my friend is close to the edge

clarissa_D

this is for my friend to help her
"Hi I am trying to find out about my debt and whether im liable to paying it all in full.
Basically i am a single mother of one. My daughters father (my ex) decided when i moved in
to my flat instead of helping me with buying items for the flat that i should get it all on credit.
I explained i cant do this as i simpy couldnt pay it off, being unemployed receiving benefits.
He made me say i was in full time work in order to get the credit
He forced me to get the itmes on credit, including, pc, printer, tv package, laptop, cooker, washing machine, fridge freezer etc
and then when caught cheating on me .he earns £37K a year
I'm in £13k of debt in all
£4,500 is his half and i have £3,500 over drawn which my friend is trying to help me reclaim back
I have managed to get repayments down to £1 p/m. and he pays £75 p/m
but I was wondering If there was a way to clear it ?? or at least take him to small claims court to get him to pay his share "
also is paying CSA but lied about his wage to begin with.
he is now married and expecting baby and if the total income of them both counts or just his ?
any help given is very much appreciated thank you.

tallyhoh

Bump.

Though be careful about taking him to court as it may come to light about obtaining credit by fraud.

clarissa_D

yer this is what we also thought but really in a sticky situation she has opportunity to go back to work but she will be no better off as her payments towards the debt will go up instead of being £1 p/m .
thanks for adding a post thou

elantan

bump hope you get some help soon

Bagpuss741

bumpity bump

nimbo

but at least if she went back to work the debts would be paid off quicker...

and it might help for her to get out and about doing something to take her mind off it a bit???

findingmyownway

Morning

Its not totally clear from your post... are you saying that all £13,000 debt is in your name & there is nothing in his?

If thats the case then i'm sorry but you are legally responsible for the entire amount and the £75/month he is paying is effectively a gift to you, he is under no obligation whatsoever to pay.

You need to separate the issues in your head... although he may be able to wash his hands of the debt, he is still obliged to support his child so keep on at the CSA to make sure he pays (and to answer your question, his new wife's income will not be taken into account for the calculations).


Avoiding work becasue the debt payments will go up is not a recipe for a happy life... its going to take years to clear £13K at £76/month (over 14 years and thats without interest which will probably double that number!!) so you are effectivly putting your life on hold until then.

OR you could get a job, post an SOA on here and we can help you kick that debt into touch asap and you can get on with your life. At a guess, i would say your EX is more likely to keep giving you £75/month if he can see you are paying your way too. Otherwise i think he may think 'sod it, why i should i pay for her debt if she can't be bothered to work etc etc' (especially when new babies come along).

Apologies if this seems harsh, i assure you i post with the best of intentions.

clarissa_D

hi ya thanks for all the info,
ok well from my experience of getting a debt out in my name for a friend i took her to small claims court and i won
so if we can do this and get him to sort it out she has won half the battle and can get back to work
she budgets every week and is always left minus on every occasion, i agree she should get back to work but she would have to pay a child minder daily £40 even if the kid doesn't go to school and does.
hard stuff to deal with really

findingmyownway

clarissa_D wrote: »

hi ya thanks for all the info,
ok well from my experience of getting a debt out in my name for a friend i took her to small claims court and i won
so if we can do this and get him to sort it out she has won half the battle and can get back to work
she budgets every week and is always left minus on every occasion, i agree she should get back to work but she would have to pay a child minder daily £40 even if the kid doesn't go to school and does.
hard stuff to deal with really

I think 'your friend' needs to talk to the citizens advice or CCCS. She needs to sit down and make a proper assessment of the finances and how she is going to tackle to debt. Any money she gets out of her ex is a bonus, i don't think you should be encouragind her to rely on it at the expense of finding other ways of dealing with the problems.

I don't see why she can only work if she is sucessful in getting OH to take on some of the debt. As an aside, how reasonable about things is he being? I know he pays £75/month but has she approached him about him taking out a loan or something to pay off part of the debt and then he wouldnt have to give her the monthly money.


Why would she have to pay for childcare if the child is at school? A bit of £££ for breakfast club/wrap-around care maybe, or get something with suitable hours.

findingmyownway

clarissa_D wrote: »

she budgets every week and is always left minus on every occasion,

There is plenty of help available on here once she admits to the problem and asks for it.