The Story so Far....

When I first moved to Bristol I was living on my own for the first time, and the rent was what I thought to be a reasonable 315 pcm, which included the council tax and water. I paid for the electricity on a meter. I transferred my jobseekers allowance from Bournemouth, however, the housing benefit would have taken a couple of months and I wouldn't have been able to keep the new bedsit. So I took a job as caretaker for the local church, that meant I swept and mopped the hall for two hours every morning, for £60 per week. This was a start, and I felt lucky to have been able to secure some finance in the first few weeks of moving to Bristol. However, this wasn't enough, so I advertised as a domestic cleaner on gumtree.com and charged £10 ph. I soon took on a number of new clients, but looking back I realized that it was quite a big responsibility, as I was given the keys to a number of apartments, which I cleaned during the day, but without proper insurance I was liable if something had gone wrong, as well as the dangers of meeting strangers in their homes from the internet! However, I was still struggling to pay the rent, and thats when I started to get letters from Ross and Robert's 'civil enforcements agency'
( http://www.rossandroberts.com/ )

I cant remember the exact letter, but it was in regards to the council tax I was supposed to have paid in Bournemouth, for the 9 months I was living in a property there. I owed them around £300, but I was under the impression that due to the fact that I was on jobseekers and housing benefit at the time, I was exempt to council tax. I attempted to talk to bournemouth council, but they refused to talk to me stating that the matter was now in the hands of the bailiffs. I felt incredibly frustrated, as this was the first I had heard about the debt, and I was willing to try and come to an agreement with the council, rather than through an enforcement agency, but even though I spoke to the manager at the council they refused to deal with me any further.


I rang the number on the letter from the bailiffs and they insisted on coming round to see me. I was unsure what to do at that point, but as they now had a contact number for me the phone calls started in force, and when I tried to talk to them, the man on the phone started to threaten me with prison and police action, at one point I became incredibly upset and had to leave work early as I was unable to concentrate on anything. I felt pressured into allowing them to come and see me, but I first called the CAB and asked their advice. They told me not to let them into the property, so on the day that the bailiff was coming round I waited outside the house. He turned up and immediately became incredibly intimidating. He told me to open the door, as he needed the toilet and when I refused he started to point and raise his voice at me.
I felt humiliated standing outside and felt close to tears so I gave in and opened the door. He immediately barged into my bedsit and started to write down what items I had of worth in the room.

I was now visibly upset and crying (which was very embarrassing when you are trying to remain in control of the situation!) and I could see that he was listing items in the room that were not mine, such as the landlords microwave etc. but by this time I just wanted the man to get out of my house, and I kept quiet as he made me sign the forms to say that he had listed the items for secured debt. I felt violated as it was my home that he had come into and listed my personal effects as though everything was merely a price tag and nothing belonged to me. He even joked (although I saw it more as a threat) that he could take away my dog, who was hiding under the bed.




After that I was supposed to have paid 100 towards the cost of that 'visit' before starting to pay off the debt for the council tax on a regular basis. However, I didn't have the money by the time the date came round, so I ignored the banging on the door when the bailiffs came round. They started charging £140 every time they came round, and the debt started to rise considerably until it was over £1000 in total. They began threatening to come round and break in to start taking my things, and I started staying over friends houses as I was too scared to be in the house by myself. I also had to take my dog to work, as I was scared to leave him in the house. What made the situation worse, was that the bedsit wasn't even secure, and had a broken window lock, which the landlord failed to fix.

After a particularly threatening phone call I knew I had to get out, and moved in with a friend, leaving the property empty. For two months I lived on my friends sofa, living out of a backpack and trying to find new accommodation. I struggled to pay the last months rent on the previous house, and without a job I wasn't able to find anywhere new, without work references. I was at a very low point, and incredibly unsettled in a new city without anywhere to live, no job and no chance of finding anywhere - as well as the knowledge that my friends wouldn't be able to let me stay for much longer, as it was quite a big thing to let a girl and her young dog sleep on the sofa every night!

My luck turned around when I was put on the 'new deal' campaign that the old labour government had put into place for young people up until the age of 26, where they could enter a 'work experience' scheme with a paid wage for six months, in an established company. I was put forward to work for Places for People, as admin support for a family hostel in Whitchurch. Despite feeling apprehensive during the interview (when you are so desperate for work, you don't tend to feel incredibly confident!) I was told that although they gave the position to someone else, they were going to create another position for me working with the Young Parents support team. This really was the light at the end of the tunnel, and within days I had found a bedsit on gumtree (which I am still living in) that was the cheapest I had ever found, and was able to give them a solid work reference and move in as soon as possible.

Since then I have moved into the new place, I completed six months work experience with places for people, which has helped me realize that I want to seek a career in support work. Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty with the new government and the cuts in support funding, Places for People were unable to continue my placement, and so here I am six months later, back on the benefits. AND the new government has scrapped the 'new deal' scheme, which helped me the first time round.

However, in regards to the bailiffs and my combined debts, I tried to get a Debt relief order with the CAB but because the bailiffs had entered my property it was now classed as 'secured debt' which was not cleared under the DRO. I felt there was nothing left for me apart from bankruptcy, and started to look into that (its not a pretty road to go down I assure you) but luckily, my dad was in the same situation (like father, like daughter) and he had got in contact with an outside agency called Debt Free Me. He booked an appointment to see one of the advisers, and I collected all the information and letters from all my debtors, but to be honest, I didn't expect much from the agency - I truly thought there was no option but bankruptcy. However, the advisor showed up and he was a cheerful, very welsh, and very likable man who became an advisor for debt free me after becoming in debt himself while his son was in a coma after a car accident. He phoned up the bailiffs and after berating them for harassing a 'vulnerable young girl' he made them take back the debt they had charged for all the unwanted visits. This was unbelievable and I was stunned, but after mulling it over afterwards I realized that the debts are obviously nonsense and used as a threatening tactic. But they get away with it as they target vulnerable people, usually the elderly, single mums or young people who are unaware of their rights and who pay up just to get away from the threat., and until someone takes them on who knows what they are talking about (ie, the debt free advisor) they will continue to charge these extortionate rates.


So now Debt Free Me are managing my debt, and I pay them a certain amount (a manageable amount) every month, and they distribute it to my debtors. In a years time, my debt will be considerably smaller and I can 'buy' it out for a small amount, thus being able to get rid off my debts. The best thing about Debt Free Me is that they supply me with self addressed and stamped envelopes that I put all the threatening letters from banks and solicitors and then post it to them to take care of. However, the banks, mainly lloyds tsb, still try and get me to respond to them personally, with threats of court action - a trick that if I was to respond to, it would nullify my contract with Debt Free Me. Very sly of the banks, as even though I am obviously trying to get out of my debts, they know they can get more money out of me if I pay them direct.


On the work front, I am now depressingly six months out of work. I promised myself I would not go back on benefits after working with Places for People, but due to the uncertain nature of the job market at the moment, I was unable to find more work despite looking at least two months before my contract ended.

I went to a few interviews in support work over the first few weeks, but I was horrified at the high number of applicants. I was lucky enough to get interviews for two positions where over 600 people had applied for! I was told that my lack of experience was the reason I did not get the job, as there were many older people going back into the work force who had much more experience. It doesn't bode well for younger applicants that may not have as much experience, but are eager to learn and develop.

I was also told by a woman in the jobcentre (who I know on first name terms depressingly) that the jobcentre system is being pushed to get people off the benefit system "wether or not they have found employment" this means that they are making the system harder to navigate, and many people are being taken off the system for not turning up to meetings (a surprisingly easy thing to happen as they change dates and times and only let you know via one phone call. If you miss the call, you are out of the loop) or for not filling out the numerous array of forms, letters and applications. I feel as though you have to second guess the system, which is stressful and frustrating for very little money to keep you alive at the end of the day. Once you are off the system, you have to start again and people are losing their homes and have no money for food and other necessities because of it. More people off benefits does not necessarily mean more people in employment unfortunately - it now means more people becoming homeless.


I apply for approximately three jobs every other day, and I tend to check the websites every day. I send off initial inquiry emails, before filling out either the application form or send a cv with covering letter. This has become very time consuming, but ultimately very frustrating, as such a small percentage of people get back to me that filling out a dreary form that could take me the best part of two hours, it is hard to get the motivation.

I recently went for an interview for admin support for RBS bank, which although it is not a job I would have preferred, it was well paid and the first interview I had been given for months. I dressed up smartly (too smartly you might have said, as it was dress down friday) and I felt relaxed in the interview despite a few miss-haps...... I was very excited to hear that I had passed the interview, but the next bomb shell was quite unexpected - I was not going to be taken on, as I had failed the credit check that was required for working in a bank. Despite having no contact with customers, I was declined due to bad credit history. This was a little too much to bear at the time, as the reason I was trying to get a job was to get out of my bad credit, and I couldn't get a job because of my credit.


I have now signed with a nursery agency, that pays £6 ph. That would be fine, however, it is an agency that cannot guarantee that I will be able to get full time work - therefore if I sign off benefits, I might not be able to cover rent and essentials, but I don't know that until I start working. Even if I say that I will work up to 16 hours a week, and still keep some benefits, if I have to turn down work with the agency, they might stop offering it.


I am still looking for full time work, and still applying for jobs.