Advice Needed

steve9856

Hi everyone Need some Advice Please.
Over the last 10 years or so i have managed to rack up around £15.000
worth of debt all from credit cards.

I am married and my wife is getting D.L.A. at the highest rate for Care and Mobility.I get Carer's Allowance for help in looking after her,all these debts are in my name only.

We do not owe any rent or any other bills its just Credit Card debt,and slowly and surely its starting to suck the life out of us both.
I am 54 and my wife is 64 and i think that maybe i should be looking to go bankrupt and get a fresh start.......advice Please

dojoman

Please contact one of the charities below, they will offer free and impartial advice.

https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
https://www.cccs.co.uk/



Below is a link you may found helpful about going BR?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1056083

Also this link to the Insolvency Service is useful!

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/

IF

Hello steve and Welcome, First thing make a list of all your creditors, debts and assets.
Secondly and most important is contact one of the following debt charities. Please try these they don't charge and are impartial. They will go through all your options with you and if they suggest bankruptcy then come back to this board and we will help you all we can. Also if your not ‘clicking’ with one of the Debt charities do try another.

Please don’t do anything rash take your time and weigh up your options and read everything you can x

Please click on Blue links below.


For ‘essential’ info this is Fermi’s sticky at top of the forum:-


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1056083


These are the most used Debt charities:-

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice.htm

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

http://www.cccs.co.uk/


More Debt charities also on Fermi’s link:-

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1056083



And do remember we’ve all been through this and anything you don’t understand don’t be afraid to ask.

Best wishes
If...x

IF

Far too quick for me Dojo x

MikeJO

steve9856 wrote: »

Hi everyone Need some Advice Please.
Over the last 10 years or so i have managed to rack up around £15.000
worth of debt all from credit cards.

I am married and my wife is getting D.L.A. at the highest rate for Care and Mobility.I get Carer's Allowance for help in looking after her,all these debts are in my name only.

We do not owe any rent or any other bills its just Credit Card debt,and slowly and surely its starting to suck the life out of us both.
I am 54 and my wife is 64 and i think that maybe i should be looking to go bankrupt and get a fresh start.......advice Please

Very similar position to me Steve (51, wife on DLA, me on Carers etc) except my debt was considerably more.

Follow all the above advice and if it turns out to be the right thing for you go for it.

Know exactly what you mean about the life being sucked out...I've been BR for five days now and I'm still not quite sure I can believe it's actually gone. For ever.

When it sinks in I'm (we're) going to be able to have a life again.

Good luck, glad you found this place at an early stage, I wish I had. It's so helpful and reassuring.

steve9856

Thank you all for your kind replies....it looks like i have a lot of homework to do.
I do already have one question I am the one going Bankrupt or considering it.
When i do a S.O.A. do i include my wife's income and our outgoings as a couple or mine seperately.....
I hope this question makes sense ....Thank you

Stevie

confused76

you would include your income and your wife's contribution to the household expenses, and then in turn include all the household expenses eg rent gas elec water etc. you don't put your wife's full income as she will no doubt have her own expenses

pop your soa up here if you want us to have a quick look at it

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

script

Steve,

It may be that you could be entitled to a DRO - Debt Relief Order - which is a lot simpler than Bankruptcy.

There is a sticky at the very top of the first page of the forum which explains all the criteria.

The main one being your debts must be under £15,000 - you said yours were "around" £15,000 - I know this usually means more - but worth adding them up just to see.

If a DRO is not applicable - don't worry you will get all the help you could ever need from the people in here for your Bankruptcy. They have helped me so much - they really are brilliant.

steve9856

script wrote: »

Steve,

It may be that you could be entitled to a DRO - Debt Relief Order - which is a lot simpler than Bankruptcy.

There is a sticky at the very top of the first page of the forum which explains all the criteria.

The main one being your debts must be under £15,000 - you said yours were "around" £15,000 - I know this usually means more - but worth adding them up just to see.

If a DRO is not applicable - don't worry you will get all the help you could ever need from the people in here for your Bankruptcy. They have helped me so much - they really are brilliant.

Hi Thanks Script,
Have checked my debts and they are £17.000 so a DRO is a no go.
Going to get in touch with one of Debt Help to see what advise they can give me. All the Best Steve

jmp00

Been there, seen the film and worn the T-shirt!

If you waste time going to places like CAB you'll waste your energy and simply get flustered, confused and worn out. As long as you are prepared to lose INSTANTLY any assetts you hold ie cars, mobile phones, computers etc. (not home goods like furniture tools clothing personal items, care items - then do yourself a favour, stop wasting time, paying interest to credit card companies and above all, leave the worry and stress behind.

You'll have one trip to the Official Receivers office where you will make a statement regarding finances and then walk away. If anybody knocks on your door for a debt, just say speak to the official receiver and they run scared!!

After which, go out and get a savings account at the co-op bank (or the post office) because you will not be able to get anything else for a while. You can apply again for credit cards in 2 years.

PS don't be intimidated or go 'cloth cap in hand' to the official receivers, they are civil servants, nothing more. They are no better than you and I

One final thing, £17,000 isn't a lot to go bankrupt for, perhaps it might be better to have a cruise or two first - although if you do it after reading it would be fraud if you were ever found out )

Mike. Ex bankrupt

PS I joined this forum just to give you this advice and I don't know how to get messages back and forth with anyone who might disagree so I guess, this is all I can do. I hope I at least make you a little more sure of yourself when dealing with your problem. Now, break out the champagne before you book your cruise AND STOP PAYING INTEREST!! Life's far too short and you die if you worry, you die if you don't ...so why worry!

tigerfeet2006

You don't waste time getting professional advise from the debt charities. You got into the mess by not understanding exactly what was what, now is the time to stop and start being sensible. The 1st step is to get professional advice about your situation, start as you mean to go on and lead your life from now on. I personally have seen and also it has happened on the boards where people have been refused BR as they didn't take professional advice.

You won't lose things like computers and mobile phones. The OR is only interested in goods that are worth £1k at auction. Cars, if they are essential for work and are worth £2k and under are safe.

A 'normal' BR will not have to go to the OR's office in person. This is usually for people who have/do run buisness's, obviously there are one or two exceptions to this. Normally you have a phone interview and the OR will go through your debts and what each was for and your SoA.

Nobody goes 'cloth cap in hand' to the OR, I like to think we prepare them well enough on the board on what to expect.

The Co-op tend to not give savings accounts to BR's BUT they will give them a lovely Cashminder account and let them have DD's and SO's, telephone and internet banking, being able to deposit money in the account via the Post Office. You can also get a Barclays Cash account. The Yorkshire Building Society will usually give an internet saver account to BR's. As for CC's, it is very unusual for a mainstream CC co. to give them but you may be able to get a Vanquis or Cap One card with very high interest and low balance.

If you were to go on a cruise or two at this point, even if you hadn't suggested it you will be slapped with a BRO/U for taking credit that you had no hope of repaying and knowing you had no hope of repaying.

Please take some time to read the board and getting a feel as to what is what and you will see that we support and help a lot of people do this properly and prepare them for what is ahead.