Am totally down and out.......

tomb81

Hi all

I am now totally down and out, really suffering and need help. I am at the point where I don't open post or answer phone callse because I am so afraid that it will be companies demanding money.
I don't even have a clear record of my debts which frustrates me even more.

I have about £15000 debt at the moment, 2 x MBNA loans, 1 x HSBC Credit Card, a payday loan and lots of missed payments. the credit card has been passed on to a debt collection agency, the MBNA are chasing me and payments are way behind there. I get paid around £1300 a month but it is gone within the first few days through charges from bank for unauthorised overdrafts, rejected direct debits etc

Im scared and dont know how to start doing anything about it.

Can someone help!?!?!

Mudbath

Hiya
Someone will be on soon to give you more information but if you could do a statement of affairs detailing all you incoming and outgoing and all your debt they'll be in a better position to help you. This is the worse bit and if you're anything like me you'll feel a lot better when you know exactly what you owe and what you can do. Wecome to mse!

locutus2003

Welcome and well done for posting - I think that's the hardest thing.

As Mudbath says, do an SOA and post it on here - there are some fantastic people who are able to give you good advice and try to help you to cut down if you can.

There is free help available- either through Citizen's Advice or there are some websites (I think there's a sticky on the first page) which may help.

Nothing is unsolvable - people here will help.

Take care

marksandsparksgal

Hiya & welcome. As mudbath has said, you need to do a statement of affairs, also known as a SOA so we can see where we can help.

In the meantime, just know you're not alone on here, and also, in terms of the bank charges etc, might it not be an idea to open up a seperate bank account to put your wages into, and thus treat your overdraft as another debt. That means then you can make a start at repayments, rather than having everything swallowed up the first few days of each month. The co-op has a good one for this, just make sure if you do do this, that it's a separate company from anyone you owe money to, or else they'll take the money to pay off another account, unfair I know!

Also, have a quick look at the Up Your Income board, and also the Freebies board; they're full of survey sites and freebies, so that once in a while through clicking on certain things you can earn yourself a little spare cash or some gift vouchers that can be put towards birthdays or xmas, or even for a treat for yourself.

And above all, keep posting here, there is a wealth of info!

xxx

PS - have you looked into relcaiming any charges made by banks or credit card companies? Especially the latter, since they're not on hold at the moment.

Bismarck

well done for posting.

you've done one of the hardest things..stick around and help will be along soon. Have a look around the boards in the meantime and you'll see that you're by no means alone!

Believe me there are some wise heads on here....I woud say old but they might get upset!

marksandsparksgal

Oops, another post, forgot to mention, have a word with one of the free debt charities, either the citizen's advice bureau, or the cccs (consumer credit counselling service). They're really helpful, and the latter has a website with a 'debt remedy' tool, where you can put all your incomings and outgoings in, and it'll give you anonymous advice. They also have a freephone number you can ring (details at the top of this board) for impartial and helpful advice.

x

scooterwife

hello & welcome.:j

as well as reading around on here have alook at the National Debtline website and also CCCS (Consumer Credit Counselling Service)
both these websites have lots of information and advice.

Once you've decided to take the plunge & deal with the debt, its as if a weight is lifted.

I would second opening another basic bank account (not connected to your debts) and transferring wages into it to give you a level start, and then treat the overdraft, charges as another debt.

Good Luck & keep posting

RAS

Hi

Ring one of the debt charities in the morning, although you can do the CCCS debt remedy on-line. See here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

With respect to the people haressing you for money, send them each a CCA letter. That puts the debt temporarily into dispute. You may find that some of the older debts are statute barred (if you have paid nothing for 6 years). You may also find that some of those mailing you do not have the documentation required to enforce the debt.

Will be back with the letter.

Finally, open another basic bank account, as this does not require a credit check and pay your salary into that, then treat the other account as another debt. Shift the DDs across to that.

caz876

Hello tomb81,

I am no expert and have only been on the forum myself the last couple of weeks..

But have already received loads of useful and positive advice from my first post, from the wonderful knowledgeable people who give advice on this wonderful forum. As a result of this I have now started on a dept management plan with payplan at an amount that I can comfortably afford each month and for the first time in years I actually feel in control of my life, and I no longer need to spend each month worrying about how im going to Rob Peter to pay Paul.

One thing that I have leant through all of this is when you are in debt you are always chasing money.. as there is never enough to pay everyone there share.

Please listen and take the advice that is given to you, as your debts wont go away, I promise you once you make the first move you will feel a lot more positive about the future..

I wish you luck

Caz..

tomb81

Wow, so many resposnes in such a short time! Thank you so much all for your kind and helpful replies. I will create an SOA of some sort when I have worked out what I owe and post it on here and I have just filled in an application for a basic current account with CO-OP so I can transfer my salary over to that.

Thank you all x

keeno

Me and my wife went through something similar not that long ago, we're slowly making progress.

I have to say that along with these boards the CAB (Citizens Advice Bureaux ) was the single biggest help. They found out all our depts, froze them and stopped the phone calls and letters, We now only deal with the companies through the CAB and one payment takes care of them all.

I really really hope you get in touch with them, after 1 meeting I can guarantee you will feel the weight lifted.

(this guarantee has no monetary value)