Pregnant, redundant and panicking!

Sgtpep

Hello,

I am nearly 4 months pregnant and been in my (reasonably well paid) job for the past 2 years and have just been found out I am being made (very unexpectedly) redundant as my office is moving to Spain.

I have debts totally over £25000 but have been comfortably managing to pay them each month so far without problem.

I will be over 6 months pregnant by the time my job ends and am certain I will find it hard to get another job in my pregnant state and with permanent back ache (although will try!). I have been attending college in the evenings for the past 2 years and now plan to put this to good use and go to University in October, at least I hope to.

My only problem is once my job ends I will have no money to pay my debts (or really contribute to the household bills either), I currently live with my partner, the house and car are both in his name so I hoping that no one can take these from us (am I right??).

I have a loan with my bank (£17000) 2 credit cards (total approx £5000) and some HP on a kitchen I bought last year (£4000). Can they come and take my kitchen out? Do they not have to leave you with basics to cook for yourselves?

I am so confused and in such a panic. I tried to get an appointment with my local welfare rights office but there is a 4 week waiting list!

I do not know where to start.

I should get a full wage at the end of March and April then a partial wage at the end of May - should I pay my debts as normal each month until I can no longer do so or do I take the money out to make sure our household bills are covered for the next few months? I also owe money to family of over £2000 - how do I pay this back? Will it be seen as more or less important as what I owe my creditors (am I babbling?!?)

If anyone has any ideas on where I start with this whole mess I would appreciate it greatly. I rang one of the debt lines but they confused me more (when I am in a panic/stress I tend to shut down!).

My main questions are:

1. Do I continue to pay my debts each month until I have no more wages going into my bank or should I lift it and pay off my family and save some for household bills?

2. Who do I speak to once I am redundant and have no money coming in to pay anything??

3. Can they take anything from our home - the only thing in my name is our kitchen which was on 0% finance and was due to start paying for in September

4. Will I get scary bailiffs round the house being mean?

5. Anyone got any good money making schemes (just kidding!).

Thank you in advance to anyone who took the time to read my babbling mess of a thread!

Red1708

I know its easier said than done but please take a big deep breath and stop panicking. Make a list of points you wish to discuss with the debt counselor and then go through them one at a time.

Family loans are not included in BR as you are unable to prove them so will still be liable for them after BR. However you will not be able to make provisions for repaying them in your SOA. Neither can you favor them by paying them off now as the OR will class that as an offense, you must be seen not to favor any one creditor.

As for going BR when in a relationship, how it will effect your partner and the house etc, I don't have first hand experience of those points but somebody will be along to help you soon.

Red

FeelingLow

I cant answer your questions either BUT please try to calm down, what did the debt charity say?

devonsdreamer

Hi there,

Understandable you are worrying about what to do for the best, I would suggest you have a cup of tea, take some deep breaths and call one of the recomended non-profit companies who can give YOU the best course of action for your situation. I spoke with CCCS and debtline to help me make my decision. I am married and only our joint accounts affected my hubby- he is now liable for the debt. His car was not affected and we do not own property.

Good Luck and congratulations on your pregnancy


Consumer Credit Counselling Service - www.cccs.co.uk 08001381111
National debtline: www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/ 0808 808 4000

wherediditallgo

Sgtpep wrote: »

Hello,

I am nearly 4 months pregnant and been in my (reasonably well paid) job for the past 2 years and have just been found out I am being made (very unexpectedly) redundant as my office is moving to Spain.

I have debts totally over £25000 but have been comfortably managing to pay them each month so far without problem.

I will be over 6 months pregnant by the time my job ends and am certain I will find it hard to get another job in my pregnant state and with permanent back ache (although will try!). I have been attending college in the evenings for the past 2 years and now plan to put this to good use and go to University in October, at least I hope to. Good for you.

My only problem is once my job ends I will have no money to pay my debts (or really contribute to the household bills either), I currently live with my partner, the house and car are both in his name so I hoping that no one can take these from us (am I right??). You aren't liable for debts that aren't joint ones. However, you may be classed as having a beneficial interest in the property - someone who knows more about that will be along later.

I have a loan with my bank (£17000) 2 credit cards (total approx £5000) and some HP on a kitchen I bought last year (£4000). Can they come and take my kitchen out? Do they not have to leave you with basics to cook for yourselves? No-one will be coming to take the kitchen out.

I am so confused and in such a panic. I tried to get an appointment with my local welfare rights office but there is a 4 week waiting list!

I do not know where to start.

I should get a full wage at the end of March and April then a partial wage at the end of May - should I pay my debts as normal each month until I can no longer do so or do I take the money out to make sure our household bills are covered for the next few months? I also owe money to family of over £2000 - how do I pay this back? Will it be seen as more or less important as what I owe my creditors (am I babbling?!?)

If anyone has any ideas on where I start with this whole mess I would appreciate it greatly. I rang one of the debt lines but they confused me more (when I am in a panic/stress I tend to shut down!).

My main questions are:

1. Do I continue to pay my debts each month until I have no more wages going into my bank or should I lift it and pay off my family and save some for household bills?

2. Who do I speak to once I am redundant and have no money coming in to pay anything??

3. Can they take anything from our home - the only thing in my name is our kitchen which was on 0% finance and was due to start paying for in September

4. Will I get scary bailiffs round the house being mean? Not for a while, if at all.

5. Anyone got any good money making schemes (just kidding!).

Thank you in advance to anyone who took the time to read my babbling mess of a thread!

Please take a deep breath - I thought you were about to give birth.

First of all, you need to ascertain where you stand regarding the property & the debts. The best people to advise you on that are any of the organisations in my signature - they won't judge you, but they'll assess your situation & tell you your options. No matter how embarrassing you might find ringing them, please do so, & make sure you tell them everything.

Jumping ahead, when the OR assesses your case, you'll be given a certain amount as living expenses, so if you become redundant after going BR, you just need to let the OR know & your living expenses will be adjusted accordingly. However, that's way into the future - call the organisations first, then things will be a bit clearer.

roxy84

Hi, im not exactly an expert on this but you need to ring one of the debt charities to see what they advise, CCCS, National debt line etc. I cant really see them advising on BR at this point though.
I'd also ring Jobcentre plus to see what they say, you may be able to get maternity pay if you've been working for at least 26 weeks but im not sure how it works with redundancy.

Are you planning on returning to work after the baby is born, and can your partner afford to look after you while your out of work?
You may not be able to get any help for jobcentre because you live with your partner, it would depend on what he earns i think, but ask anyway.

Do you not have any payment protection on any of your loans, might be worth giving them a call and seeing if you can claim it or if you could reduce your payments for a while.

I was in a sort of similar situation, but i left work voluntarily after having my son 18 months ago i didnt return to work as my OH had a good job and i could afford to do that at the time, im now pregnant again 6 months today but unfortunately my OH decided that he was going to leave and he did that before xmas. I had to claim Income support because i couldnt get a job with being pregnant, but I have a total debt of 60K mostly joint with my Ex and the CCCS advised that BR was the only option for me as even when i do return to work next year ill still not be able to afford to pay anything off withing my lifetime! After taking advise from the lovely people on here, ive now booked my BR for 2nd April.