Been really irresponsible/stupid - dmp or bankruptcy?

[JoJoB]

Basically we have 17k of debts, but 3k of this was taken out 2 months ago by my husband, thinking we had enough (just) coming in to cover it. Unfortunately in the same month my ctc dropped from £250 per month to £50, which has essentially left us in the red. This 3k has now gone (paying off rellies and replacing boiler). I have squirrelled £500 away to use for bankruptcy should that be the way to proceed.

 

On looking at our finances more closely however, and doing a quick soa, it became clear that we were actually in trouble before this reduction in income took place and were blindly supplementing our income with credit cards and loans, only just managing to make repayments by doing things like grocery shopping on the cc.

 

We obviously need to sort out a dmp in the first instance, but I am concerned that some creditors will not accept it. I have figured out that we can afford to pay in about £120 per month, which I guess would take us 10 years. What happens if some creditors do not accept the dmp? Do I just keep on paying them until they make OH bankrupt? What is likely to happen in the period before they take him to court for bankruptcy? Will it just be constant harrassment?

 

And bankruptcy itself - if OH decides to go bankrupt himself I am worried about this recent debt and how it will be seen by the court. It was irresponsible and reckless to take this debt and deep down I think we both knew we couldn't pay it back, even if consciously we didn't acknowledge it at the time. Is he in for a very hard time with the OR over this? I am worried about the legal aspect and also the stress of the situation for OH so just need to know what to expect.

 

Ideally we would like to repay our debts through a dmp rather than write them off, so want to do the right thing essentially and take responsibility for the mess we got ourselves into.

 

We own our flat though it is mortgaged to the hilt and borderline negative equity. Having to sell as part of BR does not bother us, anything for a fresh start, though it looks likely that we would not have to sell as it would be pretty pointless. We have no car or any other significant assets.

 

What are the chances of our dmp being accepted? We owe Blackhorse, mbna, egg, barclay card, barclays (overdraft). The recent debts have been Barclays (loan) and littlewoods catalogue. All are in OH's name. Are any of these notorious for turning down dmps?

 

Any pointers gratefully received!

[Louise40]

;)Hi JoJoB

 

Sorry I can't help you with the DMP, however there are debt charties talked about a lot on this forum that will be able to help you.

 

And I doubt any of your creditors would make your OH bankrupt, a) as they would then get nothing and b) it would cost them to do it.

 

Looking at bankruptcy.. My thoughts are :

 

Is it just your OH that is considering B, if so, is your flat in joint names? If it is then they will pursue you for the the debts, as with any other joint debts?

 

If you are both going B, then you will need £500 each.

 

With regard to the recent debt, the OR may question it and if it were I wouold be saying that I beleived I could pay it back however with hindsight it appears I couldn't but I took it out believing I could.

 

Aside from that doing a SOA is a really good idea! It does put things into perspective doesn't it?

 

You are right it is a fresh start and wonderful to feel that you owe nothing, but take professional advise first.

 

Hope this helps

[JoJoB]

Thanks Louise, flat is in OH's name too so I won't be involved in any of it.

 

I think ultimately bankruptcy may be the only workable option, but it may look better to the OR if we have a few months of a dmp under our belt first - rather than filing just 3 months after taking out a loan! I don't knoe, am confused. Want to commit to dmp but not sure if we can even afford that! Our only luxury is Sky, and we only get that cos we live in a tv reception blackspot so can't get ordinary telly. Holidays are camping and visiting relatives. What we have spent our money on I don't know, though I do know we have never really denied ourselves anything if we wanted it.

 

The soa was deffo a good idea, I had no clue how bad things really were as we seemed to muddle through every month. Of course we were just muddling through because of borrowing!

 

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has been in this situation - to me our actions were borderline fraudulent so obviously a bro might be put in place. nBut what does a bro actually entail and is OH in for a hard time with the OR? Or is it just a standard procedure?

[Louise40]

I found these I hope they help....

 

• Consumer Credit Counselling Service: Full debt help service. Link: CCCS Tel: 0800 138 1111 Opening times: M-F 8am-8pm
  
• National Debtline: Full debt help service. Link: National Debtline Tel: 0808 808 4000 Opening times: M-F 9am-9pm, Sa 9.30am-1pm
  
• Citizens Advice Bureau: Full debt and consumer advice service. Link: Citizens Advice or visit your local CAB centre (find nearest) Opening times: different for each bureau
  
• Christians Against Poverty: Debt counselling agency, which specialises in helping those who are emotionally struggling too. The religious focus is why they do it, not how they do it. Link: Christians Against Poverty Tel: 01274 760720 Opening times: different for each bureau
  

[JoJoB]

Also, just started to look at the intricacies of opening a new bank account for OH in the event of either dmp or bankruptcy. As he is with barclays and has cc and loan with them it seems it would make sense to open a new bank account to deposit his wages in before they get whiff of dmp (as I'm sure they would then cancel o/d to recoup some money.

 

What if I just got him to pay his wages into my account for the time being? Or would that make things complicated if going for BR? Would he have to open a cash account then have that frozern in BR and then have to open a new one post BR? It seems an awful lot of faffing!

[Louise40]

I opened an account in Dec last year at the Yorkshire, they have been brill, they didn't even freeze my account and the OR said he was happy for me to keep it as I didn't owe them any money.

 

I did empty it the day before we went bankrupt tho, just in case

[JoJoB]

Good plan

[diamondgirl]

Cooperative Bank and Halifax Bank both do a basic bank account.

Halifax Bank can be done on line

Cooperative Bank has to be paper filed.

Halifax Bank provides a debit card that can be used in shops/ATMs and over the internet it does not provide a cheque book/card or overdraft.

Cooperative Bank provides basically the same.

 

I've been on a DMP with CCCS for over 12 months now and I have only one creditor which did not accept it although they have continued to take the payments made by CCCS, stopped interest and dont hassel me.

If you go to the CCCS website you can download the info from there and have a read, fill out your details so you have an idea just what you can put down for your everyday living/bills etc.,

I personally would try a DMP first before bankrupcy as although you think your debt is big I can assure you others have large debts than that including myself. I at least have the satisfaction in knowing that my debts are reducing and feel better in myself. OK so one creditor sold my debt to a loan shark (DCA Link) they took me to court (never actually got there tho) but with the help of everyone on this forum WE got it struck out, I say WE for all the caggers that helped me.

 

DG:)