debt management

[sengas]

please can anyone help me l am a 57 year old woman who foolishly owe's about £3000 thousand pound to various places ie, cap 1 barclays catalogue also to a bailiff's office now for the past 2 and a half years have been paying £22.50 per week to a debt management firm who has meant to sort this out for me and not even got some of these debts interest frozen. l really am at a loss my take home pay is £166.38 per week up untill two months ago was in a relationship so could just about afford the weekly ammount , now l seem to be sharing my home with my ex and after working out all our monies l have to pay £80. a week this cover's rent [ council flat] and direct debits now after paying my weekly transport to work and back £16.60 on oyster l live in london you can imagine how much l have left about £47. a week this is hardly enough for food clothes etc., is there anything l can do l reckon l have paid this debt over and over when l asked the debt company how long it would take me to pay all this off they told me about 3 years, this is crazy can anyone help me or guide me in anyway with this debt would l be better going bankrupt any ideas please this is depressing me to the point of despair please any advice from anyone l would appreciate thank you .

[mumof3angels]

Hi several years ago we were in the same boat- a company my husband worked self-employed for went bust and we were owed a few thousand pounds. Our debts built up and we tried a debt-management company and as you have found are no good at all. The citizens advice were absolutely brilliant- they gave us loads of useful advice and info about how to deal with the companies we owed money to. Try and make an appointment there first and see what advice they can come up with. Good luck- I know how you feel.

[themas]

From the info you give it is very likely you would qualify for a Debt Relief Order. This is a form of insolvency but is much easier & cheaper than bankruptcy. It would result in the debts being written off at the end of a 12 month "moratorium" period.

To get more detail on this you can download a booklet from the Insolvency Service website. You then need to contact either your local CAB or another free debt advice agency such as CCCS.

Whatever you do, get out of the hands of the fee charging debt company. On your income I don't know how you have been managing to pay them £22.50 p wk & suggest you stop this straight away. CCCS or CAB can help you set up a replacement plan if a Debt relief Order is not appropriate.

[joannie10]

in the grand scheme of things this is not as bad as you are fearing I am sure - with the right advice you can get through this but just need to get in touch with the right people. I have read about many people that have used the cccs and they are very sympathetic and not judgemental. Get in touch with them asap - it is a big step to do that but the sooner you do that the better
http://www.cccs.co.uk/

[TomPritchard]

Don't fear, bankruptcy can happen to anyone: even people we'd have thought were never likely to run out of cash. You might want to try and speak to another company or an independent adviser to secure a better rate, or the Citizens Advice Burea to start with. Media URL: http://ashleyparkdebtsolutions.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/five-celebs-who-couldn%e2%80%99t-stop-going-bankrupt/
Description: Bankrupt Celebrities

[zzxxee]

contact national debtline phone call and advice is all free they are brilliant

[TomPritchard]

The link I was trying to post was here: http://ashleyparkdebt...-stop-going-bankrupt/ - it lists some celebs that went bankrupt. So if they can, despite earning millions, then anyone can and good luck.

[SMP]

I have a debt management plan with the CCCS and it's the best thing I ever did.
CCCS 0800 138 1111

[sengas]

please can l thank everyone who took the time to answer my debt question, tom pritchard l thank you the most and l will keep you informed gonna sort this out thank you again.