Homeless and in debt

[Final Exit]

If I am officially homeless (sleeping at friends' houses) should I continue to pay my token £1 monthly payments through direct debits, or stop them, and wait 6 years for my dca's to try and fail to find me, and the debts to then be cancelled?

 

My debts are over £50,000 so there's not much chance of my ever paying them off and I have no assets anyway. I wrote and told all dca's that I was made homeless last July but the silly b*ggers just started addressing letters to my penultimate address

[MorganaNK]

I would think that you shouldn't be making any payments as your money should be put to priority debts - and I am sure that you will want to rent your own place sometime soon (forgive me if I am making assumptions here).

 

Other, more qualified and knowledgeable Caggers will be along to advise you... this is just my opinion.

[PGH7447]

with that much debt and no assets why not go bankrupt, that way it will be over in a year

[Final Exit]

I am considering bankrupcy but my situation has turned me into such an anxious and social retard, I can't even concentrate on a crossword at present, let alone contemplate going to court for bankrupcy. Is the stop paying and wait 6 years for the debt to be cancelled option a good one?

[Desperate Daniella]

I can't see any point in paying them any more now. Hang on to your money.

 

You will get more expert advice soon.

 

DDx

[snowy101]

If i were you the last thing i would worry about is paying £1:00 token payments on the amount of debt you have outlined.

 

Even if you wanted to go bankrupt, can you afford too ?, correct me if i`m wrong [ not 100% sure] but i think you still have to pay to declare yourself bankrupt but if your claiming benefits i think its at a slightly reduced rate. Let one of your debtors make you bankrupt.

 

Concentrate on yourself for now in turning your life around & deal with the DCA`s as & when you get yourself sorted & are in a better position to deal with them, if you have no money or assets what can they get from you............... nada.

 

Your situation is more important right now, good luck for the future

 

Middxx

[twofoot]

If I were you with no assets and on benefits I'd stop paying for sure. You cannot get locked up for not paying debts except things like tax and council tax. What will you gain by paying? Nothing except prolonging the SB and agony. Creditors are unlikely to make you bankrupt if you have no assets though they may go for CCJ. I know several will disagree but I believe telling them where you are is a good thing. It will speed up any action they may take, just don't give them a phone number. The sooner it's done and dusted the sooner you get your life back. I've been there for half your amount and none even bothered with CCJ let alone BK. All SB now.

[emandcole]

Absolutely, you are the most important element in all of this now. I agree that perhaps in your particular situation bankruptcy could be a good option but it's cheaper if one of your creditors petitions for it themselves. If it were me I'd stop the payments to all but the priority (council tax as an example if you're making a contribution perhaps) but keep the cash for yourself and try to re-build.

 

They can't have what you haven't got and worst case scenario all of the defaults etc will drop off your credit file in 6 years. Also, if you stop making payments now the 6 year clock starts to tick before limitation finally kicks in, another good alternative for you. If you don't make a payment for 6 years the debt is finished, all the time you're paying towards something you'll never clear you're just prelonging the impossible.

 

Given that Barclays as an example are about to dish out millions once more in bonuses I don't think cutting you a break to allow you to get back on your feet is that big a deal to the financial organisations, they are doing just fine and those that weren't were given huge chunks of our money to prop them up. As such you are far more important and I'm sure I speak for many when I write that.

 

All the best and remember, many very successful people have walked your path, it merely made them more determined and just a little wiser .

[Desperate Daniella]

The only thing I would disagree with here is giving them your current address. It's your friend's address, and having that debt associated with his/her address could cause them problems later on. Debts are passed on to different DCAs as we all know, and I'm sure you wouldn't want your friend to face debt collectors turning up on the doorstep for the next six years.

 

Good luck for your future. I'm sure things will get better for you.

 

Have you spoken to the council about housing? If you are genuinely homeless they have a duty to find you somewhere to live.

 

DD

[an4rew]

Stop paying immediately, have no further contact with them.

 

If you want to work in the next 6yrs, or have any future inheritance like property, i would go bankrupt.

 

In your situation you have them by the balls and theres not much they could achieve by taking you to court.

 

Sure they can attempt to visit your whereabouts but they are not baliffs.

 

If your friend owns the property then you would not affect their credit and if its rented who cares.

[Desperate Daniella]

I'm sorry but I totally disagree with your last statement.

 

We all know that debts get passed round a large number of DCAs for up to six years, and sometimes even more.

 

Final Exit, I wish you all the luck in the world for your future, but I'm sure you wouldn't want debt collectors turning up on your friend's doorstep in the future, regardless of whether the house is owned or rented.

 

I would be absolutely livid if I had helped a friend and then had debt collectors turning up on the doorstep looking for them. We know that doorsteppers can be threatening and not take no for an answer from perfectly innocent people who have absolutely nothing to do with an alleged debt. Their address just happens to be listed as the last address for the person they are looking for.

 

Please don't do it. Kind friends don't deserve it. Just tell the DCAs that you are homeless and staying two or three nights here and there, and you cannot possibly give them an address at the present time simply because you don't have one.

 

DD

[emandcole]

Agree, DCA's will latch onto anyone and anything and once they have an address, yours or not, they'll do all they can to annoy whoever lives there. If that's someone who has helped you out they'll get stuck with the hassle. No Fixed Abode will do for the DCA's just fine. If you get stuck you could do what my brother did once when he was being hassled for a loan that he genuinely hadn't had. Seemed to be for a previous owner, his best guess.

 

The DCA was just fishing and started asking him for all kinds of proof that he wasn't who they were after...usual stuff. As he actually lives most of the time on his canal boat away from his 'land' address he gave them the following for all future correspondence to be sent to where he promised he'd look into it for them .

 

The Boat, The Canal, London.

 

Needless to say the postman hasn't found him yet .

[angry cat]

You cannor get blood out of a stone!

 

I would not have thought it worthwhile to pursue an individual who has no assets.

[harrassed senior]

Just to add my bit, I totally agree with most of what has already been said. Not sure that this would provide an answer, but, have you paid a visit to CAB? They should be able to provide help and advice with both your housing and debt needs.

 

I agree it is not right to give an address of any kind as once these pond lifes' get an address they will keep on and on regardless of who owns or lives at that property.

 

However, having suggested the CAB they might want to 'take over' handling your debts and this is not always 'helpful', so I would just state that you need somewhere to live and somewhere to receive mail.

 

Hope this works out for you - keep in touch on here as there are many of us who can say we are only one pay check away from your situation, and there will be loads of help and advice at every step of the way.

[Tip Harrison]

I have a close friend in the same situation. I would have agreed with the posters who said not to give your friends address, but I have just been told this in a more recent thread:

 

"if you entered into a contract or agreement with someone and you then move or become of no fixed abode, the responsibility for providing a contact address is yours and an e mail address is not acceptable.

 

indeed you are probably in breach of most agreements by not doing so"

 

So if this is correct, it seems a homeless person is required to provide a contact address......I wonder what the procedure be if they don't have one!

[Desperate Daniella]

By the time you have no money, and are of no fixed abode, the last thing you need to be worrying about is being in breach of the agreement.

 

If they insist on an address, I would suggest that your friend writes and says they can address it to "The Park Bench on the North Side of such-and-such park". Failing which they can suggest the creditor might like to pay for a mailbox where they can send correspondence.

[diddydicky]

i would write to them as fiollows:-

 

dear Sirs,

 

I am homeless, penniless, no possessions and have combined debts of 50,000. In short i am a man/woman of straw

 

I would invite you to write off your debt against me to give me a new start in life, failing which, should you feel the urge, please feel free to commence bankruptcy proceedings against me as i do not even have the funds to do that

 

Yours sincerely

[diddydicky]

I have a close friend in the same situation. I would have agreed with the posters who said not to give your friends address, but I have just been told this in a more recent thread:

 

"if you entered into a contract or agreement with someone and you then move or become of no fixed abode, the responsibility for providing a contact address is yours and an e mail address is not acceptable.

 

indeed you are probably in breach of most agreements by not doing so"

 

So if this is correct, it seems a homeless person is required to provide a contact address......I wonder what the procedure be if they don't have one!

 

If you are going to quote my posts i would appreciate it if you would do so in the spirit they were intended

 

unless i am very much mistaken the poster i replied to (you?) was not giving me the impression that they were genuinely homeless

 

more they (you) were trying to come up with a smart arse way to avoid your obligations

 

a very different situation to the one outlined in this thread

 

you may find it difficult to get advice on your own situation if you mis represent advice that people on this forum are giving to you