I am wondering if I have a case for irresponsible lending. A few years ago we consolidated debt with a secured loan. As our debt spiralled out of control, we signed up with CCCS but only a few creditors froze interest and the calls and letters all became too much. Our Secured lender wouldn't consider unsecuring the loan to incorporate into the Debt Plan and our house was in negative equity. We continued for nearly a year using CCCS but the letters and calls became too much so so we went down the route of voluntary repossession and went Bankrupt. So sad for us as if the secured loan could of been unsecure and put into the Plan we could have kept our family home as it was it negative equity. A few years on and we have learned alot of hard lessons and become alot more wise to finances. Having looked over the paperwork for the secured loan one thing that astonishes me was that we were lent £63,000 to consolidate with £16,000 PPP added so therefore our total borrowed was £79,000. The valuation report I have from collecting my data from the lender shows that there was only £26,000 equity at that time of lending. Aside from the argument about interest rates increasing when rates were coming down, them changing their wording in their letters from BOE base rates to just interest rates and when I questioned they said they follow the Financial House Rates - which clearly they didn't. Plus the unfortuante circumstance for us whereby we never missed a payment and would have received the PPP money (£16K) back one year from Bankruptcy had we of continued in the Debt plan it just seems so unfair. I know life is like that and some people suffer alot worse but if anyone has any advice regarding this matter, ie is it worth pursuing with a Financial Ombudsmen complaint I would very much appreciate it. Thank you

I have a very long commute to work, I cannot get there on public transport and with bankruptcy looking like my only option transportion is an issue. So apparantly I would only be allowed a car between £1k & 2K given my commute according to the literature I've read. So if my company have offered a salary sacrifice company car scheme and I take them up on this offer where do I stand if I become bankrupt. The car would be registered to my employer. Any thoughts from those with the knowledge? Many thanks

Please help, I am moving into rented accommodation and am almost certain to go bankrupt in the next few months. The Tenancy agreement stipulates a forfeiture if the tenant becomes bankrupt I love the house and have suffered so much trauma already... what can I do? Any advice would be appreciated please.

Thank you Tawny Owl to clarify if we both go bankrupt, isn't the shortfall / missed payments included in the Bankruptcy even if the sale of the house is after the bankruptcy stamped date because its a debt incurred and declared at court? Sorry but I have read the Insolvency website and didn't see anything that covered this question.

Can anyone tell me if I hand the keys back on my house, the bank are saying I have to fill in a form.... I don't want to do this because I am being told that I will be liable for any shortfall / interest / fees what can I do about this? If I know my house is worth less than the mortgage and I have £100k of debt (some of it secured on the house). if I go bankrupt once I've sorted out rented accommodation and then give back the keys my question is can I still be chased for mortgage short fall for up to 12 years. This is something I keep reading contradicting information over. Also if I am splitting from a partner, he's worried that our hosue will be stripped of everything bar the shirts on our backs.. is this the case how does the Court / IPA know what you have. ie is a childs playstation & games and asset? Does a lounge TV have to be sold for a cheaper alternative? Does a push bike need to be sold or can it be kept? Thanks for any help in advance

Reading different forums and threads it appears that if you're in negative equity you may not lose your house in bankruptcy, is this true? I have a dependent child on disabilility allowance but is 18 years old. The mortgage is the same amount per month as what a house would cost me to privately rent. Question 1 - What is negative equity? My lender says I am a 90% LTV customer but I know houses like mine are selling for £10k less than I owe. Question 2 - the secured loan - there would definitely not be any money towards the secured debt if the house was forced to sale. Therefore this debt would become unsecured. If i went bankrupt but kept the house can the secured loan become part of my bankruptcy? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

Just thought some of you would be interested I owe approx £11k, MBNA keep writing and calling to say they'll reduce the debt its gone from owing £11k to now if I pay £3500 they will mark my account as settled. Bear in mind that they started at £6.5K then it came down and down and down....... Tried it with HSBC too but they initially said 10% then 20% by the end of the call, they I just picked a number out of the air and asked them to come back to me.... Actually I can't afford any of these to pay off because if I borrowed the money of a friend and my mortgage increased I wouldn't have any surplus cash. What a damn shame. Anyone else had this happen to them? incidentally I have so much debt i can't decide whether to throw in the towel and go bankrupt - why am i working so hard to pay interest and debt thats way too big due to my circumstances changing DIVORCE!

What happens when you reach irreconcilable differences... I am on a DMP but earn £40k OH at least 10k less than that House value £240k mortgage outstanding £235k secured loan £70k What are the options here, I am realistic enough to realise that staying in the house for me probably wont be an option although I'd like to as my Daughter has difficulties coping with change but her condition isn't going to wash with OH. We'd be forced to sell with the defit does that mean we both have to go Bankrupt? With my credit file destroyed I won't be able to get a mortgage, so should I be looking to rent somewhere beforehand. Life sucks...

Hi everyone, My mortgage term ends in May this year.... My current lender (ABBEY) told me that their system values my property and I am not in negative equity (I think their valuation is unrealistic by at least £25k) they say the can only offer one deal fixed 1 year 4.75% £799 arrangement fee I think I'd be daft to do this because it is only marginally cheaper than the STV rate of 4.94% when you factor in the arrangement fee and presuming that the STV isn't going to rocket up this year. so if all of what I just said is true and hypothetically I have 90% LTV at least why can't i find any mortgages for moving your mortgage on offer they are all looking for 60% 40% or 25% equity. can anyone give me some advice please. thanks

Hi does anyone know how to do this is a spreadsheet? I am trying to work out if I am better of doing this rather than trying to find a new deal when mine expires in May.

mmm, I am disappointed with them as a bank, I check my internet banking online everyday... have you noticed how the order of things can change so much over a few days. I even noticed that I can look in the morning, pay in some money at lunch time, check on line and the money I paid in appears to have happened before the last transaction that was detailed in the morning statement I viewed. Also my husband banks with them but another branch, he has a standing order to transfer to our 'bill's account also with Halifax and last month we changed the date to a day earlier than before - guess what the money hasn't transfered and consequently a Direct Debit couldn't be paid.... charges again !!!

In summary I would like a general steer on which way forward given my situation. Joint Mortgage - negative equity (approx 15k) - NO PAYMENTS MISSED 2nd charge on house (£70K) - NO PAYMENTS MISSED Credit cards & loans in my name = £40K Credit cards in OH = £13K we can manage OH payments but mine are just unmanageable. Last year I spoke to a debt councillor who advised bankruptcy as there wasn't enough money at the time to pro-rata payments. however having sold nearly everything I could live without I managed to meet most payments etc or nearly meet...... now the money has dried up and there isn't anything to sell. should i use the debt people to help me write again now there is more disposable income given the mortgage rates drops etc. I know my credit file/score has dropped as store card took away my credit given diverse credit information (probably from default on one credit card) questions are:- just me write to creditors with pro rata payments? (damage limitation - leaves OH credit history less damaged) jointly write to creditors with pro rata payments? what will happen when our mortgage term expires in May this year? Incidentally, if the second charge company dropped their rates, we wouldn't be in half as much financial difficulty! any advice would be appreciated.

Can anyone tell me, when you reach the end of a deal on your mortgage, does the lender do a credit check before writing to you to say, your rate of X ends on X date but we can offer you this .... or does something else happen... We had a good credit rating but it is slowly getting worse... we've never missed mortgage payments and have overpaid periodically, our mortgage ends in May next year but I know that we can look around March for a new deal, I am hoping our current lender will automatically write with a new good offer having not done a credit check. The reason I am worried is I have a store card for Next and had a couple of thousand pounds worth of credit and now I having been on a payment plan for some credit cards, Next have taken away my credit facility because of adverse information on my credit file. I am concerned for our mortgage future... any knowledge would be gratefully received....

I spoke to First Plus although they aren't called that any more however i cannot remember what they called themselves..!!! Basically the person who answered said 'the decision makers' are now looking into the rates because as more people fall into negative equity, first plus aren't being paid back the money lent out when it goes to repossession.' So fingers crossed they may pass on the interest drops at some point but I doubt it would be very soon.

As I understand it the base rates are cut to encourage spending and borrowing.... but I am in debt already I'm not going to borrow more and besides I probably have a fair credit score meaning lenders won't lend to me..... so how does it help, I am puzzled. Credit card payments don't reduce as the interest rate is fixed Car Finance doesn't change because the interest rate is fixed Can someone throw a more informed view on this please. Thanks