Debt arrangement scheme advice.

baldrat82

Hi, im new to this and have been putting off posting for some time.

Im considering applying for the debt arrangement scheme as trust deeds and bankruptcy are not ideal . I work in energy advice for a well known charity.

Im married and we have a mortgage and two children at home. We both work full time and both have debts, at the moment we are struggling but she has concerns about the Debt arrangement scheme. I have a few questions if anyone can help thats great.

We are both responsible for different bills i pay the mortgage,energy and other things she pays for the car council tax and other bills. when completing the forms on stepchange how do i clarify this, as in who is responsible for what.
In addition to that we both cover the shopping etc. 

I have approximately £12000 in a loan and £8097 on credit/store cards and i also owe some money to a relative.
How would the debt to relative work as i would still need to repay them.

My wife is due an inheritance as both her mother and father passed away at the end of the year but this could be some time away approx 6-18 months. Would this be taken into account for me and my debts?

Im just not sure what the best thing to do is but we are really struggling each month and its getting worse. The inheritance would likely clear what she owes but would not cover my debts as well.

I also have concerns in that i wouldnt really want my employer to know.


Thanks

fatbelly

First question. Are you in Scotland? Two of the strategies you suggest are Scottish Law. The other is English.

ManyWays

A couple of years ago you said Currently i have a loan with my community finance sitting at £9800 and three credit cards with a combined total of £1800.. It sounds as though those debts have gone up a lot, possibly because your mortgage rate went up?

How much do you owe to a relative? 

There is no reason why your employer should have to know, but the larger advice agencies will have seen advisers with serious debt before (on advice salaries that isnt surprising) and they may have a framework in place to get you advice. Otherwise, Stepchange or National Debtline are sensible sources of advice for Scotland. 

Brie

I would suggest that you forget that you pay X and she pays Y and simply do a combined statement of accounts for the two of you.  As far as I'm aware (in England at least) a council won't care if her name is on the council tax bill and not yours or vice versa.  You both live there so you both are also responsible for ensuring the bill is paid.  Utilities and water will work in a similar way as you are both getting the benefit of the electricity etc.  Loans and credit cards are obviously different.

Yes the inheritance may well clear up a lot of the problem but until that happens it's not something that should be included.  It is potentially an ace you/she can keep up a sleeve to pull out and hopefully get a discounted full & final settlement on some of the accounts.   

I would suggest you discuss this further with stepchange but you may wish to stop paying all but your priority bills (mortgage and council tax being most important) and let anything that is non priority default as that would be the normal first step to getting a debt management plan in place (again, in England).  Don't let stepchange push you into any agreement until defaults have happened - they like to get things moved along as quickly as possible and it's not always to the clients' (you/her) advantage.

born_again

ManyWays said:

There is no reason why your employer should have to know, but the larger advice agencies will have seen advisers with serious debt before (on advice salaries that isnt surprising) and they may have a framework in place to get you advice. Otherwise, Stepchange or National Debtline are sensible sources of advice for Scotland. 

If Op works in energy advice, this may also encompass some form financial advice. So employer should be informed. As many will run financial checks on employees. Not advising them of such issues may put their job at risk. Always be upfront where advice to others is involved.