advice re bankruptcy

DON79

Hi everyone. first time on here but just looking for some advice.

I am unfortunately in debt to the tune of £40,000 or possibly a bit more. The problem is I am only able to work part time 12 hours a week and I have two little boys aged 2yrs 3 mths and 1 yr. I am dealing through the cccs but wondered if I would possibly be better off going bankrupt? It is going to take me years and years and years to clear debts at this rate and it is highly unlikely I can increase payments over the years to come. The thing that worries me most is that I will lose my house, which is mortgaged. My husband unfortunately has debts of his own and he is able to cope paying his own debts and is keeping the mortgage payments up to date which is great. At the moment the house is valued at £104,000. It was bought for £102,000 but the current early settlement on the mortgage is £108,000. So I wondered whether I would lose the house considering there is no equity?

Do you think this is something that I should do?

And how do I start the process? Any advice, please?



thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction.

tigerfeet2006

Hi and welcome to the board.

As I said in your other thread we can not advise you to go BR as we are not qualifyed and do not have all the facts. Call CCCS and ask them if it is a viable option for you. If they yes then we will help and support you through it all.

Once you have spoken to CCCS and they have advised you ring your local County Court an dask what their system is appointment or walk in. You make the appointment. They send you the forms or you can fill them in online. You go to the court with your forms and pay £495 and you petition for your BR. You may get a remission on your £150 court fee's.

That is the potted version and it is a little more complicated than that but you must ring CCCS first.

Edited to say if you have no equity in your house then your DH may have the option to buy your Benificial Interest (BI) for £1 plus around £250 costs.

Have a read through this

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=01_bankruptcy

DON79

Thank you for your reply, I just really don't want to lose our home which is why I haven't done it before and also couldn't afford before, hope to get a bonus from my work in March which should hopefully cover the fees. things not going well really. :-(

tigerfeet2006

((hugs))

If you are advised that BR is an option then you would stop paying your creditors and save the money towards your BR.

DON79

I just hope can keep my job and they don't shut us down but with 4 ltsb branches and 1 big & 1 sml halifax - I don't think it looks good really.

I take it you can go bankrupt and still be working and have an income? I didn't know if the OR would consider you to be not suitable for bankruptcy if you do have an income? And would they take my husbands income into account even though he has his own debts and is paying the mortgage?

Thank you for your replies.

stubie

Hi DON79,

I don't think it looks good anywhere at the moment, so you're not the only one worried about their job.

Yes you can go BR with a full or part time job, its you going BR not your OH, his/her financial affairs are theirs. The OR will want to know what contributions you husband makes to the house hold.

debt_doctor

Hi,
As Tiger says, you should be able to keep your house ( so long as housing costs are reasonable, ie your mort is similar to what your property would cost to rent )

Would the Halifax allow you to still work for them if you was BR ? Also if you were made redundant your red pay would be claimed as an assett.

DD

DON79

Hi, I have told my boss and HR about my financial situation at the moment and they have been great about it. Not sure about the bankruptcy thing tho so would need to check but I just don't think can go on paying back just £65 pm on what I owe, debts would probably die with me at that rate! which would solve the problem!

Mortgage payments are £715 on £108,000 incl repayment fees for a 3 bed end of terrace.

Also I owe to the Halifax on loan and cr card, they were absolutely horrible to me even tho i staff and i got upwards of six calls a day til I changed my hp so that they couldn't call.

DON79

Hi, sorry i feel very ignorant but when you are declared bankrupt do you still have to make any monthly payments to the OR? I read another post on here that suggested you would still have to pay monthly. Thanks.

chelseabun_3

Hi Don,
Don't worry, these are questions we've all asked, some of us very recently (I've only been here a week or so myself!!)

When you go BR, if that's what you decide to do, the OR will look at your monthly budget in a lot of detail. If you have over £99 surplus, after all your allowable expenses, then you would get an IPA which would mean you pay some money to the OR every month for 3 years. It would be recalculated if your circumstances change.

That's a really, really simplistic explanation - others on here are more knowledgeable than me!

CBx;)

tigerfeet2006

As CB says if after all your expenses have been taken into account you have a surplus of £99 then the OR will impose an IPA. The more surplus you have the bigger the percentage you will pay, from 50-70% of the surplus. This will last for 36 payments and can be altered if your circumstances change, either up, down or suspended. You have to inform the OR of any changes in your income within 21 days.

A little light reading from Fermi's 'Useful topics....' thread

IPO / IPA (Income Payment Orders and Income Payment Agreements) (IS)

FAQ - Income Payment Orders / Agreements ( IPO / IPA ) (IS)

OR's Case Help Manual - Income Payments Agreements (IS)

OR's Case Help Manual - Income Payments Orders (IS)

OR's Technical Manual - IPAs Assessment of real disposable income (IS)

Nil tax (NT) coding/IPAs (MSE)

Income Payments Calculator (Excel spreadsheet) (IS)