feeling pretty bad today! very bad money issues, any advice?

allornothing

Got a letter in the post today from the solicitor of my credit union about an ordinary civil bill. I havnt got it yet as they sent it to the wrong address but my dad, who is my guarantor recieved it.

Ok been out of a well paying job since march 09, have quite a big loan with the credit union, my insurance didnt cover at the time as my work was contract at the time even though i had been paying it for years previous.
So at the time I went to MABs and worked out a budget on social welfare payments, the credit union manager wasnt too happy with me, as he thought i was dealing with them direct and said their offer would not do.
My Dad had been a very ill man at that time, so in order to keep them from contacting him, my Mam agreed to pay a certain amount a week with me and i agreed to pay a bit more myself. I went in and sat down with the credit union manager and everything was agreed.
I have treated this loan with priority ever since, although I will admit I did miss a few weeks last year as I never made allowance for anything when i made this budget, to be honest I couldnt as I HAD to pay a certain amount to them, but they got something either from my mam or me every week and the arrears was not big on this. I still continued this payment even when social welfare was cut and rent allowance was cut. I got a job at the end of november last year which does not pay very well so i paid them a tiny bit extra every week since. It hasnt been much to be honest, but since loosing my medical card and medical fees which are killing me, I am not working out too much extra to be honest, but however I still took the job as I needed to work again.
I got a solicitors letters before xmas demanding the full amount upfront so I rang the solicitor and advised him they were getting regurlar payments, so he said to contact the credit union. I did, and they didnt seem too worried, I advised them I had work, but it was only temporary and would probobly last only for another couple of months, I said i would continue to pay as much as I could.

I genuinely cannot afford to pay anymore, I have started paying other small loans since I got back working (which i could never do before), i am trying so hard. And I really felt the kick when I was cut 30 euro a week since january.

This feels like all my nightmares have come through now at once, I wouldnt mind so much going through this on my own, but they are dragging my Dad into this now, to be totally honest, My Dad is not fit for this, he is still a very ill man. My mam told me he was shaking reading the letter today.
I would do jail for this debt, I would do anything to try and get rid of it, I just simply cannot do anymore. I am so worried about what they are going to do now or what I have face.

I know this debt is quite a lot, at the time it was the right thing, most of this was for part time college fees.
I wish I didnt get it now, I wish I could hand back my qualifications and ask for the money back. I feel so sick and worried I dont know what to do.

I took a look online about free civil aid, the online calculater tells me I am about 900 a year off not getting it. I cant afford a solicitor.

I feel horrible, I am so worried about the effects that this may have on my Dad.
I know the credit union has to be paid back, and I hope someday I will be in a better position to do that, but right now I cant.
Has anyone any advise please?

(and plenty of tears)

zxcvbnm1

Coming on here is good for dealing with the mental stress of it.

But if you want any advice on the financial side of it then try the money makeover section in askaboutmoney.com.

thefeatheredcat

I know someone who has gone through something similar, so take some comfort in not being the only one. I don't have direct experience, but third party knowledge, so I understand a bit about how these work, but I don't believe it went to the courts, and I'm unsure if solicitor's letters were issued, but it was quite similar.

As your Dad is the guarantor, should the situation arise that the loan is defaulted/repayment not being made, the guarantor is liable for the balance and interest, which at the time of taking out the loan, he would have signed a document stating this.

I think that yourself and your parents should sit down and discuss this situation - I know that you've been trying to protect your dad from knowing all this while he's ill, but he has the letter now and is probably is missing a few details, such as previous letters and agreements that you've made with the credit union and its manager.

I think then you'd both need to speak to the credit union manager and sort out some sort of repayment plan if you can, rather than going to court over it. I would think that they would really only use this as a last resort.

And I think it would better for all involved to at least try and work some sort of arrangement and for it to be kept to, even if it's just a matter of just paying off the interest for a while until things improve (as the interest is the real kicker) to be in a better position in paying the balance.

dazberry

If I were you I would go back to MABs again, and ask them to represent you with the CU. If you have made and are keeping an arrangement, it doesn't make any sense for them then trying to register a judgement, which is neither cheap nor will get them repaid any faster.

I would also guess that as they have an arrangement schedule (and assuming you are up to date with that) it would be difficult for them to claim that the loan was defaulted and look for the guarantor to repay it - but this is not my area).

My gut feeling is that they have outsourced collection of some of their non-performing loans, and there is a disconnect between those people you talk to and those actually looking for the payments.

Keep up your agreed schedule, and ask MABs to contact them again.

D.

allornothing

Hi, thanks for the replies.

I have done everything more or less what yous have said. They have been getting the interest with the agreed payments at the time.
But they have always wanted more as nothing was coming off the capital really.
My Dad knows all of the arrangements, and he knew what he was doing when he signed, thing is, i was earning well at the time, paying more every week than what i should have been and he was in ok health at the time, nobody knew how bad things were going to go.
I just didnt want him to be getting letters and phonecalls all the time. The credit union manager knew how ill he was, and often did suggest that I start paying more as my "father didnt need to deal with it".
Which when i think back now, really did put on more pressure. I guess the way they look at it interest only is no good to them.
I am a bit behind on the agreed payments, but not by much, if i did go to mabs i know they would suggest less every week as I wasnt able to allow for things at the time such as car tax and insurance, and i just know that if the mabs come up with a reasonable offer for me, the credit union would not accept it, as they did before, so then i took drastic measures and sat down with my parents.
The manager near blew a fuse with me the last time when the mabs sent them a letter. I didnt think he would be annoyed with it but he was, so thats why my parents all got together and arranged something else.
They cant afford to pay anymore than what they have been giving either, and only for them, god knows what would have happened by now.
Guess I have to take whats coming to me, i have no other choice, but if it makes my dad more ill, i will never forgive myself.

eddison

Hi OP,

This is not bad at all. The courts and judges are human beings too you know. If you are paying something, even if it is small, but you KEEP paying it, there is really nothing the CU can do. The Credit union know that if they take a person to court who IS paying, however small, then the judge will most likely say give him/her a chance.
I am not a legal expert, but there are a few issues that are significant with debt repayment.
If you do not pay anything, then that is classed as 'refusal to pay' this is serious, and is basically giving the two fingers to the CU, the courts, and everyone.
If you have loads of money but pay only 20 quid a week, then this is bad too.
Then there is 'ability to pay' if you just do not have the cash, but you are paying something, even small payments, the courts will say to the CU that they are being unduly harsh.
The other thing to note is the CU if they take you to court will be told they are being too harsh, and will probably ask how much you can pay- they will then make an order to that amount. Thing is the CU will have to pay their own legal costs. Thats because you have not refused to pay, it is only the amount they are disputing.
The Credit union will shout and wail and threaten you all they can, but they will not take you to court- !!!
They will only take you to court if you stop paying. But even 20 quid a week on a loan of 30,000 is acceptable if you are not getting much. As long as you KEEP paying! the credit union were set up to stop people going to loan sharks, but they seem to have become sharks themselves. Threatening a person to the point of being worried sick is not what the CU should be about.
Don't worry about it.

allornothing

"They will only take you to court if you stop paying. But even 20 quid a week on a loan of 30,000 is acceptable if you are not getting much. As long as you KEEP paying! the credit union were set up to stop people going to loan sharks, but they seem to have become sharks themselves. Threatening a person to the point of being worried sick is not what the CU should be about."

mmm loan sharks, never had a loan with them but if they are worse than the cu god help anyone.
Thats how I feel exactly, just worried sick, I never slept at all last night since thinking about it, i have hardly eaten since.

I dont know what this ordinary bill means, is it a judgement, is a judgement the same as going to court?

I hope this will be over and done with soon. If I had of known they were going to do this, i would not have accepted help off my parents in the first place. We come to our arrangement so it wouldnt happen.
They are the ones loosing out in this, not me, thats how i feel anyway!

amen

the credit union were set up to stop people going to loan sharks, but they seem to have become sharks themselves

not my experience of Credit Unions at all. Normally very approachable and friendly to deal with it.

I'd write a letter to the manager and supervisory committee outlining the facts and ask them why they are threatening court action?

silvervixen84

I used to work for a solicitors' firm that acted for Credit Unions and generally the managers seemed to be very approachable and sympathetic to members' situations when they defaulted on loan payments.

Maybe you could call down to the Credit Union yourself and have a chat with the manager again, update him on your situation and see if you can renegotiate terms. He seems to be miffed about having to deal with mabs, so if you try to sort things out personally with him you might get more leverage.

Cgoodie

I really think you should go back to MABS or even the Citizens advice. They are there to help people and if the CU manager gets mad about this then so be it at least you are doing something about it and trying to make payments.

If perhaps the manager isn't approachable or he is being an arse because of MABS maybe try to speak to someone on the board of directors, explain the situation and tell them you are doing your best to pay back what you can but you simply cannot afford any more than you are paying at present.

Draft up a statement of means as in list every bit of money you have coming in and every bit of money that goes out and make sure you include everything this time. Perhaps go through your bank statements for the last few years to see what unexpected payments you may have forgotten.

You should also send this statement of means to the solicitors who sent the civil bill to keep them in the loop.

Hopefully this will sort itself out with the CU seeing that there is no sense in pursuing you through the Courts when you are making an effort to pay and nowadays the Courts are more humane in dealing with these type of matters as they are so common.

Best of luck OP.

wex96

sounds like that manager is a right b*st*rd, as far as i know the cu have to cover want you can't pay, some sort of new law??, was in the same boat as you, told them what I can pay and that's it, courts tend to be on the side if your paying them as much as you can we, then that's ok. do an expenditure form and bring it in to them and show them on paper what coming in and what going out, you can get it from mabs.
best of luck, hope ur da's ok

marzic

wex96 wrote: »

sounds like that manager is a right b*st*rd, as far as i know the cu have to cover want you can't pay, some sort of new law??, was in the same boat as you, told them what I can pay and that's it, courts tend to be on the side if your paying them as much as you can we, then that's ok. do an expenditure form and bring it in to them and show them on paper what coming in and what going out, you can get it from mabs.
best of luck, hope ur da's ok

I feel for your difficulties, it must be tough on you all. I'd agree with wex96 that judges tend to know the 'cant pay' from the 'wont pay'. It might complicate things if they drag your dad in to it. You need legal advice

Try these guys http://www.flac.ie/whatwedo/

This link is to a free legal service, which may be able to offer advice/support. Try to keep strong, and whatever about anything else, do try to mind your own health. Hope things improve for you.

marzic