Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

laineygirl

Can anybody give me advice.
4 YEARS AGO My sister borrowed a substantial amount of money from me and said it was for only 4 weeks. One year later, after after ignoring us and refusing to answer our request for the money, she paid it back. It left a lot of ill feeling between us and we have hardly spoken.
Now I have received a letter from a firm of solicitors that is asking for all the money she paid back to us as apparently she went bankrupt about the time she paid us back and officially we are just one of her creditors. The money she paid me should have been paid to the official receiver apparently and I should have applied for my money from them.The solictor has hinted that their client is the Inland Revenue (but not directly)when I phoned them (The Official receiver or Inland Revenue haven't sent any letters)
We had no idea she was bankrupt and when I phoned her she said that the money was now no concern of hers, she had never felt so liberated since the bankruptcy and that I would now have to deal with it....
I haven't got the money and I'm worried sick as I cant pay any body if they come for it. It was a loan to my sister as far as I was concerned which she repaid end of.... but now it seems I'm saddled with her debts and might by in danger of loosing my home and business because of this.
HELP?????/

StepChange_Pavan

win123 wrote: »

Hi I am on a DMP with you (CCCS) - Live with my disabled mother and son who is 18 just and still in full time education at college - I feel like I cant go on any longer with the worry of my debt and the length of time it is going to take me to pay it off 20yrs or so - My mum has a 6k credit card debt and is 66yrs old will the CCCS be able to help her also? We are seriously thinking of going bancrupt but will our council or housing dept say that we have made ourselves intentionally homeless and will they see us on the streets my mum is 66 and disabled and we are at our wits end with the fear of debt and being homeless - I am under my GP for severe stress and depression and I am not eating or sleeping and have lost a lot of weight - I have always suffered with anxiety but this situation of debt and fear of being homless is making it far worse and i don't know how much more I can take - I have also heard that if you do go bancrupt and you have had your home adapted for the presons disability that the judge in bancrupcy may let us keep our home is this true? Where do we go for advice? Thanks for your advice

Hi win123,

We’ve spoken a few times on here I’d really recommend that you give us a call – I’ve mentioned before that bankruptcy might not be your best option if you have equity, but when you call we’ll be able to access all your information and discuss the best steps for you.

If you’d prefer you can send me your client reference number in a private message and I will arrange for someone to contact you and discuss your options. Please try not to worry and get in touch with us so we can help to put your mind at ease.

Kind regards,
Pavan

System

laineygirl wrote: »

Can anybody give me advice.
4 YEARS AGO My sister borrowed a substantial amount of money from me and said it was for only 4 weeks. One year later, after after ignoring us and refusing to answer our request for the money, she paid it back. It left a lot of ill feeling between us and we have hardly spoken.
Now I have received a letter from a firm of solicitors that is asking for all the money she paid back to us as apparently she went bankrupt about the time she paid us back and officially we are just one of her creditors. The money she paid me should have been paid to the official receiver apparently and I should have applied for my money from them.The solictor has hinted that their client is the Inland Revenue (but not directly)when I phoned them (The Official receiver or Inland Revenue haven't sent any letters)
We had no idea she was bankrupt and when I phoned her she said that the money was now no concern of hers, she had never felt so liberated since the bankruptcy and that I would now have to deal with it....
I haven't got the money and I'm worried sick as I cant pay any body if they come for it. It was a loan to my sister as far as I was concerned which she repaid end of.... but now it seems I'm saddled with her debts and might by in danger of loosing my home and business because of this.
HELP?????/

Hello,

Thanks for posting. I’ve had a chat with our bankruptcy specialists and they have confirmed that this kind of thing can happen. If they consider your sister paying you back as preferential treatment then you could be asked to repay some of that money.

I would suggest asking your sister to speak to the Official Receiver’s office that dealt with her bankruptcy and ask them to clarify what the situation is. If it is bad news and you are asked to repay this money then it is usually possible to come to arrangements to pay back by installments if the money is no longer available, so it shouldn’t involve your house or business.

I wish I could give you better news but I hope this helps.

soontobesensible

Please help me,
Could you just answer yes or no to this question for me? If I was in a debt management plan,became bankrupt and was found to have money in my savings account even though i was looking after it for a friend would that be deemed as fraud? I only have evidence for one third of the money that it doesn't belong to me! It isn't a massive amount but never the less! Please just answer yes or no as i am going out of my mind with worry at the moment!
Many Thanks

StepChange_James

soontobesensible wrote: »

Please help me,
Could you just answer yes or no to this question for me? If I was in a debt management plan,became bankrupt and was found to have money in my savings account even though i was looking after it for a friend would that be deemed as fraud? I only have evidence for one third of the money that it doesn't belong to me! It isn't a massive amount but never the less! Please just answer yes or no as i am going out of my mind with worry at the moment!
Many Thanks

Hello,
When you go bankrupt the courts would freeze any bank accounts you are named on and investigate any money they found in these accounts. They are likely to want to distribute any money from savings accounts between your creditors. If the money isn’t yours they are likely to want proof of this and even then releasing the money would be at the discretion of the official receiver dealing with your case.

There is nothing illegal about having someone else’s money in your bank account (providing you have their permission!) so you have not done anything fraudulent and wouldn’t have any criminal accusations. The issue would be about how the official receiver decides to deal with the situation.

As we have said before, we would recommend getting more in depth debt advice from us. You can call us free on 0800 138 1111.

Hope this helps.

James

pippasdog

MSE_Wendy wrote: »

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has several counsellors answering questions in our forum. There are three ways to contact them:

1 - To ask them a question please post it below and Pavan or Mat will post a reply here. I have debts of £12,000 and cant afford the repayments, I earn about £150 a month is there anyway my debts can be consolidated and I could pay them off over several years on low repayments, also would not want my husband to know

2 - If you would prefer to ask a question in private you can send a private message to CCCS Private Messages and one of the counsellors will get back to you.

3 - CCCS's Debt Remedy is a free and confidential online tool allowing you to work though a budget plan and if you get stuck you can chat to a counsellor anonymously as you do.[/QUOTE

pippasdog

I have debts of about £12000 but cannot now afford the repayments. I earn about £150 a mth, is there anyway my debts could be consolidated and I do low payments over several years. I would not want my husband to know this

System

pippasdog wrote: »

I have debts of about £12000 but cannot now afford the repayments. I earn about £150 a mth, is there anyway my debts could be consolidated and I do low payments over several years. I would not want my husband to know this

Hi,

Thanks for posting. It is possible to reduce your payments to your debts if you cannot afford the full payments. We help people plan out a realistic budget for their living costs and then see what is left for debts and shape our advice to match your situation.

There are a few different ways to reduce payments to debts but it is unlikely that a consolidation loan would be your best option. These loans usually mean paying a lot of interest and can often make a situation worse. I would recommend getting some more in depth advice.

All of our services respect the privacy of our clients, so all of your information is treated confidentially. Any paperwork we send is in unmarked envelopes and we can use email instead.

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 Helpline on 0800 138 1111 (free including from mobiles). We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 3pm.

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.

tango459

Hi

I have debt recovery letter from CCS Collect regarding a debt with the dept of works and pensions for a old social fund payment.

they are telling me that this cannot be included in bankruptcy and all I get is a 12 month grace period and once the backruptcy is discharged recovery proceedings will start again.

I was made bankrupt in march 2012 and currently undischarged

Can you tell me if this is correct

many thanks

steve77

My wife is due to go to court on wed for a bankruptcy hearing I have managed to scrape together enough to bring what they falsely say she owes below the £750.00 threshold. I have today contacted Lowells to make a payment and they have refused to take the payment my question is can they refuse my offer of part payment,

Cheers Steve