A Viciuos Circle..?Read on.?

Question

Hi all, I'm in a Vicious circle.

I was paying an old Poll Tax Bill at £80 a month, been doing this for about a year, However, last November I did not pay it, I had a lot of bills that month which consequently meant that my account was empty before the standing order was fufilled.
Half way through December I got a letter from the council stating that a Detatchment of Earning was going to be taken from my wages.
I accepted the fact that this money was going to come out of my account in Jan pay packet.
However come Jan, they took out £450. that left me totally broke, I only had enough left to pay my rent and a few other things.
My loan was not paid nor was my credit card because I had nothing left.
This month I have found out that the bank paid my loan anyway but because of that and £100 worth of charges has left me £320 overdrawn.
Another DOE come out again, this time £244(which is the last one)
But now I still have only enough to pay my rent.
So I'm in a vicious circle.

I'm really upset for the council for putting me in this position,
Shall I just live another month with no money?
I'm at my wits end.

Answer 1

I'M afraid its beans and chips for you for a bit.Think of this as a temporary mess.Contact the bank--- make an appointment-- and explain what has happened they may be able to increase your loan a little to pay off your debts and get you out of this mess. Contact everyone you owe money to and arrange to pay as little as possible just until you are straight.You will have to live frugally for the time being. At least after this month you will be £80 a month better off.Sorry but these things happen take it as a life lesson always but always contact people you owe money to before you get into difficulties and watch your bank balance like a hawk.

Answer 2

Do everything you can to resolve this matter immediatly !!!

I assume we are talking about council tax / community charge, not Poll tax here. The two are different but they both stink I agree !

Check that the council were entitled to take such a huge cut of your wages !? £450 is a hell of a lot, and there are limits set. I suspect the reason is, it has been seen as a default on payments, rendering the entire bill for the remainder year immediatley payable. ( another great council rip off !!)

I wonder why you did not call the council and talk to them about your temporary inability to pay the £80 in the first instance... It should have been straight forward and simple, so I'm sorry to say it seems you shot yourself in the foot on that one.

When this happened to me... I borrowed from family and freinds for a month, made LOTS of phonecalls and sent letters expalining the situation to everyone I owed money too... and scraped through each month living on ASDA 11p noodles and 23p bread. It was no fun.... I lived like that for five months, as my council tax problems had been ongoing for several years along with a failed mortgage and up to £600 each on my utility bills.

STRUGGLE LIKE HELL.... but you HAVE to keep from sinking, if you go under now, this cycle will continue and you will end up in a position like I did, where you can seemingley never get ahead of the game.
The Attachment Of Earnings is ( yes, it's hard to believe it ) BETTER than the alternative.... Bailiffs ! £132 charge just for visiting the property to 'levy' it... DONT GET ME STARTED ON THESE UTTER SH1TS ! !!! !

I'm solvent now, hev been for 18 months or so.... There is light at the rend of the tunnel, but you really have to pull your belt in to get there.

My advice... Once it's done, tell your bank to stuff it !

Answer 3

To avoid this in the future, open a separate account to repay debts of this nature. Transfer X amount of money from main account to cover bills. Then if they call for all the money, they can only get what is in the account.
Pay by standing order rather than direct debit, this will give you more protection.
There is a law that says banks cannot empty your account leaving you nothing to live on, whether it applies to councils I don't know, but if your council is as retarded as the one I had to deal with, be glad you have finally paid them off.
Speak to the bank regarding the charges, they cannot charge you more than their cost in bouncing cheques etc. Ask for a tempoary overdraft to see you through this period. If they say no, find a bank that will say yes. First Direct offer interest free overdraft to all new customers....£500.

Answer 4

At this point, you don't need advice or cost-cutting measures, you need to earn more money. In the States, Craigslist is a good starting point. (www.craigslist.org). You can find things like: PART TIME: Water Lawn 2 Hrs a week $6.50-$7.50 per hour. It's not much, but it will keep you eating. Check it out to see if your area is listed.

The classifieds section of your community newspapers is another good spot to look for work. Grocery store bulletin boards are good sources for advertising your services and picking up leads. Could you start a service? Dog-walking, grocery delivery? They might generate some income. Check with all your friends and family...Do they have any job leads? Drop your resume with available hours at temping agencies too. A part-time evening or weekend job can get your finances back on track in no time.

Answer 5

Clealy too late for you, but no matter how tight your finances are always make sure you pay your taxes first (in business and in personal affairs) as u learnt the hard way they can just take the money if you don't give it to them voluntarily. Rent etc will at least give you a couple of weeks to come up with the cash before they take any action.

There's not much you can do about them taking your tax now . Maybe just ring your landlord and ask him if you miss a week and then pay double rent the next week (or just don't pay and do a double payment, chances he won't even notice before you are back up to date)

Answer 6

Go to the Citizens Advice Bureau. The council are not allowed to take such a high percentage of your monthly income in one hit. Speak to your loan company and credit card company, tell them what has happened. It is more than likely that they can give you a payment holiday for a month or two. They're quite understanding if you speak to them now before missing any more payments. Good luck.

Answer 7

Go along to your local Citizen Advice Bureau, they can give you or put you in the direction of financial advice, and their services are free. With this going on it will be very hard to get back on track. you could also look in the phone book for a debt advisory service, also free advice.

Answer 8

i'm with ya mate, in a very similar situation.

shout and scream at them to give you money back- knowing most councils this won't happen but it's worth a shot.

I don't know if this is an option available to you but, if that doesn't work, i got a 0% credit card and am making sure i behave meself on it!

Answer 9

Sorry, but this happens in most cases when you pay by instalments. A failed payment automatically means that the ENTIRE amount becomes payable, and sorry to say this, but YOU agreed to that when you signed up for the payments.