Going Bankrupt After Working For The Insolvency Service & My SOA

Rallya

I have been reading this forum for a few months now, and finally joined last month. My situation is a bit unusual in one respect but so similar to many people on this board in that I have £28k worth of debt. I guess I'll post my SOA first so you know where I stand

SOA;

Incoming
Incapacity Benefit - £95 pw (£411 pm)


Outgoings Per Month
Rent (Inc Water Rates)(after Housing Benefit Deducted) - £94.32
Electricity (Electric storage heating, cant change provider) - £35.00
Council Tax (after Council Tax Benefit Deducted) - £14.00
Groceries (Food, Toiletries, Cleaning Products, special diet) - £135.00
Petrol - £15.00
Car Tax - £10.80
Car Insurance - £20.00
TV License - £10.60
Flat Contents Insurance - £8.35
NTL (set by Landlord cant change provider) - £17.99
Mobile Phone - £10.00
Clothes - £10.00
Entertainment (magazines/papers/books etc) - £20.00
TOTAL = £401.06

Total Left After Expenditure = £10.60

Creditors/Total Owed
Alliance & Leicester Overdraft - £350.00
Abbey National Loan - £690.31
Marks & Spencers Special Reserve - £5,139.95
Abbey National Credit Card - £5,900.13
Bank of Scotland Credit Card - £3,282.16
HFC Bank Credit Card - £12,879.49
TOTAL = £28,242.04

I currently pay the above creditors £1 per month token payment, a couple have accepted this while the others are still trying to get more out of me.

Anyway my dilemma...I have been thinking seriously about bankruptcy as being on Incapacity Benefit it will take me 483 years to pay my creditors back assuming I dont go back to work :eek:

The problem I have is...up until 2 years ago I worked as a Civil Servant in the Insolvency Service which as you may be aware deals with personal bankruptcies. This means if I did go bankrupt all my old work collegues will know all my details and one of the examiners who work for the Official Receiver will take my call when I'm at the court when declaring myself bankrupt _pale_ This stresses me out more than the actual going bankrupt itself

I guess I should state that I had been on sick leave for 9 months with depression from my job, went back to work for 6 months before going back on the sick again with severe depression. After a year my boss contacted me and said I either went back to work or I'd lose my job etc, which I thought was fair enough as I had been on alot of sick by this time. Anyway to cut a long story short the day before I was due to go back to work I just couldnt handle the thought of this and took an overdose of a mixture of different pills and subsequently ended up in hospital (I was living with my parents at the time and was found by my mum in the morning, was a very bad time then) .

After recovering in hospital I contacted my Union Rep and told him I couldnt go back to work and just wanted to leave, he helped me alot in that time and I left my job amicably with a small compensation payout. At that time I was £13k in debt and basically used my compensation to pay my debts for a year plus continued to use my credit cards until I found myself in £28k of debt (yes I know that was a bad choice seeing as I had worked for the Insolvency Service but at the time I just didnt care).

I feel I am doing alot better now health wise, but I'm not sure when I'll be good enough to get back into the work force, and when I do I doubt I'll have a good as salary as before with enough to pay my debts.

Anyway, on to my question...or rather my request for advice. Do you think I should still go bankrupt or should I just continue to pay my creditors a £1 token payment a month until I am fit enough to go back to work if ever? My credit history couldnt look any worse, but thats good since I never want any credit again in the future...

Sorry this is so long, but I'm sat here stressed to hell and dont have a clue what to do about my life at the moment...

Thanks for reading...if you got this far.

Ral

lou_lou_skinty_poos

im sorry to hear of your troubles i know the stress that debt can bring to your life, i think and this is only my personel opinion that you should go bankrupt at present uve no viable way to pay your debts and being this much in debt is probably making your depression worse better to start off with a clean slate and then when you have that debt gone from your life you might feel much better equipt to deal with getting a new job. So what if your ex colleagues will know about your going bankrupt they mite talk about it for a day if they even know and then forget all about it but you will be debt free and pressure free do it for yourself and your own peace of mind you obviously know how it works so will be able to do it pretty quickly. i wish you hugs and lots of luck you deserve it try not to care what others think of you there probably just as much in debt as you are right now!!!!

mrs_mug_2

I'm sorry to hear that you've had such a rough time lately.

I don't know enough about becoming bankrupt etc to advise but the way i'd look at it is, this situation is adding to your stress considerabley. I also gather that you won't be returning to your previous job at any point and so you don't have to see your ex colleagues again after the debts are sorted? Then I'd go and free myself from what is making me ill.

Start a fresh, draw a line under the past and work to build a new normal for yourself.

Janey51

Hi Ral. You poor soul. Life is cruel at times.With depression its so hard...at least if you have a plaster on your leg you can get sympathy but you can't get away from whats running round in your head at the moment.
If it was me, I'd go bankrupt and get on with your life.
As for worrying about your former work colleagues finding out...they will be bound by a Code of Conduct on Privacy. I know you can't stop people gossiping but if it gets out, you could sue! As its in the papers it would be news anyway.
And hey, you'll only be news for a short time.
Whatever you decide, good luck and it will get better.

Rallya

Thank you guys, you've just put it all in perspective...I was so worried about my ex collegues knowing I wasnt focusing on the positive ie it will be a fresh start and as you say I will only be the subject of gossip for a short time.

Thank you so much for your input!

Rall

Addicted2Chocolate

i work for the insovency service, and if i had to deal with an ex collegaue it probably would get discussed with current colleagues, but not in a !!!!!y way it would be sympathy that you have ended up in this position. i know you dont want sympathy, but you should not think it will be !!!!!ing and rumour spreading. Like you say, focus on the fresh start.

Mike_St_Helens

Hey R... Ive a thread going with some great advice if you fancy a look,... or a comment.

A2C - please have alook at mine and comment

Thanks x

Mrs_Arkwright

Rallya wrote:

Thank you guys, you've just put it all in perspective...I was so worried about my ex collegues knowing I wasnt focusing on the positive ie it will be a fresh start and as you say I will only be the subject of gossip for a short time.

Thank you so much for your input!

Rall

Hold your head up high, at least you are trying to sort your problems out.

I know how you feel - a few years ago, I was the subject of a very public local scandal and had to endure the finger pointing and elbow nudging of people in the canteen at work. I just faced them out, and as you say, they soon found someone else to gossip about. And I knew I had done nothing wrong and could hold my head up, unlike the silly gossips whispering behind their cheese sandwiches.

You have done nothing wrong, you are the victim of an unfortunate set of circumstances.

Good luck