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.

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

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

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

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

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

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, 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.