Shit load of debt - AIBU to think this can be sorted?

[justthesky]

Surely?

The total is about £5000 which probably doesn’t sound too bad, but the issue is that it is priority bills I’ve fallen behind on and the companies aren’t prepared to wait, so huge interest charges are being added on top of the original debt.

I’ve contacted CAB who have just told me not to open the doors and to park cars away from the house.

Does anybody have any suggestions, at all?

CAB gave exactly the same advice to my friend when bailiffs were hassling her

I believe you of course, @Binting, but OP didn't mention that the "advice" related to bailiffs until after this had been queried - and with the attitude around sharing further info the whole thing just seems odd

We obviously can't know who's a scammer and who isn't, but I've just asked MNHQ if it's possible for these kind of threads to be shifted to a section of their own, so the number of folk pulled in can hopefully be reduced

I suppose you could try a debt relief order (DRO) but it will put your credit in the toilet and flush vigorously. www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-relief-order.aspx

But bad credit is better than prison, especially if you have dependents.

I don’t know what to do. So I posted here hoping someone might know. Whether I’m on benefits or not isn’t relevant, so I’m just ignoring questions that aren’t relevant.

OP, if you're still reading, all the questions were relevant.

If you're serious about wanting some help and direction, start another thread (namechange), maybe in Money Matters, and lay out your whole situation - income and outgoings, exactly what your debts are, your housing situation etc.

Help is available but there's no "generalised" help for debt issues - it has to be specific to your circumstances.

I posted asking for help with this immediate problem.

But without details no one can help you unless this is a poorly disguised begging thread.

This link may also be useful, OP, as it is not clear whether you're dealing iwth bailiffs (in which case you probably already have a CCJ) or debt collectors, or what. Make sure you understand the exact state of play of your finances:

www.stepchange.org/debt-info/debt-collection/bailiffs-and-debt-collectors-differences.aspx

Because it sounds to me as if you might already have a CCJ, in which case your credit is screwed anyway so you should knuckle down to a DRO.

Well when I was in debt, I got a 2nd job on top of my full time job. I worked all day, evenings and Saturdays. Sometimes I worked Sat evenings and Sundays for a catering company. I made a budget, agreed repayment plans with creditors and cut right back on everything, a bonus was losing quite a bit of weight due to cutting back on food spending (but I was overweight to begin with). After nearly 2 years I was debt free and was much more careful in future. However, I suspect that Op doesn't want this type of practical advice.

I don't have any advice about Council Tax but a lot of Water Companies have excellent schemes to help people in arrears. For instance, ours will accept payments as little as £2 and will match your payments in certain circumstances.

If by any chance your supply is Southern Water, google their New Start scheme.

This can be sorted. You need to write down your incomings and outgoings and work out what you can afford to offer the debt company.
Email it to the company and also email it to the council and ask them to consider taking the debt back so you pay directly to them (they may say no but it's worth a try if).
If you are a vulnerable person then make them aware of that in the email.

I heard a technique from a financial advisor to clear debt; you pay everything you can off the debt the most interest (min or nothing on the rest) clear that then work down the list by interest rate. It works because you repay the capital debt quicker stopping interest building up too much

StepChange absolutely can give you advice re CT arrears and bailiffs. You will need to do a budget with them though to work out what is affordable rerepayments and also which debt solutions you may be eligible for (DMP, DRO, IVA, etc).

Many years ago I had council tax and water debt.

The council tax got passed to bailiffs who did end up coming round to the house. They did an inventory of everything they could remove but did not take anything (I ant remember what it's called) we set up a payment plan with me that I could afford and as long as I paid that, they would not remove goods

Water did go to a ccj. Again, I was able to arrange a payment plan to pay the ccj off it did ruin my credit file, but I did manage to get both debts sorted and now I'm out of debt and improving my credit score bit by bit

It does feel overwhelming but I'm amazed that the bailiffs would not arrange some sort of monthly payment plan with you. Obviously no one wants bailiffs round the house but my experience was that they do all they can to avoid removing goods and to and work to a payment plan before that happens

I can’t keep repeating myself though - step change and CAP and so on can’t really help with council tax so I don’t know what to do

Well, you need to ask your family to give you the money then. Or you could sell your car to pay the council tax debt. Is it valuable and that's why you want to park it away from the house? So the bailiffs won't sieze it?

I'd sell that, pay my council tax bill, buy an old banger, draw up a budget and make plans to get a better paid job. in that order.

Just be aware, OP, that it can take over a year for bailiffs to give up and return the debt to the council, and this is the sort of debt you can go to prison over.

It's not helpful that you won't give an indication of your situation, as that affects what solutions are available to you. However, I would think that multiple CCJs are the least of your concerns right now - and if your council tax goes to the High Court, their enforcement officers are utterly resistant to anything - and operate under different rules to ensure other bailiffs with regard to their rights etc

As PP said, what you need to do immediately is to do a complete incomins and outgoings statement, and see what you can reliably afford to offer. Then, you go to the automated payment line (they all have those) and pay that amount today. Then, you send this payment reference and your income and expenditure form to each of your creditors/bailiffs, and continue to do so every month until it's paid off/they back off (which obviously doesn't mean that you stop paying, just that you don't need to send them your i/e every time)

This is not going away. At the moment, unless you take action, multiple CCJs are the best outcome likely

If you are on benefits, there are other outcomes and possibilities open to you. If you are a home owner, this could have even more serious repercussions.

No, they really did age, step change can’t help with debts like council tax.

I've referred many clients to Step Change over the years, and they've helped them deal with council tax debt. They are excellent.

It may be that, on paper, you have to much disposable income to consider a lot of debt remedies. Things like Debt Relief Orders are only available to those with very little money (although they are bloody useful, and can get really quite big debts written off, including council tax).

If you own your own home, an IVA is probably the best option.

Do you have decent enough credit rating to get 0% card to cover it? At one point we had £20k worth but were able to pay it off and bounce it round 0% cards whilst paying the minimum.
Or if you don’t could you do debt relief order?

@justthesky

Please do get advice - face to face if possible.

Please remember that although the debt may have been "sent to baliffs" these - at this stage - are debt collectors.

No debt is enforceable until it has been to court. If there is a summons to go to court please do not ignore it. It is vital that you go to court prepared and with all the documents that you need. You will certainly need a schedule of your income and expenditure together with assets and other liabilities.

The Judge may - if you make a good case - set up a payment plan.

If you do not go to court then they will get judgement by default and [as seen on TV] the High Court enforcement will then come round to try and enforce the debt.

Please remember too that [in England at least your water cannot be cut off for non payment.

Most people give the advice to contact the people to whom you owe money but in many cases they will simply say "you need to pay us what you owe us". There is a scheme called an IVA [individual voluntary arrangement] which is approved by the court and may allow the debt to be paid off over up to 6 year. It is administered by a professional who takes a fee. You do not need to use a Debt Management Company and there is no reliable way [though advertised as such] "to write off up to 85% of the debt"

pigoons in some areas it is one month to 8 weeks before a court Summons is sent.

I was waiting for them to apply a discount as my daughter is 20 but disabled. In the end I was summoned to court even though they said that the department was behind and yes they had my documents.

I had to pay it to stop court action.

Thats this year 2019 in a new area but they send out summons after one missed payment and at 8 weeks you get a court date.

If you have a car ask the neighbors if you can park it on their driveway so the bailiffs can’t touch. Don’t speak to those people (the Bailiff’s) they have no interest in assisting you.

I was told when I was trying to get a debt collected marstons will visit three times then give up UNLESS you engage with them then they may pursue you till one of you dies (they are usually self employed)

That wasn't my experience, InLiverpool - I'm actually pursuing them legally at the moment, as they terrorised my elderly, vulnerable parents over a Mersey bridge toll that was paid at 36 hours instead of 24. It wasn't quite as straightforward as that, obviously, because of issues over wrong addresses, but they made numerous attempts over a number of months (8+)-obviously, my parents didn't handle it appropriately (they kept assuming that as they had paid, and could prove it, and had repeatedly done so, that it would go away) but the cunts forced entry via an open window in the summer, and my disabled dad came home from the doctors to find them roaming all over his home. If only it had only been three attempts...

OP if your still reading.

Don’t engage with the baliffs at all. Be very careful as the do bully and do walk in your house so keep the door locked. Eventually it will bounce back to the council.

Email the council and tell them what you can pay and start paying your council tax from now. You may get a email back saying it’s too late ect.. but when it goes to court the judge will see you’ve tried to pay the debt off and will take a dim view of the council wasting their time.

How much money do you have left when you pay your bills?

If you have less than £90 you may be able to do a Debt Relief Order. It’s like a mini bankruptcy but it will will be on your credit rating for 5 years. However you will be debt free and no more debt letters or bailiffs

Council tax never gets written off does it ?

A DRO effectively writes off debt (including council tax arrears) but there are strict eligibility criteria and it obviously affects credit rating.

You can't work out how to pay your debts (priority or otherwise) UNTIL you have made a budget!

How the hell do you know how much you can afford to pay, if you haven't done a budget to see what money you have coming in, and what is going out?

Either @OP has put her head back in the sand, or people have given her money, or she's realised no one is going to give her money. I doubt she'll be back.