Hi, I was recommended this site by a friend of a friend who was aware of my current problems. I have looked through some of the postings and am very impressed with the level of dedication and support with which questions appear to be answered is. I find myself in a fairly desperate situation and am having great difficulty finding information about the best way forward, I'm hoping that some kind person here may have some insight which they would be prepared to share with me regarding this. I'm sorry that this is going to be a fairly lengthy post but I am trying to include any information that I feel maybe relevant so that I don't waste people’s time.

I have been employed with the same company for the last 10 years plus. Just over four years ago I was diagnosed suddenly with psoriatic arthritis which has affected both my arms and my legs and has left me housebound. For two years I worked from home and my appraisals were exemplary, the company was quite happy with the situation and indeed initially encouraged it. We were both hoping that my condition would improve swiftly. I've been taking significant amounts of medication for the condition and to deal with the side-effects of the medication and while it is stopped this spreading any further it is not as yet improved the situation to an extent where I am able to leave the house or permitted to drive etc.

About two years ago there was a sudden change of attitude in the company when a particular member of staff became involved and he tried to say that I was unable to perform my duties from home as the job was in theory office based. As the job itself involves computer work which clearly can be done anywhere and in fact there is a condition where members of staff in my team are expected to work from home I decided I was going to fight this. It took a good six months to persuade the company that they won't get rid of me easily and they eventually decided to allow me to stay. However they did try to impose different working conditions on me and prevented me from doing many of the ancillary tasks that would normally be carried out that my doctor and my consultants had all ruled to be possible for me to do and in fact of benefit to me to do psychologically if not physically.

The company was determined that I would not do these and this led to a continuous battle for the next six months and whenever I managed to defeat one of their arguments they just change tack and came up with another. I did employ a lawyer and had a letter drafted to the company which was very carefully done to try and avoid aggravation and pointed out some of the the arguments that they were using and where they were misinterpreting information they had but did so in an “quite gentle” way. After all I wanted to continue working for the company not beat them into the ground.

Unfortunately the response from the company to this was that they were just going to ignore it effectively and if I wanted to use solicitors they would do the same but they had an unlimited budget for and legal costs and therefore I would be priced out of the action.

A year ago I developed a heart condition, stress was clearly involved from the job and it is possible that my condition also had some part in this. For the last year I have been receiving sick pay from the company and undergoing a barrage of tests; I have had a small heart operation and they are trying to decide what else to do. At this point but they don't want me to return to work until the situation has been better stabilised due to the amount of stress at work over my employment.

I just find myself in a nasty situation of being employed and about to receive no pay now from the company until I returned to full-time work with them. I'm currently claiming disability living allowance and am assuming I would try and apply for ESA however I am trying to work out the best way of dealing with my debts in the short to medium term.

My current debts consist of a mortgage and a secured loan on the house and a small amount on a single credit card. There is equity in the house but I am fairly desperate to try and keep hold of it because it suits me in my current condition and the difficulty of moving would be extreme. There's also the fact that if I did move I would not want to move far because of my support network in terms of district nurses and doctors friends etc and leaving that would be a disaster for me.

My real issue I suppose is how to deal with the mortgage and the secured loan in the short to medium term. Clearly it is very hard for me to propose a payment schedule at this point as I am unaware what income I will be able to receive and it is also very difficult for me to suggest a period because I am unsure how long I will be completely off work before unable to return.

If you've got this far in this essay then I am very grateful to you and obviously any assistance that anyone can provide or suggestions would be gratefully received. I have been in touch with a number of agencies so far but the information I've had from them has been at best patchy and worse contradictory thank you all for your time and good luck to everyone.

Hello, I have popped some spacing and increased the size of the font for easier reading. I am sure someone will be along soon who can help.

OK, have read the situation and will try and find some help for you

Thank you very much, sorry to be a "taker" rather than a "giver" at the moment but I am way out of my depth here !

Hi there, in order to try and advise we need you to give a little more information:

are the mortgage and secured loan with the same lender?

Is the mortgage interest only or capital and interest?

have you actually missed any payments yet?

Hi there and thank you. They are with separate lenders Lloyds(C&G) for the mortgage and Central Lending for the loan. The mortgage is capital and interest. I have not missed any payments as yet.

I am sorry there is a lot to consider.

Kind Regards

Hi Kappa and welcome to CAG

So sorry to read of all your problems.

Obviously it's crucial to keep you in your home so you can concentrate on getting better.

Just a few thoughts to start with...

Have you looked into The Mortgage Rescue Scheme?

More about it here:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/BuyingAndSellingYourHome/Mortgagesandrepossessions/DG_174005

The credit card...obviously a non priority debt..how much per month are you paying?

As you're purely on benefits at the moment, have you applied for Housing Benefit?

Is anyone else in the house contributing to expenses?

Sorry, we don't mean to be nosey...just need a fuller picture to try and help you

You've come to the right place, don't be afraid to ask about anything you're unsure of

Elsa xx

Hi Elsa,

Thank you for your response. Please feel free to ask away, I have long given up my pride

I have looked briefly into the The Mortgage Rescue Scheme but was getting a little confussed with it particularly with respect to lots of warnings about various options. I thought at first that it might be a good solution but having read around I was a little wary about some aspects including valuations appearing to be low and the fact that it was no longer easy to obtain (according to CAB).

The credit card is about 18 pounds a month at the moment, I could have paid it off but thought it might be better to keep the cash in the short term to perhaps get over a "hump" so to speak.

The only benefit I am getting at the moment is the DLA. I have received my last pay check from work (at half salary rate) and now I am trying to investigate ESA but sofar I have been told I can claim by one person and I can't by another - because I am still employed.

I live alone and have no family or dependants etc.

Anything else ? Well If we get all of this sorted I might try for "Live the Universe and ..." ;P

Thank you again for you help. I am trying to maintain a sense of humour but clearly this is all very worrying and I realise things can happen quickly hence trying to beg for advice !

Kind Regards

So you were receiving Statutory Sick Pay from your employer and this has just come to an end? Have they sent you a form (SSP1) which confirms this, and which you can then use to apply for ESA?

(Ell-Enn is brilliant at benefits and will advise you better on this)

If you want to anything about Mortgage Rescue, ask away as we did it two years ago and it was the best thing we ever did!

Hi,

SSP has just come to an end, yes. I have not, as yet, had anything from my employer apart from a letter stating as much.

Well Tingy any information would be helpful or point me at any good resource. I am not totally dumb but feel very out of my dept with this all and also confussed by the different opinions that are around (and, I should point out, not having enough experience or information to work out which are good or bad!)

Thank you both for your help though.

Kind Regards

Will be back in about 15 mins with some details!

Sorry - always have to watch Eggheads!

We did a Mortgage Rescue two years ago. We were heavily in debt and had Kensington Mortgages trying to repossess our house which we really did not want to lose. If you take this route you MUST ensure it is with a reputable social housing company, ideally one recommended by the council. The biggest down side is that you get a low price for your house. We got 85% of the average of three independent valuations chosen by us. On the plus side you get to carry on living in "your" house. We are responsible for internal decoration. Everything else is the responsibility of the Housing Association, so if anything goes wrong it is up to the HA to fix it. Initially they bring the house into line with their standards. For us this meant we got new kitchen flooring, new flooring in both bathrooms, all double glazing replaced, some internal doors replaced, a new shed, the patio relaid, a fence right round the garden to a height of our choice, rails on outside steps, inbuilt smoke and CO detectors as opposed to the battery ones we had, both upstairs and down. We also get a gas and boiler inspection every year. Rent wise we pay £475 pcm. On the private market we'd pay around £800 for our house as it's very large, so we are very happy with that.

The house still feels like ours and it is in our contract that we can even hand it down one generation, so if our daughter wants to live here when she's older, she can do.

The other obvious advantage is that everything is completed within 2-3 weeks of first approaching the company.

For us it was a Godsend and we have no regrets whatsoever. As said at the start, the single most important thing is to ensure you go with a reputable company as there are plenty of rogue ones out there who will turf you out after one year.

As we are potentially looking at bankruptcy, it also means that we continue to live in "our" house even if we are made bankrupt - they can no longer force us to sell it.

We had an inspection after about three months. In reality for us that meant a chat and cup of tea with the woman from the Housing Association who we'd got to know quite well.

I think that's about it. If there's anything else you want to know, just ask.

Hi Tingy,

Thank you very much that helps a great deal. It may give me a way forward that I was begining to discount based on all of the negative items I had read. It is certainly worth exploring !

I do have one question (which may seem stupid but hey maybe I am after all ). I did not think a property could be sold with debts outstanding on it so how is that handled ? Is the amount the HA pay used to pay off the debts first as part of the overall transaction ?

Thank you again for your time and the information. As you will appreciate it is hard finding this all out and being housebound does not help as you cant just "pop in" to places. Still it has its advantages as I dont get as wet as I used to

Kind Regards

I can only answer from our experience. We had a primary mortgage, a second mortgage (secured loan) and a Charging Order. The money received for the value of the house paid the mortgage, the secured loan, but there was not enough to pay all the Charging Order. I phoned the company who had the charge against us and they agreed that if we paid what we could and then set up a Direct Debit for the remainder at £x per month (it was affordable) then they would remove the charge. That is what we did and the repayment plan was written into the contract of sale by our solicitors. Oh yes - they paid all our fees as well.

Hi Tingy,

Again thank you very much for this information, I sincerely appreciate it. Clearly it is a big step for me and and from what you have said this looks like a very good possibility. I will have to make some enquiries and see what may be available and at what rates etc in my area. It would be a huge weight off my mind though. Then all I need to worry about is the rent Oh and getting fit someday hehe.

Kind Regards

Start with the council and CAB - they normally have lists of "safe" schemes.

Hi Tingy,

I will try the council. The local CAB were only able to point me to their web site which is very generic and full of warnings

Thank you again.