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Hi everyone, I’m a newcomer but in need of a lot of help. My journey into debt began a long time ago but accelerated with the financial crash. I was self-employed and one of 3 directors of a small limited company from 2003-2007. The business was doing quite well but began to lose customers and contracts as the financial crash took hold. Then, one of my fellow directors decided to cut two of us out of a new product that we’d been developing, and on which we’d pinned our hopes. That individual set up a separate company and took the rights to the product even though all 3 of us had contributed equally and were therefore out of pocket. The loss of trust caused me to take on a part-time job and continue on a self-employed basis on my own.
I was just about managing but in difficult months started to rely on my credit cards. After 2 years of struggle I embarked on another business with a good friend and together we made managed to obtain a significant contract, in partnership with a not-for-profit organisation. We’d won the contract and they had the administrative back up that we lacked. All was well for around 18months, at which point the other organisation withdrew its support. The customer then closed the project briefly and then transferred the whole contract to the other organisation. We sought legal advice and were told that we had a strong case for breach of contract. However, legal fees could be tens of thousands of pounds. We were therefore advised to try to negotiate a settlement. The legal fees had already mounted up and me and my business partner decided to cut our losses and accept a relatively low settlement. It left us both more than £20,000 out of pocket. During that process my wife and I moved to a small house but needed a relatively large mortgage that I acquired on the basis of the salary from my part time employment that I’d continued with.
My wife persuaded me to look at this forum but I was reluctant to stop paying the credit cards so continued to pretty much pay them every month and then live off them. Looking back, our food and clothing etc. was just being paid for with the cards. I’d even drawn down a pension to continue paying the cards. In June, I felt I couldn’t cope any longer as my health had begun to suffer. For the first time in 40 years I missed a payment. I’m at the stage now that without the credit card payments we can just about manage each month. I’m really glad that my wife kept on at me to stop paying, but I now dread the phone ringing and the post arriving.
I requested CCAs and would really appreciate any advice on how I can now move forward. I'll now add a summary of my cards etc. and upload the agreements for Niddy to check.
I was just about managing but in difficult months started to rely on my credit cards. After 2 years of struggle I embarked on another business with a good friend and together we made managed to obtain a significant contract, in partnership with a not-for-profit organisation. We’d won the contract and they had the administrative back up that we lacked. All was well for around 18months, at which point the other organisation withdrew its support. The customer then closed the project briefly and then transferred the whole contract to the other organisation. We sought legal advice and were told that we had a strong case for breach of contract. However, legal fees could be tens of thousands of pounds. We were therefore advised to try to negotiate a settlement. The legal fees had already mounted up and me and my business partner decided to cut our losses and accept a relatively low settlement. It left us both more than £20,000 out of pocket. During that process my wife and I moved to a small house but needed a relatively large mortgage that I acquired on the basis of the salary from my part time employment that I’d continued with.
My wife persuaded me to look at this forum but I was reluctant to stop paying the credit cards so continued to pretty much pay them every month and then live off them. Looking back, our food and clothing etc. was just being paid for with the cards. I’d even drawn down a pension to continue paying the cards. In June, I felt I couldn’t cope any longer as my health had begun to suffer. For the first time in 40 years I missed a payment. I’m at the stage now that without the credit card payments we can just about manage each month. I’m really glad that my wife kept on at me to stop paying, but I now dread the phone ringing and the post arriving.
I requested CCAs and would really appreciate any advice on how I can now move forward. I'll now add a summary of my cards etc. and upload the agreements for Niddy to check.
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