Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

JaneDoe66

Hey friends
My name is on the mortgage & deeds to a house I have nothing to do with and haven't for the past 15 years. I do not pay the mortgage and have no interest in it. I have been separated for just over 5 years now (divorced at Christmas - fingers crossed) and live with my two teenagers from the marriage.
I have been in receipt of housing benefit since the split until the local council wanted more information on the house my name is on! I eventually managed to provide them with this only for them to now say I have an asset regarding the house of £16,000 and therefore not entitled to benefit from April this year possibly for the last five years that I have been claiming it.
He has left me in debt and the only way out that I can see is bankruptcy/sequestration (but will that mean the noose around my neck regarding the house will go to) or will I still have to carry it meaning I won't be able to get my benefits back?
Please help and thank you in advance

StepChange_James

JaneDoe66 wrote: »

Hey friends
My name is on the mortgage & deeds to a house I have nothing to do with and haven't for the past 15 years. I do not pay the mortgage and have no interest in it. I have been separated for just over 5 years now (divorced at Christmas - fingers crossed) and live with my two teenagers from the marriage.
I have been in receipt of housing benefit since the split until the local council wanted more information on the house my name is on! I eventually managed to provide them with this only for them to now say I have an asset regarding the house of £16,000 and therefore not entitled to benefit from April this year possibly for the last five years that I have been claiming it.
He has left me in debt and the only way out that I can see is bankruptcy/sequestration (but will that mean the noose around my neck regarding the house will go to) or will I still have to carry it meaning I won't be able to get my benefits back?
Please help and thank you in advance

Hi Jane,

Thanks for posting. I'm not sure bankruptcy would provide a solution to this problem, we'd need more details to know for sure.

It is hard to give advice without knowing more about your situation. The best thing would be for you to give us a call on our helpline 0800 1381111 and we can give you in depth advice.

Regards

James

edthomasj

My ex was declared bankrupt in october 2007.
I'm currently about to send off some forms to reclaim ppi for a mis-sold JOINT policy which started in april 2005 and was settled in june 2007.
The lender is in default, so this claim is through the FSCS.
The subject loan didn't form part of her bankruptcy. Nevertheless from what I read, she will need the permission of the Official Receiver in order to pursue the claim.
My ex's bankruptcy is nothing to do with me, but I wish to pursue the claim and to do so I need to declare the bankruptcy details.
She has been willing to sign the fscs forms but unwilling to divulge any other detail. I don't know the exact dates, money owed, who her Insolvency Practioner was.
Has anyone been through a similar scenario with an fscs claim?
I just want to do what's right and proper, but don't want the claim to fall at the first hurdle with fscs because my ex went bankrupt. I didn't go bankrupt, but the subject policy was joint and therefore she needs to be involved in the claim.
Do i need to speak to the official receiver first (i.e. on her behalf) will they even talk to me about this?

StepChange_James

edthomasj wrote: »

My ex was declared bankrupt in october 2007.
I'm currently about to send off some forms to reclaim ppi for a mis-sold JOINT policy which started in april 2005 and was settled in june 2007.
The lender is in default, so this claim is through the FSCS.
The subject loan didn't form part of her bankruptcy. Nevertheless from what I read, she will need the permission of the Official Receiver in order to pursue the claim.
My ex's bankruptcy is nothing to do with me, but I wish to pursue the claim and to do so I need to declare the bankruptcy details.
She has been willing to sign the fscs forms but unwilling to divulge any other detail. I don't know the exact dates, money owed, who her Insolvency Practioner was.
Has anyone been through a similar scenario with an fscs claim?
I just want to do what's right and proper, but don't want the claim to fall at the first hurdle with fscs because my ex went bankrupt. I didn't go bankrupt, but the subject policy was joint and therefore she needs to be involved in the claim.
Do i need to speak to the official receiver first (i.e. on her behalf) will they even talk to me about this?

Hello,

You could try to speak to the official receiver about this, there's a strong chance that they won’t talk about specifics of your ex’s case but they would be able to talk in general terms. An alternative would be to call the Insolvency Service helpline, here are their contact details: http://www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency/contact-us. They should be able to tell you how this situation would be dealt with.

On a slightly different point, if you're able to claim and are successful then there's a chance that any settlement may be sent to you in the form of a cheque made out in joint names, which could present another issue to deal with.

Regards

James

julesb31

Hi

I've been through a debt remedy with CCCS and have been advised that bankruptcy would be advisable. Just the thought of this has terrified me. It would put my mind at rest to know that it was all soreted out but it seems such a big step. I have a couple of questions.

1. We have 2 cars. My partner needs to drive to and from work mon - fri, 5am to work and 5pm home. The car is in his name and the only way he can get to work. I also use my car to drive to work in London and I have to drop my children to my parents before a shift i.e 5.45am if an early. It says that you will have to sell your car. Without mine I won't be able to work as will have to look after my children becasue there will be no way of getting them to my mums. They are 4 and 20 months. Will your car always need to be sold and will my partners car be safe? Mines worth approx 1000 and my partners is approx £450

2. I have a second bank account that I have no debt with and the only thing it is used for is child benefit. Would this be closed?

3. It says it gets put in your local paper?? I find this rather embarassing and wondered why.

Thanks
Julie

StepChange_James

julesb31 wrote: »

Hi

I've been through a debt remedy with CCCS and have been advised that bankruptcy would be advisable. Just the thought of this has terrified me. It would put my mind at rest to know that it was all soreted out but it seems such a big step. I have a couple of questions.

1. We have 2 cars. My partner needs to drive to and from work mon - fri, 5am to work and 5pm home. The car is in his name and the only way he can get to work. I also use my car to drive to work in London and I have to drop my children to my parents before a shift i.e 5.45am if an early. It says that you will have to sell your car. Without mine I won't be able to work as will have to look after my children becasue there will be no way of getting them to my mums. They are 4 and 20 months. Will your car always need to be sold and will my partners car be safe? Mines worth approx 1000 and my partners is approx £450

2. I have a second bank account that I have no debt with and the only thing it is used for is child benefit. Would this be closed?

3. It says it gets put in your local paper?? I find this rather embarassing and wondered why.

Thanks
Julie

Hi Julie,

There’s no need to be terrified, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to! On the other hand, if you've debts that you're unlikely to be able to pay back in a reasonable amount of time then bankruptcy can be a good way to get a fresh start.

I’ll use your numbers to answer the questions:

1) If your partner’s car is just in his name then it wouldn’t be affected. What happens to your car is down to the official receiver who deals with your bankruptcy. Given its value and the fact it's needed I think you have a good chance to keeping it though.

2) The courts freeze all of your accounts when you go bankrupt. They have a look at the accounts and if there are no large sums of money sat in them they'll usually be unfrozen within a few days. Once it's unfrozen it would be up to your bank whether they wanted to let you use the account anymore. You could speak to your bank in advance to see how they'll deal with it.

3) The newspaper announcement is something that goes back a long way and our understanding is that it was done so anyone you owe money to would know you'd gone bankrupt. In practice it's happening less and less that personal bankruptcies are announced in the local paper, so this may not happen in your case.

I hope this helps and good luck. If you need any help with your bankruptcy application or want to talk about other options please call the numbers in your advice booklet or post here.

Regards

James

Coffeeandcake_2

Hi,
Can anyone help me, my BR went last month.
I'm still waiting the phone call from OR.

Today I googled my name and I'm so upset and distressed that it comes up with my BR....... And my address!!!
I asked if this would happen and they told me no!

I have an unusual name and work in the public sector, This is a nightmare!

edthomasj

CCCS_James wrote: »

Hello,

You could try to speak to the official receiver about this, there's a strong chance that they won’t talk about specifics of your ex’s case but they would be able to talk in general terms. An alternative would be to call the Insolvency Service helpline, here are their contact details: http://www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency/contact-us. They should be able to tell you how this situation would be dealt with.

On a slightly different point, if you're able to claim and are successful then there's a chance that any settlement may be sent to you in the form of a cheque made out in joint names, which could present another issue to deal with.

Regards

James

Thanks James for taking the time to reply to me, mjuch obliged.
A tricky situation surely not one without precendent as you intimate. I shall ring the insolvency helpline and progress it further.

Regards

Ed

System

Coffeeandcake wrote: »

Hi,
Can anyone help me, my BR went last month.
I'm still waiting the phone call from OR.

Today I googled my name and I'm so upset and distressed that it comes up with my BR....... And my address!!!
I asked if this would happen and they told me no!

I have an unusual name and work in the public sector, This is a nightmare!

Hi Coffeeandcake and welcome to the forum.

Your bankruptcy will be recorded on the Insolvency Register which is publically searchable and also listed in the London Gazette which is a trade paper used by creditors.

I can only think your name must be very unusual for your bankruptcy to appear on a Google search. Only Google know how things end up in search results so the person who advised you that it wouldn’t appear wouldn’t really have known if this was true or not.

Search results for your name may change over time but again only Google know how the results are compiled.
I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

one2escape

We where advised that bankruptcy could be an option for us but I am wondering if I could get some advice.

Our SOA are around level ie we have enough money to pay all bills and outgoings. However our problem is that our house is a very bad state of repair and requires a lot of work totalling around 15 - 20k. Our electrics need rewire and a new kitchen is needed (not a want but a need). The heating system needs flushed. Also the whole house needs painted etc. Its a death by a thousand cuts. These problems started as we did not have the money to fix them at the time and a poor fitting of the kitchen by the installer who ran away after fitting it Are big problem is that we cannot get the finance to do this due to our bad credit history and our house is around 80k if not more in negative equity. We are the end of tether with the house and cant see an end in sight. Should we consider this? We where advised to stop paying our mortgage and secured loan to say for bankrupcy payment and a money for a rent. Is this the best option?