Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

StepChange_Pavan

newmoneysaver1976 wrote: »

Hi there, I am in the process of declaring myself bankrupt. I have been through all of the pros and cons and ins and outs and am pretty much up to speed on everything. I have had loads of advice but the problem now is I don't know whether to go it alone or get a company to help me. They have all been banging at the door. Some charge £500 for both my husband and myself, some £700 and some even £900. All claiming to take care of everything for you and saying that if you fill the forms in yourself you could end up doing it all wrong and ending up paying in major amounts to your bankruptcy. I don't know what to do. Do I fill in the forms myself and save the money or do I get someone to take cre of it all for me. I can't seem to figure this one out. There are so many companies out there doing this I don't even know who to use.

Hi newmoneysaver1976 and welcome to the forum.

Like others have mentioned there’s no need to pay for someone to help you with your bankruptcy forms. If you’re unsure or need some help with the forms, we have a specialist bankruptcy team that can help and support you with the process – they can literally take you through each question over the phone, and this is of course completely free of charge.

If you’d like us to help you, you can call our free helpline on 0800 138 1111 and we can advise you in more detail.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Robo787 wrote: »

I have a question,

Can my daughter take over the payments on my car if i go BR.

I have 15 payments left, the car was bought in my name but was owned buy my daughter who was paying for it. After a year she decided to get her own new car and i carried on with the payments on the other car.

The problem now is, my Daughter is nearing the end of her agreement with Ford Options but hasn't got the final payment, she has applied to re-finance the car but is having no luck as the tenant in our previous address has obtained all kinds of credit in her name. We have notified the Police and Credit Reference Agencies, but there are still searches on her file that have yet to be removed and this might be the problem.

If she is unable to re-finance her car and has to give it back, then the problem is she needs a car to get to work, college, and she does voluntary work in a school.

So could she take over my payments and keep the car herself.

Hi Robo787 and thanks for your question.

You would need to check with the hire purchase company that they’re happy with this and it may depend on whether there’s any equity in the car. This is probably unlikely so it shouldn’t be a problem.

If you’d like any more detailed advice you can call us on 0800 138 1111.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

Menaisavingexpert wrote: »

I have found a significant amount of inner peace in the last couple of weeks after months of examining the forum, reading advice and questions and getting CCCS help via their advisors and their online tools. I successfully petitioned on 31.01 for bankruptcy and my life is about to begin again after more than 20 years of debt, mental distress and bad spending/credit decisions due to depression etc. To the outside world I looked like I was successful but redundancy in 2011 brought it all tumbling down. This recession is terrible for everyone (well apart from the super rich) Can everybody here just give themselves a moment to reflect on how good it is to help others when you can and remember that you can have a great effect on people who don't even know you through your random kindnesses. Thanks again.

Hi Menaisavingexpert,

What a lovely post to read at the end of the week! I’m glad we were able to help you and it’s great that you’re now able to move on from a long period of being in debt.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post, it’s very much appreciated


All the best for the future,
Pavan

SunnyAli

Hello
I have a query - I shall keep this as brief as possible but I was declared BR in October 2011 and have small IPA + currently the NT. My income is based on my earnings plus child benefit and child tax credit however I have children leaving further education to go onto University in the summer. This will mean I shall no longer have child benefit and child tax credit therefore reducing my income to well below the level to pay IPA. My question (finally) if this reduces the IPA down to nothing in the summer 2012 then when the discharge happens in October 2012 would I be required to go back to paying IPA again if my income goes back up between then and October 2014?

Hopefully this makes sense!

ali2012

My husband has a credit card debt of just over £6000 ( its been brought about by years of job losses and redundancy, swapping from one credit card to another to gain advantage of the interest free credit periods so he could meet the minimum payments each month) Around 12 months ago the minimum payments increased from what he was already struggling to pay to what was nearly treble and impossible to pay. He contacted the credit card company (MBNA) and said he would not any longer be able to reach the minimum payments each month and sent them a breakdown of in and out goings. They seemed to drag their feet over this but while a minimum payments was trying to be reached my husband lost his job which he informed MBNA of straight away, we were waiting for correspondance from MBNA then my husband suffered 2 heart attacks and emergency heart surgery plus a shoulder injury so his claim for JSA went to a claim for ESA. On discharge from hospital he contacted MBNA again and stated what had happened. MBNA said they would freeze the interest and cancel his credit card and would still send my husband a monthly bill telling him to pay what he could ( which was a token payment of £5 per month) They did state in a letter that his debt may be sold onto a 3rd party and after 9 months they have done this ( without letting him know, he found out after contacting them because his monthly bill hadnt arrived) On contacting them he was told that his debt had been sold on to a company called Arrow Global he asked for this to be put in writing which he hasnt yet recieved but he has recieved a request from Arrow Global asking for a run down of in and out goings. My husbands ESA is £65 per week, my wage is £106 per week our rent is £42 per week and Council Tax is £15 per week along with food, gas, electric, water rates etc there is little to none left at the end of the week.
So what he would like to know is what can he expect from Arrow Global? he obviously cannot pay to clear his debt there are no assests, no savings, he does own a car worth from what we can gather £850 to £1000.
Is he entitled to apply for DRO? if he did apply for DRO would that affect me in any way? ie:- would my car be taken into account? even though the debt is not mine
Are there any other options available for this situation?
Awaiting your reply
Thank You

Marie_Bayliss

Hi, I need some advice please on Active Kapital.
I had a Dorothey Perkins store card in 2005 paid the bill in full & on time, i have the original bill with bank stamp & date as evidence of payment. Five years ticket by & in 2011 Active Kapital sent me a letter saying my debt has been passed on to them of £310. The original bill was only £91.50 ? I have sent 4 letters with photo copies of the bill to know avail.. Please if someone could advice me i'm at the end of my tether... They will not get a penny out of me because the bill was paid !

System

SunnyAli wrote: »

Hello
I have a query - I shall keep this as brief as possible but I was declared BR in October 2011 and have small IPA + currently the NT. My income is based on my earnings plus child benefit and child tax credit however I have children leaving further education to go onto University in the summer. This will mean I shall no longer have child benefit and child tax credit therefore reducing my income to well below the level to pay IPA. My question (finally) if this reduces the IPA down to nothing in the summer 2012 then when the discharge happens in October 2012 would I be required to go back to paying IPA again if my income goes back up between then and October 2014?

Hopefully this makes sense!

Hi and thanks for your message.

The IPA is over a 3 year period, if your income drops it can be suspended and it can also re start should your income rise again during this time.

I’d recommend that you keep the Official Receiver up to date about your income and expenditure throughout the whole 3 year period.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

System

ali2012 wrote: »

My husband has a credit card debt of just over £6000 ( its been brought about by years of job losses and redundancy, swapping from one credit card to another to gain advantage of the interest free credit periods so he could meet the minimum payments each month) Around 12 months ago the minimum payments increased from what he was already struggling to pay to what was nearly treble and impossible to pay. He contacted the credit card company (MBNA) and said he would not any longer be able to reach the minimum payments each month and sent them a breakdown of in and out goings. They seemed to drag their feet over this but while a minimum payments was trying to be reached my husband lost his job which he informed MBNA of straight away, we were waiting for correspondance from MBNA then my husband suffered 2 heart attacks and emergency heart surgery plus a shoulder injury so his claim for JSA went to a claim for ESA. On discharge from hospital he contacted MBNA again and stated what had happened. MBNA said they would freeze the interest and cancel his credit card and would still send my husband a monthly bill telling him to pay what he could ( which was a token payment of £5 per month) They did state in a letter that his debt may be sold onto a 3rd party and after 9 months they have done this ( without letting him know, he found out after contacting them because his monthly bill hadnt arrived) On contacting them he was told that his debt had been sold on to a company called Arrow Global he asked for this to be put in writing which he hasnt yet recieved but he has recieved a request from Arrow Global asking for a run down of in and out goings. My husbands ESA is £65 per week, my wage is £106 per week our rent is £42 per week and Council Tax is £15 per week along with food, gas, electric, water rates etc there is little to none left at the end of the week.
So what he would like to know is what can he expect from Arrow Global? he obviously cannot pay to clear his debt there are no assests, no savings, he does own a car worth from what we can gather £850 to £1000.
Is he entitled to apply for DRO? if he did apply for DRO would that affect me in any way? ie:- would my car be taken into account? even though the debt is not mine
Are there any other options available for this situation?
Awaiting your reply
Thank You

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you would benefit from some free and impartial advice.

Creditors often sell debts onto collection agencies as a standard part of the debt collection process.

A DRO could be option; we’d need a more detailed look at the full circumstances to say for sure.

You partner having a DRO shouldn’t affect you as long as you don’t have any joint debts.

The first thing to do is visit our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) to help you find a solution to your debt problem quickly.

Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a financial statement with information on your household, employment, income, expenditure and debts. From this the service will automatically determine your options.

To help you fill in the form, it’s best to gather together information about:
• Your income
• Your expenditure
• The creditors you owe money to

You’ll receive a downloadable advice booklet providing a tailored solution for you based on your current circumstances and advice on ways you may be able to improve your situation.

If you’re not confident with computers or would like to speak to an advisor then you’re welcome to ring our free Helpline on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.

If you phone us it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor for immediate advice. Alternatively, we will arrange for an appointment to be booked at a time convenient for you.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

don240

Hi
I was declared bankrupt late last year, so far everything has been going ok, no IPO (as yet) kept my old car etc.
I seperated from my wife in 2010 & she has now started divorce procedings, she is divorcing me on the grounds of adultry (I started seeing my new girlfriend 1 year after we seperated & she is not named) I cannot afford legal advice, my ex partner qualfies for legal aid as she lost her job (she was working 16 hours per week up to late summer 2010) we have one child (under 10) who lives with mum. I am paying a fair amount of voluntary Maintenance (the OR agread it).
I recently had a court letter about the divorce with a standard questionnaire. on the form her solicitor had ticked the box asking me to pay the divorce costs.
My question is:
Being an undischarged bankrupt, can I be ordered to pay costs? & if so do they take my bankruptcy into account, & allow me to pay costs by installments? also could the court force me to increase maintenance payments whilst I am an undischarged bankrupt?

Thanks in advance

SunnyAli

CCCS_Mat wrote: »

Hi and thanks for your message.

The IPA is over a 3 year period, if your income drops it can be suspended and it can also re start should your income rise again during this time.

I’d recommend that you keep the Official Receiver up to date about your income and expenditure throughout the whole 3 year period.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

Thanks Mat that is really helpful as I wasn't clear and now I deal with Moon Beever I didn't know what to do.

Thank again