To wonder if this would help or hurt me?

[Sharkirasharkira]

My finances (and emotions) are in tatters after a bad breakup which left me pretty much homeless and destitute. I have now got myself a room in a shared house but I've had an attachment to earnings put against me for a 6yr old debt I knew nothing about which means I'm losing around £150 a month and I've also been informed my contracted hours are going down due to changes in the company. I am fucked, to put it mildly. I'm in touch with the debt company to try and reduce the amount I'm paying out but there is no guarantee they will agree to reduce it.

I desperately need a better job but due to where I live and bad public transport, it is proving very difficult. I have a motorbike which is my only transport and costs significantly less than I'm paying in bus fare to run but it's currently off the road - it was written off after someone hit me earlier this year. Having the bike working would help massively as it would enable me to look for more jobs with better earning potential but I have no money to fix it. I have nothing I can sell, am not eligible for any benefits and finding a second job is very difficult due to the same transport issues and needing to remain 'fully flexible' for Job 1. I can't borrow any money off family/friends and have terrible credit. I can't reduce my living costs any more than I already have, I really pay out for only the essentials.

I'm so stuck. The only thing I can think to do is to try and get a payday type loan (only one I can get) to try and get my bike fixed so I can get a better job but it's a huge gamble because if I can't find anything else then I'm left paying out even more money every month to pay it back.

Wibu? Is this a really terrible idea?

Moving is 100% not an option right now. Just no way.

I actually have already done a DRO which I hoped would put an end to all this debt bollocks. I thought I was finally free of it all!Debt was through the council, related to exH but by a bizarre loophole only I am eligible to pay it back.

I am not entitled to any benefits, I've already checked 

Also not eligible for any kind of credit agreement on a new/used bike. No one will touch me with a barge pole.

Do you have to live and work where you currently are? Could you do the same job in a bigger town or city - save on the travelling? Would it be possible to find work with accommodation provided, say in the hotel/catering sector?

What kind of work do you do right now

I hear you. I'm at uni and thanks to a screw up by student finance I'm living off of my disability money, after bills with £60 a month if that. It sucks but luckily I'm able to fight my corner and I'm sending my extra letters off this week/weekend and finishing my application for hardship funds. If these letters don't pay off and SFE refuse to fund my tuition fees still I'll either be kicked out of uni (If I get hardship funds they should be able to pay towards my course) or I'll be granted clemency due to my situation and able to find a job and starve myself to pay it off over the year. I have several health issues and learning difficulties so I'm gonna end up ill if I'm trying to work and study at the same time, but I'll figure it out. As hard as it is. And so will you, you'll manage and be able to do it. You have us on mumsnet for support.

Try these guys:
www.stepchange.org/

or see if you may be eligible for a grant
www.turn2us.org.uk/Your-Situation/In-Work-on-a-low-income#Grants

Good luck OP

I don’t deal with our insurance here so I may be wrong - if the bike has been written off by your insurance company, can it be insured again?

Could you try a credit union for a loan to fix your bike? They assess differently to banks and credit card companies so if you can prove to them that you can afford repayments they should be able to help you

I may be wrong but they can't make you pay back an old debt unless they have a copy of the agreement signed by you.

What exactly is the debt?

I can see where you’re coming from OP and I understand. It’s catch 22.

I’m not sure I’d borrow money without a new job already though. Could you start applying and wait and see? What sort of jobs would you be looking for?

Do NOT get a payday loan
Will cost double
Keep your head down , manage costs to the penny and save to pay off the bike

What work could you do local to you ? Have you joined a local facebook page ? Could you do cleaning or babysitting when not working ( or some type of manual cash in hand )
Can you look for evening part time bar work a few nights a week ?

You can and will get though this patch OP

Also try and do the best work you can now so you can leave with a good reference and then leap to the next better role

What about trying to get hold of a bicycle so you can go further afield for jobs? Many people have unused bikes lying about. You could write notes to put through doors.

And read and follow all the links people have said . If really you are eligible for this debt there might be a way to slow the payments down

It’s reqlly really tough but not in surmountable with hard work and patience

But I can imagine that it’s very lowering x

If there is a CAP centre near you they might be able to help.

Their insurance paid out just £360 for the bike as it is a cheap Chinese one and not very valuable. Not viable to fix apparently, hence it was written off. £360 paid for replacement parts and nothing else sadly.

Did you buy the parts? Have you got the parts and the bike but no-one to fix it? If so, it might be worth contacting a local college that do some kind of mechanics course and seeing if they would use the bike in lessons and fix it up for free. You do then have the problem of whether it's road legal and I don't know about that side of things, but it's worth exploring.

If you've got the money but not the parts, I would consider a push bike or folding bike. You could use a folder for parts of the journey and put it on the bus/ train. That way you're cutting your costs but not necessarily cycling too far.

Also second the advice to contact CA and follow the various links on here but to avoid a payday loan. They are vicious.

OP, if you’re going to borrow money - and I understand why in your circumstances you want to - please consider a credit union rather than a payday loan.

Credit Unions specialise in lending to people who wouldn’t qualify for high street lending due to poor credit. They don’t charge insane intrest rates and they’re designed to help you save alongside paying back your loan, so eventually you can either apply the lump sum you have saved to your loan or you can continue paying down the loan and access the lump sum at the end.

They are much cheaper, safer and less exploitative than payday loans and they are specifically designed for people with bad credit and financial penalties.

I second a bicycle, I know lots of people who would cycle right to the opposite of town on a bike so unless you’re talking about a 1 hour drive each way etc it should be doable by bike.

This might be a stupid question as I’ve never owned a car but if something is written off doesn’t that mean it’s not worth driving anymore? Why spend the £360 on parts for the motorbike?

I'm currently working in catering because that's what all my training and experience is in - I am looking for other types of job but it's difficult without additional qualifications and experience. I did go back to uni and graduated last year but so far have not managed to get anything related to my degree.

I have all the parts but just no one to put it all together, the bike is fixable as it is not structurally damaged and will be able to be reinsured. My dickhead ex promised to fix it for me so I used the money to buy the parts but of course he is now far too busy fucking an 18yr old and so won't do it.

I really don't think a push bike is an option sadly. I live in a small town surrounded by other small towns that don't have many jobs so the closets viable options for jobs are 15 miles away down major A roads and country lanes with no pavements or streetlights. A lot of hills too so not an easy ride. Given the nature of my job I will likely be travelling a lot at night and I just don't feel it would be safe. Also I'd be possibly doing 12hrs shifts on my feet so the ideal of a wet 1hr bike ride each way, every day, is just soul destroying. I may not have a choice eventually though 

Would a live in catering post be an option? Hotel maybe?

@vanillabeans basically a write off means the repairs would cost more than the machine is worth. So you can do a lot of damage to a 20k car and get it fixed but an old banger doesn't take much damage to be considered a write off. If you're a mechanic, or know one, it may well still be worth doing what the OP has done and buying the parts.

OP do see if a local tech college would help out. Or a credit union so you can pay a mechanic. I do feel for you as it's a horrible situation to be in. I know it is tough, but you can get through it.

My best friend got a live in catering job with no experience in the middle of nowhere. They had great difficulty recruiting any staff. Not great long term, but he used it to save money and move on.

Hi all,
Sorry to barge into your thread, OP, this is just a completely standard message we need to post, just to flag to users.

As it stands, we can't see any evidence to indicate that the OP isn't above board - if we did, we'd remove the thread straight away. But the truth is that, sadly, we at MNHQ can't know with 100% certainty that any poster is genuine, no matter who they are or how long they have been around. As frustrating as it is, we're not able to vouch for anyone here.

So we always ask everyone to remember that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are - and remind folk not to give more to another poster, either financially (in cash or gifts) or emotionally (in time or care and support) than they'd be prepared to lose if things went wrong.

Oh God I would never send cash to a stranger on the internet. That would be foolish.

That's ok I understand the necessity for the message but I'm not looking for handouts I just want an opportunity to improve my situation myself, for the long term as well as in the short term. I don't want to have to struggle!

Speak with CAB. You've got absolutely nothing to lose.

Join some Facebook groups for motorbike enthusiasts. Ask for help. You never know.

You could even post on a local group page, and explain your situation. Someone may offer to help and let you pay back in installments.

Good luck!