Scared about bankruptcy, advice needed!

Wondering82

Hi Everyone


Hope my SOA works, this is the first time I have ever used any sort of forum and I'm not sure I've done it correct?!
I've been looking in on here the past week or so and I feel like I've been given so much more advice than from the CAB advisor that my hubby and I went to see a fortnight ago. She just read stuff from a website page stating the pros and cons of IVAs and BR. I'm sure you can see we don't have any surplus cash for an IVA so not sure why she was talking about it?!

Mu husbands wages have reduced significantly recently and we just can't afford to keep paying the bills and haven't done for the last 3 months. We just can't see a way forward.

My husband works 50 miles away and I work 11 miles away from home. What will happen to our cars? We can't do without a car each and I'm worried that if they're taken off us we can't work. But then if we keep them we can't afford them. I feel like we're stuck and theres no way out.
There is no public transport in the village and we're 3.5 miles away from a town that has regular(ish) buses.
I think even though there is no equity in the house we will still be forced from it as we can't keep paying the 950 per month mortgage. Is it a good idea to speak with the mortgage company to remortgage to reduce the payments to something we could afford or are we fighting a losing battle?
Any help or advice would be so much appreciated.
I'm sure I'll think of a million more questions as soon as I click send!
Thanks for reading and listening. I honestly don't know where else to turn
x

Monthly Budget SummaryAmount(£)Total monthly income2,645Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans)2,991Available for debt repayments-346UNsecured debt repayments0Amount short for making debt repayments-346

Personal Balance Sheet SummaryAmount(£)Total Assets (things you own)160,000Total Secured & HP Debt-164,500Total Unsecured Debt-60,600Net Assets-49,100
Household Information

Number of adults in household2Number of children in household0Number of cars owned2
Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

IncomeAmount(£)Monthly income after tax1045Partners monthly income1600Benefits0Other income0Total monthly income2645

ExpensesAmount(£)Mortgage950Secured/HP loan payments600Rent0Management charge (leasehold property)0Council tax120Electricity50Gas40Oil0Water Rates49Telephone (land line)25Mobile phone80TV Licence11Satellite/Cable TV67Internet services14Groceries etc.280Clothing20Petrol/diesel400Road tax25Car Insurance60Car maintenance (including MOT)16Car Parking0Other travel0Childcare/nursery0Other child related expenses0Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.)10Pet Insurance/Vet bills12Buildings Insurance22Contents Insurance0Life Assurance60Other Insurance0Presents (birthday, christmas etc.)10Haircuts10Entertainment0Holiday40Emergency Fund20Total monthly expenses2991

Secured & HP Debt DescriptionDebt(£)Monthly(£)APR(%)Mortgage148500(950) 0Hire Purchase (HP) Debt16000(600)0Secured & HP Debt totals164500- -

Unsecured Debt DescriptionDebt(£)Monthly(£)APR(%)Citi CC200000Halifax CC150000Barclay Card 1285000Loan to a friend1050000Northern Rock Loan950000Barclay Loan 2500000Barclay Loan 1 875000Mint Loan1000000Lloyds TSB CC500000Mint CC250000Barclay Card 2300000Unsecured Debt totals606000-

Asset DescriptionValue (£)Cash0House Value (Gross)145000Shares and bonds0Car(s)15000Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc) 0Total Assets160000

catneedtosell

Hi,

Welcome to the forum - I'm sure that there will be others reply to your thread with more experience than me (even though I am bankrupt!) but wanted to post and not run.

Looking at your expenses - if you are thinking of bankruptcy, is it just yourself or you and your other half?

Concerning your cars, what is their value? Are they quite expensive or under £2k? If they're over 2k then the OR would probably have an interest in one or both of them - but give you X amount to get a run-around. I think I'm right in saying for example if it was just yourself that was going bankrupt, that you would probably lose your car (unless it's a banger already) as you would have to state on the forms that you a. have a car and b. have access to drive another (your other halfs).

With regards to your SOA - I know theres another thread somewhere on here which gives a link for the table type SOA as yours is quite difficult to read, I did think your Citi CC was £200,000 to begin with. But regards to what you've put in the things that stand out for me are that your mobile at £80 per month is too high for an OR to accept, some OR's accept the 'emergency fund' (mind didnt), and SKY will be expected for you to pay out of your surplus amount left. I would suggest increasing your vet/pet insurance amount (as afterall a consult in itself is around the £20-£25 mark and that's without treatment!) I know I sent my OR a breakdown of just how much it cost for our cats per year (including the annual vaccinations, monthly flea treatments, and 3 monthly worming treatments) - this was accepted!

Like I say I'm sure there will be others with more experience but hope my advice helps ... they're a good bunch on here! :beer:

Wondering82

Where on earth are my replies going?!

Wondering82

I've tried to post the correct version of my SOA but it wont let me as I'm a new user?!
Sorry!!

Thanks for your reply cat.
Both my husband and I are going to go BR. The CAB said if just hubby went BR his debts would transfer to me and I would have to go BR anyway.
Also might be worht mentioning my hbby is self employed and is weekly wages can vary alot - how do we make sure we're putting the correct amount on the SOA?
The cars are a an astra, 56 plate worth I guess about 6500 and a vectra, 05 plate worth around 7500. They seem so expensive when I write it down - never occured to me until now. If the finance is more than the car is worht will the OR still take them?
Cheers
x

catneedtosell

I think from some other posts the forum might have a few bugs in it tonight so dont worry about your SOA.

Your cars the OR will definetly be interested in, however, you will have the opportunity to say you 'need' them for work as you're both currently in work. If your husband is self-employed, does he use the car as his works car (if so then that should be a good case for him keeping it). Your car, I think the OR 'may' want it and offer you an amount to get you a run around. I know I used to have a car, went bankrupt a few years after I gave mine up, but being honest I dont miss it at all - though I do have the advantage of public transport (even if it's not that efficient!)

Saying all that however, if they're on HP there is a good chance that the Finance company may take the cars away from you before the OR gets a chance.

Not 100% sure how the OR deals with self employed peoples salaries - am sure someone else will post on that - but it may be that it's an average?

Moley456

Hi,

Welcome to the Forums.

I only wanted to don't get too worried about things. It is, after all, only money. You can arrange to consult the Citizens Advice Bureau or there are debt charities to help. There are also some insolvency practitioners who offer a bit of free advice usually a 30 min consultation if you have trouble finding help.

I thought the OR allowed a car upto a value of £6,000 but don't quote me on it.

I'm not sure what the Hire Purchase Items are, although if they are cars the chances are the HP companies would reposses these. I have heard that Mortgage companies are willing to discuss options to accept lower repayments, to reposses the house and evict you would cost them money so they may be willing to negotiate lower repayments for a while.

There are links to debt charities on this website, there is also a budget planner on the website. To begin with it may worthwhile trying to pair down expenses as much as possible to reduce the income/expenditure deficit you have.

I think you should think positively. It's not as bad as it seems at first. You will get support here and advice.

What is it you want to achieve? Do you want to go bankrupt and start afresh or are you wanting to get back to a position where your income covers the expenditure?

Wondering82

Thanks again cat.
Hubby needs the car to travel the 50 miles to and from work each day, but then when he gets to work he has a van to sue to get him from a to b in that area. The van isnt his, he pays rent to the company he's contracted to.
It would be even more scary to just have the finance company take the cars off us then we would have no way of getting to work. What a nightmare.
I think the average thing could be right, but then say one week he earns double do we have to declare that? Or if he earns half how do we pay the bills?! I'm so confused by it all. I really do appreciate your replies.
x

nervousmother

The OR will normally leave cars with a value of around 2k if they are needed for work.

like others have said the HP company may take them back. how much are your repayments per month on the cars?
I doubt you will be allowed to keep them

Wondering82

Hi Moley, thanks for your advice.

Quite honestly I'm not entirely sure what I can do.
We both feel like we need to go BR as our income just isnt enough any more. I'm just concerned about having a mode of transport. Without a car we cant get to work. If the HP company take them away we honestly cant get to work. We live in the wilderness!!!
I know you mention using CAB etc, which we did about 2 weeks ago and we honestly came out of a 1.5hour meeting, with no further help or info than we had going in. I've found out so much more on this forum.
Basically there are no definate answers in BR, its a case of go and see what happens?!
x

Wondering82

Hi NM,
one car is 350 and the other is 270. Both worth around 6000ish mark.
If the HP company takes them off us will the OR not give us anything towards another car? I know that sounds so cheeky after all the debt we're trying to clear. I'm just worried to be honest and there seems to be no definate answers.
Thanks again for the reply, I really apprecaite it.
x

Moley456

Hi Wondering

From experience, The trustee in bankruptcy would look at a few weeks of income to see how it varies. You have to remember than the OR or any trustee in bankruptcy is human and does understan the situation. I can't really see how the income is going to make much of a difference as you don't have a surplus. As long as you back up the figure you have come to.

As I see the cars are on Finance, the OR wouldn't have much chance at taking them as the HP company would be there before the OR had a chance. Whether the HP company would let you keep the cars and pay the repayments, I'm not sure, but otherwise you would have to look at getting a couple of very cheap cars.