Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

CCCS_Sarah

fiveyearplan wrote: »

I would advise each of you to start a new thread on the bankruptcy board as it sometimes take a while for a CCCS counselor to answer these posts. Most everyone on the board has been through bankruptcy and are very knowledgable. In any event you would still be advised to ring one of the debt charities like CCCS, CAB or National Debtline.

Hi Fiveyearplan,

We have been a little delayed in answering the questions on the thread this past week, we have recently seen a massive demand through our PMs. We are now all up to date with all the questions that have been asked and would like to thank the regulars for helping people out on here.

Sarah

philnicandamy

they've not left you alone again sarah have they?

CCCS_Matthew

midnghtaction wrote: »

Hello there

I am hoping that someone can help me, I am writing this on behalf of my Dad who has gotten himself so worked up about this situation that I feel like I need to try and do something to help.

To give a little background, my Dad had a joint business partnership that came to an end 10 years ago, when he was bought out of the business by his partner. During the last 10 years this party has become very rich off of the business whilst my Dad has become continually worse off. Anyway about a month ago completely out of the blue my Dad got a solicitors letter stating that he owed back rent for the buisness premises. The total amount owing had been £20K and my dads previous business partner paid the full amount and is now suing my Dad for half which is £10k. It has been proved that my Dad is liable for this money as he signed a personal guarantee.

My Dad has no money whatsoever, he is 65, my mum is 63 they are both retired, by mum due to very ill health, my Dad is caring for my mum (who has cancer) and also raises my niece as her mother is not capable of doing so. They live on a state pension, have a crapper old banger (which is used to ship my mum to and from hospital) and live in a static caravan which is worth hardly anything.

They have cashed in their only bit of money which was their premium bonds and together have come up with £1k, which is literally everything that the have. They have offered this to the person suing them and he has refused to back down, and is demanding the full £10K and has threatened to make them bankrupt.

I guess my questions here is, can he do that, is there really no alternative, maybe an agreement to a lower payment plan, or any other options at all, is making my Dad bankrupt the only option? Can he try and appeal against the bankrupcy being put on him, or does he just have to accept it.

I don't like to lay it on thick, and I am not trying to say my dad doesn't owe this money (He made a very bad business decision !) but I can not bear to see them going through this, they have nothing and never have, they have always struggled and I am desperate to try and do anything I can to try and help them (I would help them finacially if I could but I have no funds either after a very messy divorce). I just do not want to see them lose their house (caravan) and their car especially as my mum is so ill, this would be awful.

Can someone let me know if there is anyway we (they) can fight this bankruptcy or if it is an inevitable case of just having to go along with it.

Sorry for the long post and the big sob story, am just trying to find some help

Sarah xxx

Hi Sarah, sorry to hear about your Dad’s situation.

If the individual wants to make your Dad bankrupt they have to firstly serve him with a legal document called a ‘statutory demand’. This outlines the claim of what is owed, and give your Dad 21 days to either pay the debt off, or file for the demand to be set aside at court if he disputes the claim. He may have grounds for dispute on the basis that the person had actually cleared the debt themselves in full, which in theory suggests they are accepting liability for the original claim. They would be probably benefit from getting legal advice should it get to this stage. If they qualify for legal aid they could contact: http://www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/

If they do proceed with the threat of bankruptcy, and it’s not set aside then potentially from what you’ve said your Dad hasn’t really got a lot to lose as far as assets are concerned. If the caravan isn’t worth thousands then it’s unlikely they would lose particularly given your Mother’s health. The fact that your Dad doesn’t have a lot in the way of assets leads me to think why would this person be looking at making him bankrupt.

I would be personally inclined not to panic at this stage. Whilst this person is threatening with bankruptcy, doesn’t mean necessarily it’s something they are going to do.

Regards,
Matthew.

CCCS_Sarah

philnicandamy wrote: »

they've not left you alone again sarah have they?

No they are all here

midnghtaction

foolishdebt Thanks once again for all your reassuring words, it has been great to get your personal experiences on the matter (Kinda wish you didn't have a personal experience of it though, if that makes sense, I wish no one had to go through it. )

matthew Thanks for all of your advice, you have made me see that I maybe should not be quite so worried as I am right now, as this may never happen. I guess I am just so worried about the potential loss of their house that I am trying to pre-empt what might happen.

Hopefully it will not come to anything and the issue can be solved before bankrupcy is an option, but if not I may be back for some more advice in the future.

Thanks once again for all your help

Sarah xx

worriedwoz

Hi I am new to the site and I am looking for some advice.

My husband and I are thinking of both going bankrupt. He has around £15,500 of unsecured debt and I have around £2,500 and together we have £2000 which is utility bills and council tax.
We sold our house in November 2008 and made £14,000. We then went to live abroad. We continued to pay the monthly installments on all the debts. As we couldnt get work abroad we came back with very little left. We have 2 children.
We had no home or possesions (apart from 7 suitcases). Hubby bought a car for £2k and we wrote to all creditors offering reduced settlement. All refused our offers apart from one which we settled.
We were struggling with money and didnt keep up with any payments.
We split up and hubby lost is job. I had started working but earn £1000 per month.
He sold car and went back abroad to try and get job so we could all have better life. Again he coulnt and came back.

We now are living in a relatives house. The relative only rents this house and we are paying her for all the bills. (the landlord knows this)
Hubby has new job but is on sick leave with all the stress.

My questions are
Will OR think that we have been irresponsible with our money? and if so what will happen.?
As husband on sick pay will the OR take is sick pay into consideration or the wage he could earn?
He doesnt want to go back to this job and if he leaves (for his health) will that affect us?
Will we be allowed to move abroad again if we can ever afford to?

Thanks in advance.

Worriedwoz

Emmaj_2

Hi,
me and my partner have our court date for BR on 23rd Dec and I am quite frightened and feeling very degraded about the whole thing but feel this is the only option to make my 2 children's life comfortable again.
We have £30k debt between us most is joint but not all and in total owe to 11 creditors. We took our 1st loans out 10 years ago and has just spiralled out of control since!! We kept taking loans to pay off credit/storecards and then ran them up again and again and again.
The only asset we have is a car worth £600. I am worried about what they are going to think of us having done this and now asking to go bankrupt.Are we different to anyone else?

I gave up work earlier this year due to childcare costs and my partner lost his job last month so neither of us are working at the moment but we are applying for jobs.

My main worries are when we have the telephone interview with the OR. What will they expect from us?Will we have to explain everything we have spent as that will be really difficult and what paperwork will they need to see from us?
Sorry for all the questions, just want to be prepared.

philnicandamy

Emmaj wrote: »

Hi,
me and my partner have our court date for BR on 23rd Dec and I am quite frightened and feeling very degraded about the whole thing but feel this is the only option to make my 2 children's life comfortable again.
We have £30k debt between us most is joint but not all and in total owe to 11 creditors. We took our 1st loans out 10 years ago and has just spiralled out of control since!! We kept taking loans to pay off credit/storecards and then ran them up again and again and again.
The only asset we have is a car worth £600. I am worried about what they are going to think of us having done this and now asking to go bankrupt.Are we different to anyone else? nope no different..

I gave up work earlier this year due to childcare costs and my partner lost his job last month so neither of us are working at the moment but we are applying for jobs.

My main worries are when we have the telephone interview with the OR. What will they expect from us? they'll ask questions such as when the last time you used credit? go through spending etc..if you cant remember things just say so they DO understand & you'll not be the first to forget Will we have to explain everything we have spent as that will be really difficult and what paperwork will they need to see from us? they usually will ask for bank statements loan agreements/credit agreements stuff like that but again DONT worry if you dont have the OR can source themselves if neededf..
Sorry for all the questions, just want to be prepared.

Welcome...hope a few things help

(and dont be ashamed of what you have to do..we've all reached bankruptcy as an option one way or another..its nothing to be ashamed of if anything you deserve a pat on the back for getting so far

have you spoken to any of the debt advice lines yet? its a question they normally will ask in court

meanwhile bit of a read here for you

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1056083

Worried2112

Please could someone offer advice on how best to proceed with this?
I used to sell new homes but lost my job last year when the market slowed down. At the time I had a car on H.P. with all payments up to date. My husband is self employed and his income was also being reduced. The result of all of this was that he declared him self BR in May. I was not included in this.

As I had paid over 50% of the HP on the car off I asked for it to be voluntary handed back. Even though I asked for this when all payments were up to date it took them so long to get around to colleting the vehicle that arrears had started to build up.

Eventually I received a letter from a solicitor asking for the balance of the outstanding finance. I explained the facts that my income was now just Child Benefit, that my husband was an un-discharged bankrupt, that our house is in negative equity and offered a token payment of £10 per month.

This was rejected and the next thing I know is that I have a CCJ against me and a charge on our house.

I have now received a further letter threaten legal action to get the house sold.

Money is extremely tight and I am not sure what to do now. The solicitor appears to be following their legal process, which is just adding more to the debt, without and consideration of my situation.

Can anyone suggest the best way forward – if I had the money I would give t to them!

CCCS_Matthew

worriedwoz wrote: »

Hi I am new to the site and I am looking for some advice.

My husband and I are thinking of both going bankrupt. He has around £15,500 of unsecured debt and I have around £2,500 and together we have £2000 which is utility bills and council tax.
We sold our house in November 2008 and made £14,000. We then went to live abroad. We continued to pay the monthly installments on all the debts. As we couldnt get work abroad we came back with very little left. We have 2 children.
We had no home or possesions (apart from 7 suitcases). Hubby bought a car for £2k and we wrote to all creditors offering reduced settlement. All refused our offers apart from one which we settled.
We were struggling with money and didnt keep up with any payments.
We split up and hubby lost is job. I had started working but earn £1000 per month.
He sold car and went back abroad to try and get job so we could all have better life. Again he coulnt and came back.

We now are living in a relatives house. The relative only rents this house and we are paying her for all the bills. (the landlord knows this)
Hubby has new job but is on sick leave with all the stress.

My questions are
Will OR think that we have been irresponsible with our money? and if so what will happen.?
As husband on sick pay will the OR take is sick pay into consideration or the wage he could earn?
He doesnt want to go back to this job and if he leaves (for his health) will that affect us?
Will we be allowed to move abroad again if we can ever afford to?

Thanks in advance.

Worriedwoz

Hi there, thanks for getting in touch.

• If the official receiver feels that you have been particularly irresponsible with your money which led to the bankruptcy, they could look at extending the length of bankruptcy. This is known as a bankruptcy restriction order. However from what you've mentioned so far there isn't anything you've said that jumps out to suggest you've been particularly irresponsible. A restriction order is normally for people who have borrowed money without intention to pay it back, borrowed money to gamble etc.

• The Official Receiver will take into account the income your husband has at the time. Should he find himself in the situation where he is earning more at a later stage within his bankruptcy then this will be taken into account.

• If he's got a good enough reason to leave his job then this shouldn’t affect the bankruptcy. Ultimately if he’s not well enough to work then he can’t be forced to.

• You would need to check with the country you’re planning moving to whether bankruptcy would affect your ability to live there. Based on my experience this doesn’t tend to be an issue, but it’s always best to check first.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.