Hubby's potential Insolvency / bankruptcy

[reduk054]

The usher advised after what seemed like an hour (about ten minutes) that the bankruptcy hearing was to be heard first, well the Lloyds rep got straight onto the phone to her clients, Lloyds had not seen this coming!

I was not allowed in to the hearing, but the IP was. The judge queried whether hubby had taken professional advice, and on the basis that his business had effectively been forced to close following the bank requsting their money back, issued the final bankruptcy - all in about two minutes.

Then we were all allowed into the second hearing regarding Lloyds and the charging order. This case took all of one minute.

It was intimidating being in there, the desk between us and the judge was massive, with recording equipment. I felt like I was in front of the headmaster! The judge confirmed that the case for the charging order be dismissed as a result of the BR, and that there be no costs involved. That was it! And in the next few minutes, we were in the car park and ready to leave.

So although nerve racking, it was so straight forward!

[Tau]

Cool, pleased for you both Red.

Must be great to be able to walk upright without all that sitting on your shoulders for a change.

 

 

Geoff

[reduk054]

As soon as we arrived home the official receiver was on the phone to hubby and he will have a telephone interview this thursday. The OR said that it appeared to be a straightforward case, so a telephone interview would be ok.

Hubby said that he was really personable and easy to talk to, so another worry diminished!! (thank you sequenci!).

Since then the paperwork regarding creditors has been compiled and posted (hence my delay in replying).

Now I need some help if possible, what should I be doing now reagrding the equitable interest of the house which is now the OR/trustee's rather than hubby's?

I have not had any direct contact with the OR - should i be approaching him?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Red

[reduk054]

Hi Tau, didnt realise that you were online! Thank you for your message. It felt really strange after court, but now it does feel better. By strange I mean that there had been so much effort, stress, paperwork etc., and then in less than ten minutes the final decision had been made!

I have to say that there is a mountain of paperwork still to do, and of course the interview, and now I have to look into the house/mortgage!

Phew, what a roller coaster!

[Tau]

Glad that you are having the phone interview, it seems to help a lot of people as they find it less stressing. At least at home you can light up a smoke if thats what you do or grab a coffee.

Did you get a chance to have a look at the link I posted. Doesnt matter if you didnt, just nosey thats all :)

[reduk054]

Hey Tau, I did look at your post, it was a site which we had found prior to making a decision regarding bankruptcy, and I really liked the site. Not that a good web site should make you decide if you should declare BR or not! but sometimes a down to earth layman terms web site is what is needed.

Hubby was relieved that the phone interview applied in his case (fags and coffee definitely to hand, and that is just the OR!!)

Any way how come your smilies are working this eve? I am unable to change font/colour or add smilies

[Tau]

It must like me I suppose

Yours are working now anyway.

 

I am still waiting for the cheque so that we can get started on our B/R. Spoke to Egg on Saturday and they were very calm about it all, which surprised me after what one reads on theis site. Halifax of Scotland keep calling still :D wish they would make up their minds who they are gonna be. And tonight Geoff we are indesisive

Wish this bloomin cheque would arrive.

 

Anyway hope all goes according to plan on Thursday and I'm sure it will.

[reduk054]

Tau, you are great! Halifax of Scotland hahahah.

It is difficult raising the money prior to BR, it seems a little backwards if you ask me (I am sure someone will explain!), as if we were not in financial difficulty then we would not be considering BR, and now you want half a months mortgage!!!!! UPFRONT!!!!???

Now I am being a little flippant, as the debts far exceeded the BR fee, however it was a struggle, goodness knows how I will raise the money for the equitable interest on the house (no answers on a postacard please!!!)

It must be you Geoff, firstly your smilies work - I had to type mine in ;-)

and then Egg are being reasonable with you (and no one else!). What is the secret?

Red

[Gingerheid]

Did you get advise from the IP the OR's ex interest in the house?

[reduk054]

Gingerheid, the IP simply advised me to purchase my half and discussed with hubby the consequences of this purchase, and also that after 3 years he could (potentially) be put back onto the house as a named party. We discussed this immediately after the case but unfortunately the adrenelin caused by the morning's court appearance disguised my ability to think rationally. I suppose that the answer is to speak to the IP!

Thanks for question

Red

[Tau]

Glad to see you laughing red.

Dont know anything about buying your old mans bit of the house , so I'll shut up on that score.

Bugger me the Banl of Halifax have just called again. Oh well they might get it right one day. Poor souls....................Not :D

[Goldlady]

Hi red, interested to hear your story - we are in similar situation and I was advised to go BR over 18 months ago due to business related debts also. I have held back and made arrangements with creditors so far, because i do not want to lose my home. OH and I have between 10 and 30K of equity depending on whose valuation you take. We have always thought that receiver would base valuation on forced sale value which is substantially less than true market value. I have talked to lucky people who have gone BR and the house has never even been asked about. But I wish you every success and am interested to hear what does happen. My IP friend didn't seem to think it would be a problem. I seriously think though that the half of the equity you need to buy out should be based on how much you would get if OR auctioned it rather than if you put it on market with smell of fresh coffee and bread baking in the oven.

 

Linda

[reduk054]

Tau,

"Bugger me the Bank of Halifax have just called again. Oh well they might get it right one day."

Honestly, you could not make this up if you tried! The things that amuse us eh?

Guess I wont be tapping you up Tau to buy hubbys share then LOL!

[Gingerheid]

In reality the breathing space usually comes from

 

"If you have to take us to court to kick us out it will cost (a couple of thousand or so) and you'd have other expenses, but I can offer the value less a couple of thousand and you'll have the benefit of having the money faster.

[reduk054]

Gold lady, thank you for your mail and insight about BR. I think that if our debts had not been so high then we would have followed the same or similar route to the one which you have taken, and I hope that it works out for you. Are your arrangements part of an IVA or were your creditors simply satisfied that you were attempting to repay the debt? Sorry for being nosy. Also a very interesting slant regarding the value of the house if a sale was forced. Question is, am I allowed to/would it be advisable to ask the OR this? I suppose nothing ventured, nothing gained! With regard to your comment regarding selling the house with the smell of fresh bread/coffee following on from posts between Tau and myself, on Thursday, if a valuation were to be done on the house then it would be the delightful aroma of Amber leaf tobacco (bought at avery reasonable price from Belgium)!

Gingerhead, I understand the comments from your post, the LLoyds U-turn!

Red

[Goldlady]

Hi Red, My IP friend said I didn't have enough income to set up iva and advised me to go BR. But my OH did lots of negotiating with creditors and got all but one (Clydesdale) to freeze interest and accept substantially reduced payments on the basis that it was better than nothing. That was about 18 months ago - I have now asked them all to accept £1 each short term on advice of CAB as our secured loan (GE Money - NASTY people) was in arrears - still negotiating on that one. IP also said credit card people don't like IVAs as most of money goes to IP and they don't actually get their money until the end of the IVA.

 

I am sure you can talk to OR about the house - I would be interested to know how they value it. Do they just take your word for it? Another thing I have just learned which applies in my case is that when we bought house OH had a 9K grant from council on right to buy which means he owns more of the equity in the house than I do - I have spoken to solicitor about this and she says we can set up a trust which means if I do go BR I only own 2/3 of the equity and not half.

 

My house smells of tobacco too!

 

Linda

[Goldlady]

Have found out from a friend who had IVA that they got three independent valuations of his house and took the lowest figure.

[reduk054]

Hi Linda GoldLady, thank you for the research. Hubby had his interview this morning, and felt that the house issue went as well as it possibly could. We have very little equity in the house and a valuation was last done 6 months ago. Due to the low equity, the house will be dealt with by the OR in house (apparently, according to the OR, in some cases a specialist solicitor is used, which can cause havoc).

I have not spoken to the OR, but I am due some paperwork over the next week or so regarding buying hubbys equitable interest. The only trouble now is that the OR wants to sell our asset of a car which is in hubbys name, but this is the car I need in order to earn a living, and if they do sell it then I may as well just give them the keys to the house.

I am none too happy today!

Your OH did really well with the negotiations to your creditors, your OH must be patient and calm! I understand that companies dont like IVAs however it has to be what is best for you. No point in paying what you cant afford!

I will post again when I receive the paperwork about my share of the house or if there are any further developments.

THanks for keeping an eye out for me Goldlady!

Regards Red x

[Goldlady]

Red, unless it is a Ferrari they can;'t take the tools of your trade. Even if car is registered in hubby's name he is not necessarily legal owner. If it is going to stop you earning a living - or make it difficult you should be able to do something about this. If it is a normal sort of car I think you should question this.

[reduk054]

Goldlady, if it was a Ferrari, I would have zoomed off into the sunset. It is a normal car so will see what I can do. Thank you for advice!

[Tau]

Hi Red

If the OR does take the car, he may allow you to purchase one of lesser value, not from your funds but they will pay for it. Dont know how much they allow. You will need to emphasise the fact that it is the tool of your trade even though hubbies name is on the V5 document(log book).

Do you have to take the kids far to school, do you live in a rural area, anything that make a difference to the need of the car. You can see what Im getting at, it might make a difference.

What car do you have and whats it worth, if you dont mind me asking.

 

Sorry cant help with the request for funds to buy out hubbies half of the house, but the Royal Bank of Halifax seem to want all my dosh at the moment:-x 3 times they have phoned today:o

 

Good luck and keep well.

[Gingerheid]

The car is going to be a problem, as bankruptcy legislation really doesn't allow for bankrupts to provide other people with cars.

 

There is, on the face of it, no basis for exempting it as your husband clearly doesn't need it, and it is not a tool of his trade for the same reason. There is also no basis for allowing your husband a cheaper replacement, again because it is his bankruptcy and he doesn't need it.

 

This leads you to look at who actually paid for it. The registered keeper can indeed be different from the owner.

 

Was the car originally bought on credit? If yes whose name was the agreement in? How was it paid for? If from a bank account, whose? If it was a joint account was your husbands's car also paid for from it? If funds from a credit card were used, in whose name was the account held? Whose name is / names are on the insurance? If everything was done from joint accounts in joint names, in what proportions of income paid in were your income, his income, and tax credits and benefits? In whose primary name are any tax credit or child benefit claims?

 

Also, according to the Parkers website, how much is the car worth for a Private sale in poor condition?

[reduk054]

Gingerheid, thank you so much for the advice. Ironically when hubby returns to work (he has just had an op) this car would be the tool of his trade also. I have written to the OR and stated my case, as in order to earn a living I do need a reliable and reasonably modern car. I paid for the HP payments which ended about three months prior to BR, and insurance is in both names, and payments were from joint account. Working tax credits in my name, and I have been chief earner for over a year.

Looked at Parkers and on the BR form we overestimated the cost, however hubbys tele call said that he would be allowed a car of value £2k for his tool of the trade.

Believe me we are not being greedy, I need this car to earn a living or I will have splashed out a small fortune on advertising and phones and paperwork for nothing. I am so cross, and this is after a day of tears last week.

The OR had also said that I could buy out his share of the car, but in honesty i am not in a position to do this as i slogged my guts out in order to pay this debt off so that I could save this year to buy a new car next year. Sorry now I sound like I am whinging (well i am!! )

Tau, thank you for looking out for me, I know I am quoted as saying that BR was a good move for us, but since this all has kicked off I am not sure. I feel really down, and as if I am being punished as well. Car is a corsa worth according to Parkers about 4k in poor state (although between you and me its in a fab state!!)

Sorry to hear that RBof H are still harrassing you, are you ignoring them at present because of their identity crisis? Or toying with them (you give me your DOB and I will give you mine etc...) Keep up with the good work.

Red

[Tau]

Hi red

Dont let things get you down, there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. It might not seem like it at the moment but it will get brighter as the weeks go by.

You have done great in getting this far and its only the nitty gritty left to go now. It will all be over very soon and you will be able to rebuild your lives once again.

We have two cars and I am wondering how the OR will see these, mind you we are both going BR so Im hoping he will treat each case on its own merit, My car is worth about 2k but needs some work doing to it to get it up to that sort of value and the wifes is worth 1k at the very most.

He may say that I dont need a car as I can use the motorbike instead. Dont fancy doing another winter on the bike, did all that when I was younger.

 

Will be down your way next weekend to see tha sister in law in Heathfield. So put the kettle on and I'll pop in for a cuppa :)

[gizmo111]

Glad things are getting sorted REd - Nice one to get there ahead of the banks charging order;)