gas safety inspection then in the event of your LL trying to evict you there is no requirement for you to tell anyone about having arranged that, and you would be able to use the lack of gas safety inspections by the LL to contest that the S21 notice is invalid.

ManyWays · 11 January at 9:59AM

Are you living on the Isle of Man? If you are, a lot of the remarks and experience here may not be directly relevant. It would be good to talk to a local specialist in addition to StepChange, https://www.gov.im/categories/tax-vat-and-your-money/manage-your-money/debt-counselling/

RAS · 11 January at 11:07AM

iceandfire1 said
[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... [b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 3500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2500
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0[b]
Total monthly income.................... 6000[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 2214
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 18.5
Electricity............................. 27
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 110 are you rural
Water rates............................. 67
Telephone (land line)...................260 What exactly is included in this?
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 15
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 700
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 104 What is this?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............380 What is this for?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 175 Can you get any sort of prepaid card to reduce this?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 28
Life assurance ......................... 136.5 This is very high, do either of you have medical conditions?
Other insurance......................... 8
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 107
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
school trip............................. 250 When will this be paid off? Giving you more slack
paypal.................................. 32.95
professional sub 2...................... 10
boiler service ......................... 15
dentist................................. 20 Should be in with medical and dental above
study................................... 50 For whom, and when does it end?
motor................................... 50
leisure................................. 40
school meals............................ 150
union................................... 17.5
professional subscription............... 10.5
family.................................. 45 What's this for?
toilettries............................. 100[b] This really is very high, the basics (soap, shampoo) should be in groceries budget
Total monthly expenses.................. 5200.95[/b]
[b]

Assets[/b]
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0[b]
Total Assets............................ 0[/b]
[b]
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts[/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
hsbc od........................1450......20.17.....39.9
hsbc cc........................5500......154.......25.9
hsbc 2 od......................3000......37.75.....17.9
hsbc loan......................8184......314.7.....9.9
moonzo.........................1000......24........39
amex...........................5500......207.9.....32
conister.......................6075......225.......7
hsbc 2 cc......................6500......156.......19.9[b]
Total unsecured debts..........37209.....1139.52...- [/b]

[b]
Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
Total monthly income.................... 6,000
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 5,200.95
Available for debt repayments........... 799.05
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,139.52[b]
Amount short for making debt repayments. -340.47[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -37,209[b]
Net Assets.............................. -37,209[/b]

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

Did you get any sleep at all last night? Any chance you can get a nap for a couple of hours?

Can you just confirm which jurisdiction you live in, England, Wales etc? As the rules can be different in each. And one randomness m thought triggered by your

And perhaps clarify a few other things? So a lot of my comments above will be "what is this?".

The good news is that you are in a bit of a hole, but you have a decent sized shovel.

sourcrates · 11 January at 1:18PM

iceandfire1 said:
Thank you for this! I am currently on breathing space so I am peaceful at the moment. How long can I save for my emergency fund before I need to start the DMP? Is three months or six months ok? Or is that too long?

What will happen if I truly just ignore everything and not even enter the DMP at all?

Not much will happen to be honest.

The fact that a certain % of customers will default on their debts is built into every creditors lending strategy.

The vast majority of defaulted debts are sold to 3rd party companies, who buy them in bulk, at a fraction of their face value, and will then proceed to attempt collection of those accounts for as much as they can squeeze out of you.

They operate on what`s known as a "numbers basis" a lot of the debts they buy come with scant information on the debtor, so they target everyone with a similar name in a specific area, and hope for a hit, other times they will split portfolios of debts and send the same collection letters to everyone in that group, if they can get a 50% response rate, they will still make money.

So you ask "what will happen if I don`t pay"? well you could just get a lot of letters and calls and nothing much else, you have no assets after all, you might get a few CCJ`s which in most cases are not enforced, but occasionally they can be, some people never get chased for their debts, others are bombarded with letters etc, its all the luck of the draw.

You appear to have a good income, so debt management is probably the way forward, but don`t hold any fear for these companies, they are the ones to suffer if you don`t pay, its just money, in 20 years no one will care what happened, you must retain perspective here, what you are doing is a well proven process, life will go on, no one can force you to do anything, you are in charge, not them, always keep that forefront in your mind.

iceandfire1 · 11 January at 4:01PM

Grumpelstiltskin said:

A small quick one EH didn't pick up Boiler service £15? With such a huge rent surely the landlord should cover this?

I don't think you have gone through your last few bank statements to check exactly where your money is going.

We live in the Channel Islands so rent is super high and lots of other bills. Boiler, contents insurance, travel insurance, are yearly payments.

EssexHebridean · 11 January at 4:08PM

In that case it may well be that a lot of the advice and suggestions given here may not apply to you unfortunately. Definitely worth checking the law around whether the boiler servicing should still be a LL expense though.

RAS · 11 January at 4:10PM

Thanks, that clarifies some things. You need to take annual costs and divide by 12 before putting them in the SOA.

Meantime, can you find an easy access savings (or budgeting in this case) account and transfer the same amount in each month (1/12 of the total cost for annual payments), so that hopefully when each becomes due, you have readies sitting there.

Grumpelstiltskin · 11 January at 4:29PM

OK So shopping for food on a budget is very difficult when you don't have access to the cheap supermarkets we have on the mainland, but you need to be savvy, check special offers on items you buy, find out when they make reductions and try and shop then.
It is more difficult on the islands, I wonder if there is anything like what happens on Scilly? There you can order groceries from Tesco on the mainland and they are sent on the ferry, but you have to collect the from the harbour.

iceandfire1 · 11 January at 4:46PM

RAS said:

Thanks, that clarifies some things. You need to take annual costs and divide by 12 before putting them in the SOA.

Meantime, can you find an easy access savings (or budgeting in this case) account and transfer the same amount in each month (1/12 of the total cost for annual payments), so that hopefully when each becomes due, you have readies sitting there.

Wow this is an amazing tip thank you!!

iceandfire1 · 11 January at 4:46PM

Grumpelstiltskin said:

OK So shopping for food on a budget is very difficult when you don't have access to the cheap supermarkets we have on the mainland, but you need to be savvy, check special offers on items you buy, find out when they make reductions and try and shop then.
It is more difficult on the islands, I wonder if there is anything like what happens on Scilly? There you can order groceries from Tesco on the mainland and they are sent on the ferry, but you have to collect the from the harbour.

I have never heard of Scilly before, will look into it, thank you!

How Long Before I hear back from StepChange?

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free