Commonlifeeventswhichcantriggerdebtandor….doc

Common life events which can create a need for debt and/or benefits advice Identify all the common benefits and debt issues which frequently arise in the following and similar scenarios Please include all the skills and knowledge needed to resolve the issues but we are not expecting you to come up with “answers” Please avoid bringing in ancillary subjects such as employment, family and migration law Please ensure that your group scribe records your suggestions1. Angie has recently separated from her husband after 15 years marriage. He has moved out of the marital home which they jointly own and he has said that he is happy to pay regular maintenance. Angie works part time for 12 hours a week and they have two children 9 months and 12 years. They have a joint bank account which is 3000 overdrawn, a summary warrant has been issued in respect of this years unpaid Council Tax and their mortgage lender (a non-high street company) says it is to start repossession action on her home because of mortgage arrears amounting to four months payments. The local authority have told her that it is their policy in such cases to apply for an Attachment Order. She is wondering about applying for bankruptcy or a Trust Deed.2. Alan is unemployed and has been living off his redundancy money of 10,000. He has missed four payments on an instalment decree for an unsecured debt of 5000.3. Barry is a single parent with a disabled son aged 15 who attends a school for children with special needs. Barry would like to return to his previous line of work. It is planned that his son will start attending a residential school for children with special needs when he reaches the age of 16. Barry has not worked for six years and he is a housing association tenant. His ex partner looks after his son every other weekend and she receives income based Jobseekers Allowance. Barry says he owes “about 150” on a loan to pay off the purchase of some bedding. He says the firm who sold him the bedding came round in a van selling it and then offered him credit. The firm calls to collect the money each week and he has a payment card. He also borrowed 200 from his brother to pay a gas bill, he has an unpaid electricity bill and a final reminder and he also has a Social Fund budgeting loan of 200 which is being paid by deductions from his benefit.4. Cathy is aged 17 and is unemployed. She is a private tenant. Cathy was doing her Highers at school but because her relationship with her parents broke down she did not feel, able to continue. She would like to go to college to continue her education. Cathy was in care for six months when she was 14. Cathy borrowed 100 from her uncle and he is pressing her for repayment.5. Daoud is a national of Iraq, is aged 24 and he is a self-employed market trader. His business has been struggling for some months. Daoud has Humanitarian Protection to remain in the UK for five years. He would like his wife to come to the UK to join him. Daod is worried about how he will pay his unpaid Income Tax and National Insurance bills. Daoud is a private tenant. 6. Ed has received notification that his wages will be arrested at the end of the month for a consumer credit debt. In the meantime his local council has frozen his bank account, as he owes them outstanding Council Tax.7. Flo is aged 58. She has recently been made redundant after working for her employer for 20 years. Flos husband has “health problems” and has been unable to work for ten years because of them. They are owner-occupiers with a mortgage and loan secured on their home which they obtained for a new kitchen three years ago. The council has an exceptional attachment order against their car which they obtained two weeks ago.8. Gerry is aged 85. His overall health is frail and his social worker has suggested that he consider moving into a residential care home. Gerry spent ten weeks in hospital last autumn and he says his benefits were not affected. Gerry is a local authority tenant. 9. Helen works 35 hours a week. She is a private tenant. She has two children aged 7 and 16 who attend an after school club. She receives maintenance from her ex-partner but this is erratic. She is worried about how she will pay for the childrens uniforms next term and the 16 year old wants to stay on to do Highers. She has taken out several loans with doorstep lenders and has a bank overdraft and credit card debt and she has not paid this years Council Tax and water bill. Helen is three months pregnant. She does not think it will be feasible to continue working after she has the baby. Helen has an unpaid fine for not having a TV licence and needs advice about what might happen.10. Iain is aged 53 and has long-term mental health problems. He has been offered a job for 15 hours a week which he feels he can do and where the hours will be increased to 30 after six months.11. Joy has received a default notice for her car which she has on hire purchase and she cannot afford the ongoing payments. She also wants to know what the Debt Arrangement Scheme is and whether it can help her. She has completed a financial statement which she got from a reputable website.12. Kay is aged 46. Her husband died last month. She has not worked since she was 22 and she took time out to care for her children. She has a mortgage on her home (she does not know which type of mortgage it is). Her children have left home. She has a small occupational pension from her late husbands former employer.13. Laszlo is from Poland and he has been working in the UK for the last four months. He has now been dismissed following a long period of sickness. His doctor says he will recover in about four weeks time. Laszlo has been living on savings which are now down to 4000.14. Mary aged 59 has severe multiple sclerosis and is having to stop work because of ill health. She will get an occupational pension. She has been off sick for seven months and has a letter to attend a DWP medical examination.15. Nick was unemployed and then got a full time job but forgot to tell the housing benefit office. He also did not tell the social security office about an inheritance of 5000 which he had when he was unemployed. He started work while he was signing on before declaring his work. Nick has now resigned from his job because it was a new line of work which he found difficult to do and he was worse off because of the high travel costs. One of his children has just been taken into care.16. Ounagh has received a court summons in respect of a loan and is worried about what will happen next. She does not know what to do with the papers and has had them for a few weeks. She has cut out an advertisement in a newspaper for a consolidating loan.17. Polly has just been informed by her doctor that she has cancer which has a poor outlook. She is due to be evicted from her home next week because of rent arrears.18. Rob aged 51 wants to move to Spain permanently and get a job. Rob suffers from severe post-traumatic shock after service in Iraq with the Territorial Army. He does not currently have a job. He says he has credit card debts and he owes 300 to a “guy who calls to collect it each week”.19. Sarah aged 60 is registered blind and has arthritis and needs help doing many everyday things. Her blindness was caused by an accident at work in the UK. Sarah is a national of Canada.