Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

Esoog

Hmm, just had my girlfriend on the phone in tears. She was given a number to ring by a debt helpline (not sure which) for an insolvency company to ask them some questions and they claimed they don't take into account ANY fees - all they are interested in is the amount on the mortage and the valuation. So in theory we could be talking £13k!? Is this correct? Who the hell pays the fees etc? So the OR gets half of that and we get nothing because by the time we've paid all the fees etc it'll end up costing us money? Surely this isn't right. We cant afford to pay the official receiver £6500. We're not even bankrupt (might be at this rate!)

MountainOfDebt_2

CCCS

I have just sent off 6 letters asking for interest and payments to be put on hold for all of our credit arrangements. I informed them we had put our house on the market and had simply run out of money, having just had the perfect storm (wife was made redundant the same day I was put on short hours for 3 months). We simply have run out of money, having spent all savings and earnings on renovating the house, expecting the jobs to continue.

Anyway, what I'd liek to ask is, was this the bext thing to do? I have cancelled all DD's and made the necessary changes to our lifestyle (sky, gym, etc). My wif eis working on the SOA, I guess, they'll require, but the long and the short of it is that with debt repayment, our outgoings are £4500 and income, now, £2500. I have asked them not to default us and that we'd work with them in any way they need us to, but that I simply cannot afford to pay for 90 days (probably a couple of weeks longer than that).

Have you any advice for me?

Thanks in advance.

CCCS_Matthew

Esoog wrote: »

Left on the mortgage is £85k, plus £4k early repayment fee which the lender has said would need to be included.

Valuations as of this morning are £95k for one and £95-100K from another, which seems silly since there's bigger and better houses on the same "estate" in the mid-90s, I suspect they're trying to secure our business (can you say to the OR that the valuation is wrong?!).

Fees from the estate agent were quoted as £3k so lets say £92k all included so in theory there's £3000 equity if we take the lower one and send it. Now can we argue since he hasn't paid anything for well over a year the split is not equal (70/30!)? Leaving them with at worse case 50-50 £1500? Would they bother?

Also, is a surveyor going to give a more up front valuation? Ie one that isn't geared towards us selling our house with them? I've looked at some on-line valuations (not a source of authority I know) and the most they've come up with is £90k.

Thanks for your time and help

Hi again.

In most cases the equity is split down the middle if it's a joint mortgage. So if after costs etc there is £10k, in theory, your partner's equity would be £5k. However, if it can be proved that one party has paid more than the other then the split can be negotiated. This often happens where one person had paid the deposit for example. If you contest the OR's valuation, you can request a another valuation for a second opinion. It's worth noting that the OR has to legally get an independent valuation so the valuation you've had won't necessarily mean that it's wrong. It's certainly worth getting a range of opinions on valuations yourself as well if it doesn't cost you anything to do it.

It's also worth noting that most OR's/trustee's will be willing to accept an offer when it comes to the the BI. So if it's worked out that you need to pay £5k to secure the BI, they maybe willing to accept less on the assumption you can pay it in a lump sum.

Regards,
Matthew.

debtsrus

CCCS_Matthew wrote: »

Hi there.

All bank accounts are frozen when you go bankrupt, but only for 48 hours. Once open again it is the banks dicretion to whether you can keep the account open, the decision isn't made by the official receiver.

Having a new account open ready before your bankruptcy is the best thing to do. Just make sure you take enough money out to cover you for a couple of days and then by the end of the week your new Barclays account should be fine to use!

Hope that helps and good luck for Wednesday.
Matthew.

Thanks for your good wishes Matthew. Now the fun starts :-(

CCCS_Matthew

debtsrus wrote: »

Thanks for your good wishes Matthew. Now the fun starts :-(

I'm sure it will be fine. You'll feel a lot better knowing the debts are all gone come this time tomorrow.

All the best,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

MountainOfDebt wrote: »

CCCS

I have just sent off 6 letters asking for interest and payments to be put on hold for all of our credit arrangements. I informed them we had put our house on the market and had simply run out of money, having just had the perfect storm (wife was made redundant the same day I was put on short hours for 3 months). We simply have run out of money, having spent all savings and earnings on renovating the house, expecting the jobs to continue.

Anyway, what I'd liek to ask is, was this the bext thing to do? I have cancelled all DD's and made the necessary changes to our lifestyle (sky, gym, etc). My wif eis working on the SOA, I guess, they'll require, but the long and the short of it is that with debt repayment, our outgoings are £4500 and income, now, £2500. I have asked them not to default us and that we'd work with them in any way they need us to, but that I simply cannot afford to pay for 90 days (probably a couple of weeks longer than that).

Have you any advice for me?

Thanks in advance.

Hi MoD.

To give you indepth advice about your situation you would really need to have an appointment so we can see a breakdown of all your costs. There are two ways you can do this:

Firstly, you could use our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a full financial statement and you will be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your debts. It should take you about 20 minutes to complete and it’s completely free and impartial. To get advice straight away, click here to be taken 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.

Regards,
Matthew.

icegirl

CCCS_Matthew wrote: »

Hi Louise, thanks for getting in touch.

The cost of going bankrupt is £510, it's a standard set amount paid to the county court (although it's going up to £600 in April). Don't be tempted to pay someone anyone any more than that. If you want to go banrkrupt, you have to petition for it yourself with your completed forms so the companies charging you extra won't be able to do anything on your behalf, you'll be just paying for the advice and help with forms.

If the DMP isn't working for you and you're thinking of going bankrupt, give us a call. We can talk you through the process in detail and answer any questions you have, and advise on the forms if necessary. As you know, CCCS don't charge anything for advice - so if you choose to go ahead with bankruptcy you'll just need to find the standard bankrutpcy fee.

Regards,
Matthew.

Hi Matthew

Thanks very much for the quick reply, we've had a look at the insolvency website to get an idea. I will give the CCCS a ring to discuss it asap.

Thanks again.

Louise

annie_plum

Thank you Martin I know you would help if you could.
Only problem is if I ask and they say no and they close account I wont be able to draw pension and it is all we have to live on until my husband is well enough to find work. Things really are going from bad to worse at the moment.

MountainOfDebt_2

CCCS_Matthew wrote: »

Hi MoD.

To give you indepth advice about your situation you would really need to have an appointment so we can see a breakdown of all your costs. There are two ways you can do this:

Firstly, you could use our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy. Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a full financial statement and you will be provided with tailored advice on the best way to deal with your debts. It should take you about 20 minutes to complete and it’s completely free and impartial. To get advice straight away, click here to be taken 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.

Regards,
Matthew.

Thanks Matthew,

I am away working 4 (part time) days a week and my wife is completing the SOA. Once that's done, I'll arrange an appointment. I am, naively I guess, expecting the debtors to play fair. We'll see I guess. We have the assets to get us out of the hole, but need to have a breathing space to sell the assets and start again.

Cheers for your help.

underfire

I declared sole BR on 26th Feb 09. Everything was going fine and the OR didn’t even want to interview me at present. That I know could change.

My Husband and I have all our finances separate apart from one (could be fatal thing) I overlooked. To be honest I completely forgot about. Although I had all my cards in my name only I had my Husband as a ADDITIONAL CARDHOLDER! Have I just screwed him? It would be fatal for his work if I have as he’s a Company Director. I’m really scared I have just completely messed up his Life. I totally forgot about it because although he has his own card on my account he has NEVER used it and never signed an agreement with them.

Last night (I don’t answer my phone) MBNA called his phone spoke to him about a card he obviously didn’t recognise and then asked for me. How bloody dare they, I am fuming! Are they really allowed to do this?

Surely my Husband is not liable for my debts in this way?

Please help and reply soon I am going out of my mind with worry. My Husband is obviously a bit worried too.