Bankruptcy- Advice Please

[ab123uk]

Hi All,

Ok, so I'm in my early 20's, used to work for HBoS/Halifax, and when I turned 18, I applied for a staff bank account, and staff Visa. Upon leaving, through no fault of my own, over 2 years ago, I owed thousands, and have paid the odd £50 here and there. I also took out a loan with Provident Home Credit, and have a catalogue account with Littlewoods, all of which have defaulted-details as below


Bank Account: £2400 owed

Visa: £800 owed

Provident Loan: £390 owed

Catalogue: £780 owed

Total: 4370

I then have my current account with a 550o/d on- which is fine, but I owe my revious employers £550 from an error. making the total 4920 without my bank account.

I have looked at repayment plans with management companies- they all want 2-300 per month, I earn about 800 after tax/pension/etc and desperately need to find rented accomodation- which would reduce my 'disposable' (if only!) income to next to nothing. I owe several friends and relatives money, and have managed to pay these off/most of them anyway- Is it worth petitioning for bankruptcy- or will I be laughed out of court!?!

I accept all the debt, much of which was 'taking from peter to feed paul'

any comments much appreciated

[moggieb]

I wouldn't even contemplate bankruptcy in your case!! Compared to some your debt is comparatively small although I appreciate it may not seem so to you. CCCS offer a free service if you want to go down the DMP route. They will actually advise on your best course of action-they are very helpful.

[ab123uk]

I have spoke to CCCS, the basically looked at the debt- looked at the income- and thats that, they see at present, for all CCA debts, I could afford a decent repayment... I think perhaps the best thing will be to get rented accomodation- then contact the creditors and say here's my income, here's my expenditure... if you can find any more, please feel free to have it!?!

[harvest]

Hi ab123uk and first of all wleomce to the forum.

Now - I don't know about being laughed out of court but I would say hold fire on the bankruptcy.

You owe less than £5k in total (forget your account at the moment) and you have been paying something back - even if they are small amounts.

I think you will be in a strong position to deal with the creditors yourself by taking several actions first of all.

Ideally you need to get them to freeze any interest you're still paying and agree monthly payments that you can afford.

I am no expert and I'm sure someone will give you a more detailed process that you shoudl follow but in the meantime, my advice would be:

1. Try not to worry - I know that's easy to say - but honestly, for the sums involved I really don't think you should be panicking.
2. As you are so young it is not worth getting yourself into bankruptcy before you've created your way in ther world (really good job, house etc) - conversely some people might say that because you're still in your early 20s that if you go bankrupt now you'll be sorted in five or 6 years in terms of credit status etc.
3. I would write a letter to all your creditors asking them for a copy of the agreements on which the debt is based There are templates within this part of the forum under CCA - have a look there first. Get those off recorded post as soon as you can.
4. You should also send Subject Access Request letters (see the templates again) so you can find out what is on your notes for each of the creditors.
5. Ask them to freeze interest and charges so the debt isn't growing.

I think others will be along tomorrow morning to give you further advice but honestly I would be quite confident of getting this sorted so you don't have to have sleepless nights about it.

If it helps, I owe 12 times the amount you owe and although I worry about it I know that following the steps re: CCAs etc gives you a little bit of control as to how you can sort it out.

Good luck and try not to worry.

[MilkTrayMan]

Originally Posted by ab123uk

...desperately need to find rented accomodation- which would reduce my 'disposable' (if only!) income to next to nothing...

MTAR...There may also be valid personal reasons why the OP states the above!...

Originally Posted by ab123uk

...I accept all the debt, much of which was 'taking from peter to feed paul'

any comments much appreciated

Accept NOTHING!

ONLY accept 'alledged' debt which can be legally accounted for by supposed Creditors!!!

Send a £1 CCA Request Letter for everything except the Current Account.
...It's NOT your fault if your Creditors can't abide by the Law, now is it??...


...

[make them aktiv runners]

Originally Posted by MilkTrayMan

MTAR...There may also be valid personal reasons why the OP states the above!...

Very difficult to guess a valid reason. The OP may well want to move from (I assume) parents and is just using the debts as an alternative excuse. CAG does not condone debt avoidance, but whether intentional or not, the OP's posts cry out that as an aim.

Nice to see you have given me a massive promotion MTM!

[MilkTrayMan]

Originally Posted by make them aktiv runners

...Nice to see you have given me a massive promotion MTM!

Have I???...

btw...S*d the PC Debt Avoidance stuff!
...That's cos of the legal constraints placed on the Website etc.

If Creditors can't be *rs*d to keep their documentation in order, as per the Law, then they shouldn't be in the business of trying to hoodwink peeps with their BS......period

If someone calls their Creditors bluff 1st, to test the water, what the h*ll is wrong with that??...


...

[make them aktiv runners]

Yes, I am now a site member instead of a nobody.

I see your point, the OP has given a rough idea that these are not very old, and not suggested that any have gone from OC, so in reality the CCA's are likely to exist.

[MilkTrayMan]

Originally Posted by make them aktiv runners

Yes, I am now a site member instead of a nobody.

U are a USER MTAR...A Site USER!...
Who said that U were a 'nobody'??
...ME, I suppose??...

Originally Posted by make them aktiv runners

...I see your point, the OP has given a rough idea that these are not very old, and not suggested that any have gone from OC, so in reality the CCA's are likely to exist.

Perhaps......Perhaps NOT?!
It wouldn't be the 1st time that a Creditor has failed to produce a True Copy of an ORIGINAL signed Credit Agreement etc etc.

For the sake of £1 + postage, it HAS TO BE worth the effort/expense, regardless of the possible futility, don't U think??...


...

[ab123uk]

MTAR: firstly, thanks for all your assumptions today, I need to find rented accomodation, as my parents are no longer here- for me to live with them.

EDITED

[hedgey06]

Hi ab123uk,

It sounds as though you're having a very difficult time right now and the debts you have are probably making you feel even worse. Hopefully, we'll be able to help you to sort through these issues over the next few weeks/months.

Have another look at some of the advice you've received, particularly the posts by MilkTrayMan and Harvest as they've given you some very good advice that you'll be able to research further on this forum. Hopefully, with support from other CAG members you'll be able to reduce your debts substantially.

Also, if you do need accommodation quite urgently it's a good idea to contact your Local Council/local housing associations as they do offer housing for young people - and you'll probably find that their rates are more reasonable than private landlords.

Above all, if you have any further questions or queries, or if you just need some support whilst you're sorting out your finances, just post back on this thread at any time and we'll do our best to offer you support and guidance.

Best wishes

[ukaviator]

Abc123

Do not even think about Bankrupcy at this point in time. The amount you owe is relatively small compared to some i have seen on here. If you do an income and expenditure form, you can do one with the CCCS online, it will allow you to print off a solution to your problems. ( The amount you have left to spraed amongst your creditors).

I bet there are some charges there somewhere you could claim back. Send an S.A.R (Subject Access Request) to all of your creditors to get all of the data they have on you. It does cost £10, but i think you will find it will be beneficial to do this.

Also ask for your original credit agreements, if you don't have them. If you do have them, post them up on your thread, after removing your personal information, and let us see if they are Enforcable. You may have just filled in an Application Form instead of a Credit Agreement.

[tomterm8]

To be honest, given the amount of debt you are in, bankruptcy would be very far from my mind. An administration order can have a very similar effect, without anything like the restrictions.

given you are earning £800, I think your best option would be to look for either a second job, or a better paid job... increasing your income by £200 a month would result in paying off ALL the debt within 2 1/2 years, with no stigma whatsoever.

If you combine this with money saving techniques, such as budgeting, you could really quite easily solve your problems. It's not as quick a technique, but it means you will be able to buy a home later on.

Have you checked whether you are entitled to any benefits, as someone on a low income?

what you don't say are details like your income, expenditure, whether you have reclaimed charges, and etc?

with regard to:


Visa: £800 owed

Provident Loan: £390 owed

Catalogue: £780 owed

it is probably possible to CCA them, although, it is quite possible there are executed agreements.

[sequenci]

Have you a CCJ?

If you did you could consider an Administration Order.

It *could* be worth allowing one of the debts to become a judgment debt just so you could apply for an Administration Order. Way better (and cheaper!) than Bankruptcy.

You could probably get a composition order too, this would mean that you could pay only a percentage of the debt back, a bit like an IVA.

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 09 Administration Orders

If you would like any more assistance with this as an option please feel free to drop me a line.

Best Wishes.