Thank you so much. I actually feel ever so slightly better thinking that this will help gather the necessary information I need. The PAYG phone is a good idea - I want to limit the amount of harassment at my parents home so their landline is a definite no-no. Another question - if I have been living and working in Italy for 2 years as a consultant would it be at all possible to suggest that this was just a project based visit and that England has and always was my centre of interest...to avoid having to wait another 6 months before filing?

will the credit report also highlight account numbers/reference numbers too? (sorry, I really have hardly any information at all) Thanks for the letter template. Just so I am clear - I send this letter to all creditors including the mortgage company or is there another, more specific, letter for the mortgage company? (I did tell you I was struggling to function)

I was reading about statute barred earlier on here but they are only relatively 'young' debts at 3 years so they wouldn't qualify. Will the credit report actually show the value of debt as well as who it is owed to? I am finding it very difficult to imagine the feeling of what it will be like once it's all sorted but I do take comfort in hearing about yours and other successes. I don't even know how they would calculate the debt due on a repossessed property that hasn't sold? How on earth would I include that in my statement of affairs? What is going to happen when I contact the creditors for information about my accounts? - I imagine that both I, and my parents, will quickly start to be harassed by every man and his dog! The last time I went to citizens advice 3 years ago they put me in touch with an insolvency practitioner but I couldn't afford his fee and I was also told I needed to gather all the information or he couldn't help me. I couldn't gather it effectively trying to manage to work and living out of a suitcase. Now, 3 years later, with less information than I had before I think it's going to absolutely terrible. I tried to avoid going bankrupt like the plague but now I'm praying for the day it actually happens!

Hi everyone. Never used a forum before so please bear with me. In my mind I feel like my situation is the worst anyonecould ever hope to face...but I am trying to convince myself that this isn't the case. A few years ago I started a business that just didn't makeit. I borrowed £25,000 from a bank to start the business andafter the Company went into liquidation I was left with the bank loan. I went to the bank to try to discuss a revised loanagreement to spread the outstanding balance over a longer (and more affordable)timescale. After being told I did exactly the right thing in coming tothem for help, they subsequently froze all my accounts and demanded that I payback the total balance within a relatively short period. I had another self employed freelance business with abusiness account at the same bank at this account was also closedpreventing me from receiving payments from clients. Ultimately it had a negative effect on that business havingto inform clients to pay me personally into a newly opened cash account. The financial ombudsman, after granting the bank numerousextensions, simply replied that the bank had acted in accordance with its termsand conditions. My freelance business was only able to pay small amounts tothe bank and towards a £10,000 credit card debt. I rented out my home as I was then living with a girlfriendand after a reasonably short while I found myself out of work completely...andthen single and homeless. The tenants in my home started receiving lots of letters andknocks at the door and ultimately left. At that time I didn't know what to do and I felt like Ineeded to keep pushing for work to attempt any chance of surviving and settlingthe debts. I couldn't face the creditors and so didn't doanything. I moved into a bedsit without telling anyone andstarted to rebuild a small amount of work to survive. An opportunity to work in Italyarose with the possibility of making larger sums of money that I thought mightbe the key to paying back the debt. After 2 years there is no chance of that and I am nowabout to move back to Englandto live with my parents, wait 6 months and then declare myself bankrupt. I have no idea what the total level of debt is as I have hadno contact with creditors for about 3 years. I tried to have my accounts prepared by an accountant butwas unable to pay his bill and so these were never completed...about 3 yearsago. I'm pretty sure my home was repossessed although I cant findany evidence of this. I believe there are tenants in it now which Iassume is being handled by an agent acting on behalf of the mortgage company. 3 years later I am kicking myself for not going bankruptright there and then. I did exactly the wrong thing and I have been living in fearand constant worry for so long and I have now come to the conclusion that Icannot resolve it by just working. I have a job to go back to in Englandbut I am extremely worried about how to find out about my old bankaccount and re-contacting creditors for settlement figures etc because Iam really struggling to function with so much worry and stress. I need to be able to work and I have to try andfunction until this is all resolved which seems impossible but has to done. I have a bank account in Italyand a 5% equity stake in a small Italian Company which is still alive butbarely trading and doesn't really generate any profit. My home was in negative equity for about £10,000 beforeI left. I might owe about £4,000 in VAT. I have no idea if I have any CCJ's or whatever but I don'tthink any of the creditors have forced me into bankruptcy. It's time to face the music and sort it all out but I ambeside myself with worry. 12 hours sleep last WEEK! I would really prefer to have an insolvency practitioner orsomething/someone help me through the whole process because I justdon't have the strength or knowledge to be able untangle the mess. After 3 years, 2 countries and endless changes ofaddress I have very little information left about my state of affairs. Can anyone offer any advice about how best I should startthe process and alert me to the kind of procedures and penaltiesetc I am likely to face? I am not looking for sympathy - I know I did the wrong thingin not sorting this out 3 years ago. I prioritised survival first and thought I could sort it allout later...it's 10 times worse now. Thank you.