Tantaraza vs the Frogs!

At this time two years ago, I had a considerable chunk of savings, and then:
— I lost ~£350 a month of income
— went through 3 months with zero income
— a cat was shot with a BB gun and needed an operation, then almost exactly a year later, the same cat got hit by a car and required inpatient treatment :mad:
— Friendly needed an emergency operation with a 5% chance of survival, and although she pulled through the vet bill was... _pale_
— a car needed £££ in repairs and then terminally died after repairs were done :mad:
— and I ended up in a non-fault car accident that wrote off my beloved first car :mad:

On top of all that, 2018 was a truly dire year in terms of my mental health — and I’ve realised that when I’m miserable, I spend more and eat more. Because of all the above, my savings depleted and I’ve ended up in debt. I’ve been on a low income for years as I was a carer for my disabled parent, however our relationship has become increasingly toxic and contributed towards, for lack of a better word, a mental health ‘breakdown’ that led to me being referred to the crisis team. This is one of the reasons why I’m moving so far away from “home”, and while I know that three dogs are expensive (and I’ve been “advised” to rehome them for this reason) I have to take them with me because they are extremely beneficial to my mental health, and because the parent I care for has threatened self-harm and harm to the pets if I move out. I have made the social worker aware and support will be in place after I move out (although limited, as counselling / mental health support has been refused ) but obviously can’t leave the dogs behind for this reason. Our other pets are family pets who this parent loves, but these three are very much ‘my’ babies.

With regard to the debts, I confess that I didn’t read/open my post during the latter half of 2018 owing to the depression overwhelming everything else, so I’m not entirely sure exactly how much is owed, although I have a rough idea. My plan is to write letters stating that I’m in the process of moving and will be writing after the move with my new address and a proposed payment plan, but I don’t know where to start with this — I’ve done a little searching but so far all I’ve found is related to Stepchange, and at this point in time I’d prefer a self-managed DMP.

Debts
CC1 — under £1k, with original CC company.
CC2 — under £1k, with a debt recovery company now.
BNPL — under £1k, made payments to this and I want to keep this account active in case of emergency, due to no EF, hence why I’d prefer a self-managed DMP so I can avoid including this one. I know the advice is to get rid of credit but I managed access to credit for years before the reduced income and loss of income, so I’m confident in my ability to manage this account once I get my income back to normal.
Electricity — will sort out bill when I move out with final meter readings, and then make payments. New house is on a prepayment meter so I can’t run up another bill.
PCN — £435, astronomical due to avoiding the post when I was ill. Would have appealed it as it was very much incorrect but it’s now past that point, apparently.
Bank OD — £66. Priority as I don’t want it being included in a DMP, I’ve had this account since I was 16 so it’s a positive in my credit history, and I don’t want the bank closing it for the sake of such a small amount.

I reapplied for PIP in July (which was initially stopped because I was too ill to fill in forms :huh: and with everything else that happened, I couldn’t deal with the appeal process) and I’m still waiting for the assessment. Due to the nature of my own disabilities, I should get at least standard rate, so at some point I’ll receive a backdated payment which I intend to pay off (most of?) the debt with.

I’ll be back with accurate numbers soon, but a few require writing to the creditors... or perhaps I should just call them instead? I know MSE says to avoid this but I’m not sure what else I could do instead.

Any and all advice would be appreciated. If you’ve read to this point, thank you so much. :grouphug:

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments :grouphug:

Pmo2 Thank you for stopping by

LadyP01 Thank you

HHOD I really appreciate all of your advice, thank you! I’m a little nervous about contacting the creditors as I’ve not been keeping them up to date so far however I will check out the DMP thread and ask for payment holidays for the debts. You’re absolutely correct that it’s difficult to plan ahead when I don’t know what I’ll have coming in — I’ve checked entitledto, but there’s a domino effect caused by the delay in receiving PIP, so I won’t know a precise amount until after I move. Thank you for your lovely words

elizabethhull Thank you so much

please-let-me-be-lucky Thank you! I’m sorry to hear about your husband but I understand how beneficial your spaniel is, I feel similar about my dogs. Unfortunately I’ve checked, and the new house is out of the catchment area for PDSA so my plan is to put a small amount into a pet EF when I get the backdated payment and make sure any future SOA includes putting some money aside for pet emergencies/illnesses.

beanielou Thank you so much PCN stands for Penalty Charge Notice, which I dispute, but I appear to have missed the appeal deadline because of my depression.