Very Scary SOA - Please help

Misschelle_2

Hi
I have been a member of MSE for some months...........I have only now been brave enough to face up to my debts and have managed to complete my SOA and to be quite honest want to cry (well, I suppose if I am honest I have been shedding a few tears!!)
I am so embarrassed at the state that we have found ourselves in and it is spiralling out of control by the day and I don’t know where to begin to start to turn things around again.
Well – here goes..........
Incoming:
My student bursary: £531.00
My Part time job: £200.00 (variable, depending on the hours I do – maximum of £200)
Partners Salary: £1146.24
Total: £1877.24

Outgoings:
Child Support Agency: £485.92 (on attachment of earnings)
Council Tax Arrears: £160.00 (on attachment of earnings)
Rent Arrears: £150.00
Loan Payment: £180.00
Rent: £360.00
Electricity: £80.00 (prepayment meter – recently switched provider)
My Car Insurance: £25.32
Partners Car Insurance: £27.42
Petrol: £240.00 (have looked at public transport but it works out more expensive)
Heating (Coal): £20.00
Mobile Phones: £35.00 (on contract until Oct will then go to PAYG)
Internet: £9.99
Land Line Rental: £11.90 (use mobile for calls (all inclusive))
Food: No fixed amount, whatever’s left!!
Total: £1785.55
Leaving: £91.69 (but don’t forget I haven’t brought any food yet!)

Debts:
Child Support Agency: £7446.15
Rent Arrears: £469.49
Car Loan: £4162.00 (should be 132.10 per month, but not paid since November. They have given me until the 5th March to come up with the arrears)
Catalogue: £992.02
Moorcroft Debt Recovery (BT): £392.40
Severn Trent Water: £49.81
CCJ: £1200 (Start paying £10 per month from 28/2)
Debt Managers Ltd (Barclays): £964.57
Vets : £576.98
Council Tax Arrears: £1012.01
Provident Loan: £1800.00 (currently paying and up to date)
Total Debts: £19,065.43

So you see I am in a lot of trouble and don’t know what to do about it, any suggestions and comments would be greatly appreciated (but please be kind, I’m feeling very fragile at the moment)

Thanks for taking the time to read x

tigtag02

Misschelle wrote: »

Hi
I have been a member of MSE for some months...........I have only now been brave enough to face up to my debts and have managed to complete my SOA and to be quite honest want to cry (well, I suppose if I am honest I have been shedding a few tears!!)
I am so embarrassed at the state that we have found ourselves in and it is spiralling out of control by the day and I don’t know where to begin to start to turn things around again.
Well – here goes..........
Incoming:
My student bursary: £531.00
My Part time job: £200.00 (variable, depending on the hours I do – maximum of £200)
Partners Salary: £1146.24
Total: £1877.24

Outgoings:
Child Support Agency: £485.92 (on attachment of earnings) Does this include arrears ~ is there a protected earnings limit? It seems very high.
Council Tax Arrears: £160.00 (on attachment of earnings) Whats the total of this? Can they not reasses based on yout SOA?
Rent Arrears: £150.00
Loan Payment: £180.00
Rent: £360.00
Electricity: £80.00 (prepayment meter – recently switched provider) Are youtied in with this switch, it seems a vey high monthly payment?
My Car Insurance: £25.32
Partners Car Insurance: £27.42
Petrol: £240.00 (have looked at public transport but it works out more expensive)
Heating (Coal): £20.00
Mobile Phones: £35.00 (on contract until Oct will then go to PAYG)
Internet: £9.99 Can you get this tied in with anything else (tv/landline) to make it cheaper ~ or switch?
Land Line Rental: £11.90 (use mobile for calls (all inclusive))
Food: No fixed amount, whatever’s left!!
Total: £1785.55
Leaving: £91.69 (but don’t forget I haven’t brought any food yet!)

Debts:
Child Support Agency: £7446.15
Rent Arrears: £469.49
Car Loan: £4162.00 (should be 132.10 per month, but not paid since November. They have given me until the 5th March to come up with the arrears)
Catalogue: £992.02
Moorcroft Debt Recovery (BT): £392.40
Severn Trent Water: £49.81
CCJ: £1200 (Start paying £10 per month from 28/2)
Debt Managers Ltd (Barclays): £964.57
Vets : £576.98
Council Tax Arrears: £1012.01
Provident Loan: £1800.00 (currently paying and up to date)
Total Debts: £19,065.43

So you see I am in a lot of trouble and don’t know what to do about it, any suggestions and comments would be greatly appreciated (but please be kind, I’m feeling very fragile at the moment)

Thanks for taking the time to read x

:wave:

Whats to be ashamed about ~ you are here and asking for help which is the bravest thing a DFWer can do so welcome to our little corner of cyber space and the ensuing madness

My comments are as above
TT
x

poorandindenial

Hi Misschelle

First of all I want to send you a big hug. There are areas where you can make savings but you do seem to have a big difference between what you have coming in and what is going out and I really think you should seek professional advice. Your SOA looks like you are only repaying one debt at the moment but I mght have read this wrong. (EDIT : by debt I mean credit rather than council tax or child support)

This link takes you to a list of organisations who are there to help you and won't charge you a pennie to do it. CCCS (one of the orgs on the list) also have a tool on their website that will help you to understand your options while you wait to speak to someone.

Please keep on posting on here and you will get amazing support from this forum. You have been really brave to do this and please don't be embarrassed - this is stuff that happens and there will be a way out; it might take a long time and not feel very nice at first but eventually you will be able to sort this out.

Misschelle_2

Thank you for the replies.

Tigtag02 - thanks for your comments, the monthly child support does include the arrears and we have been arguing the amount with them for months but they are unwilling to reduce the payments. The protected earnings amount is £149 I believe, but I will have to check this with my partner.
Council Tax - they will not reassess as there is another bill due out mid march, but I will keep trying with them!!
Electricity - probably is a bit on the high side, but we have no gas so this fuels everything. Have recently switched and it has reduced marginally.
Internet - Searched around for ages and this was the best deal I could get. Wouldn't bother with it at all it I didn't need it for uni!

poorandindenial - thanks for the hug - really need it at the moment

chelle x

tigtag02

Misschelle wrote: »

Tigtag02 - thanks for your comments, the monthly child support does include the arrears and we have been arguing the amount with them for months but they are unwilling to reduce the payments. The protected earnings amount is £149 I believe, but I will have to check this with my partner.

Wow, is that a week or a month?

You may get some better advice on the CSA sub board on benefits & employment with regards to them.

How about mystery shopping, ebaying, free bingo to up your income?

TT
x

CLEAR_DAY

Hello, this is my first ever post but I felt that I should comment on your difficult situation.

When I first met my husband he was paying the CSA maintenance for his son from a previous relationship. He had a take-home pay of about £200/week at the time and the CSA were taking £99 of that every week.

I did some research for him and found out that their own rules said that they could only take 25% of what you have left after your mortgage or rent is paid. I wrote a letter for him and almost immediately his payments went down to £25 per week.

This was in about 1997 and the rules on this may have changed since then, but - and I'm assuming here it's your husband's child/children - there's no way you both should be paying over 40% of his take home pay (it's actually more than 60% of what's left once your rent is paid).

Also, once we got married, the CSA started writing to me wanting to take my income into account in their assessments - bl**dy cheek of them! I wrote to them and told them that this situation was part of my husband's past, nothing to do with me and that I would absolutely not be giving them any of my bank details or anything else. So be warned they might try that on you too.

So, in short, if you get onto this right away - I think there's a quick win to be had.

Good luck.

Misschelle_2

The protected earnings of £149 is weekly - I did query this bearing in mind that I am a full time student and they said that they had allowed us £10 per week for this . They are the bane of my life - we are supporting a 16 year old that my partner has had no access to since he was 4, and doesn't even appear on the child's birth certificate. They did offer a DNA test but said that we would have to pay the £300+ up front for this!! - sorry of an a rant now lol!)

Misschelle_2

thanks clear day - will definitely be looking into that one x

shell_girl

Hi and well done for posting.

What does your partner do for a living/ what hours does he work? I’m wondering if he could possibly do an evening job maybe two or three nights a week to tide you both over? Also I know how hard it is being a student and working at the same time, but is there any way you could take on any more hours at your job?

Also a great short term fix is ebaying like mad- be completely ruthless. Go through the home and collect everything together that you can live without. Have you got any course textbooks that you won’t need again that you could put on amazon? What about clothes that you rarely wear etc?

The CSA figure seems incredibly high. Have you thought of seeking free legal advice about this? You can contact Community Legal services on 0845 345 4345 Mon- Fri 9.00- 5.00.

You might find that a DMP may be the best option for you- as you already have a CCJ then the effect it will have on your credit rating doesn’t really matter imho. I’m sending you big hugs- there will be much better people along soon to advise you properly- this is just what I think.

Misschelle_2

Hi shell_girl

Thanks for your message!

My other half works 7am-5pm, Monday to Friday and 8am-3pm Saturday and Sunday, so along with numerous health problems I would feel a bit mean if he had to do anymore. I would love to work more, however, I'm a student nurse and have to work shifts on placement so finding a job that will let me swap and change shifts and hours has proven quite difficult!

But..........watch this space for eBay profits soon

shell_girl

Fair enough lol! There are only so many hours in a day. Definitely give ebay a go- you'd be surprised how much can be made. I've found that listings ending on a sunday evening do quite well. Also try and spend about 20 minutes each day doing the 'clicks' (will try and find link to the relevant thread and add it shortly) as this soon adds up too. Keep posting- you will get the support that you need on here I promise. Good luck xx