Worried Parent

ceeforcat

Not used to asking questions on these forums but, here goes.

Put simply, my daughter has debts of around £5000 from four sources. These are likely to increase fairly dramatically as two have been sold to debt collection agencies and we all know what they are like. She has initiated a payment plan with CCCS but has now fallen pregnant and, put simply, has no income whatsoever. She has no assets whatsoever to speak of. It would appear from latest correspondence that court proceedings are imminent.

In addition she resides with her boyfriend in the Republic of Ireland, partly to flee the stresses of her indebtedness and the constant stream of letters that flow from these organisations. She has recently been diagnosed with depression – I now know why!

Nevertheless, who knows what will happen and, like any parent, she is more that welcome to reside with us in the UK - the address held by her various creditors. I am of the opinion that it is time to address the problem head on. I would like the option to return 'home' to be available to her.

Should she go bankrupt and how easy is it for someone in her position?

How will the application be viewed by the courts?

Is it too late?

What is the initial step?

Many thanks in advance.

tigerfeet2006

The first thing she should initially do is ring up CCCS again and have a chat with them about her options.

Which is her official address? Yours? Or in the ROI?

If it is yours then she will have to come home to petition. If it is the ROI then I think they have a completely diferent system to us and we don't have experiance of it to be able to advise.

But if you tell her to have a chat with CCCS she can't go far wrong.

ceeforcat

Official address here - debts registered at that address also. Probably believed that she is untraceable in ROI and she is probably correct until she claims any sort of benefit . Ultimately she will be living there. As all debts are in UK I will ensure that UK address is used on any petition - it is for the CCCS

fiveyearplan

How much is each debt and are the credit cards? Is she in a position to offer full and final settlement of them at a severely reduced amount? If she wants to negotiate she should start at 10% of the debt and she could settle it all for 30% especially if she told them her circumstances. If they went to CCJ they would only get a payment that she could afford anyway - like maybe £2 per month.

BR would be an option though if she couldn't do the above.

deedee_3

Have a read of this thread as well

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1385275

If she can hang on it might be a good idea for her.

creditpunch

You beat me to it DeeDee

dalip

I was just thinkng the same thing:D

ceeforcat

England and Wales only I believe - so not appropriate I am afraid.

FraudBuster

Be aware of CIFAS:

CIFAS is the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service with 270 Members spread across banking, credit cards, asset finance, retail credit, mail order, insurance, savings and investments, telecommunications, factoring, and share dealing.
Members share information about identified frauds in the fight to prevent further fraud.

http://www.cifas.org.uk/

maxmycardagain

she should marry her BF asap, and live happily ever after

(with his surname)

kessik

If your daughter wants to deal with her situation she will need to contact her creditors in the UK. If she does nothing and tries to avoid paying by staying in Ireland (not suggesting she is btw!) her creditors will find her. A relation of mine tried to do this in reverse years ago, before the EU even, by moving to UK to leave Irish electricity board debts behind and they found him, after three years and made him pay. That was before the internet. Debt companies are unstoppable I've found.
I think your daughter is lucky to have a supportive mum like you.