Hello and some clarification please...

abinitio

Hi there,

Firstly, sorry for the long post.

Due to seperation and large debt issues my wife and I are looking at bankruptcy as the only real option we have to make fresh starts.

Out shortfall liabilities I estimate are in the region of £70,000+

I am employed and we have our own company. Own company was doing well til mid last year when work dropped off. We have some equipment on lease which we can no longer afford. When we took the lease in 2007 work was growimg and things were looking up. The shortfall from the lease after the lease company sell the equipment will be approx £12,000.(included in the total above).
As for my employed work, I was an agency driver and again 2007 had enough work for the most part but 2008 was a killer. I have a full time reasonably well paid position now but it's too late to dig ourselves out, plus still can't really make monthly payments to keep up with everything anyway.
We have a house but its severly in neg equity due to mortgage, two secured loans (which we could afford when taken out) and now two court charges on, attached to CCJ's.

We got out of depth merely living, peter to paul and all that and not realising until it was too late, exactly how much credit we were using.

Some questions I have:

If I open a co-op account as advised now, pre-BR can we have my wages go into it and DD's for gas etc come out from now and through BR?

We are (seperatly due to seperation) looking at moving into rented accomodation as neither can afford the house on our own. Would the OR be ok with us stopping paying the secured loans and mort now to save for deposits etc as well as the BR fees?

Is it best to just wait for one of the secured lenders to begin reposession proceedings rather than just handing the keys back on moving into rented places?

We have two cars (one value £1000 and the other £2000), I need mine for work (start anytime from 2am til 4pm and there is no public transport where we live or will be living) and my wife uses hers for school runs(again no public trans options) and shopping.

Its been a difficult decision to make and I will be speaking with CCCS for 'formal' advice before going ahead but in many was I feel relieved that we have decided between us that it is probably the best option to start fresh etc. I just felt a bit like a failure really, letting my family down but having put my pride aside I feel in the long run it will benefit my family far more than trying to scrape through for the next umpteen years. Will never take equipment on lease again either or seek credit in the future for anything other than a mortgage.

It's just a shame with all the debt we don't have flash cars, PS3's, exotic holidays etc etc, we have never even had a holiday, let alone an exotic one.:D

I'd be interested if any of you top stars on here can help with my queries (I probably will have more) and any other advice you can offer.

I am sure some of the answers will be in this forum and I have read many many posts but my brain is buzzing so I guess I'm asking old questions again.

blind-as-a-bat_2

abinitio wrote: »

Hi there,

Firstly, sorry for the long post.

Due to seperation and large debt issues my wife and I are looking at bankruptcy as the only real option we have to make fresh starts.

Out shortfall liabilities I estimate are in the region of £70,000+

I am employed and we have our own company. Own company was doing well til mid last year when work dropped off. We have some equipment on lease which we can no longer afford. When we took the lease in 2007 work was growimg and things were looking up. The shortfall from the lease after the lease company sell the equipment will be approx £12,000.(included in the total above).
As for my employed work, I was an agency driver and again 2007 had enough work for the most part but 2008 was a killer. I have a full time reasonably well paid position now but it's too late to dig ourselves out, plus still can't really make monthly payments to keep up with everything anyway.
We have a house but its severly in neg equity due to mortgage, two secured loans (which we could afford when taken out) and now two court charges on, attached to CCJ's.

We got out of depth merely living, peter to paul and all that and not realising until it was too late, exactly how much credit we were using.

Some questions I have:

If I open a co-op account as advised now, pre-BR can we have my wages go into it and DD's for gas etc come out from now and through BR? There is allways a risk opening a bank account pre BR that it may get frozen, but the Co-Op seem the best to sort it quickly if it does happen, if you have no choice but to set up the new account pre BR

We are (seperatly due to seperation) looking at moving into rented accomodation as neither can afford the house on our own. Would the OR be ok with us stopping paying the secured loans and mort now to save for deposits etc as well as the BR fees?yes its fine to stop paying if your letting the house (or security) go, but be warned they will chase you until the house is no longer yours

Is it best to just wait for one of the secured lenders to begin reposession proceedings rather than just handing the keys back on moving into rented places?its best to hand the keys back to the mortgage company, but most surrender forms have a clause that you agree to be held liable for any shortfall, dont sign it after BR, and it may be best if you dont sign t at all

We have two cars (one value £1000 and the other £2000), I need mine for work (start anytime from 2am til 4pm and there is no public transport where we live or will be living) and my wife uses hers for school runs(again no public trans options) and shopping. They are both good reasons to be treated as exempt, but there is no guarentees regarding cars an BR

Its been a difficult decision to make and I will be speaking with CCCS for 'formal' advice before going ahead but in many was I feel relieved that we have decided between us that it is probably the best option to start fresh etc. I just felt a bit like a failure really, letting my family down but having put my pride aside I feel in the long run it will benefit my family far more than trying to scrape through for the next umpteen years. Will never take equipment on lease again either or seek credit in the future for anything other than a mortgage.

It's just a shame with all the debt we don't have flash cars, PS3's, exotic holidays etc etc, we have never even had a holiday, let alone an exotic one.:D

I'd be interested if any of you top stars on here can help with my queries (I probably will have more) and any other advice you can offer.

I am sure some of the answers will be in this forum and I have read many many posts but my brain is buzzing so I guess I'm asking old questions again.

Hope that helps

skylight

abinitio wrote: »

Some questions I have:

If I open a co-op account as advised now, pre-BR can we have my wages go into it and DD's for gas etc come out from now and through BR? Yes - many here open the Co-Op account solely for drawing that line under the old accounts and ready for BR. I personally used my account for many months before my BR. The OR is not normally interested in basic accounts like this.

We are (seperatly due to seperation) looking at moving into rented accomodation as neither can afford the house on our own. Would the OR be ok with us stopping paying the secured loans and mort now to save for deposits etc as well as the BR fees? Yes. If you are planning on giving up the property then why throw money after it - its a waste of money. Again, this is something that many here do for the same purposes.

Is it best to just wait for one of the secured lenders to begin reposession proceedings rather than just handing the keys back on moving into rented places? Doesn't matter from a debt point of view. Sometimes handing the keys back can get the ball rolling a bit quicker.

We have two cars (one value £1000 and the other £2000), I need mine for work (start anytime from 2am til 4pm and there is no public transport where we live or will be living) and my wife uses hers for school runs(again no public trans options) and shopping. Yours should be AOK as you need it for work. School runs though is not neccessarily important enough for your wife to be able to keep her car. Gather as much info as she will need to argue her case (costs of bus pass, taxi, associated timetables, distances, compare costs to running car etc).

And don't feel guilty about it. Things happen.

abinitio

Thank you for your help guys.

I love this forum, full of support and answers to all those questions from people in similar boats.

Another question, is the procedure, paperwork, soa or OR interview any different if you petition yourself or a supplier does it for you?

Obviously I know it saves us the fee but just wondering if its any different either way?

Thanks

thefuzzyone

The only difference is that you will most likely have a face-to-face interview if a creditor petitions you.

DON79

Hi fuzzy!