Please advise - new to bankruptcy

Apolonation

sandywindsor wrote: »

hi apolonation,
I was unemployed when I went bankrupt (and still am until next monday!) the court fees of £150 were the only items i didn't have to pay I still had to find the £345 Br fees (OR). As Rich said the judge will require that you have sought some financial advice...but you have taken the first step to realisation! Debt cannot be ignored.

XXX

Sandy

Thanks Sandy it's really encouraging to here from someone in a similiar circumstance that is on the other side and successful, I'm really pleased for you, good luck in your new job! And thanks so much for your encouragement.

Apolonation

tommo20 wrote: »

Hi Apolonation,
You have found this site and that is the first step on the road to getting things back under control. Everything you need to know is on here if you do a little digging.
It has already been said that you must contact one of the advice lines. Use the ones quoted in this thread. They are registered charities and will give you UNBIASED help. I can't tell you how much better you will feel after you have spoken to someone and started the process of getting control back.
Something you could consider in the meantime is writing to all your creditors telling them that you are seeking advice and will be in contact with them with a plan as soon as you have completed your interview and are better informed regarding your position - if it is advised you petition for BR you have no need to communicate with them further - Be sure to put your new contact address and ask them not to phone as it is distressing to you and your family, ask them to communicate by letter only. They certainly do not have the right to make 'local enquiries' with your neighbours and I would mention this in your letter and tell them you are seeking legal advice on the matter and you will be informing the original creditor of this behaviour (I assume here that some of your debts would have been passed on to debt collected agencies and it is they and not the Banks etc who are harrassing your neighbours) Send them by registered (signed for) post cost around £1.08.
They may not all reply and the ones that do will probably reply to your old address but having done something will make you feel better.
Start a diary or something and keep records this helps to make you feel a little more on top of the situation. I did this and the flood of letters and demands became a manageable stream.
You are right they are bullies but they have to be because they have no real powers - once you realise this it becomes a lot easier to deal with them.
It costs close to £500.00 to petition for B.R this is paid on the day you attend court. If you log on to www.insolvency.gov.uk you can find out how to get the fee waived.
I might have got this wrong but in the back of my mind something tells me you cant get a student loan included in a Bankruptcy petition...worth checking.
Good luck

Thanks for your reply that website is my next port of call, thanks for lining everything out so clearly also.

CCCS_Matthew

Hi there.

I can only second the advice you've already had. You certainly need to discuss your situation with somone in a bit more detail to look at the best way to deal with the situation.

On reading your information so far, it does appear that bankruptcy is going to be the best way forward, but for obvious reasons I cannot advise you without knowing more about your situation. If you would like to book a telephone based appointment with ourselves, I would suggest you to call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111. All of our advice is completely free and confidential.

What I would say at this stage, is that if you are considering bankruptcy many judges will require you to show proof that without the debts, you could still cover the cost of living. On that basis you would have to show that your current expenditure (not including debts) does not exceed your income. Whilst this can be extremely hard when you're on JSA - it can be done.

As already mentioned, should you go bankrupt, you're student loan would not be included within bankruptcy. Having said that, you will only be required to make repayments once you are earning over 15k a year (assuming it's a new style student loan you have). Even at that stage it's only 9% per annum of what is earnt over 15k so it's likely to be minimul.

If you are unemployed, the bankruptcy fee is £345 which is non negotiable. Whilst it's a lot of money, there are sometimes trust funds that maybe able to help, although in the current climate they seem to be overwhelmed with applications. If you have no means of getting the fee together, my advice would be to perhaps see if family or friends could club together and help out?

Your next step is to give us a call, and we can help draw up a budget discuss your options and point you in the right direction.

Hope this helps for now,
Matthew

blind-as-a-bat_2

Apolonation, you also need to read this, and show it to your parents

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

The way those companies are behaving is in severe breach of the above, and is unlawfull herrasment under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

I suggest you get your parents to speak to there local trading standards ASAP to see if they will help stop this.

Apolonation

Hi everyone, and thank you for your reply and that number Matthew, I spoke to the consumer helpline number and they have booked me an appointment to call me back in about a week. They advised in the meantime that I speak to all the people I owe money to and ask them to freeze any interest.

I was waiting until I could afford to request a credit report, but decided to search out old letters and I think managed to find all the people I owe money to. I have contacted everyone today and most seemed ok that they will speak to me after the appointment. I feel so much better knowing that everyone I owe money to has been spoken to, and there shouldn't be anyone chasing me anymore until I have spoken with the CCCS.

One said the bank wouldn't freeze interest and it was them that would have to make the decision not the agents. I said I didn't think they would mind as I'd spoken to them prior and it was them that had referred me to the agency, and said I'd need to speak to them about the interest. The agents then back peddled and said it was unlikely the bank would freeze interest but he would ask them.

One of the other agents for another bank told me they didn't deal with the CCCS and wouldn't intereact with them if I came to a descision with them... They also said I should make a payment now to put the account on hold, he said I would need to make a token payment today. By now because of the confidence I have got from speaking to everyone here and booking that appointment I was a bit happier that I am doing the right thing, so I told them that's up to them but I would not be making any payments to them until I have spoken with the CCCS.When I said this he said ok we will call me after the appointment, so that seemed to work OK.

One of the agencies have me owing £291.00 I asked them to check this as I was sure it was more, and they did and told me that's what I owe them. I will wait and see until I get the credit report, as I'm certain it was closer to £2,000 - so if that's the case I will owe about £14,000. They are convinced it is £291 at the moment though - despite previously writing me for more - so I'm not really sure what to do with these at the moment.

So in total I owe a fraction under £12,000 according to todays calls, but I think it will likely be £14,000 when I get my credit report - and confirm the above agency has the figure wrong. This doesn't include the £6,000 I owe to the SLC but having spoken to the CCCS operator today he said that doesn't get treated with the other debts, as it's a new style type, and will be income linked - so they will never chase me for it, and only take money for it when I earn over £15,000 a year.

Also - one of the biggest debts I have is for about £4,000 - this is with a bank and the original debt was made about 8 years ago, it was the first debt that started me down the wrong line. The agents that were chasing this I spoke with and they've sent it back to the bank, which has since changed hands. I called the new bank up and was told the following... They would not accept any part payment at all, they would only accept payment in full. But they will not be actively pursuing me for the money, as it is in their archives. They did say that they retain the right to send it to a debt collection agency at some future point though, which just makes me even more keen to sort things out - just because they won't be chasing immediately doesn't mean it doesn't exist I guess.

I'm going to give all this information to the people I speak with next week the professionals and hopefully it will make more sense.

I'd just like to thank you all for your support - I wouldn't have made these steps if it wasn't for the site. I've made attempts at contacting some of the people I owe in the past but never as comprehensively as this - and never with the goal insight that within a month or two it might well be a smaller part of my life than the massive part it is now, or possibly even, completey solved.

I feel like a weight is already being lifted now that I might be able to get some sort of control over the debts and hopefully be free of them at some point.

So, thankyou all! - I'll update again when I have spoke to the CCCS people.

tigerfeet2006

Apolonation have a look at Martins article about CRA's you can get them for free .

Make sure you check all 3 agencies as different creditors report to different agencies.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score

Apolonation

Thanks tiger, I didn't realise there were three I was just going to contact Experian so that's a big help. One question I have is does the BR ever get removed from your credit file, or is it possible for other people to see it forever, e.g. in 10 years +

thanks

tigerfeet2006

It will be on your CRF's for 6 years and then will drop off. Once you have been discharged from BR then you will have to check your files and make sure that everything has been noted properly,there is details on here how to do it, but that is jumping the gun a bit for now:D.

Your bankruptcy will be searchable on the London Gazette for time in memorable.

philnicandamy

Earliest listing in the london gazette for bankruptcy was mid 1800's..........I really really need to get out more :rolleyes:

Apolonation

Thanks again for the advice. I've been reading the forums and have realised I need to account for the debts, I haven't really been reckless as such, as most went on clothes and University expenses, and a failed business attempt a long time ago when I was 18 - which was my first loan of about 4,000 - which I have no records for now.

Q1. The debts that date back 5+ years, (about 80%) of my debts, does the fact that I have not got any documents that prove what I spent the money on, disadvantage me? (One was a loan, and there were also two credit cards).

Q2. The only recent debt I have apart from the pay day loan debts that account for now more than £700 combined, is my bank account that is about £3000 (about £500 is charges). Will I need bank statements to provide to people that consider my BR? I haven't got any, so if so, given that my account is closed, will I be able to get them from the bank still? If so again... then how far back would I need to get them from?

Thanks again for your advice