I have no idea how things work there (i am assuming your in the UK ...) but in the states we can go bankrupt ... clear our debts and really just start over ... not always the best way but it beats the he** out of dying ... we always have choices ... I for one believe we should not go the perminent route till we try every other possible way ... are there social services set up there ... job retraining .. rent help .. those kinds of things ...