Many debts. No income. Mega depressed. Best option?

[paydayjoke]

Hi people 

 

I've managed to get myself into a sorry state financially.

I'm insanely depressed which I guess is common for many.

I don't think all of it comes down to the financial stuff but it is really crushing me now.

 

Facts:

A lot of debt has been due to living on credit and gambling.

I don't have a job.

I know I should get one but I just totally despondent at the moment (due to many reasons)

. I don't expect any sympathy but I thought I would share this.

 

It's tempting to bury my head in the sand and wait for the inevitable calls from various collections departments but I want to be as proactive as possible. I think I've cancelled all direct debits so I don't get bouncing charges from the banks...

 

So onto the debts:

 

Loans

livelend; £2400 was 4k 13% interest

Bamboo £3000 (only just made the first payment this month) supid interest

Likelyloans approx £3500 stupid interest 

One payday loan for £200 I just got to cover some bills (knowing that I'd unlikely be able to pay it) - this is the only thing I haven't cancelled with the bank as they just take it from your card

 

Credit cards:

Aqua approx. 3900

Capital one approx. 1200

Amazon approx £500

Paypal Credit Approx £1100

Overdrafts

Santander £1500

Barclays £1k limit (I don't actually pay anything for this)

 

So all in all approximately £18,000

 

 

I also have a negative Paypal balance of £5000 but I don't believe this classes as a debt and I don't think they can do anything about this having read up on it quite a lot.

 

I guess my question is what is my best course of action.

Should I look to do a DRO?

Should I go bankrupt? (eurgh. Full disclosure I did this 15 years ago when I was 21. You think I would have learnt!)

Should I write to each creditor and offer them £1 a month?

Should I talk to one of the debt charities?

 

It is all my fault that I'm in this state but I also know that it's not the end of the world because they are all non priority debts. I probably am slightly behind on the council tax but not significantly.

 

I started claiming universal credit a couple of weeks ago and had my first appointment last week but managed to miss the next one due to not being able to sleep and then oversleeping and so I guess they've probably kicked me off that already and I might have to claim again. 

 

So yeah. I take responsibility for what's happened but I don't see any way out. I've been very depressed lately due to this and other things. There is no one to "bail me out" and I probably don't need or want that anyway.

Any advice appreciated

 

 

 

 

 

[honeybee13]

Hi.

 

I think you've made a good start by setting out in writing what you need to deal with. People should be along later to advise on how to deal with your creditors.

 

For the mental side of things, have you talked to your GP about getting some help with what's getting you down? Or support with the gambling issues?

 

HB

[paydayjoke]

Oh I just remembered I have a long defaulted account with Halifax balance approx £3700 I believe (from around 2015) but they aren't chasing me for it or anything. It was actually over £5000 but they refunded me a load of unfair charges (their words) 

This does however push me over the £20,000 limit for a DRO I think?

 

On 13/11/2019 at 06:10, honeybee13 said:

 

i'm on happy pills (anti depressants) but they aren't cutting the mustard anymore and I do need to see my GP soon to see if he can help in anyway.

With regards to gambling it's so complicated;

through my life I have made money (as well as having had some jobs)  being a "professional gambler" (gambling where the odds are in your favour - think card counting for example, fruit machines years ago for a long time.... Other things.)

 

But I've also been totally compulsive at the same time. It;'s so entrenched in my psyche that it's hard to imagine just giving it up totally.

 

I also have drug issues that have plagued me and it's a shame because I am fairly intelligent and could have been successful in life in theory but mainly due to those two things (and not really having any drive, ambition, whatever... I could go on and on but this isn't a therapy forum :P) I've not managed to.

I'm 36 by the way.

Cheers

[BankFodder]

I think you will have to start off by giving more details of your debts. When were they incurred, last date of any acknowledgement or payment and date of any default. Then we can start to take it from there. I'm quite sure that site team member @dx100uk will be along to have a look at this point soon and will give you the best possible advice.

I see that you've been here since 2013 so presumably you have read around and you have a fairly good understanding of what is enforceable and what is not.

[dx100uk]

These appear all to be consumer debt

So please dont be stupid and enter into anything like a dro/bk ever.

 

So an admitted gambler..this is important in a way ....

My thoughts are firing off irresponsible lending claims

as i expect your credit file was shot to pieces when some of these gave you credit??

[paydayjoke]

Hi @BankFodder and Dx100 thanks for your replies.

Well nothing has defaulted yet as I had been able to make payments up until this month for everything.

This/next month is when this going to start hitting the fan and I want to 

The livelend loan is about a year old. 

Bamboo is like a month and I've made one payment

Likely a couple of months and I've made two payments.

 

Aqua credit card I've had for a few years and it started with a smallish limit and they kept increasing it.

Say it went to up to 1600 at some point and I used it and paid it back and didn't use it and they increased it a couple of times.

 

I had always paid it off and had it sitting there doing nothing so they were quite happy I guess. Interestingly they actually cut the limit by 300 to just under 4000 and I got a letter saying after a review they were doing that (I don't know what triggered them to do this).

It was only in June that they increased it significantly from approx 2.5k or 3000 to 4100. 

 

Capital One credit card I think they increased it once and again I only used it once and cleared it and then they increased it slightly and I've utilised it all now. I have probably had it a year or so.

Paypal credit they just offered me 2.5k limit and I used it for buying things.

It was probably opened 18 months ago.

I missed payment last month but paid it since.

Barclays I've been with for years and am actually premier (lol) and have had loads of money going through my account but never sitting in there for long and I actually don't have to pay anything for my overdraft.

 

Santander I have had the account for a few years but never really used it too much, it was more of a backup current account and I used it for work once where I needed to keep some things separate.

They only recently let me have an overdraft and I it up the wall this month.

 

@dx100uk Thinking about it I

didn't have any real credit for a fairly long time aside from payday loans which I got into a trap with but paid off. 

 

The only thing that was a major negative on my credit file was the closed Halifax account with a balance of between -£3.7k or -£5.2k depending on when they looked at it.

 

So what I'm saying is I don't think it was shot (though it certainly wasn't good enough to get many "normal" low-interest products.

 

Bamboo and likely loans are, I imagine, high risk lenders in that they will give them to people with not great credit but with that comes high interest. I think one is 60% and the other 70%! These were used to try and gamble my way out .

Nobody sane would take out such loans but as I've admitted I'm deluded.

Livelend they were more reasonable around 13%

 

I feel like I could have a chance with bamboo and likely about irresponsible lending and it doesn't hurt to ask.

With everyone else (the credit cards) I think I should just write and offer them £1 a month and say I will review in 6 months (or is it 3? I forget the standard practice).

 

I didn't realise that considering DRO or BR was "stupid";

The amount I owe feels insurmountable and hence this is why I was considering those options... 

 

Is it better to approach them now or wait for things to default?

I don't mind if they pass them off to DCAs

but I would prefer to get them to agree to freeze interest so the number owed doesn't rack up.

 

As I've read countless times DCAs are powerless and have to work with what I offer (which, currently, is basically nothing).

I still want to bury my head in the sand but I think for my mental health it would be better to get ahead of things.

I guess I shouldn't care about my credit rating now.

There's no reason I need to get in this position again.

I know that I need to do things in writing and refuse to talk over the phone.

Are emails suitable in this day and age or do I need to stick to physical letters?

I think that recorded delivery isn't necessary just proof of postage?

 

Sorry for the long post and I hope I have got my thoughts across. 

Thanks again

 

 

 

[dx100uk]

stick to letters.

 

look in the debt collection section of our library

there is a pro rata letter

 

send that to everyone.

 

if they don't agree then we'll deal as and when

those that do or do not reply.

pay what you say when you said it to show good faith.

use BACS transfer via online internerweb portal of your bank ...not DD>

 

dx

 

[paydayjoke]

@dx100uk Well my pro-rata offer is minus at the moment lol so I will look to modify it and offer the £1 token payment. Is that the right move?

At the end of the day both they and I know that you can't get blood out of a stone and I am a stone currently

 

Thanks again sir

[paydayjoke]

Well I've written letters to the loans and the credit cards (aside from paypal credit; I can't find a UK mailing address for them so waiting for them to reply to that. Does anyone happen to know if they even have a UK office? I think I read somewhere that they use Newday as an intermediary due to not having a licence here. That would be quite funny as two of my three actual credit cards are from Newday under different names so it would mean almost all credit card debt is with them! )

The letters all said the same thing. I also took the opportunity to ask that they kept communication via letter only as no point talking on the phone.

Tomorrow I will print them off and send them. 2nd class is good enough right? Is proof of postage necessary?

 

I actually feel a little bit better just having made that first step of pulling my thumb out and drafting the letters, finding addresses etc. Still mega stressed and depressed but I guess it's "only" debt (and I think as has been mentioned "unenforceable")

 

For now I have just offered a £1 token payment to everyone including Bamboo and Likely (who, as mentioned I MAY have a case to make irresponsible lending claims to, though I might not have told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth on my applications with regards to my income and expenditure (oops )

Santander overdraft is one thing that I think I will just have to let default whenever they start taking charges (this was pretty much the straw that broke the camels back with regards to getting me to the point of having NOTHING. That and the loan from Bamboo a month or so ago)

 

I'm guessing I'll get a nice amount of contact from them all eventually, but hopefully they do stick to post. If they do phone I will simply ask them to write to me as per my request.

 

I will endeavour to update this thread when I start to hear from them. 

I do hope they are reasonable though I expect some of them won't be.

 

Cheers

[dx100uk]

get your income out of anyones hands that you have a debt with

open a parachute account

get all income paid there but make sure they are also not one of you existing creditors.

 

[unclebulgaria67]

If you miss a  Universal Credit appointment, very important to call 0800 328 5644 as soon as possible.  If the reason for non attendance is health, particularly mental health, then they will often accept this as good reason.

 

If you contact them, you should avoid a sanction and can simply arrange a new appointment.  If you are seeing a Doctor and are signed off sick, then the Job Centre might not want to see you regularly. They may opt to give you a phone call every few weeks, just to check on your progress.

 

Don't become yet another person, who makes their situation worse, by not contacting Universal Credit or the Job Centre and ending up with no money due to sanction.

[paydayjoke]

On 13/11/2019 at 12:34, dx100uk said:

These appear all to be consumer debt

So please dont be stupid and enter into anything like a dro/bk ever.

 

 

 

So a little update;

 

Of the 6 letters I sent 3 were acknowledged. One accepting £1/month for now and two from the same creditor trading under different names asking for full I&E which I haven't done.

 

In a moment of madness I managed to depsoit 5k to a gambling site I didn't have due to paypal's crazy policy of allowing payments which are to be collected by direct debit after a couple of days to gambling sites! Mad they allow this but this will show as a negative paypal balance (in a different account to the original "debt"). The first paypal -£5k account has been closed and passed to a DCA now. I have ignored them.

 

My council has appeared to have stepped up their collection efforts for £2.5k in alleged housing benefit overpayment from 2015/16. I have acknowledged their letters over the past 3 years each time by email but they rarely respond to my pleas. I truly think if there was overpayment then it was for less than half the amount they claim. At the time I didn't think I was being overpaid because I wasn't really working but I had stopped claiming JSA/ESA (and told them as much) but earned a couple of hundred pounds a month from sporadic work.

 

Also what I thought was a dormant debt from 2016 to Halifax has been actually sold ( to caboot? I think. Hard to keep track of everyone)

 

I've been getting phone calls daily but ignoring them for the most part. I did request all communication in writing in my original letters.

 

I feel incapable of dealing with these creditors and whilst initially I was feeling that I would be happy to just ignore all the letters (arreas, defaults and the like) and phone calls for an indefinite amount of time and  hope to make it 6 years to statute barred-ness and accept or defend any CCJ attempts that did arrive.

 

I figured that avoiding these creditors for 3 months so far is 5% of the way there to statute barred!

But I figre for these fairly sizeable amounts they probably won't all let it go and I will get some CCJ docs (never had to deal with that) However now my mood and thinking has changed.

 

 I am looking again at insolvency.

I'm over the DRO limit now so its BR or nothing.

 

I was wondering why you said to not consider this and it would be stupid @dx100uk?

Although shirking my debts/responsibilities it does seem like an "easy" way out at the moment.

It would be so nice to know that what's done is done and to be able to draw a line in the sand and start again in a year or so and not have to avoid creditors or worry about what's coming next...

 

It certainly would help the environment what with the amount of letters that are arriving already(!) considering the first payment I missed was october/november (excluding the old halifax and council debts). I am exordinately stressed about it now even though I thought I would be already .

Any advice would be great if it was to get my head out of the sand and contact people/do the ignoring thing and seeing what happens/reasons  to do or not to do bankruptcy for these unsecured debts?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

In this situation, I think you are probably best to go through Bankruptcy.  Otherwise you will have these debts coming back to haunt you for a very long time.  

 

If some of the debts relate to gambling, I think you can self register that you have a problem and then gambling websites etc can refuse you accounts. Something you could look into. 

[dx100uk]

start a new topic for the tax credit debt in the HMRC forum

get their free SAR going you can find it on the HMRC website.

 

as far as I can see, bar the silly gambling sc@m that's very well known on PP .

ignore it now.

 

get ALL your PDL's split off to a new thread in the PDL general forum

get IRL complaints going to each lender.

 

if you break your situation down into chunks its very manageable, and with most being potentially written off in the future...i'd not go BK.

not for consumer debt no.

deal with the impost one - the HMRC debt.

 

 

 

[paydayjoke]

Conflicting advice from @dx100uk and @uncle bulgaria :-It's not tax credit its housing benefit; I don't owe HMRC anything...

 

I don't have payday loans, just loans with crap interest.

Why are you against doing the bankruptucy so much? Clean slate and all that...

[dx100uk]

On 13/11/2019 at 05:56, paydayjoke said:

livelend; £2400 was 4k 13% interest

Bamboo £3000 (only just made the first payment this month) supid interest

Likelyloans approx £3500 stupid interest 

One payday loan for £200 I just got to cover some bills (knowing that I'd unlikely be able to pay it) - this is the only thing I haven't cancelled with the bank as they just take it from your card

 

they don't have to be pdl's to be covered by irresponsible lending rules.

 

sorry yes housing benefit

but the process is the same send them an sar.

make them PROVE they have the data that you do owe it.

 

you'll see by reading a few of these:

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-8889411648654839:3134625398&q=housing benefit overpayment &oq=housing benefit overpayment &gs_l=partner-generic.12...197257.197257.0.198727.1.1.0.0.0.0.1002.1002.7-1.1.0.gsnos%2Cn%3D13...0.0...2.34.partner-generic..1.0.0.XRP8uz1ek_E

 

many turn out to be vastly inflated and many not even owed.

don't take their word for it, esp as you said earlier you dispute it anyway

might pay  you to start a thread in the benefits forum.

 

as for conflicting advice...

that what a forum is all about..

differing people with differing views

that's why CAG flourishes and resolves issues far more regularly than many other such forums.

doesn't mean we have conflicts within the forum team...that's our strength.

its a group of people that know how to get along thats the secret behind CAG.

 

if we all though the sameway, we might aswell just be a website with printed pages and no personal 1-2-1 exchanges.

 

once you've whittled out what you might not owe or whats irresponsible and reduced your debt, you might well be not needing to go BK.

 

dx

 

 

 

[paydayjoke]

Ok so I have had enough of a break from not dealing with any of this.

I spoke to Stepchange and their advice was to send creditors my I&E plus list of other creditors and ask for a payment suspension for 12 months.

 

I can't see why I should tell them who else I owe money to?

My total debt is around 30k it looks like.

My income at the moment is £400 and outgoings more than that so it's not great!

 

I have nudged bamboo again about the irresponsible lending complaint as that one genuinely was.

The rest I don't know if I can claim any irresponsible lending as they were just credit cards and the first loan I took out I was in an ok position.

 

Now stuff has mainly defaulted what should my next steps be?

I do feel I should write to them again and get the £1 a month going? Or not?

I genuinely don't see things improving anytime soon.

 

I'm somewhat tempted by the bankruptcy thing because what have I got to lose?

It's going to take 6 years for my credit file to repair either way and I don't have any assets.

I am aware it costs £680!

 

Stepchange didn't recommend bankruptcy and that's only because I couldn't afford the fee but I could borrow that to make it all go away. I don't really see the downside at this point as I can't see myself paying off 30k+

 

I could ignore things and let ccjs come and say I have only £1 a month to pay or what?

Could I get some debts written off by writing nice letters pleading and avoiding all the inevitable hassle that is coming?

My mental health is not great at the moment to say the least. 

[London1971]

No bankruptcy or DRO’s it’s madness. Right now eating , paying bills and rent is priority. If stuff has defaulted I’d not be paying them a penny. Let the statute barred Clock start ticking. 
 

ignore anything they send you short of a pre

action protocol letter, which on some of them may never happen. If and when it does we are here to help.

 

I think you are spending too much time worrying about this. If it’s unsecured consumer debt, just put it to the back of your mind. It really is that inconsequential.

 

Just make sure they all have your current address if you move house . In writing.

[paydayjoke]

Brilliant thanks that's what I needed to hear.  I'm gonna go back to burying head in sand/ignore everything but  "pre-action protocol letter" you mention which is I guess what comes before a ccj.

 

Many thanks. I enjoy ignoring them. Just wondered if I should have done anything else.

Thanks @London1971!

[dx100uk]

and that wont ever come from any original creditors either

they'll SELL the debt to dca 

then they MIGHT send one.

 

have a good read of a few threads in the forum yours is in

 

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/124-debt-management-and-debt-self-help/

 

you'll soon get the idea.

 

 

dx

 

 

 

[London1971]

Even  if half of them come to a Pre Action Protocol. A CCJ is by no

means certain as you will be able to defend, or settle before it gets that far. Remember this could all be years down the line when your situation is much improved. 

[paydayjoke]

One of the Loans has been sold to Lantern. They issued their notice of assignment by email. Is this legitimate if/when it goes to court? Or does it have to be in physical written form? I have ignored this debt buyer and plan to unless I receive a PAP.

Also they have sold it with the whole 3 year's interest due. Back last year Bamboo said they would start an irresponsible lending complaint for me (I have this in writing, by email) but when I chased they said I hadn't started one (and I didn't)

Should I do one still as I understand if they agree with it they will remove the amount owed back to principal only? If I do this does it restart the statute barred clock (which is nothing at the moment, less than a year so far but I don't want to make any unnecessary contact)

Thanks!

 

[dx100uk]

IRL most certainly...yes.

 

 

dx

[erikborgo]

I know this is a sensitive subject.  A friend of mine had an addiction to casino gambling and eventually managed to kick his habit, only to take it up again many years later.  He's currently losing all of his money and more, on the very risky and largely unregulated part of the currency exchange markets.

 

He's lost his big, beautiful house and three of his profitable businesses but he says that he won't give up until he has those assets back.  The chances of him making over £500,000 to buy back what he's lost are extremely slim because as in every gambling game: "The House Always Wins". 

 

All gambling games are stacked against you.  As an ex-mathematician myself, I can tell you this is true.  80% of all retail currency traders (non-banks and hedge funds) lose at any given time.  A tiny percentage of a percentage of individuals make consistent profits of an average of 10%. 

 

I've asked him if he thinks he has a gambling problem and he says that he hasn't.  I did try to talk him into a local support meeting, one of many which you can find here:

 

http://gamanon.org.uk/?page_id=173
 

...but as far as he's concerned, he doesn't have a problem, because he's not a gambler - he's a "Trader".  Many gamblers will not quit until they have hit rock bottom.  He doesn't far to go.

 

My friend is about to lose his wife, she's not happy about suddenly losing her big beautiful house, losing her decent quality of life, and living in a small rented flat with four children. 

 

I urge you to seek help.  If not for yourself, but for the people who are important in your life.  I trust that you don't mind my saying any of this, and apologise if it doesn't apply at all to your life.

Edited September 14, 2020 by erikborgo

[BankFodder]

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