Turmoil

jo70

Hi all. We have been seeing a non-profit debt counsellor in Birmingham from thr Birmingham Law Centre, a very, very nice lady. We had arranged a final appointment with her on Monday to tie up loose ends etc, however she now can't see us until September.

She rang us this afternoon to tell us this. We are having phone calls galore. The letters are coming thick and fast and the Halifax are now threatening the bailiffs.

Our lady has said to us that when creditors call, tell them we are petitioning for bankruptcy, and for us to ring Birmingham courts ourselves to file for bankruptcy ourselves.

Both of us are shi**ing ourselves, can anyone offer any advice?

Our eldest kids-only 14 are taking phone calls from creditors "Mom and Dad not in" etc.

Oh is a self-employed builder, wages consist part cash, part legit-this is all truth. I am a caterer paid monthly. Bankruptcy fees are in hand.

What the hell do we do?

With many thanks to you all Jo70 and bestest OH

fermi

Do you have CCJ's that you haven't been paying?

If not, then threats of bailiffs in the near future are a load of rubbish. They would need to get a CCJ first and you would then need to default on it. That would take months.

Have you started the forms?

betterlatethannever

Aw Jo, its rough isn't it.

Ignore the phone totally if you can, change your number if its a problem.
They like to threaten Baliffs, but its rare they carry this threat out. More likely they will pass the debt to an agency. Just in case though, do not answer the door and don't let the kids answer the door, unless you know whos there.

You can get more immediate advice from one of these.


Your local CAB Office and ask to speak to a 'money advisor'.
The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) - Tel: 0800 138 1111
National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000

Nat debtline tend to be the best for advice now as the others have a waiting list.

How soon can you go BR.?
Don't tell your creditors of your BR plans though. If you do have to talk to them then tell them your taking advice and will be in touch.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes.. x BLTN

jo70

hi fermi and thank you No ccjs yet! halifax just sent a letter threatening various things bailiffs mentioned. A month behind with car payment overdraft account not allowed to use. C cards not allowed to use(for ages). Do we ring courts or not? Actually don't think we have much choice.

Thanks Jo & OH

fermi

As I said then, bailiffs or any other threats are months away, and they shouldn't get involved even then as long as you don't ignore anything from the court.

At the moment they are just trotting out all the standard threats as a tactic to put pressure on you.:rolleyes:

Phone the courts to see how long it would be before you can go BR. Some will post you the forms, or if you decide to you can do them online.

Do you have the money saved to petition?

jo70

hi fermi yes we have money for the petition. We are also in receipt of WFTC could we save cash regarding court payments?

Many many thanks A & J

fermi

Do you get child tax credits?

jo70

hi fermi yes we do and again thank you

fermi

It's possible that you may not be able to get remission of the £150 based on one of the permitted benefits then.

The permitted benefits are:

• Income-Support
• Income-Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• State Pension Guarantee Credit
• Working Tax Credit but not in receipt of Child Tax Credit

It's still possible you might be waived the £150 court fee (or part of it) based on your household income, but that is more complicated to work out.

Court fee remission and forms.

HMCS - Court fees do you have to pay them? (And guidance on completing the fee remission form). (pdf)

HMCS - Form EX160 - Application for a fee remission (pdf)

Example application for a fee remission based on gross annual income - EX160 (Thanks to NE Derbyshire CAB)

Example application for a fee remission based on permitted benefits - EX160 (Thanks to NE Derbyshire CAB)

cazjenki

I know its hard but you will get though it all in the end. Is there no way you could do the forms online yourselves if you are sure BR is what you want, I got help with mine but there is quite a few people on here who filled there own in and set the date for court. I know how bad it is having the kids know whats going on with the phone calls, my 2 where 10 and 12 when I was going through the worst of it and would question me on why I wasn't answering the phone AGAIN, in the end up I told them what was happening and for a while one of them thought it would be funny to say it was the bank from time to time when my mam was on the phone, little !!!!!! lol. One thing I know now is I'm ever so glad I got it over with and my sons are much happier knowing their mam is happier. Good luck with the future.

DebS_2-3

Birmingham are Ok. You can go in or book up over the phone. Only about 7 days from ringing to court date. They are OK there. But they do trot backwards & forwards & examin your bank statements closely if claiming the £150 off. The wicked witch behind the counter tried to argue that they needed a more uptodate statement. She gave in when I pointed out that in her hands were April Mays & Junes & since it was only July 4th and they don't take statements from online ('cos no address on them) - then what the hell was I supposed to do? Doh:rolleyes: .

Good luck. You'll be fine. The OR is nice as well.