Over £20K in debt and disabled

[Monkey59]

Hi,

I am over £20K in debt and my only income is my DLA.
Some debts are older some not so old. Spending and borrowing irresponsibly because of being depressed and even though it may sound stupid, buying things online gave me some feeling of "freedom"

I cannot carry on like this. I have a CCJ that I had to reply to a notice of attachment of earnings. Of course as I have no earning I will probably get bailiffs to enforce the debt?
Maybe my only option is to go Bankrupt but I don't have the money for the fee.

Any advice much appreciated.

[enaid]

Re: Over £20K in debt and disabled

Hi Monkey and welcome ,hang fire someone will be along soon to help you through your situation. Be helpful in the meantime if you can get any info you have on your debts together, then they can be dealt with as needed and prioritised. @nemesis45 [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION];

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May also be a good idea to have a benefits check too, DLA may not be all you are entitled to.

[enaid]

Re: Over £20K in debt and disabled

Bump

[Diana M]

Re: Over £20K in debt and disabled

someone will be along soon to help you through your situation. Be helpful in the meantime if you can get any info you have on your debts together, then they can be dealt with as needed and prioritised. @Diana M;

Since the OP has multiple debts then maybe @Debt Camel would be the best person to take an overview of the situation and give advice?

I am over £20K in debt and my only income is my DLA.
Some debts are older some not so old.

I cannot carry on like this. I have a CCJ that I had to reply to a notice of attachment of earnings. Of course as I have no earning I will probably get bailiffs to enforce the debt?
Maybe my only option is to go Bankrupt but I don't have the money for the fee.

Any advice much appreciated.

Di

[Diana M]

Re: Over £20K in debt and disabled

I am over £20K in debt and my only income is my DLA.
Some debts are older some not so old.

. . . I have a CCJ that I had to reply to a notice of attachment of earnings. Of course as I have no earning I will probably get bailiffs to enforce the debt?.

May I ask whether you own your own home (with or without a mortgage) or are you living in rented accommodation?

What is is the current legal status with the Attachment of Earnings application? Is the court aware that you have no employer?

Try not to stress - everything is fixable when it comes to debt

Di

[Debt Camel]

Re: Over £20K in debt and disabled

my only income is my DLA.

ESA? if you are renting, are you getting Housing Benefit?

I have a CCJ that I had to reply to a notice of attachment of earnings.

You had an N56 form? Did you send it back?

Maybe my only option is to go Bankrupt but I don't have the money for the fee.

Have you discussed this with a debt adviser? Ideas for how to get bankruptcy fees are here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-with-bankruptcy-fees/.

[Monkey59]

Re: Over £20K in debt and disabled

[MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] [MENTION=48934]Debt Camel[/MENTION] [MENTION=141]enaid[/MENTION] apologies for the delay getting here but I have been unwell.
To answer your questions, I have no assets and live in council housing. I have checked all other benefits . we get a bit of Housing benefit and Tax but otherwise I am not entiled to anything else. I tried ESA but because I was a stay at home dad before I suffered a stroke I had not enough contributions.
Aboutt he attachement of earnings I phoned the court explaining but they said i still had to fill in the form so i did to the best of my capabilities as they dont give you much time and sent it recorded. so now I am waiting to hear what happens with that. I have been told that the court may decide to enforce baillifs and the idea scares me tremendously as that will affect my family.
I discussed it briefly with a national debt adviser and they did say that Bankrupcy would be my option.

[Debt Camel]

Re: Over £20K in debt and disabled

You have a partner who is working? That would mean you can't get ESA.

If you spoke to National Debtline and they suggested bankruptcy, that is almost certainly your best option. Have you read that link on ideas for getting the fees together? If none of them sound as though they will work for you, go to your local cistizens advice and ask for help to make applications to trust funds for help.

[Monkey59]

Re: Over £20K in debt and disabled

You have a partner who is working? That would mean you can't get ESA.

If you spoke to National Debtline and they suggested bankruptcy, that is almost certainly your best option. Have you read that link on ideas for getting the fees together? If none of them sound as though they will work for you, go to your local cistizens advice and ask for help to make applications to trust funds for help.

yes I have read the link you so kindly gave me [MENTION=48934]Debt Camel[/MENTION]. What I did not know was that I could pay the fee in instalments. These instalments can be small and as many as necessary? The only thing about going BR is that one of my debts and the only one with a repayment set up on it is one in both names with my wife which she is paying. However I have been told that as she is already paying for it it wont change a thing. She will carry on paying as if I go BR she will alone be liable for it?

[Debt Camel]

Re: Over £20K in debt and disabled

Yes the fees can be paid in small installments. You can't go bankrupt until the full fee has been paid, but this lets you put aside £10 here and there and they do start to add up.

I repeat my suggestion that you may well be able to get a grant - making these applications is a normal thing for CAB to help people with.

If there is a joint debt, it will then become your wife's responsibility to repay it all. So bankruptcy doesn't help with that one.