New and need some advice and support

Toomuch

I'm no newcomer to debt sadly, and have seemingly not learnt my lesson. Had previously cleared a long standing managed loan with HSBC but am now really in over my head.
Hubby and I have in total our mortgage which is £136000, secured loan of £25k and unsecured debts totally £45k. Actually writing that down is absolutely terrifing, I really could cry.
Luckily our income is stable, but increasingly we feel out of control and like we can't sustain this level of spending.
I have spoken to cccs, their recommendations were IVA or DMP. I really really don't want to go down the IVA route.

As well as both working full time, we also have our own business, which is financially stable although just breaking even (just) so no profits to draw on there.

We badly want to be debt free, we want to start a family and feel like this is going to stop us having a happy family life.

I think the first step to taking control is to set up the DMP with CCCS, however our business account is with our bank, who we have overdrafts with and £22k of unsecured debt, so I don't know what to do about this.
Are we still going to be able to run our business if we have a personal DMP??

Jenna

Hey there TM,

Welcome to DFW . You've taken the first (big!) step by posting this and recognising there's a problem, now you can start to deal with this situ. Re whether you can run a busines if you have a personal DMP - I would suggest contacting the CAB or something similar, you probably need to take some legal advice on this.

Re whether you have to go down the IVA/DMP route ... try posting up a SOA (see the sticky at the top of the board). Some of the experts will be able to help you cut the bills down to size, I'm sure

Toomuch

Should have also posted, the unsecured debts are already consolidated into loans, and we just have the one cc with a mere £800 on it, such a tiny amount compared to everything else so we only actually have three creditors to deal with.

Toomuch

Anybody else have any advice? Or is it beyond that point

GeorgeUK

I think the SOA would be a help for others to come up with some ideas on.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

No idea what your income is so can't really comment on how best to pay this.
Are any of the debts with debt collection agencies, or still the original creditor?
Are you paying PPI on the loans? Do you need this?
Were you missold the PPI?
Do you / did you have an endowment mortgage - was this missold?
Have you claimed back CC charges?
Have you claimed back bank charges?
Have you checked your council tax banding is correct?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/

Don't know how a DMP will affect your business or even if it will.

basketcase

Toomuch wrote: »

Anybody else have any advice? Or is it beyond that point

Don't know whether it's beyond help or not, but you do have my sympathy - I know that sick feeling only too well.:o

You've actually already been given one very good piece of advice, which you may have missed. That is put a Statement of Affairs on the board (in case you don't know, a SoA is a list of all your income and outgoings, with interest rates for the debts.) Once you've done this, people will be able to assess your situation and offer more advice.

tyllwyd

I'm not quite sure why you want to continue your business? You say that you both work full-time, and your business is only just about breaking even. Do you think it has the potential to grow, or do you think there is a danger it might start losing money - in which case you would need to think about closing it down sooner rather than later.

My feeling is that if you want to start a family, why not cut down the stress and the number of hours you work by ending your business, which is keeping you busy for no profit. But obviously I don't know your business or your situation, so I may be totally off the mark!