Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

CCCS_Matthew

Barn31 wrote: »

Dear Matthew, Sarah, Alan, Sue or Amanda - hope you can help - any chance I can ask for your help?

I went B/R last week and am due to go and see the OR for the dreaded interview. Might you be able to tell me what might happen in my situation, just as far as IPA's and IPO's and whatever are concerned? Sorry to ask but am a little confused.

Essentially I have no surplus monthly income and actually have a deficit, as odd as that looks. (Am self-employed and the last few months have been dire - but then again that's one of the reasons why I am going through the bankruptcy process.)

So as things stand, presumably I would not be asked to have to contribute a proportion of my monthly surplus as I do not have any!

But I am looking for a new job, so if I then got a new job (after the OR interview, and fingers crossed that I do get one), I presume I would then have to tell the OR of my change of circumstances.

If I then had a monthyl surplus, presumably I would have to pay some of that to the OR - which is fine, by the way. But can the OR say 'that's fine, you do not have to pay anything as you have not got it' at the time of the interview, and then say 'OK you need to pay X amount' at a later date once circumstances have (hopefully!) changed? If so, would that be in place until discharge, or keep going after discharge?

Sorry if this sounds stupid but I am not really sure how an IPA or IPO work, or indeed what they are! I'd be delighted if you could shed some light!

Hi there.

Bit of a late response, so you may have already had the OR interview but I thought I would reply all the same!

An IPA is only considered when you have at least £99 surplus after costs, so if you haven't got any, it's fair to say you wouldn't be ask to pay anything at this stage.

If you do find a new job, you would need to make the OR aware of the change, and the situation will be reviewed to whether an IPA needs to be considered. An IPA normally lasts for 3 years so it would carry on after discharge and you tend to find that you pay 50-70% of your monthly surplus.

Hope that helps.
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

homp wrote: »

Hello,
I signed a protected trust deed in June 2005 (Scotland).
I paid the first 8 payments, and then unfortunately had a gap of about 2 years (due to unemployment).
Fortunately, I was able to re-start payments and now I will be able to complete all 36 re-payments come 1 December 2010.
My questions are this:
When I re-started contributions I received a decree from the Council (due to previous overpaid Housing Benefit ). I forwarded this to my trustee at the time (their request) as this debt was not included in the trust deed. I have never heard anything more regarding this matter.
1) Will the Council chase this up come the end of my trust deed? Do they have a definitive timescale for chasing overpayments?
2) How will my credit rating be affected come the end of my trust deed as it’s taken over 5 years to complete all re-payments?
3) How long does this trust deed stay on my credit file/history?
I recently paid for a credit report from Equifax and it came back as “Fair” with no mention of my previous bad debt. Seems strange? I gave all accurate information but it did only went back 3 years!?
I await your response.

Many thanks

I think this one was answered via the PMs. Let me know if you haven't got the response.

Cheers.
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

StillStanding wrote: »

Hi all
Could someone please give me some advice. I have been on a DMP with youselves for a year now. Some crditors have been great, and my smaller debts are going down slowly but surely. However the interest and charges being added on my larger debts is only pushing my overall debts up
I was just wondering on how much longer I should ride this out for. Some of my smaller debts should be paid off by the end of the year, and I hope to get a payrise in April so I could put more into my DMP.
I'm just wondering if BR would now be the best option. I have a mortgage on my house (in negative equity). Really don't know what to do

Hi there.

If some of your creditors aren't willing to accept stopping interest, there are a couple of things that can be looked at. If you call Client Support, they can help by sending out another request to consider stopping the interest (sometimes persistence pays off). Alternatively, we can discuss other options with you, such as bankruptcy.

So if you give us a call, someone will be happy to discuss things with you to try and get things sorted.

Regards,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

Whattodo wrote: »

Hi,

I am going to ask a few questions please can you help?

My husband and I have recently moved from our mortgaged home into rented accomodation, the main reason was the fact that the property was no longer safe for us to live in (drugs, violence and many other problems with area) also it was a one bedroom flat which was too small for us and our one year old daughter. We tried to sell but the valuation was around 70,000 and our mortgage is 115,000 with HBOS - we asked for volunt repo and the bank said no - therefore after numorous trips to Citizins advice we decided to jump ship - stop paying Mortgage and rent - we now live in a lovely home but are totally clueless about what to do next.
We have a secured loan with welcome on the flat also of around 9000 - which we have also stoppped paying.
We have decided our best bet is to go bankrupt as we owe the loan, one credit card of 2,500 and some other smaller debts - my main question is should we file for Bankruptcy before they repossess us? What happens about the shortfall if after - it before will the falt just be taken as part of the BR?
HBOS are really dragging their feet - we have told them we want them to take it and they finally offered us VR last week - but this is after 6 months of no payment - should we take it now or wait to be reposessed?
They sent out a debt advisor who basically told us we did the right thing for our personal safety and emotional wellbeing we HAD to leave the property - however we have still heard very little about what will happen next.
As I'm sure you hear a lot I just want it to be over.
I earn good money - 37,000 - however by husband works part time and studies/cares for our daughter and earns just 10,000) will they take a lot from us?
I am a teacher - will this affect my job?
Sorry many questions and a very confused woman ranting is prob not the best for you but I am not sure who to ask anymore?!
Thank You

Hi there, thanks for getting in touch.

If you've made the decision to go bankrupt, it doesn't make a difference to whether you do it before or after they repossess. In theory, you won't actually know how much you owe the bank until they've sold the house which could be months away but this doesn't matter.

When you go bankrupt you list both the mortgage and secured loan on the list of your debts and you will not be liable for any shortfall, even if the house is sold after you've been discharged.

I would have thought that as you are a good earner that you would be asked to pay into an Income Payment Arrangement (IPA) when you go bankrupt. This is where you pay 50-70% of your surplus after you've paid out all of your other living costs, assuming there is at least £99 left. an IPA would normally last for 3 years. It shouldn't have an effect on your job, I've advised many teachers to consider bankruptcy over the years without it being a problem.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

christine.pearce25 wrote: »

Advice needed: i am applying for a Debt Relief Order. There is a 7 week waiting period In this time, what happens if one of my debtors decide to take further action against me. For example, I have missed 2 months payments on one of my credit cards, and they are constantly trying to get hold of me by phone, which I am not answering.. If they decide to take me to court, will this make any difference to me, taking into account I am applying for a DRO?? also, how long does it take them to take me to court??

Hi Christine.

If a creditor defaults you, sells the debt on, or goes for a County Court Judgement (CCJ) it would not have an impact on going for a DRO. The only issue would be that if they added interest or other costs which causes your debts to total over the £15,000 threshold.

The earliest chance they could go for a CCJ would be after 3 missed payments, but it's impossible to say whether they would do it then or at a later date as it would be down to their discretion.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

princess1984 wrote: »

I spoke to CCCS re my DMP yesterday and have been advised to go BR. I have been told to make token payments of £1 per creditor until I go BR, and to write letters to all the creditors explaining this. Is there a template letter? - I'm not sure what information to give them. It's because before now I have been making payments to my DMP and they might want to know why I am only making token payments, yet I don't want to tell them I'm going BR.

Hi there,

There is a standard CCCS template token payment letter, were you advised whether you would be sent some information out in the post, as I would expect that this would be included? If not you can always PM us your client reference number and I can get one posted out to you.

If you've made the decision to go bankrupt, don't be too worried about trying to justify yourself to the creditors as it's not going to make a huge amount of difference. You might find that you will start to recieve letter from your creditors requesting larger payments, so you'll need to ignore these. The only letters you need to look out for any from the court. If you get a CCJ it's not the end of the world, they will be still included with in your bankruptcy petition.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

emmdee57 wrote: »

Hi again. I was a sole trader/ 'trading as'. As it happens I have just tried to open a bank account but was turned down as they claimed I was 'bankrupt'. Any help is greatly appreciated.Regards

Hi emmdee.

If you're currently bankrupt, your best bet is to open a basic account with either Barclays or Co-op. Both are happy to allow an undischarged bankrupt an account.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

Auntglad wrote: »

Hi, I have just joined this forum as I am desperate for some advice & help.
My husband is 61 & I'm 66. He was working in the construction industry until last April, and although he tried to find work there's just no jobs around now, and also his age is against him. We are now receiving pension credit & rent & council tax relief. I know our financial situation has been getting worse & worse, and although I've been trying to meet our credit card & loan payments it's now at the stage were we just can't manage to make ends meet. We've kept clinging to the hope that a job would turn up, but we have to face facts now. Our total income from pension credit is £11124.40, and our total outgoings are £ 16381.88 !! I completed the income & expenditure form on this website and am so shocked at the result. I haven't included an amount for holidays, as how can we afford a holiday on a negative income? Approx. £510.00 of the outgoings are for credit card & loan payments & overdraft interest. We are almost £3500 overdrawn at the bank (our limit is £3500) and as soon as any pension money is paid in most of it has to go towards the direct debits & standing orders.
We have been paying £10 monthly on an old debt from years ago (when my husbands business folded & we also lost our home), we have never missed a payment, and yet the firm who is handling the debt -Debt Managers Ltd- have been phoning me & asking if I can increase my payments. The girl who phoned last week was very unsympathetic & aggressive, and when I tried to explain we were on pension credit & couldn't afford to pay more, she told me I had to give her all my income & expenditure details over the phone there & then. I refused & asked her to send me a letter, but I am still very upset about it, and her attitude to me.
Now I have realised the full extent of our debts I just don't know what to do. Even without all the payments for the credit cards & loan, the pension credit barely covers everything else i.e. Gas,electric,water, TV licence, House, Life,Car insurance,telephone, etc etc. One of the credit cards is from the bank we have our overdrawn current account with. I haven't used it for ages but there's still a balance owing of approx £3700. If I tell them we can't afford the payments I'm worried they could withdraw our overdraft facility which will add to our problems.
Last year I transferred a a balance to another card with zero interest, hoping to pay it off, but unfortunately I used it for birthdays & Christmas presents & even to buy groceries and have made the situation worse. We also have another credit card with the same bank, that has a zero balance, and which has a limit of £9000, and I'm worried that the bank will force me to transfer the amount owing on my overdraft on to this card. They insisted I did this once before ,even though I objected, and said that as I had a credit balance left on the credit card I had to transfer an overdraft balance of £750.00 from a current account onto the card.
Our total credit card & loan debts are approx £21000 including the overdraft. We have no savings and need urgent help.
Thank you & sorry for the long post.

Hi there, sorry to hear about your situation.

From what you've said, you certainly need to have an appointment to get advice on the best way forward to deal with the situation long term. There are a couple of ways in which you can get advice from us. You can visit our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy would assist you in completing a financial statement and you will be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your situation. Click here to go directly to Debt Remedy.

If you would prefer to talk to a debt counsellor about your situation, you can book a telephone based appointment by calling 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.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

Magpie27

Hi I wonder if someone can help me please - DH has been advised that he should apply for bankruptcy, we are currently on a tenancy agreement together but this will end at the end of March when we will be starting a new tenancy agreement in a new house which will be in my name only with him listed as a co-habitor.

We have no assets together so I understand that the bankruptcy should not affect me however becuase we live together will this affect our tenancy? Do the courts have the right to inform our landlord even the tenancy is solely in my name? DH's commitment to the rent is half which I assume he will need to list on the application will the court have the right to question where we are living and suggest we move to anywhere cheaper - even though where we are moving to is not that excessive and my DD is 5.

Thanks

debtsrus

Hi, I have a question about my flat. I'm will be submitting my petition for bankruptcy shortly; I have been renting a flat for the past 7 years and paid a deposit of £1000 at the commencement of the tenancy.

Do I need to declare this in my Statement of Affairs? Will the OR ask the landlord for this. What will my position be after bankruptcy viz a viz my tenancy?

Thanks

Debtsrus.