The diary of the bankrupt

dalip

Change all dd for utilities over to the co-op account asap. The rest let them go. Your mobile you can include in your bc if you want(contract)if not keep paying.Does that help?.dx

Lensman_2

MyMoneyTime wrote: »

The decision is made - we are going BR - although I still have the hope a fairy godmother will appear and it won't be necessary :rolleyes:

I am about to cancel direct debits but could you please advise on what, if any, I should keep going and just have enough money in the account to cover them - OH is up for cancelling it all but I am undecided on things like a TV licence where we will need one when we rent so why not just pay it??


Mortgage - obviously cancel
Sec Loan - obviously cancel
Credit cards aren't direct debit but I obviously won't pay them
Council Tax - assume I cancel as we won't be in the house anyway for much longer. Advise them as soon as you have moved that the propery is empty. You should get 6 months free, depending on the council. It might be worth paying April's to keep the peace for this.
Child Trust Funds - assume the money will stay in their acc and we can reinstate when we are settled Pass.
Mobile - do we just keep paying and tell them we have moved and they need never know? Yes, if you want to keep them. If not, stop paying and the debt goes in your BR.
Car Ins - surely we have to keep this going or it will be void. Correct. Check T&Cs carefully for an anti BR clause. They may need the remainder of the premium paying off.
Life Ins - expensive at £114 a month but don't want to run the risk of us being knocked down by a bus and we have made our policy void and the kids get nothing. However, as its mortgage linked would they not pay out anyway? Pass.
Buildings and Contents Ins - surely we are still responsible for the house until its repossessed and if there was a fire when its empty would we be liable for the rebuild? I would keep buildings to be on the safe side. Contents can be cancelled.
TV Licence - we will need one when we rent so why stop paying? Correct.
Gas and Elec and Water - how quick would they cut us off as we are still living here after all - also we will need utilities in the future so don't want to upset them. Your call on this. If you are not in arrears, it might be simpler to pay and keep the peace as it is a priority debt.
Sky - could live without internet (use in laws PC if necessary) and the tv for a while if they cut it off and suppose we could have it again in the rented house in the future or would they decline us? Not sure about SKY. Virgin will not entertain BRs. Might be easier to transfer your dish to new home and drop to minimum package. You cannot claim for it on SOA though.
Landline - probably like them to cut it off so the creditors can't get me! Do you have arrears? If so put it in BR and maybe worth posting a question on how to get a landline post BR. You must have some way to dial 999...
Student Loan - this will not go into the BR pot so surely we have to maintain the payments Correct
Sky Repair - pointless if we cancel sky I suppose! Correct if that is your intention.

Pension - OH has an Abbey Life pension - if we cancel, can we reinstate when settled - what will happen to it? should we keep this one going? Pass
Paymentshield - cover for mortgage and secured loan - speaks for itself but I wanted to include everything for my own benefit! OK
Union - as they are currently fighting for OH unfair dismissal, I guess we need to keep this one up! OK.

I am about to apply for a Co-op bank account and understand I shouldn't start using it for DD as it will get frozen but if we explain its purely for living expenses, it won't be frozen, is that correct? On the day of BR, we switch to a cash account - is that right??? You could open one now. You should get a debit card and internet banking which will allow you to pay bills without DDs for the moment. Clear the account of cash before BR for living expenses. OR will not need to declare an interest and Coop should not freeze account. If the worst happens, you have cash to live for the 2 weeks it takes to unfreeze. Done this way, it also deals with the OD charges problem.

Once the Barclays account is frozen (one listed above) and the DD are no longer paid, we will obviously get letters from the suppliers and we can explain we are BR and give them new Co-op details can we? Yes.

I hope you can help me with all this because its very real now and I am such a worrier when it comes to the not paying people bit I don't want to upset people I need not upset.

Ta

PS - Overdraft interest - if they take this it will either eat the money we have put in for the DD we want to keep or we will go into our reserve account which incurs charges but as we are going BR I suppose that isn't our problem

The above is IMO and may be changed by further posters. But it gives you a start.

Good luck freeing all that money up

MyMoneyTime

thanks for that - I have applied for a Coop account today online but I think they may question it as I have had to put partner down as nil income which he is at the moment apart from agency work which I can't put a figure on.

As they ask for outgoings figure, it looks as though I can't afford the mortgage (which I can't obviously!) so hope I get a chance to explain if they reject me. Ooh, I hope a rejection doesn't start my credit rating off on the downward slope - I have not found rented yet!

I think i will continue to pay mobiles as we do need them.

Thanks for clarification on utilities - I didn't think I was allowed to put direct debits on the new account yet (CAB advised not too) in case its frozen??

Could I pay cash at a bank?

dalip

you can apply for a co-op CASHMINDER account by phone on 08457 212 212 they can tell you there and then if you have been accepted or if it has been deferred(not always a bad sign), tell them WHY you want their C/M account.It is ok they are BC friendly:D

If the account is opened specially for AFTER bc then it is not normally forzen. That said there is always the exception to the rule. Nothing is set in stone where bc is concerned:rolleyes: . You would need to tell the OR asap after bc that the account was set up for that specific purpose.They normally do not have any interest in it. Even if it is frozen it will only normally be for matter of days.
Even if there is no co-op branch near you you can pay in cash a a post office and it shows(in my experience)within a few moments.

Dx

fiveyearplan

I have a coop account and have been happy with it. There is no branch near me but I have never had trouble paying in at post office or posting them cheques.

MyMoneyTime

You are all so helpful - my mind would be in a much worse state if it wasn't for this forum

Lensman - great advice on the DD - I think I 99% get this part of BR now. I just worry about who I should tell and who I shouldn't - I am having a 'naughty girl' syndrome at the moment.

I shall await to hear from the Co-op but its good to know that I can tell them our intentions and explain myself.

Today has been extremely BR orientated. Dropped the kids at school and then we went and queued at the CAB. We were seen within 15 minutes by a very nice lady - think she was a little shocked at how much I knew especially when she said the Student Loan could be included and I said it couldn't so she had to check and I was right! gave me a sense of girl done good with her homework! :T

We even managed a few laughs with the CAB lady and she certainly clarified a few grey areas for us. We left knowing we were certainly going to do the BR route and ended up chatting to an estate agent having a fag outside his office! Not about our situation but a general chat which was pretty surreal really!

We then thought coffee was in order and so we went to a coffee house that my best friend loves but we had never been into. She was there with her boyfriend! It was so lovely and I gave her a big hug because I was so pleased to see her. I do believe in fate and all that so it was a nice feeling, almost like sub consciously she knew I needed her at that moment

We all had a chat over coffee and we were very positive about it all - they said they would stay friends with us :rotfl:

Then we all realised we were nearing the end of our pay and display ticket so charged off to the car park! - fines not a good option at the moment! - we actually nearly forgot to pay in all the excitement - that also wouldn't have been a good idea!

Once home I had time for some more investigation and had a direct debit panic attack, hence my earlier post. I phoned a couple of EAs and have made an appointment to view a property tomorrow pm and thursday pm. We have seen them both from the outside and like the look of them but we assume rental properties get snapped up quickly and so we will let fate decide on that one too!

I called the Court and am having the forms sent through as well.

I then hit a low point as I thought I should cancel the mortgage as its due on the 1st and I don't know if deleting the DD online is instant or not. I hovered over the delete button for what seemed an age. Then I took a deep breath and looked out of the window at my lovely big garden that the kids adore and burst into tears. I then considered that at the end of our mortgage, our daughter would be 30, son 27, OH 61 and myself 58 when its paid off.

:eek:

which made we go straight back to the delete button and press it!

I then deleted the secured loan because that is over the same term.

I know you are paying a mortgage for a long time but bearing in mind we have had a mortgage for 11 years and yet still have 22 years left because of the move in 2005 and various consolidations it just shows what a vicious circle we are in and its time to escape!

We thought we would look at this decision as 'we are moving house and dumping the debt in a river on the way there'.

I wonder if the 30 page form will arrive tomorrow :rolleyes:

Right, time to cancel some more DD, wash up, have a cup of tea and get to bed before 1am!

PS - we agreed today that without this forum, this BR would be much harder - thanks so far and thanks in advance :beer:

TOPIC OF THE DAY - do BR people ever sleep??!!

Lensman_2

TBH, cancelling the DD for the mortgage was one of the most liberating things I have done. I knew it would define my life for the next few years - but no more would my cats and I be starving while the 'fat cats' kept on getting their city bonuses.

That was nearly 12 months ago. The consequences are severe, but I do not regret it for an instant. It was absolutely the right thing to do.

Sleep well.

Jim

So_Sad_Angel

MyMoneyTime wrote: »

TOPIC OF THE DAY - do BR people ever sleep??!!

Hehe....I think BR people sleep ...its the `getting there` that causes the insomnia!!!!

Great post Sweetie...can so identify with how you feel....just cancelled more of my DDrs today due to charges on old bank account!!!...one of those `take a deep breath` moments!!

Great diary BTW,

Angiexx

fiveyearplan

Hi MMT - yes that delete button is immediate! Is you secured loan from the same bank as your bank account? If so, I'd take my money out before the 1st because they could still take it even if you've cancelled DD. If the loan is to another bank then it won't be a worry.

MyMoneyTime

:eek:

OMG - thanks for telling me that, I had no idea.

Barclays Bank and Barclays Loan.

OH says he knew (I wasn't listening that day obviously!) - but if you have a DD with a bank linked to yours they can also take it.

Our mortgage is with Nationwide and I wouldn't have thought they were linked to Barclays being a Building Society - any ideas?

Will they still take it on the day they are supposed to, or will they see I have cancelled it and take it sooner? I guess I am too paranoid really, after all they don't know what we are doing yet.

I have looked at the DD we want to keep and we are going to leave that money in the account - luckily all but one DD comes out before the secured loan so when they take that, it will go into my reserve fund which incurs charges but I guess thats their own fault and will put my overdraft up which will go into the BR pot.