Hi Everyone This is my first visit and post to CAG and I wonder if there is anyone who can help with my large problem. THE DETAILS: My problems arose when I was made redundant from a highly paid job in 2009 and found myself on jobseekers allowance of £63 per week ..... I have an interest only mortgage of £238,000 with Bristol & West (Now Bank of Ireland) - there are no arrears but I am on a fixed rate of 6.9% (Fixed until 2013 with an early penalty payment of £14,000) - monthly repayments are £1,206 The house is worth no more than around £230,000 I have a secured loan with Barclay's - originally for £100,000 and although I've paid back £49,000 over the past 4 years, the loan has a larger amount owing than first borrowed! There are arrears of around £7,000 and I am paying £945 per month in total (£89 over payment to SLOWLY clear arrears) - NB: NO PPI I successfully completed an IVA in August 2009 and therefore have no unsecured debt. The IVA was settled from my redundancy payout. MY QUESTIONS: Is there ANYTHING I can do to reduce the £2,100 per month I am having to pay on these two accounts? I obviously have a poor credit rating. Would Barclays allow me to sell my house and then the secured loan would be unsecured (actually it already is!)? I could rent a palace for the amount I'm currently paying! Would Bristol & West negotiate a lower settlement figure if I sell the house? (they are currently contacting everyone - me included - to try to get people to settle mortgages as Ireland is in trouble and they are desperate to clear their books - they told me they would be prepared to consider reducing the early penalty payment but I suppose it depends if Barclay's will let me sell). Can anyone think of any other solution? FINAL COMMENTS: These loans are crippling me, every month is a massive struggle. I calculate that I am working for Barclays & Bank of Ireland for the first 19 days of every month and it is driving me crazy. I fully accept I spent the money and took out the loans but the bad luck I've had in buying and selling my homes, bad advice on taking fixed rate mortgages and aggressive selling by Barclays so called 'personal account manager', didn't help me at all. ANY help or advice would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance.