This looks like what Im looking for!

michael1975_2

Hi Everyone!

Saw mr Lewis on the telly this morning, and without being too much of a brown nose I thought if his site cant help, who can?!

My situation is this, i had a business that I ended in around may2002, ( public house tenancy) I still carry a lot of debt with me from that, brief breakdown follows

VAT @ £8000
Tax @ £7000
Loans@ £6000
various other creditors @£3000


I left the trade and business after it became too much of a millstone, clearly I need to clear these debts and have managed to occasionally pay some off.

Since then I've been a little unlucky with work and through changes of employer that didnt work out, redundancy and retraining Ive never really had enough spare cash to make a dent in the debt.

Things havnt been great the last couple of years, and Ive managed to rack up some additional credit card debt @£3500, and have some self assesment to pay too.

I've completely changed my career, and have retrained as a plumber, now dont believe what you read, plumbing steets are not paved with gold, only Gas Safe (corgi) guys really make money where I am, and many of them are struggling. This is an area I'd like to work in and hopefully will be at college once a week from september to move towards this.


I had a conversation with an IVA practitioner today, and they were really trying the fear close on me! Im not blase about my debt, I've always intended to pay it, it's just now become unmanageable for me, especially as work is very slow at the moment.

Ive read through some of the postings here and the support seems great, ive had this debt for so long, and my credit has been so bad, i dont see that 6 years of IVA, compared with a bankruptcy clean slate is that good an option for me.

Ive a few questions re Bankruptcy;

Would you reccommend it for this level of debt?

Early discharge likely?

Pro's and Cons?

Stress?

ANy advice will be gratefully received?

Kind regards

Michael

Ibanez

Im not clued up enough to offer advice on your questions... but I thought I would say welcome to the forum...

The advice here is second to none, Im sure you will get an answer very soon

Dave

michael1975_2

forgot to add!!

My income, which is next to nothing at the moment as I've had to be off work due to an operation is generally around £800 month, after my costs have been taken from that, I generally dont have much left, and struggle to put any by for the emergencies that crop up, like my knackered exhaust!
Ive gotta really restart my business from scratch and given the current climate when there are far more qualified people than me out of work, its bloody tough!

Cheers

M

So_Sad_Angel

Hi Michael

Welcome to you....I bet you felt like a weight lifting when you posted your first post. Its like therapy & sharing can help to focus your own feelings & thoughts on your preferred route.

Essentially BR is last resort & only you know if you have reached that point.

I would certainly recommend that you speak to nat Business Debtline & let them make a recommendation based on the debts you have...most seem business related & you sound as if you can`t continue as you have done due to illness & work falling away.

Stress....sorry I`m still struggling with that one...enough to say...speak to your GP....but don`t ignore stress!!

ED...well thats just a bonus. If BR is the way forward then ED is irrelevent...if you get it then thats a bonus.

Hope that helps Hun,

Ask as many questions as you need to....we know just how it feels as most of us have been there too.

Angiexx

So_Sad_Angel

....hmmmm must learn to do shorter posts!! sorry but I`m a bit of a chatterbox!!:D

tigerfeet2006

Hi and welcome to the board.

As Merry says get on the phone to Business Debtline and get some free, impartial advice. The link and no. are in my sig.

No debt is to small to go BR but it is definatlly not the easiest thing in the world. The stress will be tremendous untill it is all done and dusted and then you will start to feel some relief. It is generally described as being on a rollercoaster.

BR is for 12 months if you get ED it is a bonus but not a guarantee and shouldn't be expected, just think 12 months and you will be fine.

Read the Bankruptcy Help sticky and as many posts as you can and ask questions and read some more.