Are you 30 days from payments disaster?
In a recent survey by Prudential, more than one third of the 3 million people living in the UK who are worried about their debt problems are less than 30 days from financial disaster.
To make matters worse, most people have no protection in place to provide some income should they have an accident, sickness or unemployment. Further still, many people will have protection that is inadequate for their requirements.
Couple these facts with another little gem. A third of people living in the UK have little or no savings either.
So with no, or inadequate protection, in place and no savings a sizeable proportion of the UK are living less than 30 days away from financial disaster.
What steps to take in those 30 days.
Well if you have some form of Accident, Sickness, Unemployment (ASU) insurance then do put your claim in quickly. Where you have no, or inadequate, insurance cover then it’s time to get work quickly if possible or call in favours from lenders, family and friends.
Do work your budget out. Understand your income and expenditure, even if your income is zero, calculate your monthly expenditure accurately.
Ask creditors for payment holidays especially if you have been a good customer that has met all your payments.
Perhaps look to downgrade your car to free up some cash over the short term.
Be aware that only a few missed payments on your mortgage can lead to repossession. If the reason you are out of work is longer term then perhaps look to sell your house and rent for a while using the equity from your house sale to fund a roof over your head.
If repossession looks likely
You will know that your house is about to be repossessed as there will be informal and formal threats from your lender that repossession proceedings will be taking place.
Houses do get repossessed. Even if you don’t attend court hearings the process will still keep moving onward.
Before you get to court, your lender will be busily compiling details of letters sent, conversations held, and notes of what they believe was said in the run up to the court case. They will use this evidence in court to get your home from you so be prepared. Keep records of the letters received, make notes of all calls incoming and outgoing between you and your lender for use at a later date.
The good news is that courts do not like to issue repossession orders. The bad news is that they must uphold the law and if you are not prepared or have not shown a willingness to come to payment arrangements then the judge will have no alternative but to grant the repossession.
Steps to try and prevent a court hearing
To try and prevent a court appearance, do be polite and honest at all times whilst working toward a more positive dialogue. Look to offer reduced but affordable payments if possible. If you miss an agreed payment at this stage it will only serve to exacerbate problems and may even be taken as a sign to proceed to court so do not over promise.
Consider asking for a mortgage payment holiday but do get any agreement of this nature in writing and do check how the lender intends to reflect this holiday on your credit file.
If you are on a repayment mortgage then consider asking if you can go onto interest only payments for a while. Do get proper financial advice before you consider this course of action as there are consequences to this step. It is common for lenders to charge a small administration fee to organise this change.
If you end up in a repossession hearing
If you do end up in a repossession hearing but the debt issue has passed then do gather as much evidence as possible including new job offers and details of your current or expected income expenditure. If you convince the judge that your situation has improved then they will be more likely to suspend or set aside a repossession order. It is very common that as part of that hearing you will be expected to agree to increased mortgage payments to reduce and eliminate any arrears. This is why it is important to have a realistic monthly income and expenditure budget to hand.
If your debt issue has not been resolved and you are facing repossession then do get professional help.
In fact, regardless of where you are currently do get proper debt advice from a professional. A short article such as this cannot convey all the options available. Talk to someone who understands what options are available to help under these circumstances.
Ask your debt professional to explain the 6 options that resolve personal debt issues. Get the debt help and advice you need to get back on your feet once more.
Ed Pearson is a Debt Dr. Debt Dr is a company that helps individuals and small businesses through debt issues. He can be contacted at: ep@debtDr.co.uk. This article does not constitute financial advice. Any action you wish to take should only be done so after considering your own set of circumstances with an appropriately qualified professional.
http://www.ecademy.com/user/ed%20pearson
http://debtdr.co.uk/ ‘Prescribing life without debt’
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