I am in serious financial difficulties and don't know where to turn to for help and free genuine advice as there are so many companies out there but I am worried that I will get into more debt.My situation is a bit complex,but here goes.I will be as brief as possible.
I have a secured loan of approx ?é?ú25k in my name, and I have paid back about ?é?ú10k minus interest so far.My wife has racked up about ?é?ú25k on credit cards which are in her name,and this is what we are surviving on,as well as State Benefits. but there is never any money to spare and this is taking it's toll on both of us. As we are having to "rob peter to pay paul" and are both guilty of this as our outgoings which are all bills are well in excess of our income.But as soon as these cards are max'd out that will be it and we will well and truly be in the ... I have been receiving State Benefits which includes the DWP paying my mortgage, and due to illness and to my chronic back condition I will never be able to work again.My wife does not work and we are worried about defaulting on the cards and the loan and do not know what to do.I have a mortgage of about ?é?ú85k and my endowments are due to mature in 2013 but with a serious shortfall on both policies .This is another problem in itself.There is about ?é?ú150k equity in the property.I am scared that I may lose my house which I have worked very hard for and this is all I have left to show for my lifetime's work, and the only thing of value that I can leave to my wife and kids.Can anyone suggest a long term solution to my problems, or am I beyond redemption.
Hello numanor and welcome to the forum.
You certainly will not be beyond redemption and everyone involved in the site will try to assist you.
Could you let us have a little more information to help us add some thoughts?
Is your home jointly owned? You mention a secured loan and a mortgage in your name.
How much do you expect to receive for the endowments in 2013?
Do you personally have any unsecured debts at all?
Will the DWP continue to pay your mortgage indefinately or is this time-limited?
Answers to these questions should be helpful in starting to think through some options for you.
Hello numanor
Welcome to the forum, and IÔÇÖm sorry to hear about your financial difficulties.
Once you have provided the information that TDA has requested we should be in a position to try and offer you some advice.
In the meantime have you spoken to your family and friends to see if they could help you out?
Julie
Julie is not currently posting in the Trust-Deed.co.uk forum.
quote:
Originally posted by Trust Deed Assistant
Hello numanor and welcome to the forum.You certainly will not be beyond redemption and everyone involved in the site will try to assist you.
Could you let us have a little more information to help us add some thoughts?
Is your home jointly owned? You mention a secured loan and a mortgage in your name.
How much do you expect to receive for the endowments in 2013?
Do you personally have any unsecured debts at all?
Will the DWP continue to pay your mortgage indefinately or is this time-limited?
Answers to these questions should be helpful in starting to think through some options for you.
Hi Everybody,especially TDA & JH for your kind words.
I think it may be helpful to give you a little more background to this financial mess.I will try not to bore you but I feel it may help you understand what I am going through.In 1996 I had a business which eventually I had to close,and I suffered a serious financial loss.I managed to pay off a lot of creditors and had managed to get some debts written off,but there were some that I could not clear,and to which I am paying them monthly token payments which are still ongoing ,even to this day.Over the years these became too much for me to handle and I passed them on to The Money Matters Advice Centre to deal with on my behalf.
This arrangement has been going on with some creditors for over 10 years now I feel that I will never be free of them.
Several years ago my father passed away, and my family conveniently disposed of all his assets without my knowledge,which left me absolutely nothing.I even had to involve solicitors to fight for my rights to contest the will and to claim my rights, as there was at least ?ú100k at stake but there was nothing left to go after.I had thought at the time that my share of the will would have solved all our finacial problems,but this was not the case. Then a couple of years after that my mother passed away and again the family pulled the same stunt,albeit there was not at stake as before, and again I was left without a penny.This time I had no fight left in me, and the family and I never spoke again. I became very depressed and quite ill,it was at this time that my health deteriorated and I am suffering to this day.I had secretly hoped that my inheritance would have solved all our problems,but it was not to be.
It was since then that our financial situation just went downhill and we have now reached a point where I cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel. It is coming up for our 30th Anniversary and I can't even afford to get my wife a descent present.As all our money goes to apying all the bills and
PART 2
Sorry but I am not used to this, and I hit the wrong button which posted the 1st part of my message. To pick up from where I left off,
After paying all the bills we still have a shortfall and have to use plastic to make it up.As mentioned in yesterdays post.
With regards to your questions. The mortgage is in joint names with my wife.The 1st endowment is for ?ú53k but will only yield between ?ú38k-?ú42k according to Aviva.The 2nd is for ?ú15k, but will yield between ?ú9k-?ú10k. Also I had been mis -advised when I bought this house and I think I am well short when these mature, but there is nothing I can do about it,I have tried. but that advisor has long gone.
Your other question was about unsecured debts,I do have some but they are not that big, hence the token monthly payments.
The DWP as far as I know will pay the mortgage, but I don't know what will happen when the mortgage is due to be cleared.
There is no chance of family helping out as I have previously mentioned, and I am too ashamed to let anyone know how much trouble we are really in. Even though I am posting this I feel really uneasy but I think I really need help and so I have to do this.I apologise for such a lengthy explanation,but it is difficult to put into words.
These days I am so distressed because of all this my health has been seriously affected,but most of all I feel guilty that I have had to depend on my wife and family so much ,when it should be me that is providing a good and descent life for my family.
I do hope and pray that someone will come forward with some help,as I do not think I can hold it together for much longer.
Hi numanor,
Thank you for providing this information and background.
Between the equity in your home and the endowments you have fairly significant assets.
Is remaining in your current home an absolute priority for you? Would you consider moving to another home if it helped to relieve the financial and personal pressures you have been facing?
Hi TDA & ALL
I am sorry but I could not move from this house, as I previously explained how much it meant to us and to my children.I would hate the idea of having to sell it.I may be being selfish but it is all I have.
Hello numanor,
I think in that case you're going to be restricted to "managing" the situation into the future rather than resolving it anytime soon.
Sequestration or Trust Deeds are not options. This is because you are in a position to repay the unsecured debts if you were to sell your assets.
You, for very understandable reasons, do not want to sell the house which eliminates the possibility of clearing the debts this way.
That really leaves you with options such as a debt management plan or the Debt Arrangement Scheme. In both of these options you would be required to pay what you can afford towards the debts each month until they were cleared. As previously mentioned this would at least help to manage the situation which you fear is getting out of control.
As you have so much equity in your home I'd suggest the legal protection provided by the Debt Arrangement Scheme would be most suitable for you. However I do note from your previous comments that income is limited at the moment; DAS will only be an option if it can be assessed that you are in a position to make a monthly contribution towards the debts each month after all of your essential expenditure is covered. There's a little more information about DAS on the left hand menu or you could visit the "Money Scotland" website.
Hello numanor
As you really want to remain in the house at all costs I would suggest that you maybe need to speak to an independant financial advisor rather than a debt advisor.
In addition to the suggestion made by TDA if you were to cash in the endowments, the proceeds could be used to pay off your wife's debt, the unsecured debt that you have and possibly even the secured loan? You could then convert your mortgage to capital and interest (unless you already have) and all going well the DWP will pay the interest and you will only need to pay the capital.
Graeme Leckie might be able to point you in the right direction?
Hopefully this has been some help to you, however please make sure that you take independant financial advice prior to making any decisions.
Julie
Julie is not currently posting in the Trust-Deed.co.uk forum.
Hi TDA and JH
I would like to thank you both for your comments and advice, perhaps Mr Leckie would be kind enough to read my posts and perhaps comment on them, or any other expert if they have the time.I would like to gather as much information as possible from as many expert sources so that I could then look at the options open to me.
I just feel that I am getting into such a deep hole, I may not be able to get out of,and I do want to try and do something as quickly as possible before it's too late, hence the need for expert help.
I would very much appreciate any suggestions that anyone would care to make with regards to my situation.
Hi numanor,
Graeme Leckie is an occasional visitor to the site but we'll email him and I hope he may be able to provide some response soon.
There's an obvious concern about cashing in the endowments in terms of how the mortgage will be repaid eventually. The suggest of moving to a capital and interest mortgage is certainly a possibility but would you have sufficient income to fund the increased repayments? Would this affect DWP support? Are the endowments assigned to the mortgage company?
A financial advisor will only be able to provide very limited and general advice on a forum like this. Seeing one in person will enable them to conduct a factfind that allows them to provide specific advice tailored to your situation.
Hi TDA
Thanks again, but perhaps you could advise me if I should deal with the mortgage problem first, and then the debt situation or vice-versa? I know that they may be connected but they are still seperate issues in there own right.
Would any expert who thinks that they could help me with regards to my problems in the fields concerned be kind enough to grant me an interview that I may speak to them face to face which then may hopefully result in helping me to solve these problems.
I know I have been a pain to you all, but I am at my wit's end and if I do not try to solve these issues, the effects on me and my family would be devastating to say the least. Please help me!
This all really depends upon your definition of "solving" the problem numanor. On the one side you might be able to "manage" the situation by getting some legal protection for your home and reducing the monthly payments via DAS. This may end up being a long-term arrangement. On the other hand using your assets to clear the debts might be effective now in taking the pressure off but then might create other issues further down the line unless you have covered everything carefully in advance.
If leaving your home out of it entirely is how you would like to proceed I'd suggest you visit the "Money Scotland" website and find out who you can contact locally to discuss the possibility of the Debt Arrangement Scheme with in order to balance your unsecured debt repayments with the amount that you can afford to pay towards your debts after your essentials have been paid for. They'll be prepared to meet you face to face and will also consider other options that might be right for you.
If you wish to look into refinancing options or using the endowments to completely clear the unsecured debts it's a financial advisor that you need to see. I'm sure there will be plenty based near you and I'm sure there would be no charge for an initial consultation from most of them.
I don't really see the mortgage and the debt worries as being two different situations. I think that they're two symptoms of one broader issue which is that your income and expenditure appear to be out of line with each other given your current commitments.
The main experts on this site aren't specialists in the areas that seem most likely to offer you the sort of solution you are hoping for. Therefore I think it would be best for you to contact the one or both of the types of specialist that I previously mentioned to run through things with them.
Hi There
I would like to say that I fully appreciate all the advice and comments I have had so far with regards to my financial difficulties.
Is there anyone else out there who would like to make any other suggestions that may be useful?
I would be most grateful for any additional help I can get.