To cancel holiday and not pay?

[worstnotholiday]

I've got a holiday booked in October. Only booked on 3/3 and paid £120 deposit for four of us. Two adults two children. £230 to be paid every month thereafter. However my circumstances have changed overnight. My husband has left. I have no money. No hope of paying this. Will be waiting the next few weeks to get my uc claim set up and living out of what's in the cupboards till then.

I've just tried to cancel it online and have found that the company want £780 to cancel it?! My insurance apparently want £100 per person for a cancellation claim. I just do not have it. The payment will bounce next week and I'll never be able to pay them either the £400 or the £780 they expect (the whole remaining balance is only £900! If I had £780 I'd be able to find the extra!)

Wtf can I do? Dh will not help me. He's done this in the most cruel way possible and I have no chance of getting a penny out of him. Indeed, I have little chance of even having a roof over mine and the childrens heads come October let alone a fucking holiday. Aibu to think that this is a con? This "debt" will ruin my credit rating. The insurance was rather pointless too. I'm so defeated.

Sorry, I don't have any advice about your holiday but if you are waiting on your Universal Credit claim going through you should be able to apply for an advance - even a small amount to help tide you over if you're going to struggle for essentials in the meantime

OP phone holiday company and cancel now.
Then legal advice then a debt charity.

I'd contact mortgage provider explain situation they may let you increase the term and/or go interest only until the divorce.

I don't know if this is an avenue that will help in any way, but when I've made changes to my mortgage I've always had to declare that I have the consent of dh as the joint mortgage holder. It might be worth speaking to your mortgage provider to let them know that the change to interest only was done without your consent. I don't know if that counts as fraud or if there's anything they could do about it retrospectively, but at least it would be on the record that he's lied and taken advantage of you.

Do contact them directly.
We have holiday rental and associated cancellation policies, as frankly it’s our income.
But for a holiday booked for October, there is months left for them to refill that spot with someone else.
Our policy says up to 30 days beforehand is full cancellation, but if someone contacted even days before directly, we would come to an agreement

OP what sort of holiday is it? I work for a villa rental company and if you came to us with this we would propose to put your dates as available again and resell them, once resold you'd get your money back. We did it quite often during the first and second waves of Covid for the people who couldn't afford to postpone their dates. In 99% of cases the week was resold. Can you propose that to them?

And I would suggest you don’t listen to his ‘opinion’ he may say he’s reduced his earnings, he may say you aren’t entitled, he may say you won’t get a penny’

Take the stance that he’s not acting in your best interests and get proper advice.

The prenup for example may not stand up in court, especially if circumstances changed - part time job / children etc

Didnout as much paperwork as you can - and start recording conversations - screen record on your phone will do this.

Some great advice here @worstnotholiday

I hope you take him to the cleaners.

The holiday is the least of your worries. Once on UC there is a scheme that lets you have vastly discounted internet. Give months notice on internet and once on UC sign up to that. Cancel any Sky or BT and go for Netflix as much cheaper. As you stbx has alternative accommodation you may well be awarded all of current house as the court looks at needs of children first, then needs of parents. You should ask about pension sharing too if you worked PT to combine looking after kids. Even with a prenup any pension contributions made during marriage you would be able to get into mixing pot. Your priority should be to get good solicitor. You only get one chance to do this financial stuff OP. I know you must feel like a bulldozer has just run over you, but pick yourself up for your girls, and get a solicitor.

He is an awful, awful human being @worstnotholiday, who is currently trying his best to bully and intimidate you while you're trying to keep things afloat for your DC.

You need an action plan. People on here will have much more helpful advice than me to give but this is what I would be doing in your circumstances:

• Gather financial and other important documents - account balances, payslips, mortgage documents - and copy and scan them. Ensure you have copies in a safe place. Make sure you have your DC's passports and birth certificates.
• Apply for UC based on your income alone.
• Apply for children maintenance via CMS.
• Find a solicitor and start the ball rolling. See if you can put in an application for interim maintenance.
• Tell him that unless he hands over all the money he fraudulently saved from the mortgage holiday, you'll be contacting your mortgage provider and the police to file a criminal complaint.

I wouldn't worry too much about the holiday... that will sort itself out if you get the other stuff sorted.

@Hadalifeonce

I once, inadvertently, set up a regular payment on my card. The bank were unable to stop it as it was against my card.

I phoned the next day and told them I had lost my card, they put a stop on my old card and issued a new one, which meant the payment could go ahead.

Its a bit dishonest but I'd they won't help we you talk to then needs must. Get some cash put to tide you over then call next day to report it lost. Dont answer calls from numbers you don't recognise for quite some time.

Once that's done para 5 should be your friend. There are very few circumstances I can think of when I'd advocate anything remotely like this but this feels like one of them.

Put in a claim for UC now. This is key to getting discounts and cheaper deals on everything.
Apply for free school meals.
You can only claim the interest part of a mortgage from UC and that has to be paid back when the property is sold. It's better than nothing though.
Consider how much equity is in the property, is it worth keeping? The 50/50 settlement is just a starting point. As you have young children, their needs and the fact he has other properties would push this up further.
You can get a 25% reduction on council tax.
Contact all creditors and they will hopefully offer a repayment plan to clear any debt. They'd much rather do this than go down the costly route of debt collectors.
Get a free 1/2hr consultation with a solicitor. Get copies of all paperwork (legal/financial/bank collected before you go.
If he has a debit card linked to the joint account make sure you report the cards as 'lost'. You'll get new ones and direct debits will continue anyway. It just stops him from withdrawing money now or in the future.
Take a close look at your bank statements and see if there is anything you can stop or cut back on.

Good luck OP.

Disgraceful, they’ve got plenty of time to re-sell the holiday. I agree with whoever said contact the CAB. I loathe companies that stick to ridiculous policies like glue. Name and shame once you’ve got your money back. Also, if the CAB can’t help for ages, just being very insistent on the phone can help. The now defunct Wow air, once point blank refused to give me a refund on a hold bag that in accidentally booked. I’d literally booked it 20 mins earlier and realised straight away. I refused to get off the phone until they removed the charge as it was £70. I was polite but firm and he eventually wavered. These things can be done, it’s about who blinks first sometimes.

Not related to the holiday but try to stay in the house. I'm pretty sure rent is more expensive than a mortgage. I think a family court would say the children need a roof over their heads.

His parents sound complicit. Do they think you're after their/his money?

Agree you need to claim UC so you can get school meals, help with school trips etc.

Does anyone know if the mortgage company should have asked OP if she was in agreement with taking a mortgage holiday?

There have been loads of really good posts. Do read them all, OP. Esp the post looking at the T&Cs of the travel company that suggest they don't retain 100%, the post talking about free legal representation for cases of financial abuse, and the one suggesting the mortgage company may be more flexible with you since they didn't make you aware of the mortgage holiday (as a joint owner). Definitely worth looking into at least...

Call the company and explain the situation you are in, say that you cannot pay and you have children etc to pay for. Sometimes they may waver the fee and just charge you what you have paid. Its always worth a try. If not then contact citizens advice. Sorry you are in this situation. He sounds like a right idiot.

Not ideal but could you move the booking to next year then money wouldn't be due then I know it only pushing the problem further down the path but it might buy some time .

I do think you need to see a very good family solicitor as well. Your twat of a former husband is making it sound like he owes you nothing which I do not think will be the case. He has a duty to contribute to his children at a minimum.

I would keep all communication to him at a minimum until you sort this out. Phone the holiday company asap and explain your circumstances - you have only just booked this so they may just cancel it for you.

The important thing is to directly contact anyone you can’t pay right now and make payment arrangements. IME most companies help if you contact them as soon as you know there will be a problem. I had a similar experience when my ex left as everything was in my name. It took a few years as was working on a low income around young children but I am debt free and have savings now but have never forgiven my ex for putting me in that situation.

Get your UC sorted, get your reduced council tax bill. Water companies often have ways to give support. Take outgoing back to basics. Housing, water, electric, oil/gas etc. Make a food budget after they have been paid. Anything left then start adding in the other things that your family need such as clothing budget etc. Figure out how much any short fall is and see how
many hours extra you might need
to work and how that will work around childcare costs. The key is to
work as much as balances with the most help you can get from UC for a few months. Once you’ve got organised have a breather and then make long term plans for work etc.

I went on IS for six months as I had a 2yo and needed time to sort out childcare options and things. After six months I’d made arrangements to go back to work on a new contract that worked with my childcare needs and when my youngest started school I was able to get a full time term time job. Now I’m full time all year as my children are older. It is hard going but things work out with time.

@worstnotholiday, was this really just out the blue? Him and his parents sound utter arseholes, it sounds like trouble has been bubbling for a while. My gut feeling is, once you start to get a grip on the situation you'll be so much better off without them all.

Wow I am so sorry to hear about your situation op. What an utter, despicable POS this excuse of a man is. How dare he do this. And as for his parents, well you know how he came to be this vile. Lots of good advice on this thread.

Is he going to claim benefits? Because its £7 a week not £5

If his parents have changed his working contract there isn't much you can do however you can get the max your allowed and they MUST BY LAW pay him minimum wage or the equivalent you can't claim to be working 60 hours a week and not get paid anymore

Check your house insurance OP and see if you've got a legal helpline attached. They can give you free legal advice and you can ring as many times as you like. I used to work for a legal helpline. They can't get involved in proceedings but they're very useful for advice.

The other thing is, once you've picked yourself up off the floor, you'll get angry and hopefully, determined to defeat the bastard instead of letting him get away with it. Good luck OP.

So he wants the house then he will pay the debt? Get that in writing even if you email him to confirm the terms of the agreement he is proposing

So you say further to our conversation I just want to confirm your proposal you pay five pounds a week you want the house and contents you will pay off the debts and in return I keep full physical custody of the children

Get him to CONFIRM

I would feel tempted to say do not panic, don’t pay the rest. The amount you owe is so little in the big scheme of things it will be far more expensive for them to take you to court than write the amount off. I had a similar situation (not related to holidays) and someone suggested to write to them, explain the situation and tell them you are willing to pay the amount owed but can only pay a small amount for a while. They may kick off but with this, they cannot claim you have stopped paying, which would make it more difficult for them to get the big guns out (if they have any). In my case, they send me a letter saying they were not going to pursue further action and no further payments were needed.

The credit rating going down is a problem if you need to get a loan, mortgage or further credit at this time. Of these, the mortgage is the only problem as being in one salary alone, you need to find a way to reduce the loans to nothing rather than increasing them to keep up, otherwise they can spiral out of control.

I think the thing you need to focus on at this time is how to manage the situation with your friends so the friendship survive. Believe me, the most important assets after divorce us a good network of support so do your best, show them you tried and see how it goes.

Once your tax credits are in place you will feel much better.