Is Bankruptcy right for me?

bobbieg

I know people will come along and advice me to see a professional debt help company but i wondered if someone could give me a few tips on whether or not bankruptcy would be an option for me.
My current situation is this - I am the mother of a 1 year old boy, i got made redundant in Nov last year so i currently claim income support as i am living alone and going through the process of divorcing my husband.
I have debts to credit cards, catalogues, my car has just been reposessed last night as creditor got a court order due to non payment. I also have recieved court paperwork for unpaid vets bills totalling £300. I guess in total i owe between £10-12k. The only money i currently have coming in is income support and child tax credit which totals around £100 per week and i need £40 of that to pay my rent.
my questions are:
- would i still be able to use my Abbey basic account if i were made bankrupt
- After the 6 years after discharge, does all evidence of bankruptcy disappear from my credit file and therefore would i be treated as a normal customer as long as they dont ask about bankruptcy i dont have to tell them?
- How much would i be able to pay back weekly, obviously i dont have any disposable income so to what extent do they take this into account?
- would bankruptcy include my current outstanding gas/ electric / water supplies as i owe around £500 to them.
- After i am made bankrupt where would i stand as to working. I really need a part time job to boost my income, but would they be able to take this money off of me?
- would it mean that as soon as i file for bankruptcy, all creditors would back off, i'm sick of the phone calls and worrying whos coming to the door next

At the moment i'm feeling pretty desperate and having a terrible week! My husbands left, i'm arranging divorce and my cars been reposessed all in one week! but things can only get better. I know that if i was working i would be able to repair my credit but i simply do not have the funds to make payments, for the first time in my life i do not have a job.
I'm kind of thinking i could have a fresh start with the debts behind me and by the time my sons 7 i'd be back to a "normal" person again, as opposed to probably still paying off my debts at something stupid like £10 per week

Any help much appreciated thanks people. x

tigerfeet2006

Just done a long reply and lost it, bear with me and I'll do it again.

tigerfeet2006

bobbieg wrote: »

I know people will come along and advice me to see a professional debt help company but i wondered if someone could give me a few tips on whether or not bankruptcy would be an option for me. Definatly seek help from the debt charities as there are possibly 2 options available to you BR and a Debt Relief Order (DRO)
My current situation is this - I am the mother of a 1 year old boy, i got made redundant in Nov last year so i currently claim income support as i am living alone and going through the process of divorcing my husband. Check out https://www.entitledto.co.uk to make sure you are recieving all the right benefits.
I have debts to credit cards, catalogues, my car has just been reposessed last night as creditor got a court order due to non payment. I also have recieved court paperwork for unpaid vets bills totalling £300. I guess in total i owe between £10-12k. The only money i currently have coming in is income support and child tax credit which totals around £100 per week and i need £40 of that to pay my rent.
my questions are:
- would i still be able to use my Abbey basic account if i were made bankrupt If you were to go BR then they will most likely close it. Open a Co-op Cashminder or Barclays Cash account. You may be able to keep it in a DRO.
- After the 6 years after discharge, does all evidence of bankruptcy disappear from my credit file and therefore would i be treated as a normal customer as long as they dont ask about bankruptcy i dont have to tell them? Yes it goes from your credit file and this is what most co.'s look at but it will forever be on the London Gazette website
- How much would i be able to pay back weekly, obviously i dont have any disposable income so to what extent do they take this into account? If you are on benefits then nothing.
- would bankruptcy include my current outstanding gas/ electric / water supplies as i owe around £500 to them. Yes, though they may put you on meters.
- After i am made bankrupt where would i stand as to working. I really need a part time job to boost my income, but would they be able to take this money off of me? If after your essential living costs have been taken into account you have more than £99 disposable income then you will have to pay from 50% upwards.But your outgoings will go up if you get a job so if you put your SoA up when you get a job we wil help you sort it.
- would it mean that as soon as i file for bankruptcy, all creditors would back off, i'm sick of the phone calls and worrying whos coming to the door next Yes, but some take a while to take notice so you may have to put up with it for a while, but you are protected by law and they can't do anything to you.

At the moment i'm feeling pretty desperate and having a terrible week! My husbands left, i'm arranging divorce and my cars been reposessed all in one week! but things can only get better. I know that if i was working i would be able to repair my credit but i simply do not have the funds to make payments, for the first time in my life i do not have a job.
I'm kind of thinking i could have a fresh start with the debts behind me and by the time my sons 7 i'd be back to a "normal" person again, as opposed to probably still paying off my debts at something stupid like £10 per week

Any help much appreciated thanks people. x

Ring the debt charities. Read the Bankruptcy Help sticky and the Debt Relief Order sticky and lots of threads on here and ask questions.

bobbieg

Thankyou ever so much for your helpful reply.
I wasn't aware of a Debt Relief Order, but have now read up on it and it seems this would suit me more than bankruptcy
I'm to to contact relevant companies to get some help. feel so much better now you gave me that info! thanks x

So_Sad_Angel

Good Luck bobbieg....any questions please ask...there are a few on here who have already taken the DRO route.

Hope you are feeling a bit better after your tough week .... remember you are not alone Hun.

Angiexx

bobbieg

Lol, thankyou! my facebook status currently reads, things have to get worse before they can get better!
Thanks for help! x