Maxed Out on Credit Both Self Employed: Help!!

[skintgirl52]

Hi I'm new to the Forum. It looks great.

 

My husband and I are both self employed-I am a private music teacher (also drawing a monthly NHS Ill health retirement pension) while he is a Driving Instructor. We are both in our early fifties and have a thirteen year old child. I was ill health retired in 2008 just as we moved house, and this is where the problems began as my husband was also trying to build up his Driving Instruction business again. This took a good year or so, while it took me about the same to build up piano pupils, by which time our joint debts had grown.

 

Our problem-we have £43,000 in personal loans and credit cards between us. Our house dropped in value by £35000 within a year of us moving in. We have about £43000 equity which as you will see is equal to our debt... the mortgage is on an Interest Only basis however, and we have nine and a half years left with no means of paying it all off, so we will have to move out at the end of our time here.

 

My husband works a six day week and is constantly juggling our money so we can survive on our cash flow. He brings in a salary in real terms of about £24000 a year, mine is about £3500 and I have a pension of £450 per month.

 

£1200 a month of debt is killing us. We're using more debt to survive now (my husband has paid some of his tax bills recently on the credit card.) We have no arrears as yet.

 

We have spoken to the CCCS and can scrape together a couple of hundred to pay off some debt-but being self employed, 52 years old the idea of a Debt Management Plan seems as depressing as being in debt-we'll never pay it off. Selling the house will leave us with zero literally, and I have to teach from home so need enough privacy to do this in any accommodation we take. We have three cats and a daughter who needs things for school and daily life.

 

We don't know what to do-we feel completely submerged and holidays are out of the question.

 

Options:-Sell? Wait until housing market picks up and sell when Equity improves (if it does): go on to Debt Management? Please help. We are making ourselves ill and feel very alone with it. Nb. My illness has affected my employment history and it is no longer good. So I am continuing to build my pupils up. It is a slow process however and meanwhile the wall of debt is mounting.

 

Many thanks

[valignya]

Hi skintgirl52,

I'm sure the top dogs of this forum will be along soon to get to grips with your debt problems. I'm way out of my depth on this one to be sure but what I would say is don't worry yourself sick with this because it doesn't get you anywhere. There are always solutions to financial debts and problems. The most important thing is your mortgage. I'm positive that this must be your first priority as it's your home. The credit card debts and loans can be managed through writing to them and explaining your situation. Most will at least freeze interest and charges till you get yourself sorted out and perhaps you can offer to pay only what you can afford for now.

 

You owe them money- nothing more. The wise owls on here will get you sorted, Skintgirl. I owe about 8k on cards all told , but my situation is very different from yours. Unemployed, on JSA and no property or assets, so I told them to take a running jump and to accept £5 per month until my situation improves - take it or leave it. They took it.

[dx100uk]

good advise

your priority is the priority bills

 

mortgage, ctax,utils [ bar water!]

the rest can go swing!

 

can you list your debts

and check ALL show on your relevant cra files...

 

 

see below

 

dx

[skintgirl52]

Thank you. This was a lovely warm reply to wake up to. I'm just so scared about being chased for debt and people knocking on doors and taking stuff away. I think the emotional side has been eating away at us underneath for so long now we're used to feeling strung out. It's hard to work when you feel stressed about money-that's the irony. You want to hide under the bed covers all day. As you say worrying won't solve the problem..

[dx100uk]

just be clear

 

NO doorstepper or DCA or fake/tame solicitor are BAILIFFS

 

they have NO SUCH LEGAL POWERS.

 

the ONLY time BAILIFFS would ever be involved in civil debt

is if the creditor took you to court

you failed to pay on the CCJ

then bailiffs might be involved.

 

you are under NO legal obl to discuss your debt to ANYONE on the phone

 

esp some powers less DCA or alike.

 

take control of YOUR money.

 

dx

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi skintgirl, and welcome to CAG.

 

I know exactly how you feel. Many of us have been in similar situations and the help given on this forum is absolutely amazing.

 

dx has given you good advice above so, as he says, list the debts and we'll try and help you to deal with them.

 

DD

[valignya]

Yes, told you experts would be along, skintgirl!

 

I know it's hard, but try not to ever feel stressed because of credit card debt/loan debt. Your main priorities as dx100uk said is your essentials. Mortgage. Utility bills. Council tax. You simply must pay these. The rest can whistle for it! You can't pay them what you don't have and they know that your priorities lie in paying other people first. They don't like it but there's little they can do. Serves them right as these CC companies are licensed loan sharks, that's all. However , they can't come round and break your legs!

 

Once you get your debts listed up, the others will give you good advice. Please remember that these companies can't do sod all to you - you must always remember this. I worried myself sick before joining here and the advice I received was great. I followed it, wrote to my credit card companies, explained my situation and I'm now paying £5 per month to each. One of them (bank of scotland) decided to employ Moorcroft ( an incompetent shower if ever there was one) after only three months ! to collect my debt. I told them to p!ss off - I'd only pay bank of scotland the money and I'm still doing so. All this was done via letters. I never take calls from any of them and have told them this. They have absolutely no power to harm you, these DCA's. They're full of bluster and hot air - my cat has more legal powers than them.

 

So relax, take a bit of time to post up your debts and you'll get sorted no bother at all.

Edited May 22, 2013 by valignya

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi valignya,

 

I'm very flattered to be included in the "experts". dx is certainly an expert - I know a few things about a few things!

 

You have worked it all out very well. The DCAs can't do anything without going through a legal process, which they seldom do because they know they have to accept a reasonable offer, and it's good, skintgirl, that you have found CAG before you tell the credit card companies that you cannot continue to make the minimum payments each month. I couldn't afford to pay and only found CAG when I was seriously considering driving into the river because I'd been so threatened by lying DCAs - and the lies they tell are shocking: They'll have people banging on your door the following morning, they'll get a charge on your house by the end of the week, and so on, and it's all complete and utter rubbish.

 

I've had enough letters from Moorcroft to paper my bedroom. Has anything ever happened? Of course not. But I didn't know that before I found CAG. I was absolutely terrified.

 

CCCS helped me in that they gave me a reference number which made a particularly nasty DCA back off immediately, but if I'd followed their advice I would have been paying everyone at £1 a week for about 100 years and I would never have cleared the debts.

 

You will get help here.

 

DDxx

[renegadeimp]

Have you CCA's all your loan/credit card companies/DCA's that are chasing you?

 

DX gave some great advice in post #3. Before you start asking for repayment plans and communicating with them, you need to check for any unlawful charges/PPI and reclaim them, and check if the debts are actually enforceable.

[valignya]

Daniella , I'm sure we both do:whoo:

 

But seriously, I've read a fair bit now about these DCA's and their shockingly immoral tactics. Every one of them are [edit].

 

Some people actually toy with them,

paying them a few quid a month then phone them up telling them they're getting nowt the following month as they need the cash for fags.

The DCA's blow their tops but quickly back off after some well earned dog's abuse.

 

Yes they do play on people's emotions and lack of knowledge.

 

They know all the right buttons to push to hit the old fear spot.

 

A spider crawling around in your bath has more legal powers than the DCA Wombles.

 

I think the worm is turning with them as more and more people are being put in the picture regarding DCA's and their powerlessness,

 

thanks to this great site and others that are around.

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi skintgirl,

 

Wondered how you were getting on.

 

DD