Debt and Job loss

dprovan

RAS said:

If you already own a lot of debt, it may not be a bad idea for your partner to have a separate current account into which their salary is paid. Not urgent, but think about it over the next few months.

Also when you are in the frying pan, be mindful of the fire. I did jump and it was a very good move until we got taken over. Proved OK in the long run but there were a few rocky years.

Thank RAS that is exactly where my head is - i have lot of service (decades) and good packages, lots more protection i suspect than if i jump

dprovan

katsu said:

You say your wife can use savings to pay debts in her name. I wouldn't rush into that incase you need the money for household expenditure if you do lose your job. 

You can both explore options for dealing with your debts by posting more info here or contacting a debt help charity and discussing it off line. 

I agree, the saving would cover mortgage and essentials for long enough to give other options

RAS

Have a read round the debt free diaries; there's folk who've been round the park, and then some. It's not an "advice" section like this but there's a lot of mutual support.

enthusiasticsaver

Well the good thing is your mortgage is small and that is your priority, not credit card debts. Also both you and your wife are on the same page.  You will get through this. 

Andyjflet

Its great you have a plan, and 50% of the battle IMO, however that plan is formed, its a plan and part of the reason I was successful becoming debt free. Although you should know, despite having an emergency fund and no debt I still worry like you. I joined my company just over three years ago, and the last two have been horrendous, redundancies every year, earlier this year i was literally on a call and my role was saved although we lost 25% of the team. You cant second guess it, and its easy to get into a negative mindset thinking the worst, its how are brains are wired, you are currently in Fight or Flight mode. My advice would be to not jump ship, you'll forgo any redundancy if that happens and I can testify the grass isn't greener on the other side. Having said that, networking and tidying up your CV and Linked in could be time well spent.

See this is the beginning of your new plan and life and take control, don't let it make you ill with worry. There isn't anything you can do except control the controllables. 

dprovan

Andyjflet said:

Its great you have a plan, and 50% of the battle IMO, however that plan is formed, its a plan and part of the reason I was successful becoming debt free. Although you should know, despite having an emergency fund and no debt I still worry like you. I joined my company just over three years ago, and the last two have been horrendous, redundancies every year, earlier this year i was literally on a call and my role was saved although we lost 25% of the team. You cant second guess it, and its easy to get into a negative mindset thinking the worst, its how are brains are wired, you are currently in Fight or Flight mode. My advice would be to not jump ship, you'll forgo any redundancy if that happens and I can testify the grass isn't greener on the other side. Having said that, networking and tidying up your CV and Linked in could be time well spent.

See this is the beginning of your new plan and life and take control, don't let it make you ill with worry. There isn't anything you can do except control the controllables. 

Andy, thank you so much! This resonates so much! I have spent the past 7 days working hard and I have been no less impactful than before, because I am busy I am not overthinking! However in the evenings I have been working so hard to manage the anxiety and focussing on the moment rather than what might happen. You are absolutely right it is horrendous trying to second guess the politics, the motives and the actions, in truth despite trying I have no idea and not sure they do either. My wife has been amazing, I went for a job interview today (same level with another organisation) and genuinely I thought this would be worse than where I am and, based on one interview, In addition I would lose all the benefits (death in service, years service etc etc). I have decided that worst case scenario is just that! And it is not good for them either! So I wont be jumping anytime soon and your post has just resonated and aligned with my thinking- thank you!

dprovan

Am I correct in thinking that if my wife has her savings in an account other than where our debt is that the banks we owe money to have no way of knowing, or requesting us to pay from this?

I am trying hard to manage the overthinking - its hard sometime no to run over and over the catastrophic thinking

ManyWays

Legally you may, after getting a CCJ, receive an Order to Attend Court for Questioning when you will be asked about your assets. And if you do not make the CCJ payments set by the court, the creditor can apply to the court for a Third Party Debt Order which lets the money be taken from another account eg a savings account with a Building Society.

Both of those are rare. I suspect for normal consumer debts (large business debts may be different) they are VERY rare, I dont remember seeing one in the last 10 years.

I suggest you should not worry about either of those.

More realistically, if a creditor thinks you are concealing assets, it is more likely they will go to court for a CCJ. And if they get a CCJ, a charging order on your house is more likely that either of those. 

sourcrates

All of these extra enforcement stages cost creditors more money, and still with no absolute guarantee they will ever recover what they are spending from the debtor, one reason why these actions are so rare.

The majority of mainstream creditors quickly lose interest in bad debts and sell them on pretty sharpish, the companies that buy them, do so relatively cheaply, and look to make a quick profit on what they spend, so  settlements deals, or longer term payment plans are what they look to achieve, they will take legal action if its deemed appropriate, what they don`t want is to be bogged down with legal enforcement stages, so most CCJ`s, even if unpaid, will not be further enforced past the charging order/restriction stage.

There will always be exceptions to this rule of course, but the circumstances have to warrant such actions, as in most cases its just cheaper to move on to someone else, rather than push a bad position.

Andyjflet

dprovan said:

Andyjflet said:

Its great you have a plan, and 50% of the battle IMO, however that plan is formed, its a plan and part of the reason I was successful becoming debt free. Although you should know, despite having an emergency fund and no debt I still worry like you. I joined my company just over three years ago, and the last two have been horrendous, redundancies every year, earlier this year i was literally on a call and my role was saved although we lost 25% of the team. You cant second guess it, and its easy to get into a negative mindset thinking the worst, its how are brains are wired, you are currently in Fight or Flight mode. My advice would be to not jump ship, you'll forgo any redundancy if that happens and I can testify the grass isn't greener on the other side. Having said that, networking and tidying up your CV and Linked in could be time well spent.

See this is the beginning of your new plan and life and take control, don't let it make you ill with worry. There isn't anything you can do except control the controllables. 

Andy, thank you so much! This resonates so much! I have spent the past 7 days working hard and I have been no less impactful than before, because I am busy I am not overthinking! However in the evenings I have been working so hard to manage the anxiety and focussing on the moment rather than what might happen. You are absolutely right it is horrendous trying to second guess the politics, the motives and the actions, in truth despite trying I have no idea and not sure they do either. My wife has been amazing, I went for a job interview today (same level with another organisation) and genuinely I thought this would be worse than where I am and, based on one interview, In addition I would lose all the benefits (death in service, years service etc etc). I have decided that worst case scenario is just that! And it is not good for them either! So I wont be jumping anytime soon and your post has just resonated and aligned with my thinking- thank you!

I'm glad it helped, just to re emphasise, you can only control what you can, therefore start working on an emergency fund and clearing debt, this will mean that the control swings your way, if the worst should happen you will be in a better position tomorrow than you were yesterday. 

Companies are used to dealing with many situations when making redundancies, some are happy with pay offs and some are in dire straits. Its not job of the company to ensure their employees are financially stable.