Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

StrawberrySam

My husband and I were declared bankrupt last Thursday (28th October). We have a telephone interview with the official receiver next Monday and I'm really nervous. Please can you tell me what they will ask and what they'll want to do after that? For example will they come to my house and take stock of all our possessions, or will they want all our bank statements for the last year...? Thank you.

charliewatts

A friend of mine who has trouble with money has been taken to court and ordered to pay £2400 which is a one off payment to clear the debt. He has lots of other debts and I think he will be bankrupt soon.

Apparently the CAB has advised him that instead of paying the amount, which he will draw buy selling things and borrowing money from his brother, that he gets a friend to pay the debt collectors. That way the other credit card debts etc won't start hounding him for more with the 'if you can pay them, you can pay us' etc.

I don't have a problem doing this, but am I getting myself into trouble? I'm only going to pay if his money is in my account but I don't know what risks I'm letting myself in for. Are there tax issues etc?

I would be grateful for some advice. Apparently he has to do it by end of thursday otherwise the bailiffs will be sent. Alternatively is there a telephone number I can call?

StepChange_Pavan

GazW wrote: »

Hi I hope you can answer a couple of questions for me and offer some advice. Bit of a long story so I will try and keep this as short as possible.

Around 10-12 years ago I took out a loan with the Royal Bank of Scotland for 12500. At the time I was about 18 and a bit stupid with money and got myself into a mess with a fair few other debts and this one kind of took a back seat while I sorted my other debts out. They’ve written a lot over the years and applied all sorts of interest charges and PPI (which I never agreed to) and the total I now owe is almost £30k. A few years ago I requested the credit agreement from them and it turned out they couldn’t locate it. I asked them to take this to court to get this sorted which they did, but as the day drew near I got a bit scared and decided to just sign the paperwork admitting the debt and offering to pay it off at £5 per month (I was out of work at the time). This was accepted and I have paid them every month without fail since then.

A couple of weeks ago I got a letter from another company stating that I had defaulted on the payments (the company was called Regal Credit Consultants). I checked and I have records going back to June 2007 when I started paying them and I have proof that I have paid them every month and on time as well. When I rang them they started hassling me to do a statement of incomings and outgoings over the phone, which I declined to do. They then sent another letter (in the letters there is no mention of doing the statement, it just says I have defaulted and they want payment in full). I have sent a letter back to them stating that I have not defaulted and would be willing to provide evidence of this if they can let me know which months they thinkI have not paid. So far I have heard nothing back.

So my questions are as follows:
1) Are they allowed to ask me again about my incomings and outgoings after the debt has gone to court and I have a copy of the order agreeing for me to pay £5 a month.
2) If they took me to court again would I have the right to question the amount of interest added to the debt and the PPI?
3) Am I allowed to declare myself bankrupt on one debt? I have been told that I will need minimum 3 debts to declare bankruptcy but I have not found any information on this. The reason I am now considering bankruptcy is we have our first baby due in 4 weeks time and next year I am giving up work to look after the child as my wife earns more than me so I will not have any actual income from about June next year.
4) If I do declare bankruptcy will they look into my wife’s finances as well as mine? I am worried as she bought a new car at the beginning of this year that she is still paying off and I am worried that this will be taken from her, the car is in her name and she pays for it out of her bank account. This debt was taken out long before I met her so was hoping to keep her out of this as much as possible.

I might have other questions as things progress on but any help/advice you could give me now would be much appreciated.

Hello GazW and thank you for your message.

A default notice is part of the standard debt collection process, and although you haven’t defaulted on your new arrangement, they are making you aware that you haven’t maintained your original agreement. It does seem strange though that they have waited this long to issue you a default notice and I’d recommend that you look at your credit file to check that they haven’t already done this.

To answer your questions:

You say that the debt has gone to court – have you received a CCJ? The creditor can request an update of your circumstances at any time and it’s a good idea to send them your new income and expenditure even if it doesn’t change the amount you are able to pay.

You could question the interest, although because you signed the agreement, this could be difficult.

There is no minimum number of debts to go bankrupt. You may have read that you need a minimum of £750.

If you decide to go bankrupt, they won’t take your wife’s debts into consideration. They will however expect that she will pay a certain amount into the household and will take that into consideration when looking at your income and expenditure.

I would recommend that you contact us for further advice. We will be able to look into your situation in more detail and explore all of your options fully. If bankruptcy is your best solution, we have a bankruptcy support team that can give you specialist advice.

You can either use our online debt advice tool, Debt Remedy or if you would prefer to talk to a debt counsellor about your situation, you can book a telephone based appointment by calling our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

StrawberrySam wrote: »

My husband and I were declared bankrupt last Thursday (28th October). We have a telephone interview with the official receiver next Monday and I'm really nervous. Please can you tell me what they will ask and what they'll want to do after that? For example will they come to my house and take stock of all our possessions, or will they want all our bank statements for the last year...? Thank you.

Hi StrawberrySam and thank you for your post.

It’s unlikely that the OR will come to your house but you should receive a letter setting out what is required of you and you may be required to complete a questionnaire about your finances.

This leaflet from the Insolvency Service gives you more information about what happens when you are interviewed by the Official Receiver.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

charliewatts wrote: »

A friend of mine who has trouble with money has been taken to court and ordered to pay £2400 which is a one off payment to clear the debt. He has lots of other debts and I think he will be bankrupt soon.

Apparently the CAB has advised him that instead of paying the amount, which he will draw buy selling things and borrowing money from his brother, that he gets a friend to pay the debt collectors. That way the other credit card debts etc won't start hounding him for more with the 'if you can pay them, you can pay us' etc.

I don't have a problem doing this, but am I getting myself into trouble? I'm only going to pay if his money is in my account but I don't know what risks I'm letting myself in for. Are there tax issues etc?

I would be grateful for some advice. Apparently he has to do it by end of thursday otherwise the bailiffs will be sent. Alternatively is there a telephone number I can call?

Hi Carliewatts and thank you for your post.

There shouldn’t be any implications for you in doing this, although if he is going to declare himself bankrupt wouldn’t this debt be included anyway? The debt would only be excluded if it was for child support payments, magistrate’s fines or fraud liabilities.

If the debt is to be included, I would recommend that he tells the bailiffs that he intends to go bankrupt.

Kind regards,
Pavan

charliewatts

CCCS_Pavan wrote: »

Hi Carliewatts and thank you for your post.

There shouldn’t be any implications for you in doing this, although if he is going to declare himself bankrupt wouldn’t this debt be included anyway? The debt would only be excluded if it was for child support payments, magistrate’s fines or fraud liabilities.

If the debt is to be included, I would recommend that he tells the bailiffs that he intends to go bankrupt.

Kind regards,
Pavan

Thanks. He's still desperately trying to put off going bankrupt. He's got a house and family and really, he wants to pay off the debt because he feels guilty.

Anyway, thanks very much for the advice.

sarahmason77

Hi,

Sorry it’s a bit complicated so I’ll try and explain the best I can;

Me & my partner were made BR in Feb 2010.
Our house is in negative equity due to having a secured loan & mortgage so we brought it back for a £1 plus the legal fee.

I work part time but my partner is still unemployed due to being made redundant in January 2010 (the reason we had to go BR).
We have fallen behind on our secured loan payments only,
If the secured loan company went for repossession we would still owe them money due to the house being in negative equity so my question is: - Would the left over amount owing be written off as both my mortgage & the secured loan are on my BR??

Thank you
Sarah

StepChange_Pavan

sarahmason77 wrote: »

Hi,

Sorry it’s a bit complicated so I’ll try and explain the best I can;

Me & my partner were made BR in Feb 2010.
Our house is in negative equity due to having a secured loan & mortgage so we brought it back for a £1 plus the legal fee.

I work part time but my partner is still unemployed due to being made redundant in January 2010 (the reason we had to go BR).
We have fallen behind on our secured loan payments only,
If the secured loan company went for repossession we would still owe them money due to the house being in negative equity so my question is: - Would the left over amount owing be written off as both my mortgage & the secured loan are on my BR??

Thank you
Sarah

Hi Sarah and thanks for your post.

It sounds as though your mortgage wasn’t included in the bankruptcy as you bought it back.

I’m not sure whether you’re still in your bankruptcy period or whether you’ve been discharged. Either way, I would recommend that you contact your Official Receiver for clarification. He will know the details of your situation and will be able to help you further.

Kind regards,
Pavan

KYOTOBLUES

HI, I am new to this and in a similar position with a DMP, although I have no assets apart from my NHS pension, I am considering Bankruptcy, on advice from a debt helpline. I have £13000 of unsecured debt, and trying to live on whats left after paying DMP and phone bill, is very hard. I work part time and I am a carer for my daughter who is disabled.

I am wondering if I should tell my creditors that I am awaiting my court date to declare myself bankrupt while I save for the fees, or just wait and risk the bailiffs knocking?

any advice about this is appreciated

Wut@ng

Hi,
I am due in court to go bankrupt on Friday 12th Nov 10. A good friend finally kicked my rear and helped me get the ball rolling. The biggest problem for me was the £600 BK fee. I spoke to several companies who all wanted their own fees to assist me with the process, but advice led me to the CAB office. It was the best thing I did as they had someone from The British Legion come down and see me. Being ex-forces entitles me to help from them and within 2 weeks, a Cheque for £600 was with my CAB office.
My question I need confirming is that I have an unpaid speeding fine and parking ticket both issued over 12 months ago and I have not dealt with either and need to know if they can be included in the debts (CAB office says no). If not, then when I contact them in the next day or so, will I be told to pay the full amount at once as I am not in a financial situation to be able to afford it.
Thanks in advance