Help Please, Im Bankrupt and didnt Know!!

[42man]

Hello RC....I apologise I was just informed of this thread in my email box......Have you been to the court to pick up ALL the paperwork in the file ? If not then I would advise you to visit the court, state that you are the litigant and you need copies of ALL the paperwork in the files.....they will charge you a small amount for carrying out the copying. There should be in there the petition and possibly a demand, but crucially there will also be an affadavit which contains the statement from the process server and how they attempted personal service, and obviously failed, and were granted normal service...if there have been any adjournments then these should be here also. Without these you will not be able to potentially give any reasons for them to annul. It seems you have already been for your interview with the Official Receiver....did you state that any of the debts were disputed ? Did you tell them that you would fight to annul the BR ?

Once you have ALL the paperwork, then give me a shout and let me know what is there.....

[42man]

Am I correct in assuming that it was Lowells who have made you bankrupt (for those HFC debts ???!!!?) (it will tell you on the bankruptcy petition who was the petitioning creditor)....you seem to have done ok so far, but it is crucial you get ALL the paperwork on file from the hearing first....

[42man]

Has a trustee been appointed as yet ?

[42man]

Were there any adjournments from earlier hearings when you didn't attend ? (when you didn't know there were hearings !!). Are any of the houses either side of yours empty ? Any problems with the mail around the time of the demand or petition ? How does the affadavit measure up to what they say and where you were ?

[42man]

I think you should also SAR the original creditors.....HFC were well known for missold PPI and it sounds like Lloyds sold you a duffer too as far as PPI goes...!!

[42man]

What you will also need to produce is witness statements from yourself and your partner to state that you had never seen any stat demand or bankruptcy petition....

[42man]

Please cut and paste....

[42man]

Yes, cover as many bases as you possibly can, it shows that you have made every effort to get the information...

[42man]

OK RC....it seems that they have attempted personal service, what is important is what is said in their affadavit and if it ties up with what you said above (I have unapproved it for obvious reasons). I would check with the court to make sure that there have been no adjournments. It is unusual for a judge to grant a bankruptcy on the first hearing when the defendant isn't there (although it does happen on occasions)

 

Bear in mind that the official receiver will want to attend the court hearings too, as they have an obvious interest, and will claim their costs for attending. However if you are determined to annul, and a large part of this will depend on the judge on the day.

 

Your potential reasons for getting it annulled could be.

 

Not providing any copy of the agreement.

Statute barred debt at the time of the statutory demand

Failure to provide a valid default notice and subsequent termination notice.

Faliure to provide any notices of assignment.

The debt/debts being subject to missold PPI (HFC got into trouble a few years ago - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7191506.stm

Excessive charges

An abuse of the process

What I think you will also have to provide a full breakdown of your income and expenditure to prove that you are not bankrupt also.

You really need the results of the Subject Access Requests and Agreement requests however.

 

If the original petition, minus any PPI and any charges is below the £750 threshold then this could be used to annul the BR...

 

Missold PPI could be an issue too. although only statements and the agreement could verify this....

 

I'm adding this to your thread as you may find it extremely useful...

 

Judge Boggis QC - RE AWAN - [2000] BPIR 241

Then r 6.15 says:

(1) Service of the petition should be proved by affidavit.

(2) The affidavit shall have exhibited to it -

(a) a sealed copy of the petition, and

(b) if substituted service has been ordered, a sealed copy of the order;

and it should be filed in court immediately after service.

'In my judgment, bankruptcy is one of the most serious forms of execution that can be brought against a debtor. In any bankruptcy proceedings it is, in my view, absolutely clear that the provisions as to service must be followed exactly. The rules provide in terms that the petition must be supported by an affidavit of service showing how the petition was served, and express reference is made to substituted service and the way in which that then is to be proved, which involves the affidavit of service having with it a sealed copy of the order.' - JUDGE BOGGIS QC - SITTING AS A JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT

The debts claimed by the petitioner are totally disputed

[42man]

They have to produce the SAR in 40 days from the date of your request, as for the agreement then they get 14 working days from the date you posted it to produce it. If the 40 calendar days is up then you will need to send a recorded delivery letter to them entitled LETTER BEFORE ACTION enclosing a copy of your original SAR request and giving them 14 days to comply.

[42man]

Have you had any paperwork at all from the CCA's or the SAR's at all ?

[42man]

Believe me I know what you mean....If it was me in your position I really would wait until the 40 days for the SAR is up, how can you possibly attempt to fight this without any paperwork....I presume you have told the OR that you plan to seek annulment ?

[42man]

A SAR should come back to you in 40 calendar days...it is the CCA that should be returned in 12+2 working days....no need to worry, you state that you are awaiting several information requests under the data protection act before commencing with the annulment. Make sure that you tell them which alleged debts are disputed too, I know you normally have to put a big 'D' in a circle for these... Are you able to qualify for Legal Aid ?

[42man]

And the OR, will not assist you at all, they are there to do a specific job....but that's all they are doing....I would suggest that you ask them not to appoint a trustee as yet due to you going through the annulment case.....

[42man]

When are the 40 calendar days up ?

[42man]

OK....well what you must do is send a LETTER BEFORE ACTION giving them a further 14 days in which to send your information..enclose a copy of your original letter too, and a copy of the reocrded delivery slip. If they fail to send it in that 14 days, then that is when you should submit the annulling of the BR. You should not go into this without the information. If you show this to the judge that they have failed to comply with the SAR then it could go in your favour. But you have to be seen to have done everything possible to get the information.

 

There is a copy of letter before action here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?178660

 

Amongst your reasons for annullment will include a number of papers that will potentially be crucial...and the judge may (seeing non compliance with your SAR) allow your annullment on an 'unless' order i.e. unless they produce, the documents you have requested in a time frame the judge gives then you MAY get an annullment on that factor alone...as I said before it could depend on the judge.

[42man]

When did you send Lowells the SAR ? what exact date ?

[42man]

They can ask for a signature, but I suggest you put crosses through it....a copy of a utility bill will suffice, they cannot ask for a copy of your passport....

[42man]

Yes send the LBA to Lowells, the SAR to HFC is separate...and you can by all means include your past addresses too...

[42man]

Hello RC...the letter above is used when a DCA or a creditor requests your signature to verify for a credit agreement, this is not to be used for a SAR, they can ask for your signature for a SAR, but you should accompany this with a utility bill or a copy of your council tax request...(something along those lines)....

[42man]

That should be perfectly adequate...

[42man]

Is this Lowells who are asking for this information or the original creditor ?

[42man]

Have a read - http://www.kent.ac.uk/data-protection/Forms/subject_access_guide.pdf

[42man]

I think you should start compiling the annullment application.

[42man]

Nothing back yet ?....how are you getting on with filling out the annullment papers ? I think founding a petition on a statute barred debt is in itself a good defence but it could be up to the judge....!!