New forum Topic. Debt and how to cope with it.

[Guest]

May i put a link here to a very good site that is available 24/7 it is very muck a self help site but there are many many good template letters etc and a very knowledgeable site team.

It really is the bees knees and so many members to help you out the resources they have is astounding.

It makes up for the CAB who are only open at limited hours.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/

Feel 'free' to use it if you don't mind being ripped off! They only charge £30.10 for information that's freely available elsewhere !!!

I'm referring to what's wrongly called 'the small claims court' and is in fact the Small Claims Track of the County Court. The £30.10 info is available free here]http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/info ... /index.htm[/url]

I've now stopped looking at the site as there are 'important bits' missing - like a contact e-address and also there habit of asking for money for most things.

Mike.

[Pete the Paint]

My daughter got conned by one of those debt agency's. She paid them for two years and found she owed more than when she started with them!

If your in rented and you've a decent landlord who dosen't work through an agency, then go bankrupt. If you keep paying your rent, then they cant chuck you out. The only time it might become a problem, is if you want to move whilst your still in bankruptcy. Some agency run landlords wont touch you with a barge pole. I found this out, even though the estate agent had known me for 25yrs and the circumstances that had led up to me having to go bust in the first place. You find out who your real friends are!

Don't pay for debt advise, dont go to an accountant or a solicitor. They haven't a clue about bankruptcy. Go to the county court and have a chat with one of their staff. Their kind and helpful and understanding and they will give you all the info you need to go bust. They will help you fill in the forms if you make an appointment first.

If your vehicle is worth less than a thousand pounds, then they will let you keep it. If its a specially adapted disabled type,over a Grand and essential for you to get around, then again they will wave any claim on that too.

The Co-operative bank are very helpful with giving bankrupts a simple current account that you can pay direct debits/ standing orders from. Also the DWP can deposit your benefits. It wont pay you any interest on your money mind. I believe The Post Office have scheme also, though cant be sure of that one.

This company helped me out tremendously. I can highly recommend them. A Mother and Daughter team, with an abundance of knowledge and experiance in bankruptcy. You wont find a more honest and caring business team anywhere.

Contact: BAS - Bankruptcy Advisory Service ... The Bankruptcy Advisory Service Ltd PO Box 155. Knaresborough North Yorkshire ...
www.bankruptcyadvisoryservice.co.uk/contact-us.php

[Eun]

I am not judging but how do people get into debt in the first place? None of us is working but we are not in debt and never have been in 28 years of married life. We don't drink, don't go out, don't smoke and rarely go on holiday these days (although we have been on holiday to Florida in the past). We don't have Sky tv or stuff like that but we do eat well.

Eun

[david c]

hi ,i don't mind being in debt if it wasn't for the 3 credit cards mal and i have [plus the £1500 overdraft] we would not be able to do anything,last year we partex our caravan still paying it on one card ,our trip to america was on another card.have bought a dvd recorder ,cooker,waashing machine on argos card- pay in 3 and 6 months time-if we were to pay cash would not be able to do anything .i have mentioned somewhere else that mal used to smoke up until five years ago,plus he does'nt go to his day center any more so we are £200 better off.

[charles47]

All too often carers can get into debt because their caring situation forces them into finishing work. But if your finances are calculated around a certain income, then the sudden and sustained drop in income can force you into serious debt very quickly.

I think it was a couple of years ago that CUK produced a report saying that carers lose on average about £11,000 a year in that situation, and that's a lot of very real money to lose.

[Eun]

Charles

We dropped my husband's wage but we still didn't get into debt - you cut your cloth according to your needs. People seem to spend money that they don't have e.g. credit cards etc If you don't buy uneccesary luxuries you can manage - or at least we do.

Eun

[Lazydaisy]

Very easy to get into debt.
We were getting by last summer, then got into horrendous trouble trying to pay for Rhys's funeral. We did not have anything fancy, but it was still nearly £3000, more if not paid within 30 days,plus there were so many other unexpected costs, the petrol to and from the hospital, the toll bridge,again petrol and toll bridge when emptying his flat. The allowance from DSS is £1100, but that is a battle, and we almost gave up. It was only someone on here that persuaded me to keep fighting. We had to go to appeal. We paid with our credit card, and of course, interest built up on that by the time the grant came through. We just got straight with that, and we again had to find nearly £2000 for our chimney to be removed, as it was in a dangerous condition when part of it fell. (that includes the emergency call out, when it happened)I can't even afford to go out and get my winter boots reheeled at present.
When the children were younger, I was working. We had a mortgage, and we coped, in the early 1990's when the interest rate was sky high. If we had one more devastation anywhere, we would have to sell our house(maybe even go bankrupt, depending on what the house is worth) We would still be on benefits, we would have to pay whatever devastation we had, and would end up on housing benefit. At the moment, because our home is our own, we do not need housing benefit.
It only takes a couple of disasters to go from coping to financial ruin.

[Pete the Paint]

[Very easy to get into debt. quote]

Too right! Especially when your a self employed one man band, with a mentally ill wife who has no concept of money whatsoever. You have a total hip replacement aged 46. You've battled through two recessions. 1981/2 and 1990 when your on a three day week just after 13 weeks off convalesing a hip replacement. You dare to invest in a business venture to set your daughter and her 'very good friend' up in business, only to have the 'friend' rob you of £12,000 of which you eventually retrieve £5000 and the solicitor acting for you takes £2,500 in 'fees'! When all you've done is graft your guts out for 42yrs and mini strokes rob you of every shred of self respect and you have to hang your head in shame and go bankrupt.
The judge said "My God you've been to hell and back! I dont know how you've survived for so long. It's a credit to you for coping the way you have."

I hope I didn't give the impression that going bankrupt was easy in my earlier post, because I can tell you, it was hell on wheels! I battled on with ever increasing debt for 26yrs before I was beaten and lost everything I'd worked so damned hard for. I am now debt free for the first time since I was 16yrs old when I bought my first moped on the HP. It's a wonderful feeling,I can tell you!
Bankruptcy is not for everyone, but if it's meant to be, then it can be a God send...........eventually

Pete

[charles47]

Charles

We dropped my husband's wage but we still didn't get into debt - you cut your cloth according to your needs. People seem to spend money that they don't have e.g. credit cards etc If you don't buy uneccesary luxuries you can manage - or at least we do.

Eun

Eun, not everyone is lucky enough to be in that position. We dropped to one wage shortly after moving house because it became impossible to meet Mike's increasing needs any other way. This at a time of rapidly rising inflation under Mrs T. We came very close to losing our house and - 20 years on - the debt involved in getting back to work is finally under control and we are targeted to be debt free in 3 years: only Gill has recently had to stop work again, this time due to her own health needs. We're now modifying our spending to compensate but it has been a massive drop and that is bound to have a negative impact at a time of rising costs.

[TriciaA]

Debts....... quite a deep subject!
I also got into debt a few years ago and it wasn't through over spending either. I went from working 30 hrs+ to 7 hrs per week, quite the drop. I applied for IS, in hopes of not being on it too long, with that plus my earnings, I could at least pay my mortgage with not very much left over to support my daughter and myself. I had a credit card that I rarely rarely used but as it was I began to use it to buy food, not the cheapest way to go I know, but...

5 months later, things picked up, I gained back extra hours but I was paying out a lot on my credit card and store cards.
I went with a company who worked out a payment plan for me, not mentioning any names of course.
After a few months, I was getting mail from creditors asking me why my payments were not paid on time! and of course a late payment fee was added.
I was furious and contacted this company, the one that was supposedly making these payments on my behalf (at a monthly charge). I told them I would no longer be using them. I contacted all the creditors and explained what had happened, asked if I could make my payments direct to them etc. This was acccepted, not only that they froze all the interest:)

I'd advise anyone who doesn't have huge debts to contact your own creditors as they will work with you:)