Debt advice please!

pielegs

Hi there,

First of all I am sorry for the long message and probably not reading other threads which would help me but I feel its better to give the facts for my case and hope i get some good advice from you all!

Cutting a long story short I have had a gambling addiction for a good 7 years now. the good news is that I really have conquered it over the last few months and continue to do well battling it each day.

The bad news is that I obviously have several debts. I have had debts in the past which my parents have helped with but obviously not dealing with the real issues at hand I kept getting in trouble over and over again. As a quick example, I have paid off deafulted Barclays accounts on two occasions but each time Barclays have given me another account, overdraft facility, and cheque guarantee card.

When I confessed to my parents about my troubles last xmas I only told them about the people chasing me for money at the time. To explain, I have had several addresses having been at university and gradually the banks lost track of me and couldnt get hold of me. I knew these debts wouldnt just go away but for whatever reason, I only told my parents about what was only a fraction of my debt.

Since xmas I have really got my act together and have been paying back small payments on a student account and a credit card as well as friends, family etc. Things were going pretty well despite me knowing that I had all these other debts hidden in tha past. Perhaps a good time to mention I have a job where I earn about 1k a month. As a footnote, I may be about to get a job where my wages would signifcantly increase- despite having to leave home for it (as i currently live with my parents.

Anyway, like I say things had been going well and being proactive I got a credit score thinking it was time to sort my problems out properly. Obviously I knew this credit check would uncover debts, and even debts I had forgotten about or didnt know existed.

It could be coincidence or maybe someone can confirm, but doing a credit search has seemingly meant my creditors have caught up with me. There was no point hiding this or running away from it any longer so I discussed the situation with my parents. Incidentally, my credit score did confirm I had a CCJ

In summary, I owe about 18k to about 4 banks, 2 credit cards, and some other companies where I have cashed cheques etc. Not sure if this is relevant but I owe an additional 18.5k student loan- obviosuly this debt isnt ideal, but it is not a debt that gives me sleepless nights.

I live with my parents, I have no assets, no home and my car is a company car. I now bank with an electron card so have no debt with the card. Since sorting my act out this bank account has been used quite well and has my salary every month.

So what should I do? I earn 1k a month and taking all these debts onboard I couldnt make a payment that would satisfy anonye. Most of my debts have gone to debt recovery companies. My parents are suggesting I tell them the whole truth and explain how I simply dont have any money to pay these debts. After rent, phone, food etc you can see how my left over money couldnt go anywhere near to paying off 18k worth of debt. My parents are suggesting I tell the creditors that there is no way on earth I can repay them unless they all accept £5 a month each. Otherwise they are saying they would support me if I tell the creditors to take me to court and we will see what a judge has to say about the situation given the fact that all these accounts were given to me when I was a student, and remember the one example I gave when I defaulted on my barclays account 3 times and each time they have given me an account with an overdraft again. My parents do not know the ins and outs about what happens though so I dont know if this idea has any logic or sense to it?

So is bankruptcy something you would recommend for me? My parents instincts were to say yes. I know the stigma od bankruptcy isnt pleasant but at the end of the day my main concern is keeping off the gambling. Should I stop making these payments that I currently make to 2 banks as its pointless if I go down the bankruptcy route with all these other debts.

My parents just think I should have a clean slate. I dont know what bankruptcy ematils, what it means for the future or if there is an alternative to my problems. Sorry for rambling a bit now. I am really interested in your feedback so if you need any additional info about my situation get back to me and I will explain what you need to know.

Thankyou so much in advance.

pielegs

the bit I missed out was would their be any fianacial reprocussions for my parents as I live with them etc etc. Do they have any obligations to pay for me I was concerned because they are quite comfortably well off regardign value of their home, assets income etc? Note, none of my debt is in their name or anything.

debtinfo

Hi, First of all i would say that although £18K might seem huge to you it is not compared to the average that people go bankrupt for. Bankruptcy is one of several options but please bear in mind that one of the main jobs for the OR (who oversees the bankruptcy) is to investigate your prior conduct. This can result in a further bankruptcy restriction of between 2 and 15 years and gambleing is one of the things that they would be looking for. If you look at the threads there is a diary of someone going through this which is a must read. I cannot remember the name but im sure some one else will

pielegs

so what are the implications? because but for gambling I would never be in this situation. Gambling accounts for 100% of my debt problem, I was 100% irrsponsible and my conduct is nothing short of disgraceful.

philnicandamy

The receiver as debtinfo said may consider you for a BRO/BRU its not the end of the world & you'd still be discharged from bankruptcy usually after 12mnths its just some of the restrictions would still be in place

bit of a read here
http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/bro.pdf

miss_spooky

Hi,

Welocme to the board. You will get lots of good advice here. Firstly have you spoken to one of the debt charities like CCCS, National Debt line or CAB? The reasons for this is two fold. Firstly you will get a good idea of what your expenditure is, which will help in your descision to go down the BR route. 2ndly the judge will ask you of you have taken advice.

The CCCs website has a great tool - online debt remedy, where you can enter your details then "Chat" to some one then get an answer. Obviously it's only advice and you can ask for advice of br. I did it the other day for someone and it took about half hour in total.

I have no knowledge of gambling but will keep a look out for the other person who is going through it at mo. Are you with any of the online gambling help lines? I've heard these are good. I'll try and find links for them as well.

Then from there feel free to come back and ask away.

miss_spooky

Other gambler's diary http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1802595