Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

CCCS_Sarah

ladylumps45 wrote: »

thankyou sarah for taking the time to check for me.with the DRO does it mean that you musnt have more than £50 surplus for the whole year after or when working out budget?

To be eligible for a DRO you must have less than £15,000 worth of debts and less than £50 surplus a month.

garston_T

Hi, quick question. Do they at any point ask for some proof that you have rang/visited the citizens advice? My local one is useless, won't even answer the phone. And I'm only ringing them because I keep reading I need to. I've done all my research online and I've made my mind up so all seems a bit pointless like. what proof do I have to obtain that I did contact them?

Many thanks.

CCCS_Sarah

TONY111 wrote: »

URGENT BEFORE O.R. TAKES MY VECHILES. SOME PROFECIONAL HELP/ ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE

I have followed your forum with great interest and read some great advice so I am hoping somebody can possible help me.

I have just been declared bankrupt 5/10/09 and my question is with regard to my vehicles

I am self employed and will be allowed to carry on trading. But I have 2 vehicles.
I am the registered keeper of both. (but not the owner)

1. Motorcycle a 600cc commuter with box on back (not a flash racing bike) Purchase price £500 current value £450

2. High top van. (my workshop fitted out with bench compressor tools and press ect.)
Purchase price £1200 current value £120 to £200

I need to keep both, my argument and facts of the matter are-

The van is my workshop, it has no mot at present but will if allowed to keep it. Without the van I cannot repair the parts I service. When back on the road it will allow access to the jobs that cannot come to me and require me to attend the job with many tools that only the van can carry.

The motorcycle transports the products to and from my customers it takes my child to school some days, it gives me access to my 78 yr old mother to help with shopping/cleaning. It saves a fortune in fuel against the van especially on some of my many long work trips. It saves lots of time on all work trips.
It is my only method to get to my part time Night job. (no busses at 2am & taxi to expensive)

My wife paid for both vehicles last year on the pretence that i can use them unconditionally and I will purchase them from her at some time in the future.

For the van my wife’s bank statement shows the cost of purchase being taken out
4 lots of £300 cash machine withdrawals consecutively (£1200 total cost of van)
Followed by £244.26 for the van insurance.
The insurance is easy to prove it belongs to the van. But there is no receipt for this vehicle to prove she owns it. But the reg document date of purchase is about right.

For the motorcycle 2 consecutive lots of £300 show withdrawn from a cash machine 15 days prior to the reg doc date of purchase, however we do have a receipt for its purchase from the previous owner dated one day after the cash withdrawals and it names my wife as the purchaser of the vehicle and has all the sellers detail including the amount of the sale which was £500. (my wife withdrew £600 but negotiated the price of sale down to £500)

My wife has her own personal vehicle as well value about £900 she uses it for full time work which sometimes includes traveling to different towns. She also uses it for the normal day to day things involved in running a family (2 kids). I have occasional use of this vehicle but its governed by her needs and could not successfully replace either the van or motorcycle. My wife is not part of the bankruptcy..

I think I have read somewhere in the O.R. tech manual that a vehicle reg doc is not proof of ownership and that a vehicle owned by other than the bankrupted party should be counted as excluded property..

If I cannot prove ownership of the van I think I should claim this vehicle is essential for work (which it it) and hopefully be allowed to keep it on that basis.
As for the motorcycle because of the stronger evidence to prove my wife owns it I think I should claim it as exempt property on that basis.

Is this correct?
Do I stand a chance of keeping both vehicles?

These are all true facts’, keeping both vehicles is extremely important to me, my family and business and is not just an excuse to get out of having them taken by the O.R. their value is minimal but replacement would not be easy and an extreme inconvenience.

Thanks in advance for any advice… Tony..

I have asked my colleague for you and this is his response, if you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

I don't not believe the OR will have any interest in removing your vehicles for numerous reasons.

Firstly the van is used and needed for your work, and by removing the van from you the OR would be reducing your chance of income, thus making your situation worse. With the van being bought by your wife, and you having the evidence in bank statements to show this, the OR cannot class this as your asset, and even if they did, they would only be interested in the vehicle if it is worth more than approximately £2000.

With the motorbike also being essential for work, saving you money on jobs with which the van is not required, i think the OR would struggle justify removing the expenditure for it. Again, with this being bought by your wife, it is not your asset to sell, not that it would be due to the value being below £2000.

The OR will potentially question you about the vehicles, but you must make it clear that they were purchased by your wife and you have the evidence to prove it, and that they are both essential for your job.

philnicandamy

some do..some dont...my judge asked & I had a copy of a letter cccs sent me..

garston_T

what sort of letter do I need them to send me like? i'll ring up and ask for it. thanks

hells_2

Hello nice CCCS people!
I'm going to copy and paste my thread from the Bankruptcy board itself as it might slip through the net.

If your partner goes bankrupt, how does it affect your finances?

All the forms I see ask for partner's income to be taken into account, but these debts were already there when we met (and then he fessed up and told me about them soon after!)

My partner had his house repo'd last year and there was a mortgage shortfall of £9k after the house has now been sold. To date he's not paid any of it back and we are considering asking for it to be written off. But if they don't write it off....what next

Secondly, there is also a £13k (now unsecured) loan which was a 2nd charge against the house. That is also unpaid and is now being chased through court.

So, in summary, my partner has debts of £22k. His earnings are just about that.

I earn more than that, but of course, have my own outgoings, including credit cards, loans and car HP payments.

He has no assets and we live in rented property. If he filed for bankruptcy, will all the pressure basically be on me, because I'm the higher earner and technically could meet the household outgoings (but we'd have sod all left for food or clothes).

We have no joint finances or accounts. All the bills go out of my bank account, because that's the way it's always been, and he pays me half of those outgoings each month and then he has a few hundred to spare for his own 'spends'.

At the moment I've put him onto National Debtline to have a chat; the chap I spoke to was lovely and helpful. When my OH called them, he got a woman who firstly initially refused to speak to him...and then she was very abrupt and said "well I don't know what you want me to do here".

He's going to try and get through to a human tomorrow. But in the meantime, any help appreciated, as I could go home and ask him to speak to them about possible bankruptcy.

(P.S. in add to my original post...I'm also under threat of redundancy, but no clue when. We are just told there will be redunancies where I work. So, my payout won't last very long, as it'll be dictated by the Govt (statutory, probably). Which means we would be right royally stuffed and I'd probably end up going BR myself!)

CCCS_Matthew

hells wrote: »

Hello nice CCCS people!
I'm going to copy and paste my thread from the Bankruptcy board itself as it might slip through the net.

If your partner goes bankrupt, how does it affect your finances?

All the forms I see ask for partner's income to be taken into account, but these debts were already there when we met (and then he fessed up and told me about them soon after!)

My partner had his house repo'd last year and there was a mortgage shortfall of £9k after the house has now been sold. To date he's not paid any of it back and we are considering asking for it to be written off. But if they don't write it off....what next

Secondly, there is also a £13k (now unsecured) loan which was a 2nd charge against the house. That is also unpaid and is now being chased through court.

So, in summary, my partner has debts of £22k. His earnings are just about that.

I earn more than that, but of course, have my own outgoings, including credit cards, loans and car HP payments.

He has no assets and we live in rented property. If he filed for bankruptcy, will all the pressure basically be on me, because I'm the higher earner and technically could meet the household outgoings (but we'd have sod all left for food or clothes).

We have no joint finances or accounts. All the bills go out of my bank account, because that's the way it's always been, and he pays me half of those outgoings each month and then he has a few hundred to spare for his own 'spends'.

At the moment I've put him onto National Debtline to have a chat; the chap I spoke to was lovely and helpful. When my OH called them, he got a woman who firstly initially refused to speak to him...and then she was very abrupt and said "well I don't know what you want me to do here".

He's going to try and get through to a human tomorrow. But in the meantime, any help appreciated, as I could go home and ask him to speak to them about possible bankruptcy.

(P.S. in add to my original post...I'm also under threat of redundancy, but no clue when. We are just told there will be redunancies where I work. So, my payout won't last very long, as it'll be dictated by the Govt (statutory, probably). Which means we would be right royally stuffed and I'd probably end up going BR myself!)

Hi there.

If your partner were to go bankrupt, he would to represent his income and his share of the outgoings. Potentially, the official receiver may question what your income is simply to ensure that your partner isn’t claiming he pays all the bills to avoid paying his debts. He would also need to sign an affidavit to confirm all the information he provides is true.
When showing his costs he would need to represent everything he pays for. So anything he uses for ‘spends’ will need to be documented (such as food, clothing, travel etc).

As far as the shortfall for the mortgage is concerned, it’s not likely that the lender will write off the debt so it’s important that he includes it within the rest of his liabilities.

If he wants a second opinion on whether bankruptcy is his best option he could try using our online advice tool Debt Remedy. Click here to go directly to Debt Remedy. If he would prefer to book an appointment with a debt counsellor, our helpline can be contacted on 0800 138 1111.

Regards,
Matthew.

1967vike

Hi , i have posted before - briefly I am now bank rupt as of 24.8.09 and my wife was also made bankrupt th 15.9.09 - however un beknown to us the OR has written to our water company and council tax to advise of our bankruptcy. the water company have written to us and said our account had been wiped clean and a new account had been opened - we werent behind on the water and was upto date but suppose its a technicality they have to follow so fine. The council tax however is a little more complicated - we was n't in arrears with them at the time of the bankruptcy and I made my monthly payment after the date of my bankrutpcy not thinking anything of it -but before my wifes bank ruptcy -we have then received an amended councul bill detailing the remaining outstanding amount and they have adjusted the monthly payments and the monthly payments have increased by 12.00 - when i queried this they said that they couldnt credit the payment i made after the bankruptcy and have put this payment into a holding account for when the OR can claim it themselves if they want to - this means the bill is now higher than expected and hence why the payment on a monthly basis has increased is this right? I have requested they credit my account with this payt but they willnt without the OR saying they have no claim on it - i spoke to the OR office and they were very flippant about it and said the local authority would have to write to them explaining the above- can i have some advise on this please thank you

CCCS_Sue

garston_T wrote: »

Hi, quick question. Do they at any point ask for some proof that you have rang/visited the citizens advice? My local one is useless, won't even answer the phone. And I'm only ringing them because I keep reading I need to. I've done all my research online and I've made my mind up so all seems a bit pointless like. what proof do I have to obtain that I did contact them?

Many thanks.

Hi Garston T and thank you for your message

When you apply to go bankrupt, the judge will just need to make sure that you have considered all the options that may be available for your situation and that you have discussed these with a professional debt advisor.
If you would like to make an appointment to discuss your situation with a debt counsellor, you can ring for an appointment on our free helpline 0800 138 1111.
The counsellor will put together a budget showing your income and expenditure and discuss whether bankruptcy is the best option for your situation as there may other options you could consider.
Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. It would be helpful that when you call you have details ready regarding your income, expenditure and creditors, as this can help speed up the referral process. If you have this information ready it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor if one is available, otherwise we will arrange a time that is convenient for you to be called back for an appointment.
If bankruptcy is your best option, we do have a bankruptcy support team we can refer you to who can give further help and support
Regards
CCCS Sue

CCCS_Sue

hells wrote: »

Hello nice CCCS people!
I'm going to copy and paste my thread from the Bankruptcy board itself as it might slip through the net.

If your partner goes bankrupt, how does it affect your finances?

All the forms I see ask for partner's income to be taken into account, but these debts were already there when we met (and then he fessed up and told me about them soon after!)

My partner had his house repo'd last year and there was a mortgage shortfall of £9k after the house has now been sold. To date he's not paid any of it back and we are considering asking for it to be written off. But if they don't write it off....what next

Secondly, there is also a £13k (now unsecured) loan which was a 2nd charge against the house. That is also unpaid and is now being chased through court.

So, in summary, my partner has debts of £22k. His earnings are just about that.

I earn more than that, but of course, have my own outgoings, including credit cards, loans and car HP payments.

He has no assets and we live in rented property. If he filed for bankruptcy, will all the pressure basically be on me, because I'm the higher earner and technically could meet the household outgoings (but we'd have sod all left for food or clothes).

We have no joint finances or accounts. All the bills go out of my bank account, because that's the way it's always been, and he pays me half of those outgoings each month and then he has a few hundred to spare for his own 'spends'.

At the moment I've put him onto National Debtline to have a chat; the chap I spoke to was lovely and helpful. When my OH called them, he got a woman who firstly initially refused to speak to him...and then she was very abrupt and said "well I don't know what you want me to do here".

He's going to try and get through to a human tomorrow. But in the meantime, any help appreciated, as I could go home and ask him to speak to them about possible bankruptcy.

(P.S. in add to my original post...I'm also under threat of redundancy, but no clue when. We are just told there will be redunancies where I work. So, my payout won't last very long, as it'll be dictated by the Govt (statutory, probably). Which means we would be right royally stuffed and I'd probably end up going BR myself!)

Hi hells and thank you for your message

His bankruptcy should not affect you if you have no joint finances or accounts.
But the budget will need to show the bills you pay. I think CCCS Matt has already explained this for you.
But I just wanted to add, that, as your job is also under threat,and you also have debts, I would recommend that you call us for an appointment to discuss both your situations with one of our debt counsellors so we can look at your situation as a whole.
The counsellor will put together a budget showing all income and expenditure and also discuss whether there are other options you could consider.
To book an appointment with one of our trained counsellors you would need to contact our helpline free on 0800 138 1111. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00. It would be helpful that when you call you have details ready regarding your income, expenditure and creditors, as this can help speed up the referral process. If you have this information ready it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor if one is available, otherwise we will arrange a time that is convenient for you to be called back for an appointment.

Alternatively you could visit our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy would assist you in completing a financial statement and you would be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your situation. Click here to go directly to Debt Remedy.

Regards,
CCCS Sue