I have decided to go bankrupt.

[Wharty]

Hi Everyone this seems like a nice forum so i will tell you a little about me and the bankruptsy i am planning.

 

I have around 16 thousand pounds on credit cards (which i have always tarted around to avoid paying interest)

 

I have a Finance agreement on a van (9 thousand pounds) i bought new around 18 months ago along with 20 thousand in personal loans. So i owe in the region of 45 thousand pounds.

 

I have always been able to make payments and have never defaulted (not even at the point of writing this) and have always been good with my money. Although i owe a lot i have always paid up and have an excellent credit rating.

 

My wife has a good job and until recently so did i.

 

My problem is i have lost my job and i am unlikely to find a job that pays as well as my old job. I am looking but i am having no luck.

 

I am looking to pre empt my bankruptsy and to file before i default on any payments. Its simply down to the fact that in 2 months from now i will not be able to make my payments.

 

By filing for bankruptsy before i default will this be held in high regard with the official reciever as i have been proactive?

 

We will need to make 1000 per month in payments for the unsecured debts and simply can't afford any of it.

 

I am devastated. We have just moved into lovely rented accommodation and are worried our landlord will kick us out if he finds out we are bankrupt.

 

I believe that we will have to pay around £700 each to file for the bankruptsy? My worry is this will take us further overdrawn.

 

Our other worry is when our accounts are frozen, how do we pay the bills? my wife will still be getting paid but we wont have a bank account?

 

Are we allowed to take out money from our accounts before we file for bankruptsy so we can pay our rent and bills etc or will this look bad on us?

 

After our outgoings are taken into account of my wifes wages we will have nothing left over each month so will we still have to make a payment for 3 years or will our bankruptsy be over in 12 months?

 

What about our car (we own it) and its worth around 4k? We also have the van (on finance) but i will need that if i find another job. Will they make us sell the car and give the van back to the finance company? If so how will me and my wife get to work or pick our daughter up from school?

 

This is such a mess. I am on Diazapam as i write this (because of loosing my job last week) and my head is gone.

 

I hope somebody can offer some words of comfort but please be honest.

 

Thanks.

[citizenB]

I am not sure if it would be of any value for you to pre-empt Bankruptcy or whether it would be worth waiting until one of your creditors decides to start the ball rolling.

 

National Debtline have a very informative Fact sheet, which I have linked below for you. You would need to telephone them on their free helpline for further advice.

 

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/page.php?page=35_options_for_dealing_with_your_debts

 

Would you BOTH need to file for B/R

 

If your debts are joint and totalling the amount you have mentioned, then I guess that would be an option.

 

However, if one of you has less than £15,000 worth of debt in their own name then a Debt relief order might be less stressful.

 

 

Whether you file for B/R , DRO, or simply self manage a Debt management Plan then your credit record will be trashed for 6 years. Even though with the first two options your debts will disappear after 1 year.

 

If you would like to give us a little more detail of the debts then perhaps we can suggest other ways round this.

 

If you could let us know each creditor with the balance as it is at the moment, whether it is joint or single named then that would be a start.

 

As you have been maintaining your contractual repayments then I doubt that you would have any penalty charges that could be reclaimed. However, do any of the accounts have Payment Protection Insurance that could possibly have been mis sold ? Or that you could even claim off for the redundancy ?

[citizenB]

Could you also please let us know the date each account was entered into

[Wharty]

Ok i will get it all written down as you ask and report back as soon as it is done.

[citizenB]

Excellent

[brokebutnotbeatn]

and slow down. take one step at a time. no need to rush into anything. x

[I've got no money]

Hang on a second Wharty - don't panic.

 

At one point I had unsecured debts of around 90k, I earned around 100k pa - I got a bit poorly and couldn't work for a while (a few years) - life on incapacity benefit - with a bit of self help and support from CAG I've dealt with those debts - if a creditor has pursued them I've defended the claims - where I've defended a claim I've never lost - in fact the creditors have given up. You really don't need to get involved in bankruptcy. One of your strengths is the fact that you are in rented accommodation - makes the creditors less likely to pursue you - there's no house to get a charging order on - it's worked for me.

[Steve 123]

I am about to go bankrupt with debts amounting to 95k, I have no assets except for a personal pension plan which I am told is exempt from the bankruptcy. My concern is over the past few years I have been given small amounts of cash from family and friends which I would put into my bank to pay bills. I am only talking about £100 here and there is this something the OR will pick up on and want to know about?? Does anybody know how far back the receiver looks into things??