dca recommending bankruptcy proceedings?

aligerdie

Hi all.

Really hope you might be able to offer some advice with this as its not something I've received before.

My OH in his stupidity ran up debts before we met, one of which was a car loan with a whopping 49% interest (yep, I know!).
Anyway, he defaulted on this, stuck his head in the sand and stopped paying, and I'm pretty sure he received a ccj for his non effort in 2005.

He started paying back monthly, then just stopped - I have no idea why, and the remaining balance is around £3000.

I have to deal with post now, he's not interested in opening letters, so its up to me to deal with.

Today he's received a letter from a dca saying that due to his non-contact they are in the process of advising their client to commence bankruptcy proceedings.

I am way out of my depth now, I have no idea what to do, and I could really use some advice - I've told him, and its like its not registered.

The letter has actually crossed with a letter I sent friday offering a payment of £20 per month. Not much, but hubby is on short time, and his company have arranged a meeting for this weekend with the view of making redundancies.
We rent, we have no possessions of value, and I need my old car to take DD1 to school.

What do I do now? So sorry for the long post x

fermi

They are not likely to go for bankruptcy for £3,000.

It would cost them over £1,000 to do, and from the sound of it they wouldn't get any of that back let alone the original debt.

They may send a "Statutory Demand", but most of the time this is just a scare tactic. The actual demand costs nothing, but to follow it up for real costs £1,000s.

It sounds as if bankruptcy would not overly harm him anyway. No property to protect etc....

Essex_Maid

Try these people :
Consumer Credit Counselling Service: http://www.cccs.co.uk

aligerdie

Thanks for your replies.

Fermi, thats what I was hoping for. He has got alot better now (through my nagging) and apart from this and a few stupid mobile contracts from a few years ago, we're getting there.

I don't especially want to go down the bankruptcy route as his debts, on the grand scale of things aren't huge.

What would a statutory demand actually do?

And with regards to my letter I sent them last week, are they likely to accept a payment plan now?

Questions, questions, sorry

fermi

aligerdie wrote: »

What would a statutory demand actually do?

Rather than try to explain, you are probably better off reading this:

http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/legal_issues_explained/statutory_demand.php

But of particular note:

Please note that a statutory demand in 90% of instances is 'bluffing technique' used to scare a person into paying up. If a bankruptcy petition does not follow then this will become apparent.

After all, what would they achieve by making him bankrupt?

They would spend £1,000s doing it. Then the bankruptcy would force them to write off the debt, and they would never receive a penny regarding it.

They would have to be nuts to do it.

But it does make an effective threat when used against those who are not familiar with how these things work.

As for accepting the £20. I suspect that you may get many idle threats before they will do that.

fermi

I'm not suggesting you send this, but a few people in your situation have.

It has brought the DCA up short.

Made me laugh anyway.

Dear DCA,

Thank you ever so much for your recent letter including a statutory demand with a view to you petitioning for my bankruptcy.

You have no I idea what a relief that is as my finances have taken such a turn for the worse I have been struggling to find the £510 fees required to file for my own bankruptcy. So much so I have not been able to sleep at night worrying how I would achieve it.

I realise it will cost you £620 plus legal costs to do this. Considering I have no assets nor enough income to contribute anything to my bankruptcy estate in the form of an Income Payment Agreement and this means you will not recover any money for doing this, your act of generosity has left me lost for words.

But thank you for relieving me of the pressure I have been under, and allowing me to sleep sound at night knowing I no longer have to worry about finding the fee for myself

Yours very gratefully

aligerdie

Thanks again for your reply, I'll have a read of the link when the kids go for a nap in a min.

Just out of interest, there has been no mention by the dca of the ccj which was awarded against him. In fact a letter I've found dated about 4 weeks ago which he'd hidden mentions them taking him to court to issue a ccj.

I don't really understand why they haven't mentioned the original one.

Think I'm a little confused!

fermi

aligerdie wrote: »

I don't really understand why they haven't mentioned the original one.

Think I'm a little confused!

Sounds like they are as well. :rolleyes:

I expect the DCA is just knocking out standard template letters. That is par for the course with most of them.

It will be interesting to see if they send a "statutory demand" because the legal form to do so is different if there is already a CCJ in place. If they send the wrong one, then it would be invalid.

aligerdie

fermi wrote: »

I'm not suggesting you send this, but a few people in your situation have.

It has brought the DCA up short.

Made me laugh anyway.

That letter is pure genius. If I was feeling a little more brave, I would be tempted to send it off today!

Thats just put a smile on my face for the first time today, thank you!

aligerdie

fermi wrote: »

Sounds like they are as well. :rolleyes:

I expect the DCA is just knocking out standard template letters. That is par for the course with most of them.

It will be interesting to see if they send a "statutory demand" because the legal form to do so is different if there is already a CCJ in place. If they send the wrong one, then it would be invalid.

Wow, I would never have known that. I may just hang fire, and wait until they either reply to my payment offer, or send me more nasty letters (in which case I shall be back on here!)

Thank you so much for all your help.