struggling with choices,(bankruptcy)

PSNautical

hi all,

sorry is this has been posted before, but i searched and couldnt find anything on here about my questions, so here goes!:

ive been struggling with money since being made redunandant and having to take a lower paid job,

i finally relented on the advice of my ex wife (who im still friendly with) and contact the CCCS who were fantastic and very understanding,

basically, after i talked to them and filled in the online forms, they suggested i make myself bankrupt.

now,

to my main questions

1) i dont want to sound naive (sp) but what is an "asset"? regarding items i own..is it something over a certain monetary value? or is it literally everything i dont "need to survive"

2) ive just moved into a privatly rented flat this month, if my BR applicatiomn is acepted and my account frozen, obv. i still need to pay rent and council tax, how can i accomplish this with my accounts frozen? if i pre emp the bankruptcy and open a co op cashminder, will this also get frozen? will it seem "suspicious" in the eyes of the official reciever?

3) are the official recievers and court staff generally sympathetic to people in my siuation? or are they generally complete ogres with no human feeling?

obv. when i go through with this, im going to go through the CCCS service, as they really have been amazing and i cant thank them enough.

thanks for any help, and apologies if there are any repeat questions

betterlatethannever

PSNautical wrote: »

to my main questions

1) i dont want to sound naive (sp) but what is an "asset"? regarding items i own..is it something over a certain monetary value? or is it literally everything i dont "need to survive" An asset is anything of 'high' value, but everday items are not assets. If you have a car it 'may' be an asset.
Most people have little or no assets, but items such as a 2k TV may well be investigated and would need to be noted on your forms.

2) ive just moved into a privatly rented flat this month, if my BR applicatiomn is acepted and my account frozen, obv. i still need to pay rent and council tax, how can i accomplish this with my accounts frozen? if i pre emp the bankruptcy and open a co op cashminder, will this also get frozen? will it seem "suspicious" in the eyes of the official reciever?
Ok, this is awkward, but, what i did was tell my landlord that i was changing bank accounts (not a lie) and would he accept a cheque from my father for this months rent until i could set up a new SO. That worked for me.
Contact the council and they can send you a card to pay CT with. You just pop into a post office, or ceratin shops and pay it in cash.
3) are the official recievers and court staff generally sympathetic to people in my siuation? or are they generally complete ogres with no human feeling?The court staff are nearly always sympathetic and kind. The ORs are usually a little more umm 'official' but are rarely downright nasty.

obv. when i go through with this, im going to go through the CCCS service, as they really have been amazing and i cant thank them enough.

thanks for any help, and apologies if there are any repeat questions

Hi, hope some of those comments help.
Try contacting your LA or LL and letting them know that you may have a problem for one month, due to changing bank accounts. I'm sure they'll be able to come to some agreement with you.

RichOneday_2

Hi PS,

1. Assets are pretty much anything of significant value. But you won't lose household goods and furniture unless you have a particularly expensive item eg a £5k sofa. Cars are normally taken unless worth no more than £2k and essential for work. But remember most cars worth more than that are often on HP, so may have no worth at all. In that case its likely to be down to the HP company whether you can keep the car.

2. If you open a co-op account pre BR it may or may not get frozen. If it is you should be able to get the OR to unfreeze pretty quickly. However, best to have cash to cover a month's expenses if you can manage it.

3. Officials and judges are usually very symathetic and nice people. The OR is usually OK unless he suspects some wrongdoing.

PSNautical

betterlatethannever wrote: »

Hi, hope some of those comments help.
Try contacting your LA or LL and letting them know that you may have a problem for one month, due to changing bank accounts. I'm sure they'll be able to come to some agreement with you.

im going to dig out the tenancy agreement and see if it has any bankruptcy clauses,

the property was stated as being "no restrictions" when let, (IE dss*although i work full time*, credit problems etc) so i hope they will go along with it.

i also hope to have some cash set asside to deal with at least a months rent by the time i submit the BR. more pertinently, have rent paid at least a month in advance to give me a months free rent, if that makes sense

PSNautical

RichOneday wrote: »

Hi PS,

1. Assets are pretty much anything of significant value. But you won't lose household goods and furniture unless you have a particularly expensive item eg a £5k sofa. Cars are normally taken unless worth no more than £2k and essential for work. But remember most cars worth more than that are often on HP, so may have no worth at all. In that case its likely to be down to the HP company whether you can keep the car.

2. If you open a co-op account pre BR it may or may not get frozen. If it is you should be able to get the OR to unfreeze pretty quickly. However, best to have cash to cover a month's expenses if you can manage it.

3. Officials and judges are usually very symathetic and nice people. The OR is usually OK unless he suspects some wrongdoing.

the car is fully paid up (owned by me) with no secure debt on it,

i just checked on parkers guide, and its listd as around 1200 quid, its a very modest car, and id be utterly flabbergasted if they took it off me, as i also need it to get to work

also as another question,

do the OR people send someone round to your home to investigate your household goods,

i mean, there no armani suits, ten grand sofas, or 2 grand plasma tvs (dont even own or watch any TV heh)

also, if anyone knows their stance on personal computers?

would they take it if its over a certain value, could i argue that it has "sensitive" information on it, therefore couldnt really be sold on, itd have to be destroyed?

RichOneday_2

No, no personal visits.

A computer is a normal everyday household good.

skylight

PSNautical wrote: »

the car is fully paid up (owned by me) with no secure debt on it,

i just checked on parkers guide, and its listd as around 1200 quid, its a very modest car, and id be utterly flabbergasted if they took it off me, as i also need it to get to work You'd think! You still have to list it as an asset obviously and make a big point about you needing it for work. They are not likely to take it (no work=no money etc) - but there are a lot of threads here about ORs and Cars and the two do not mix well....

also as another question,

do the OR people send someone round to your home to investigate your household goods, No. Never. Not at all, so don't worry.

i mean, there no armani suits, ten grand sofas, or 2 grand plasma tvs (dont even own or watch any TV heh)

also, if anyone knows their stance on personal computers?

would they take it if its over a certain value, could i argue that it has "sensitive" information on it, therefore couldnt really be sold on, itd have to be destroyed?No such thing. ORs are not daft and wiping or removing a HDD before resale or even you having to hand it over it not impossible and expected by them. How old is it? How did you purchase it? If a lowish value then not even worth mentioning. Check out Ebay for comparable quotes.

Hello there!

PSNautical

skylight wrote: »

Hello there!

my computer is just someting i built myself over the years, a bit of a "hobby" computer,

probably not worth over 800 or so.

see, this is one of the things that confuses me about assett value,

say if i bought something for 1000 a year ago, should i list it? or take it as rote that its not worth that now, and not bother..

is there some "at or over this certain value .." i should be taking into account when listing assets?

just for clarification, i intend to be honest wit the OR and court people,

im no fraud and i accept its (the debt) half my fault

skylight

Problem with not listing stuff, is that it is traceable. So if you bought something from comet, its going to appear on your credit card statement (if you bought it that way). If its recent (ish) and of a high value, the OR is going to want to know what it is.

There is no maximums/minimums on values of assets. Household essentials - kitchen appliances, beds etc are not assets.

PSNautical

skylight wrote: »

Problem with not listing stuff, is that it is traceable. So if you bought something from comet, its going to appear on your credit card statement (if you bought it that way). If its recent (ish) and of a high value, the OR is going to want to know what it is.

There is no maximums/minimums on values of assets. Household essentials - kitchen appliances, beds etc are not assets.

recentish, in the past year or so, say?

how far can i expect them to delve back into my finances on such things as credit cards, bank accounts etc?

thanks for the info so far guys, i like to be as well armed knowledge wise as i can be before i take the dive so to speak, and there is no better info than form those people that have already been through it!:beer:

skylight

On the surface, they go back about 2 years. But they can go back further if they wish. Normally they look at 2 years ish and delve deeper if they have concerns - like deliberately syphoning off money etc. Most of the time they look and leave unless there is something they can claim back or realise.