Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

LSD_2

LSD wrote: »

Stupid/silly as it may sound I'm not sure if I am bankrupt! An application had been met, in 2008, attended court but I was able to agree payments outside of sitting which were accepted. At the time the order didn't go through and I received a letter to that affect.

Im in process of selling home and there is a record stating an application was made in 2008, I haven't seen anything in my credit file, and can't find the letter. Would the solicitors dealing with my sale be readily able to confirm if I am or am not? Is there a way I can find out myself?

Any help on this would be truly gratefully received

LSD wrote: »

Thank you, will try insolvency direct as nothing on my credit report. The solicitors seem to be having difficulties knowing who to ask to remove entry as no reference, nothing to indicate who put it on,nothing

Checked insolvency direct - nothing. Will contact court tomorrow. How long will it take ( or even how ) to remove off property register do you think?

System

LSD wrote: »

Checked insolvency direct - nothing. Will contact court tomorrow. How long will it take ( or even how ) to remove off property register do you think?

Hi and thanks for your reply.

If a creditor petitioned for your bankruptcy (even if it didn’t go through) there could be a still restriction on your property.

If the debt hasn’t been fully dealt with the original creditor may want the restriction to stay in which case you’d have to deal with them.

I’d recommend speaking to the Land Registry and asking them what’s listed on the property and what it is in relation to. They should be able to give you reference details. Often these things can be removed once a few forms have been filled in. The Land Registry should be able to give you more details of how to go about this.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat

Land_Registry

CCCS_Mat wrote: »

I’d recommend speaking to the Land Registry and asking them what’s listed on the property and what it is in relation to. They should be able to give you reference details. Often these things can be removed once a few forms have been filled in. The Land Registry should be able to give you more details of how to go about this.

To establish what is recorded against the registered title you would need to obtain a copy either online or by post. The easiest and cheapest way to do this is via our online Find a Property service - we cannot supply such information over the telephone I'm afraid.

Have a read of our Practice Guide on personal insolvency as well if the title reveals any relevant restrictions or entries re the bankruptcy. An explanation as to how these can be removed and the required forms (if any) are contained in the Guide.

You can Contact Us for procedural advice such as how to use the online service or fill in our forms but I am afraid we cannot give legal advice

one2escape

Thanks for the advice and I phoned CCCS and had the interview over the phone yesterday. They have advised us to go bankrupt as it is not financially viable for us to fix the house up and stay there. I will cost too much for no gain because of the negative equity, put pressure on us to pay we would be ove budget because of it. Currently looking for houses.

It is the start of our new beginning.

Former_StepChange_Rachel

one2escape wrote: »

Thanks for the advice and I phoned CCCS and had the interview over the phone yesterday. They have advised us to go bankrupt as it is not financially viable for us to fix the house up and stay there. I will cost too much for no gain because of the negative equity, put pressure on us to pay we would be ove budget because of it. Currently looking for houses.

It is the start of our new beginning.

Hi one2escape,

I'm very glad to hear you got in touch with us and were happy with your advice. Just know that we will support you every step of the way.

Best of luck

Rachel

Stuh

Hiya, I am after some advice on behalf of my parents please? They completed an IVA last month but having checked the credit file some of the creditors have not defaulted but have "6" on the file (its been there since 2007 btw!) and no default, will this be worse than a Default when trying to rebuild their credit? Also should they wait until next year when the Defaults from 2007 fall off their file to apply for a poor credit card like Vanquis please? I have also not received the discharge certificate despite emailing the company 5 times is there a set timescale for this when the IVA has ended please? Thanks in advance for your time!

StepChange_James

Stuh wrote: »

Hiya, I am after some advice on behalf of my parents please? They completed an IVA last month but having checked the credit file some of the creditors have not defaulted but have "6" on the file (its been there since 2007 btw!) and no default, will this be worse than a Default when trying to rebuild their credit? Also should they wait until next year when the Defaults from 2007 fall off their file to apply for a poor credit card like Vanquis please? I have also not received the discharge certificate despite emailing the company 5 times is there a set timescale for this when the IVA has ended please? Thanks in advance for your time!

Hi,

Congratulations to your parents for finishing their IVA.

It's hard to say how badly their credit rating will be affected by the “6” that you mentioned. Nothing should stay on a credit report for longer than six years, so I would expect that to drop off in the next year.

Whether to apply for a card now or later would depends on the criteria of the card provider. The only thing I would say is obviously make sure that there's never a balance on any new credit. Setting up a direct debit to repay the full balance every month is usually the best way to avoid that. If there's any risk of slipping back into relying on credit then I would suggest leaving cards alone altogether.

There's no set time for discharge certificates to be sent out. We have heard of it taking quite a long time for some people, so you are doing the right thing in chasing up their IVA company. A quick phone call may be useful (though it will probably need to be your parents that speak to them).

Hope this helps.

James

WitsEnd1_2

Hello,

I have a very difficult and complex situation to deal with and I would welcome any advice.

Background

My wife and I lived in France for about 8 years.I actually lived there for 8 years, my wife for perhaps 3-4. I was employed by a large company in France, my wife (she wasn't my wife at the time, we were married 2 years ago), never worked and was never fully resident in France. We purchased a property in France in joint names.

2 years ago we moved back to the UK having sold our property in France and purchased in England.

To my amazement we received letters from UK customs chasing us for money, stupid amounts, honestly I have no idea where they get their numbers from. The total bill now is for about £300k. It seems most is in fines over about a 8-9 year period. There is one charge for 50k for a property tax (no idea what this can possibly be) and other charges for income tax.

This is bordering on stupidity.

Action Taken to-date

We first received the letters from customs (acting on the behalf of French Tax) 10 months ago. I instructed a solicitor in the UK to make some inquiries and we received a response last week (took 9 months). It doesn't really show much more detail.

Personal situation

Unfortunately I lost my job about 12 months ago and haven't worked since. My wife doesn't work either. I am however close to securing a new position and I would expect to receive an offer in the next few weeks that will see me earn very good salary.

We purchased our property in the UK for 300k 2 years ago. The property has some serious damp issues which we were not aware of when we purchased the property. I would think the value of the house today is perhaps 290k. We have perhaps 35k equity in the house in joint names.


The way forward

1. I am going to instruct a solicitor in France to try to get my wife off the joint liability, I see no reason why she should be punished for something she new nothing about and isn't responsible for (she never even worked in France and was only there for perhaps 3 years). I think we have a good case here, however what does concern me is the French property charge. When I find out what this is, if its linked to the house in someone it may not be possible to make her not liable. I honestly have no clue what this charge could be, we didn't even make any money on the house.

The implications of this are huge for me. If she isn't liable (after appeal) then they can only claim half the equity in my UK house. If not it means they can claim 100% of my equity.

2. IVA I have spoken to an IVA provider and he is keen to go down this route (obviously). I could raise/borrow a lump sum of £15k to but up for my half of the equity in the house. However if its 30k it will be very hard.

3. I wanted to deal with all this before I started back in employment, as I feel its better timing.

4. Depending on what happens, I am thinking of either:

a) IVA route for my half only (and hope my wife is taken off liability)

b) going bankrupt (either with an IVA or alone)

c) It's possible this could string on for another 18 months before its fully decided. I am thinking of perhaps selling my house and living in rented accommodation, thus ensuring I don't lose my equity, and then making myself bankrupt or whatever the outcome.

d) reducing the equity in the house by taking out a secured loan on my property or re-mortgaging.

In an ideal world I would only be liable for these debts, make them an offer of £15k as a settlement and move on. I'm not sure this is going to happen however. Would they consider the payoff? Would the OR/customs talk about buying back the equity and at a reasonable level i.e. 70% or whatever reasonable is.

As you can imagine I am at my wits end with this and would welcome any advice. I don't really want my new employer to know anything about this and am starting to think that selling my house and renting is the best option right now.

If I have missed anything please ask.

Thanks.

BrandNewDay

I want to thank the very kind people who give advice on this thread. You bring so much relief and peace of mind to people. Bless your hearts.

I have a question:

My husband and I have no joint debts. He may have to go BR. My credit and accounts will remain clear.

However, we are financially entwined in other ways.

First, our primary checking account is in my name.
Second, we are both on a council tax bill for a house he will be losing/going BR over.
Third, our electricity bill is joint, and after our last meter reading, we're technically £800 in arrears. (Not because of non-payment, but because of underestimation of useage for the past year.)

Should we try to disentangle ourselves now, before the BR ball starts rolling, if it does, in a few months?

Would the electricity situation be considered a debt, or is that just part and parcel of our new estimated monthly payment?

StepChange_James

WitsEnd1 wrote: »

Hello,

I have a very difficult and complex situation to deal with and I would welcome any advice.

Background

My wife and I lived in France for about 8 years.I actually lived there for 8 years, my wife for perhaps 3-4. I was employed by a large company in France, my wife (she wasn't my wife at the time, we were married 2 years ago), never worked and was never fully resident in France. We purchased a property in France in joint names.

2 years ago we moved back to the UK having sold our property in France and purchased in England.

To my amazement we received letters from UK customs chasing us for money, stupid amounts, honestly I have no idea where they get their numbers from. The total bill now is for about £300k. It seems most is in fines over about a 8-9 year period. There is one charge for 50k for a property tax (no idea what this can possibly be) and other charges for income tax.

This is bordering on stupidity.

Action Taken to-date

We first received the letters from customs (acting on the behalf of French Tax) 10 months ago. I instructed a solicitor in the UK to make some inquiries and we received a response last week (took 9 months). It doesn't really show much more detail.

Personal situation

Unfortunately I lost my job about 12 months ago and haven't worked since. My wife doesn't work either. I am however close to securing a new position and I would expect to receive an offer in the next few weeks that will see me earn very good salary.

We purchased our property in the UK for 300k 2 years ago. The property has some serious damp issues which we were not aware of when we purchased the property. I would think the value of the house today is perhaps 290k. We have perhaps 35k equity in the house in joint names.


The way forward

1. I am going to instruct a solicitor in France to try to get my wife off the joint liability, I see no reason why she should be punished for something she new nothing about and isn't responsible for (she never even worked in France and was only there for perhaps 3 years). I think we have a good case here, however what does concern me is the French property charge. When I find out what this is, if its linked to the house in someone it may not be possible to make her not liable. I honestly have no clue what this charge could be, we didn't even make any money on the house.

The implications of this are huge for me. If she isn't liable (after appeal) then they can only claim half the equity in my UK house. If not it means they can claim 100% of my equity.

2. IVA I have spoken to an IVA provider and he is keen to go down this route (obviously). I could raise/borrow a lump sum of £15k to but up for my half of the equity in the house. However if its 30k it will be very hard.

3. I wanted to deal with all this before I started back in employment, as I feel its better timing.

4. Depending on what happens, I am thinking of either:

a) IVA route for my half only (and hope my wife is taken off liability)

b) going bankrupt (either with an IVA or alone)

c) It's possible this could string on for another 18 months before its fully decided. I am thinking of perhaps selling my house and living in rented accommodation, thus ensuring I don't lose my equity, and then making myself bankrupt or whatever the outcome.

d) reducing the equity in the house by taking out a secured loan on my property or re-mortgaging.

In an ideal world I would only be liable for these debts, make them an offer of £15k as a settlement and move on. I'm not sure this is going to happen however. Would they consider the payoff? Would the OR/customs talk about buying back the equity and at a reasonable level i.e. 70% or whatever reasonable is.

As you can imagine I am at my wits end with this and would welcome any advice. I don't really want my new employer to know anything about this and am starting to think that selling my house and renting is the best option right now.

If I have missed anything please ask.

Thanks.

Hi,

Thanks for posting. It’s hard to say how best to proceed without knowing more about your situation. It would probably be easiest for you to call our helpline and we can take you through our advice process.

An IVA is a big commitment to make, so it would be better to know what your future finances are likely to look like before going ahead with an IVA. Once you know what your wages will be in your new job then you should be able to get a clearer idea of how to sort things out.

Sadly I have no experience of French property tax laws, so am equally unsure of how they have calculated the bill they say you owe. I’m also not sure whether a settlement offer would be considered, but I would suggest that you only make such an offer if you are certain that you owe them the money.

You can call 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.

Hope this helps.

James