Free legal advice

[KatieBw]

Hello, any advice re free legal advice for broke single mum who doesn't qualify for legal aid? I am in london. It's regarding being chased for an unregulated debt by a collections agency who are threatening me with a Statutory Demand for bankruptcy- so stressful, any free legal advice contacts much appreciated

Citizens Advice, or look to see if any unis offer an advice centre run by Law Students

Christians Against Poverty may be able to help?

Look up the ceo of the debt company and email an income and expenditure form, 3 months bank statements and a payment offer, even if you can only afford £1 per month.

Unless you have assets in the form of property ownership they are highly unlikely to issue a sd with a view to bankruptcy. The fees will be around £900, why would they throw good money away.

If you own a property look at the advice on Christian's Against Poverty or Martin Lewis where they will suggest you prepare a budget to establish how much money might be available to make repayments. The minimum is £3.70 per week. When preparing a budget aka as a financial statement be aware of trigger figures.

@Lineofconcepcion

Unless you have assets in the form of property ownership they are highly unlikely to issue a sd with a view to bankruptcy. The fees will be around £900, why would they throw good money away.

If you own a property look at the advice on Christian's Against Poverty or Martin Lewis where they will suggest you prepare a budget to establish how much money might be available to make repayments. The minimum is £3.70 per week. When preparing a budget aka as a financial statement be aware of trigger figures.

Thank you. I agree, it's a waste of money. I have no assets or property or - right now - surplus income. But should I let the collections agency know this? I need legal advice on how to communicate with them in order to slow this process down.

They will go through their process, but I very much doubt they would even proceed to getting a ccj unless it's a awful lot of money.
Do a realistic fs and make an offer. I.e. include everything, food, utilities, clothes, medication, bus fares, school lunches, children's classes, educational visits, house maintenance, laundry, miscellaneous etc etc. Advice is available on CAP website, or Martin Lewis. The minimum is 3.70 per week, if you receive benefits, I doubt you can afford much more. Just make the offer with a fs and start paying. They might argue, but there's nothing they can do really.

Don't forget if you haven't made any payments against the debt in 6 years, its unenforceable anyway as its statute barred, so I wouldn't make any communications with them at all if that's the case. (Unless it's a former mortgage debt then 12 years).

Try step change

moneyadvice.co.uk/step-debt-advice/?adgroup=StepCha%20keyword=Step_Change_Debt_Charity%20matchtype=Phrase&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmL-ABhDFARIsAKywVaeHd53oaVJNh3pCrKwuPJUwS7k7NUNCJD4dxErKN7NCiXjt8nxTankaAokvEALw_wcB

Oops wrong link

www.stepchange.org/?channel=ppc&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmL-ABhDFARIsAKywVacU5VaFqcaPNHeFm2u8JO_Pg6MeoKDV25nGn4AnIE6nrv8p1ie5bRcaAv2HEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yes - As per above speak to step change