Debt — Scope | Disability forum
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Debt

Muppets69
Muppets69 Community member Posts: 71 Connected
Need advice be really grateful my son has a high court rite against hes not working or claiming hes been on drugs on and of for years ihe sofa surfs is there anyway he can sort this out any advice be grateful 

Comments

  • Geoark
    Geoark Community member Posts: 1,463 Disability Gamechanger
    Hello @Muppets69

    None of the following is said in judgement of your son or others in similar situations.

    Most debt advice is based on a person's income and outgoings, ensuring priority payments are paid out first. This can be very difficult where someone has a chaotic lifestyle and no visible income. You do not mention if he is currently on or off drugs, though he is homeless - sofa surfing is considered hidden homeless. You also don't mention if he has any disabilities, however a significant number of people with this type of lifestyle have either/both physical and mental illnesses/disabilities. I mention all this because even with the best advice your son may find it difficult to manage the debt or not even in a position to realistically manage the debt. A lot will also depend on how much your son wants to sort things out.

    My best advice for starting to get all this sorted out is for him to start getting help to resolve his homelessness problem. To be able to get a home that is sustainable he will likely need support, for this reason I would strongly suggest linking him up with an established homeless charity. They will have access to expertise across a number of disciplines including health, financial advice including helping him to claim any benefits he might be entitled to so he has an identifiable income to work from, legal advice and help him towards getting somewhere to sleep and onto a route to a sustainable home. 

    As I said there is no personal judgement on your son, there are many reasons why people's lives become chaotic or out of control. Having a stable roof over your head is a basic need and requirement. However simply giving someone a room/flat/house to live in does not resolve problems if they do not have the skills to sustain it.

    As this would depend a lot on him being willing to engage in such a process and you don't give any indication if this might be the case here are some organisations that may be able to assist with the debt part.

    https://www.stepchange.org
    https://www.nationaldebtline.org
    https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en
    http://www.debtadvicefoundation.org

    Hopefully one of our other members will have some more practical advice for you.

    As an individual I stood alone.
    As a member of a group I did things.
    As part of a community I helped to create change!

  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 10,821 Scope online community team
    Hi @Muppets69, as well as the brilliant links @Geoark has provided for debt, can I suggest you or your son get in touch with Shelter? They'd be able to give advice regarding his living situation. 
    Community Manager
    Scope

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