Unsecured debt, redundancy...a great big mess

panickymum

Hi all

I have read posts on here for a while but really have buried my head in the sand until redundancy has forced me to accept our mess. Ours is a complicated problem but I would appreciate any advice on what to do and info on what our creditors may do next....thanks for reading....

We have 70k unsecured debt and a mortgage.

My OH has been dismissed on health grounds so will struggle to get another job. 2 months ago, before the dismissal, we contacted CCCS and our budget meant token payments of £1 only. Only one of them accepted this and has kindly frozen the interest. The others continue to accrue interest and late charges although we write each month with our token payments.

Now I now we have no change of organising a DMP in the near future what is the likely next step of our creditors. We have no equity in our house. Our mortgage is with Northern Rock and part of the debt is an unsecured element of a Together mortgage. We switched to interest only and have paid the secured element but NR tell me their computer systems can't allocate the payment to the secured element only so in reality we are falling into arrears...but only by 0.2% a month. Is this really true?? Would this have been in the small print!

Is bankrupty my only option? The debt is mainly in my partners name apart from the mortgage and unsecured elemnt of that and a loan with Natwest. I am working full time. Our financial situation is exactly as it was when we did the CCCS budget plan and so I can continue to pay most of the mortgage so would rather not go bankrupt but can't see, without a DMP, any other alternative.....Hpefully my OH will get back into work but I am unsure when that will be and, as he was the major breadwinner, it is unlikely he will get a job that pays the same.

What a mess!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Again, thanks for reading.

Bismarck

Sorry to hear your news.

Others will be along with more and better information but I'm struggling to get my head round the dismissal of your OH on health grounds....has this been done absolutely "by the book" and is this covered by any insurances you may have? Think carefully as you may have something you'd not realised would be useful, whether it's CC, loan, mortgage cover...anything really....

take care...

john_kent

Carry on following th CCCS process. They are very good. As you state , you cant get on a DMP. Post a list of all your incomings and outgoings on here. The people here are very good an may spot a saving you havent.

Next thing I would strongly advise is to keep all letters. I kept everything relating to debts and job hunting , including the emails i received regarding job hunting. Most creditors are in fact sympathetic if they can see an effort on your part to sort thing sout , look for a better job and so on.

Things may seem at a low but things will get better? This site is full of information and you have made the first step.

panickymum

Thanks so much for your replies. Bismarck you are absolutely right regards his dismissal and we are looking into appeal but unfortunately OH was still in a probationary period so we have few rights. This is something we are going to discuss with CAB next week. Unfortunaltey we onlt have accident, sickeness insurance on one debt so although it helps a little, we stil have a major problem.

It's good to know that creditors are sympathetic if they know we are trying to sort the problem/get OH sorted with another job. So we will keep all emails as suggested, thanks for that tip.

I'll post my income/expenditure asap - need to go and retrieve it from our enormous finances file!

thanks again

Gemmzie

Please see if your OH is entitled to any benefits if he can't go back into employment - it's what it's there for

panickymum

Ok here is our budget:

Incomings
Pay £1250
Child benefir £81
Tax Credits £42 (think this may go up in light of reduced earnings)
SSp £221 (will be incapacity benefit soon...not sure if this is more or less than ssp)

Outgoings:

Mortgage £617
Water £34
C Tax £121
Gas £95 (going up next month to £120)
Building/Contents £32
Telephone £63
TV £12
Drainage cover £2
Life Ins £32
Spares/Sevising £15
Road Tax £11
Petrol £60 (in reality not enough)
Food £240
Pets £20
Tobacco £50 (should give up I know...)
Clothing £31
Prescriptions £21
Dentist £13
Ents £5
Emergencies £15
Gym for medical reasons £40
Window cleaner £5
Vets bills £20

and then the repayments to creditors amount to £1366.

thanks for reading

Voice_of_reason_5

panickymum wrote: »

Ok here is our budget:

Incomings
Pay £1250
Child benefir £81
Tax Credits £42 (think this may go up in light of reduced earnings)
SSp £221 (will be incapacity benefit soon...not sure if this is more or less than ssp)

Outgoings:

Mortgage £617
Water £34
C Tax £121
Gas £95 (going up next month to £120)
Building/Contents £32
Telephone £63
TV £12
Drainage cover £2
Life Ins £32
Spares/Sevising £15
Road Tax £11
Petrol £60 (in reality not enough)
Food £240
Pets £20
Tobacco £50 (should give up I know...)
Clothing £31
Prescriptions £21
Dentist £13
Ents £5
Emergencies £15
Gym for medical reasons £40
Window cleaner £5
Vets bills £20

and then the repayments to creditors amount to £1366.

thanks for reading

I sympathise. I've been there.
QUICKLY GO AND SEE A DEBT COUNSELLOR. This is really important! Dont go to those debt solving agencies that charge and are in business to mkae a profit of our your misery. Go to any of a number of debt counselling charities who will advise you who you MUST pay now, and who can be stalled. Here's a few:

The consumer credit counselling service 0800 138 1111
www.ccs.co.uk

National Debtline www.nationaldebtline.co.uk 0808 808 4000

Citizens advice bureau www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Payplan www.playplan.com 0800 085 4298

Source of these: The Money Diet, Martin Lewis.

Please persist, they may be busy lines but they will help! Have a list of your income and expenditure ready when you call.

Good luck and my best wishes.

It will get solved.

Voice_of_reason_5

Bismarck wrote: »

Sorry to hear your news.

Others will be along with more and better information but I'm struggling to get my head round the dismissal of your OH on health grounds....has this been done absolutely "by the book" and is this covered by any insurances you may have? Think carefully as you may have something you'd not realised would be useful, whether it's CC, loan, mortgage cover...anything really....

take care...

Yes - Illness can affect your employment. If its long term and is deemed as affecting organisational performance you can lose your job.

My advise to anyone who has an illness that may affect their employment is - join a Union. For free empoyment advice call ACAS. ACAS.org.uk