I was wondering if anyone in the forums could be of help. Me and my girlfriend have found ourselves in some real bother and right now i cant see that tunnel at the end of it all with a nice light.

A little background information might help first. In november of last year we lost our baby daughter Fiona which has led us to long term depression as well a the normal grieving process. This has ended up with both of us unable to work and right now the benefit system and my gf workplace are being beyond idiotic.

Right now we are trying to sort housing benefit and job seekers allowance (believe me income support has taken a month already). My gf workplace told us they no longer have her employment details with them, so we cannot prove to either agency that we got equal to 2 weeks pay for a whole month 2 months ago!.

Now with no income at all our rent stand as around £200 in arears with a court action looming if the 14 pounds a week isnt payed in, and still their computers are logging 43 pounds a week!.

It would be so much easier if in this time bt hadnt decided to be equally idiotic and cut outgoing calls!. This is my first own home and im doing a terrible job and am stuck in a rut can anyone here offer any advice or even a job so that i can get all this worked out.

Thankyou for eading this spiel.

best thing i can say is go to c.a.b as soon as you can im sure they can help you through it i think there is a lnk to the local offices of the c.a.b on here somewhere

hope that helps

I'm sorry to hear of your loss and even sorrier that you're having such a trying time financially whilst in the midst of your grief.

Try an advice centre, Woodseats, Sharrow, Darnall etc; they'll be able to tell you exactly what you should and can be doing, what you're entitled to and if someone is dragging their feet over helping you out financially, they can and will get involved on your behalf for you.
If you're in debt, then I suggest you contact the Sheffield Debtline service as they will be able to give you practical and legal ongoing advice on how to deal with anyone who's hassling you for your money, rent arrears etc.
Please don't let this get you down, there is a way, its just a bugger trying to find out who can help you and what they can suggest in practical terms that you're able to do to help yourselves financially.
Don't let the buggers grind you down!!!!!

weazel05 - I've PMd you.

Joe

I've got a leaflet at work that lists a number of organisations offering money advice. It's got several phone numbers of organisations covering different parts of the city.

I got it from the main Library reception (they have loads of useful leaflets there). I will try to remember to bring it home on Monday and PM you some details.

Ask the CAB or Debtline for advice is the first step. They can help you on with making arrangements with your creditors. The one thing you mustn't do is ignore any requests for payment from your creditors no matter who they may be council tax, mortgage or loan company or your bank.

I know how easy it is to keep putting off unpleasant tasks especially when ur suffering from depression. But remember they deal with people with financial problems all the time and I dont think there are many people who haven't had financial problems some time or another. I've found that they are usually quite sympathetic and helpful if you are open with them.

Make a sensible arrangement for paying off debts. If you can only pay a £1 a week SAY SO and stick to it. It's the erratic ones who get into problems after making an arrangement. If you say I can only pay £1 a month for the next six months until I get my finances sorted ... and they accept it ... do it!

If you're having trouble getting the Council tax and/or rent payments sorted out, ask one of your local councillors for help. They can sometimes get things prioritised if your claim's got bogged down in the system somewhere. Even if a situation gets to the Bailiff visit stage ... all is not lost. Part of the Bailiff's duties is to try to reach an arrangement with you too. In the end companies just want to see their money back or some of it ... they dont want to take your goods really.

I would have PM'd you about this but I thought it might help others too to have it posted in the open Forum.

Best of luck with it all and condolences on your loss. I'm sure everyone can see how you would find everything very hard going after such a thing happening to you both. But, one last thing - don't ever give up on yourself, the light at the end of even the longest tunnel appears eventually ... believe me! x

Originally posted by rubydazzler
Ask the CAB or Debtline for advice is the first step. They can help you on with making arrangements with your creditors. The one thing you mustn't do is ignore any requests for payment from your creditors no matter who they may be council tax, mortgage or loan company or your bank.

I know how easy it is to keep putting off unpleasant tasks especially when ur suffering from depression. But remember they deal with people with financial problems all the time and I dont think there are many people who haven't had financial problems some time or another. I've found that they are usually quite sympathetic and helpful if you are open with them.

Make a sensible arrangement for paying off debts. If you can only pay a £1 a week SAY SO and stick to it. It's the erratic ones who get into problems after making an arrangement. If you say I can only pay £1 a month for the next six months until I get my finances sorted ... and they accept it ... do it!

If you're having trouble getting the Council tax and/or rent payments sorted out, ask one of your local councillors for help. They can sometimes get things prioritised if your claim's got bogged down in the system somewhere. Even if a situation gets to the Bailiff visit stage ... all is not lost. Part of the Bailiff's duties is to try to reach an arrangement with you too. In the end companies just want to see their money back or some of it ... they dont want to take your goods really.

I would have PM'd you about this but I thought it might help others too to have it posted in the open Forum.

Best of luck with it all and condolences on your loss. I'm sure everyone can see how you would find everything very hard going after such a thing happening to you both. But, one last thing - don't ever give up on yourself, the light at the end of even the longest tunnel appears eventually ... believe me! x i used to work for the c a b, all the advice above is correct,but when you contact any one allways get their name and position in the company so you can refer back to them if you get any problems,also use registered post,that way no one can deny receipt of any letters,call into your local c a b for further advice,i once got a bank to write off over two thousand pounds debt for a widow once they knew her circumstances so its worth calling in,good luck and take control of it straight away and you will see that there is light at the end of the tunnell