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Writing Off Debts Due To Health Issues

Though it is pretty unusual, debts do get written off permanently in such situations exclusively based on medical issues. The fact that you can write off your debts if you suffer from serious and terminal health issues may sound like good news but there are lots of things to consider before you opt for such an option.

That means, when you face problems with your debts and have no means to repay it, this should not be the first thing to think of. Instead, you should consider those common and favorable options for debt relief that you find at NationaldebtRelief.com or other sites and keep this option as your last resort, provided you can prove that you are seriously or terminally ill.

In short it means, there are ‘good cases’ of debts that can be considered by the creditors to write them off.

Factors of good cases

Therefore, first you should know what the factors are that the creditors consider for determining whether or not a particular debt case is good enough to be written off permanently.

Starting off with the original contract, the creditors find out whether there were any issues with and anything unfair in it. If so you can ask them to write your debts off. The types of issues with the original contract include your having a long-term mental health issue that is proven to make your vulnerable particularly in managing your money and debt. In addition to that the other factors include:

  • You were not capable to agree to the contract due to learning disability and other health issues
  • You were underage
  • You were pressured
  • You were sold something completely and clearly unsuitable and
  • The terms of the loans were misleading.

In such cases, you may even seek a legal remedy however there is no guarantee that the court will pass a judgment that is in favor of you and affordable by you. In such cases it is best to ask for a discretionary write-off.

Coming back to your health issues you may have a long term health problem that may not allow you to continue making the payment which you have been making until now irrespective of it being small or large. Suffering from a long term health issue usually means you will be highly unlikely to return to making a good wage once again.

In such situations, your debt write off application is more likely to be accepted by your creditors the longer you have made the payments, small or large. Ideally, creditors consider mental health issues and unavailability of assets the as the strongest factors to write off a debt.

Discretionary write off

Of late, the creditors seem to be more sympathetic about the clients suffering from debt pressure due to health issues than they used to be. Discretionary write off is also seen in the council tax sectors as well if you have tax arrears and now have no means to repay them.

There are a few specific situations where you can actually ask for a discretionary write off. This involves both health issues as well as other reasons. These are:

  • If you have not taken out the loan
  • If there was no contact between the creditor and you for more than six years
  • If the debt was given to you while you were suffering from diseases such as Alzheimers.

All you have to do to ask for a write off is to provide enough evidence to support your medical condition and inability to manage your debt. Though these evidences may not refer to your debts directly, these are good enough to explain your situation. These evidences include:

  • Any letters showing that you receive disability benefits
  • A Debt and Mental Health Evidence Form in case you are suffering from mental health issues
  • A letter from the doctor treating your medical conditions
  • Any copies of clinic appointments or copies of prescriptions related to your specific health issues and its treatments and
  • Letter from tutor or the local college that were helping you with your learning difficulties.

You will need to enclose the evidence when you write the letter to the creditor. You will be better off if such a letter comes on a letter head of an expert instead of you written on plain piece of paper. You can take help from the local citizens’ advice office, if any for help.

Writing the letter

However, there is no reason to believe that your application will be rejected if you write the letter to your creditor for a write off on your own. You will simply have to make sure that you keep in mind the following specific points.

  • First find out whether or not the creditor you wish to write the letter to is a member of any professional body or a trade association. If you find that they are then find out whether there is any code of conduct or practice that the creditor may have broken.
  • Do not forget to attach any of the above evidences along with your letter as that will further substantiate your claims.
  • It is better that you have a budget statement attached with your letter as that will prove you have very little money and no other means to continue making your debt payment. If you do not know how to prepare a budget statement or wonder about the format that your creditors may be familiar with, you can look up for different site to get a budgeting template.
  • Make sure that you also enclose any letters of benefits that will prove that you are on RSA, JSA, or Pension Credit.

With a properly filled in form and evidential support, the creditors will know that you cannot repay the debt anyway and it is highly likely that your creditors will consider your case.

However, you should refer to the CONC rule to ensure that whatever you ask for is absolutely relevant to the context, the circumstances and your health condition. This will make it difficult for the creditors to reject your application.