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Making a move towards a debt-free life -my diary
kimlisa66
Posts: 128 Forumite
Good morning people,
I've been a lurker for many months and have been inspired and horrified all at the same time by some of the stories I have read. Compared to what some people are experiencing, my debts are miniscule (now) but I have been on 'the dark side' for many years and only really took control of the situation when I separated from my husband last October. It was a wake up call which highlighted to my just how much money we had been wasting on uneccessary items, mostly alcohol, entertainment and the like.
For those that are interested here is my story and thank you for taking the time to read. I hope we can learn of each other where debt reduction is concerned; Collective wisdom, in my book, is the way out of the deep pit of debt.
Me, 42, working full time, also running my own business eves and W/kends, an entertainment booking agency which doesn't make much dosh but does cover my phone and petrol. 3 kids, Son 20, in the army but home at W/kends, Son 17, in the police station most W/kends (a bit too fond of the vodka, but thats another issue) and daughter 10, no problems yet !
OH, separated last October, he said he couldn't see a future, I found out he had been s****ing his best mate's wife....oh the joys of online telephone bills and stupid husband that set up an easy-to-hack password !!
Income at the time , in the grand scheme of things, not bad, really, OH £30k but variable due to the industry he works in, (landscaping) Me £13k, small amount of Industrial Injuries Benefit (I am disabled with a spinal condition that could potentially see me paralysed without warning from the mid-spine down) and child benefit for littlun. Used to get DLA, couldn't face filling in the forms again, utter nightmare, hate it.
Debts: This is where it gets interesting. Since the inception of the Tax Credit system, we found ourselves being pursued for £19,630 overpayment, of which, £14k we didn't receive. I wont bore you with the details, suffice to say, it all went Pete Tong from day one in 2003/04 when I filled in the forms, gave the right details at the right time, but HMRC in their wisdom recorded that my OH worked 40hrs pw but earned Nil. (I have now discovered this is a well known software fault called Zeroing) My earning, £4k at the time, were correct, middle son missed off completely, and daughter recorded as having higher rate CC DLA....errr no she didnt. Of course I told them everything was wrong, I told them weekly, daily, but they insisted it was correct.
Common sense should have told me to put the money aside but I didn't. I spent most of it, some of it going on my 13 yr old nephew's funeral when he was killed in a road traffic accident. His parents didn't have diddly squat and were choosing his coffin based on how much it cost. It broke my heart to see that, so the money helped them enormously.
Of course it came back to bite me on the !!!! !! After that, each subsequent year was miscalculated by HMRC even though I told them they were wrong. After 5 years I didn't know where I was with it all, so took to the sand like the proverbial ostrich, but not before involving my MP who, said it was one of the biggest overpayment he had seen and urged me to take it to the Ombudsman.
I just wanted the Big Bad Tax Credit Office to go away as every avenue I went up was a dead end. For people who have been through the overpayment nightmare, you will know what I am talking about. Of course they didn't go away. In November 2007, I had a letter stating they were sending in the Bailiffs.
I flipped, totally freaked out, had a mental breakdown in front of the kids as I was struggling to deal also with the breakdown of my marriage, and an OH who had not the slightest concern of this alleged 20k debt. He left it all to me to sort out and stupidly, I had taken it all on my shoulders for years. After he left, I trawled our joint account (again, I had been adopting the Ostrich position ) only to discover his online poker habit. Coupled with a drink problem its no wonder things weren't particularly rosy and it's amazing what is sometimes staring you in the face but you choose not to acknowledge it for whatever reason. The only way out I could see was to sell the house. There didn't seem any other viable option.
Our Joint account was overdrawn by 2.5k by November mostly down to husbands spending habits, I dared not take any money out of it for my own use, I lived of my IIDB and child benefit which I had paid to my own account and just assumed enough was going in the Joint acc to pay the bills. I should have checked, I didn't so I am equally responsible for the mess.
After me and OH separated and I found what he had been up to with his mate's missus, things got very nasty indeed. I was in shock and took to drinking, not clever at all. He took to blaming me for everything that went wrong, culminating in him making threats to my safety which resulted in a restraining order being issued and the Police visiting him to issue a fixed penalty for harassment.
In early December I woke to find him driving the car off the drive, having dumped all the contents of the boot, glove compartment, cd's etc in the porch. His reason, to sell it at the car auction to clear the overdraft, which, he had caused by his gambling/drinking. The police apprehended him and he brought the car back
When we split, I was savvy enough to transfer my salary the day I got paid in October over to my account in order that I could pay the bills. I wasnt sure if he, in his weird frame of mind, would contribute. He does now, and things are more amicable but far from resolved.
Cutting out large chunks of what happened around Xmas, which as you can imagine was difficult to get through, OH and I began to communicate without wanting to kill each other, and I agreed to withdraw the restraining order. Probably not a good idea but I did all the same. We agreed to tackle the Overdraft by paying in £100 per month between us but keep the joint endowment policy coming out. The debt is reducing slowly but interest is being added on at around £30.
In Feb, I took the bull by the horns and wrote a very long letter of complaint to HMRC about the tax credit problem and highlighted each and every issue that had caused the overpayment, and asked for an investigation into where the disputed amount had gone.
In March I received a letter that was to change my life. HMRC agreed everything was their error, from technical to human and it was reasonable for me to believe the payments, when I had them, were correct. I didn't have to pay back anything. A huge weight had been lifted, but the impact this has had on my life has been intolerable. I am attempting to claim compensation but I am not hopeful.
Where am I now ? Taking responsibility for my debts has become all consuming and I wish I had found this site sooner.
What am I doing ? Attempting to claim back bank charges from Abbey for the past 6 years, Ditto various credit cards. Also switching to 0% deals when I can, and overpaying £50 per month to the mortgage. Admittedly this is not high, compared to some people, but then I have had it since 1988 ! Watching every penny, working to a budget, shopping in Netto and Aldi, which I love btw, cooking from scratch and everyone loves my homemade soups apparently! Most of all, shopping around and making full use of the internet to price compare.
DEBTS:
Mortgage £65k 32.5k repayment ends 2020, 32.5 endowment, covered (or not as the case may be) by endowment with Legal and General paying out in 2013, shortfall expected, claimed for a mis sold policy back in 2000, got back £1800 which we idiotically frittered away. Both jointly responsible for payments whilst separated, repayments £445 pm, Endowment £47.80pm
C/CARDS (Mine) £1.5k 3 cards 0% interest (Mint, Egg, Abbey) paying each off at £50 pm. 1 card (Tesco) at 12.something, but useful for purchases. Now pay off every month.
LOANS: None, all paid off, last payment made this week, what a great feeling.
OVERDRAFT: £2,300 Joint debt between OH and me, paying off at £100 per month each, Endowment still debited from this acc, interest in the region of £30 pm added.
QUESTIONS:
Apologies for rambling, but any comments are more than welcome, and here's to a debt free life, eventually !:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::T
Kim
I've been a lurker for many months and have been inspired and horrified all at the same time by some of the stories I have read. Compared to what some people are experiencing, my debts are miniscule (now) but I have been on 'the dark side' for many years and only really took control of the situation when I separated from my husband last October. It was a wake up call which highlighted to my just how much money we had been wasting on uneccessary items, mostly alcohol, entertainment and the like.
For those that are interested here is my story and thank you for taking the time to read. I hope we can learn of each other where debt reduction is concerned; Collective wisdom, in my book, is the way out of the deep pit of debt.
Me, 42, working full time, also running my own business eves and W/kends, an entertainment booking agency which doesn't make much dosh but does cover my phone and petrol. 3 kids, Son 20, in the army but home at W/kends, Son 17, in the police station most W/kends (a bit too fond of the vodka, but thats another issue) and daughter 10, no problems yet !
OH, separated last October, he said he couldn't see a future, I found out he had been s****ing his best mate's wife....oh the joys of online telephone bills and stupid husband that set up an easy-to-hack password !!
Income at the time , in the grand scheme of things, not bad, really, OH £30k but variable due to the industry he works in, (landscaping) Me £13k, small amount of Industrial Injuries Benefit (I am disabled with a spinal condition that could potentially see me paralysed without warning from the mid-spine down) and child benefit for littlun. Used to get DLA, couldn't face filling in the forms again, utter nightmare, hate it.
Debts: This is where it gets interesting. Since the inception of the Tax Credit system, we found ourselves being pursued for £19,630 overpayment, of which, £14k we didn't receive. I wont bore you with the details, suffice to say, it all went Pete Tong from day one in 2003/04 when I filled in the forms, gave the right details at the right time, but HMRC in their wisdom recorded that my OH worked 40hrs pw but earned Nil. (I have now discovered this is a well known software fault called Zeroing) My earning, £4k at the time, were correct, middle son missed off completely, and daughter recorded as having higher rate CC DLA....errr no she didnt. Of course I told them everything was wrong, I told them weekly, daily, but they insisted it was correct.
Common sense should have told me to put the money aside but I didn't. I spent most of it, some of it going on my 13 yr old nephew's funeral when he was killed in a road traffic accident. His parents didn't have diddly squat and were choosing his coffin based on how much it cost. It broke my heart to see that, so the money helped them enormously.
Of course it came back to bite me on the !!!! !! After that, each subsequent year was miscalculated by HMRC even though I told them they were wrong. After 5 years I didn't know where I was with it all, so took to the sand like the proverbial ostrich, but not before involving my MP who, said it was one of the biggest overpayment he had seen and urged me to take it to the Ombudsman.
I just wanted the Big Bad Tax Credit Office to go away as every avenue I went up was a dead end. For people who have been through the overpayment nightmare, you will know what I am talking about. Of course they didn't go away. In November 2007, I had a letter stating they were sending in the Bailiffs.
I flipped, totally freaked out, had a mental breakdown in front of the kids as I was struggling to deal also with the breakdown of my marriage, and an OH who had not the slightest concern of this alleged 20k debt. He left it all to me to sort out and stupidly, I had taken it all on my shoulders for years. After he left, I trawled our joint account (again, I had been adopting the Ostrich position ) only to discover his online poker habit. Coupled with a drink problem its no wonder things weren't particularly rosy and it's amazing what is sometimes staring you in the face but you choose not to acknowledge it for whatever reason. The only way out I could see was to sell the house. There didn't seem any other viable option.
Our Joint account was overdrawn by 2.5k by November mostly down to husbands spending habits, I dared not take any money out of it for my own use, I lived of my IIDB and child benefit which I had paid to my own account and just assumed enough was going in the Joint acc to pay the bills. I should have checked, I didn't so I am equally responsible for the mess.
After me and OH separated and I found what he had been up to with his mate's missus, things got very nasty indeed. I was in shock and took to drinking, not clever at all. He took to blaming me for everything that went wrong, culminating in him making threats to my safety which resulted in a restraining order being issued and the Police visiting him to issue a fixed penalty for harassment.
In early December I woke to find him driving the car off the drive, having dumped all the contents of the boot, glove compartment, cd's etc in the porch. His reason, to sell it at the car auction to clear the overdraft, which, he had caused by his gambling/drinking. The police apprehended him and he brought the car back
When we split, I was savvy enough to transfer my salary the day I got paid in October over to my account in order that I could pay the bills. I wasnt sure if he, in his weird frame of mind, would contribute. He does now, and things are more amicable but far from resolved.
Cutting out large chunks of what happened around Xmas, which as you can imagine was difficult to get through, OH and I began to communicate without wanting to kill each other, and I agreed to withdraw the restraining order. Probably not a good idea but I did all the same. We agreed to tackle the Overdraft by paying in £100 per month between us but keep the joint endowment policy coming out. The debt is reducing slowly but interest is being added on at around £30.
In Feb, I took the bull by the horns and wrote a very long letter of complaint to HMRC about the tax credit problem and highlighted each and every issue that had caused the overpayment, and asked for an investigation into where the disputed amount had gone.
In March I received a letter that was to change my life. HMRC agreed everything was their error, from technical to human and it was reasonable for me to believe the payments, when I had them, were correct. I didn't have to pay back anything. A huge weight had been lifted, but the impact this has had on my life has been intolerable. I am attempting to claim compensation but I am not hopeful.
Where am I now ? Taking responsibility for my debts has become all consuming and I wish I had found this site sooner.
What am I doing ? Attempting to claim back bank charges from Abbey for the past 6 years, Ditto various credit cards. Also switching to 0% deals when I can, and overpaying £50 per month to the mortgage. Admittedly this is not high, compared to some people, but then I have had it since 1988 ! Watching every penny, working to a budget, shopping in Netto and Aldi, which I love btw, cooking from scratch and everyone loves my homemade soups apparently! Most of all, shopping around and making full use of the internet to price compare.
DEBTS:
Mortgage £65k 32.5k repayment ends 2020, 32.5 endowment, covered (or not as the case may be) by endowment with Legal and General paying out in 2013, shortfall expected, claimed for a mis sold policy back in 2000, got back £1800 which we idiotically frittered away. Both jointly responsible for payments whilst separated, repayments £445 pm, Endowment £47.80pm
C/CARDS (Mine) £1.5k 3 cards 0% interest (Mint, Egg, Abbey) paying each off at £50 pm. 1 card (Tesco) at 12.something, but useful for purchases. Now pay off every month.
LOANS: None, all paid off, last payment made this week, what a great feeling.
OVERDRAFT: £2,300 Joint debt between OH and me, paying off at £100 per month each, Endowment still debited from this acc, interest in the region of £30 pm added.
QUESTIONS:
- To the money saving experts, would it be cheaper to pay off the overdraft with a personal loan, and me and OH make joint repayments to that ?
- Is it likely that Abbey will shut my account because I have made a claim to have charges refunded, both on my single acc and my credit card ?
- I have no idea how to tackle the endowment shortfall. potentially 12k, When we remortgaged last summer, I asked the mortgage broker who was a friend of ours to put the whole lot over to repayment. He messed us about for weeks as his heart was set on a career change, and I found out last month when I bothered to read his follow up paperwork which conveniently was sent after the mortgage completed, that the part repay/part endow still stands. Im furious with myself for not checking sooner. Anyone with any ideas?
Apologies for rambling, but any comments are more than welcome, and here's to a debt free life, eventually !:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::T
Kim
Various CC's 1.2k down £800 Overdraft £1.5 down £2000 loan 1.5k last payment made today Tax Credit overpayment (HMRC mistake!) £19,5k written off !
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Comments
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Don't know about you but I always feel more positive when the sun is shining, today is no different so aiming to make the most of my positivity and channel it into some debt busting action.
What did I achieve yesterday ?
- I checked all my credit card balances to the penny, the end of the 0% deals and the dates on which they end and put these into Outlook with a reminder 2 weeks before so I can do the CC Shuffle. Hopefully the Mint card will be paid off by then anyway.
- Made some homemade soups to freeze, the kids love them and they are useful for taking into work. Since I stopped buying sandwiches from the Co-op round the corner from work I reckon I have saved a couple of hundred of quid.
- Checked when my mobile is due for upgrade and checked on comparisons for my tariff - I need it for business as I make a good deal of calls. Any advice on this would be appreciated from you mobile phone experts ?
- Cancel the milkman, how on earth can two pints of milk a week run up a bill of £37 ? He's got to go !!:mad::mad:
- Daughter needs new trainers, luckily she isn't label conscious so that keeps the cost down considerably. Gonna have a look round the sales.
Kim x:TVarious CC's 1.2k down £800 Overdraft £1.5 down £2000 loan 1.5k last payment made today Tax Credit overpayment (HMRC mistake!) £19,5k written off !
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hi kimlisa66,
my god you have been though it. Its good that you and your oh talk now even if he's been a total t**t if not for finances for the kids. will look forward to reading your diary. lizzylou0 -
Hi Lizzylou
Well we all have trials and tribulations, stresses, strifes, tragedies and traumas....Its how you deal with it that matters. I don't think my stories are particularly unusual really, and reading some other people's stories makes me feel hugely grateful for what I have. A job I love, but pays b***er all ! 3 healthy kids, well one who might end up with dodgy liver and definitely a police record, but that's up to him, and a roof over my head.
Having seen my sister and brother in law go through the ultimate trauma of losing their son at 13 in a road traffic accident, it makes you reassess your priorities, and if Karen, my sis in law were to come on this site, she would tell 99% of the people on here to stop complaining at their lot and get on with their lives. The loss of a child is the most awful thing anyone can go through, bar none.
If I am totally honest, a lot of us on here are in the s****te due to our own volition and bad financial mismanagement that can be avoided with foresight and planning.
There are a few instances where it is through no fault of the person concerned, but if you take a long hard look at the facts of each individual case, its usually the individual who is to blame for their situation.
Me included, I could have done loads to prevent what happened to me, I chose to bury my head and ignore it.....but now I see the error of my ways and I'm out there putting it right and it's a challenge, it is for everyone, but one I aim to win.
I suspect I will put a few people's backs up with my views, but that's life !!
Hope you have a great evening
Kim xVarious CC's 1.2k down £800 Overdraft £1.5 down £2000 loan 1.5k last payment made today Tax Credit overpayment (HMRC mistake!) £19,5k written off !
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hi kim,
my sister used to live in totton, is that far from you? lizzylou x0 -
Hi Lizzy
Yes I know Totton quite well, its about 5 miles from where I live in, and I have quite a few friends over that way. Whereabouts are you then ?
KimVarious CC's 1.2k down £800 Overdraft £1.5 down £2000 loan 1.5k last payment made today Tax Credit overpayment (HMRC mistake!) £19,5k written off !
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hi kim,
I live in staffordshire, she has moved back up home to us now after divorce but has a lot of friends down there still. lizzylou x0 -
Cool we might even have mutual friends in common....small world isn't it ?
I'm off to Makro in a bit, got a catering job to do tomorrow, friend's 40th, that will pay my car tax which is looming up at the end of the month.
Amazing all the different ways we have to find to make money etc.....good job I am on holiday from the day job or I don't know how I would find the time.
At least the weather is lovely, does help uplift you.
Had some good news from Creation today, they agreed to wipe all charges off my account which should never have gone on there in the first place, the account was in credit....for the life of me I don't see how I can be charged over £60 !
At least that's another step up the debt free ladder.
Ciao for now, have a lovely weekend
Kim x
Various CC's 1.2k down £800 Overdraft £1.5 down £2000 loan 1.5k last payment made today Tax Credit overpayment (HMRC mistake!) £19,5k written off !
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Today was the day my bathroom was ripped out, lock stock and toilet ! I've been putting it off for years but, it had to go. It wasn't just a whim to have a lovely new loo etc, it really had become a health hazzard so, lovely mum and dad have lent me the money to get it done and I can pay them back when my debts are sorted.
Managed to cut a massive amount of money off a new bathroom suite by ordering online, and ex-hubbie to be has been round to strip tiles, make good holes, rip out old suite etc before another plumber friend comes in to put in the white goods.
Luckily I am pretty handy and I can do loads myself which keeps the price down, I need to as I still have priory debts to pay but this couldn't wait any longer as the loo and bath were both leaking, the basin badly cracked, the shower completely b***erd and mushrooms growing on the ceiling.
Once its done I know it will add some value to the house so I don't feel guilty that I am doing it for cosmetic purposes. Also, I am going into hospital soon for a hysterectomy and I couldn't cope with a bathroom that is so disgusting and wretched I am likely to get an infection from it once I am at home recovering. That's how I justify the expense anyway !!!
Got my statement of charges back from Tesco Visa, and they didn't cash my £10 cheque for asking for the information either. Whether they will now come up with the dosh is another matter...£296 which is a sizeable sum.
All shopping done for catering job tomorrow for mate's 40th, so money from that will either pay car tax or go towards tiles for the bathroom.......I think the car tax will win that battle !
Anyway, off to melt chocolate for the chocolate fountain I've stupidly agreed to provide for said part...................I live the life don't I ? :T:T:T:T:T:T:T
Various CC's 1.2k down £800 Overdraft £1.5 down £2000 loan 1.5k last payment made today Tax Credit overpayment (HMRC mistake!) £19,5k written off !
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Hi having a similar problem with tx credits with apparantly £3k overpayment from 2005/2006. Have you got a template or copy of the basic letter used to complain.
Don't now where to start, with their debt letters wanting actionPaula0 -
Hi there
Better than that, if you go across to these wonderful people they have absolutely everything you need, and they also have a trained case worker, Paula Dean who can assist. Paula and Ali are both volunteers and started this organisation to highlight the shambolic and dare I say, criminal, way in which the HMRC deal with people like you and I. Go to the new members forum and post your problem on there, and you will have started the ball rolling. :j:j
http://familytaxcredit.forumco.com/
First of all don't panic, I was in a state of panic for the last 5 years and it got me nowhere. My write off came more by luck than judgement or knowledge and the letter I wrote was a 3 page letter of complaint highlighting each and every error they had made. :mad::mad::mad:
If you do it through Tax Credit Casualties, they will be able to help you through the minefield and they know the tax credit law like no one else does.
Good luck, you can get it sorted, I did and mine was one of the largest overpayments in the UK. If I can do it, you can too.......:rotfl: keep me posted.Various CC's 1.2k down £800 Overdraft £1.5 down £2000 loan 1.5k last payment made today Tax Credit overpayment (HMRC mistake!) £19,5k written off !
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