The Bankruptcy Club & Supporters Club

tight_jock

Hi T33

You say you have around £40k debt .

I suggest you sit down with a glass of your favourite or a mug of strong coffee and work out EXACTLY how you stand. This will be one of the most difficult things you have ever had to do .. You may find some on here who will ask you to post a Statement of Affairs on here to give you advice but I would suggest you get it all straight in your head first.

List all your loan /cc providers and their totals at your last statement.

List your minimum payments

List your current outgoings ie rent council tax petrol food entertainment etc. The idea is that you list every penny that is spent regularly.. This may frighten you somewhat:eek:


Compare this to your monthly income - basically , if you have 1p more going out than you have coming in then you are insolvent and it`s time to take action. Simple as that.

Once you have your figures reasonably straight in your head you will be in a better position to decide how to move forward. I used the CAB money advice unit who were brilliant for us but payplan or cccs have been used by others on here too. It may be that you can manage the debt in the short term as you have this promotion coming up or BR may be best for you.

This will show that you have started to take professional advice at an early stage and is usually asked about at any BR hearing

Mike_St_Helens

lou031205 wrote:

OK, so members 38 of the BSCS are officially bankrupt!

For those clinging to the hope that maybe the bankruptcy process really is as straightforward as everyone claims, our story has a few gems:

09:15 Arrived nervous, but early for our appointment.
09:45 Court clerk collects us to go through our forms.
09:47 She spots a problem - A BIG problem. Our address does not fall in their catchment, despite the booking clerk telling me it did back in December when I booked the petition.
09:48 I ask her to recheck.
09:49 She confirms that she has checked and we should be filing in Winchester. Judge will only grant order if Winchester can't fit us in for more than two weeks. Winchester can pull strings and fit us in 'some time this week' as an urgent case.
09:49:30 I burst into tears and cry that this is a nightmare.

She took pity on us, and decided that she was going to do it anyway, because if she got into trouble, she could say it was in the interests of customer service.

She went through remainder of forms. THEN she offered to means test us, although it is borderline unlikely we will be exempt. Ben works full time, I work one day per week. Means testing allows £387 for us, £195 for each child under 20, our rent, council tax, and travel costs stated in SOA per month. We came out -£39 per month SO WE WERE GRANTED EXEMPTION! I still can't believe it. I thought we were going to have about £180 to pay ben's car tax, food, etc in cash in hand, and Alex is due his annual vaccinations, but instead of taking £950, she only took £650!

10:33 We went into Judges court room. He was official but nice. He checked our forms, asked about professional advice and long-term implications of bankruptcy.
10:38 Declared bankrupt. Judge also ordered that case be transferred immediately to Winchester County Court. No impact on us because it is the same ORs office.

Went down stairs, clerk typed BR orders, Phoned ORs office, who confirmed our details and procedure. He asked if there were any matters of concern needing immediate attention - explained about Ben's wages. He gave permission to draw out funds, and said that if there was any concern regarding the amount of funds, the OR would say so at our interview. He will send out official letter and forms in the next 2-3 weeks. Very busy.

Clerk was lovely, wished us well with our future and baby (I'm 6 weeks pregnant with our second child).

I hope this helps anyone waiting to go BR. Thanks for all your help and advice everyone.

Louisex

PS. Egg phoned at 13:45. Those sweet, sweet words

Hi there... Only just catching up with it al.

WELCOME !! Do you feel any different today ? feels qood in a wierd way donnit ?

Well done for being so brave, and congrats on the saving !

Welcome, there will be loads more questions , but at least that horrible suspense is all over .

Mike x

Mike_St_Helens

tammyfshr wrote:

going bankrupt on tuesday after i take my driving test on monday(too much stress)father in law has bought me a small cheap car today (£500).my husband is epileptic so cant drive and we have a baby so the car is essential.public transport is costing a fortune!he has paid for it but the receipt is in my name.we are only paying for the insurance,tax and petrol.will the or take itand should i put on my forms costs for petrol etc. we havent used it yet but should i include future cost?

Your father should lend you the car till after your discharge.....

Nice one tho.. what is it, anything nice ?

Mike_St_Helens

Brokeandbothered wrote:

Hi everyone!

I have noticed people posting about bank accounts and salaries. I go BR next friday, but I am paid weekly. I will have to use my wages that day towards my fees, so all that wage is viably used up. The thing is, at work, we have to have new bank account details in by monday at 10:00. There just won't be enough time for me to sort anything out which means that my wages will be paid into a frozen account. I'm with Lloyd's TSB and don't owe them any money. Any ideas?

Im with them too.. I got to keep the lot, Full debit card and cheque book.. I told them many many times. I dont owe them anything you see. They said that as that was the case they will just put a marker on the account and that is all.

The OR also wrote to them and told them that she was happy for me to keep the account as its used for salary.

Mike_St_Helens

trooper33 wrote:

Hi all,

Well this is my first post here but I have spent the last couple of days reading through this whole thread on and off and I have to say what a supportive and friendly lot you guys are :j And it is so nice to know that I am not the only one drowning in a mountain of debt...

So I wanted to ask you guys whether you think I should go bankrupt or not, although ultimately I know it's my own decision - it would really help to have some thoughts from other people in the same boat as me.

My situation is fairly non-typical so although this will make my post mega-long I think I will start at the beginning.

I have been on a six year rollercoaster financially which started with me taking out a bank loan at the age of 19 for a deposit on a rented flat, as my mother had decided to move away from our home town and I wanted to stay there. However I could not afford the repayments and ended up reloaning, using credit cards for living expenses and such. I was also in a relationship with a spendaholic and was really living beyond my means for a considerable time.

I owned a flat with my ex partner & during the time we owned the flat we had to borrow to do building repairs & maintenance as we didn't have the money saved to do them ourselves. We also decided to holiday on our credit cards as neither of us had been able to afford a holiday for years, at the time we felt it was justified but now all I can think of is the extra debt we were left with as a result of it. Eventually we decided to sell as we were both in debt, but the equity released by the sale wasn't enough to pay off my debts completely so it didn't really solve the problem.

So I find myself in around £40k :eek: worth of debt and am just about struggling to stay afloat. I have never missed any repayments but can only make the minimums on my 2 credit cards and flexible loan, and I'm not really making a dent in the outstanding balance. I go well into my overdraft each month and busted the limit a few times incurring bank charges.

The latest blow is that I broke up with my partner last year and we moved out of the flat we rented together in October, meaning that I had to get a new place. I am now sharing with a mate but the only way I could afford my
half of the security deposit was to take my overdraft right to the limit & also borrow more out of my flexible loan. It was either that or be homeless. This move has ended up costing me rather dearly as Cahoot have just bumped up my flexible loan interest rate to 19.9%!!! How am I ever supposed to be able to pay that off??

However there is a chink of light at the end of the tunnel and this is ultimately why I would appreciate people's advice. I am due a promotion at work at some point in the next 4-6 months guaranteed - and this will mean a pay rise of around £8k which will take my monthly income to a level where I will finally be able to save a decent amount of money to pay some of the debt off. I am also fortunate enough to work somewhere there is a lot of overtime freely available. I work tons already to get enough income to keep my head above water - but after my pay rise all that overtime will basically be money I can put towards paying off the debt.

So it really becomes a question of whether I can survive until April or June at a push. But I also find myself wondering whether I am kidding myself and whether bankruptcy is inevitable?

I'm scared of going bankrupt for obvious reasons - I hate the idea of someone snooping through my wrecked financial past and seeing how badly I have handled my money. It worries me also that because I have used credit recently - at a time when my finances are so obviously bad - I will have a BRO slapped on me. But at the same time I am tired of never treating myself - never buying new clothes or DVD's, Saturday nights in, etc. And I'm tired of fighting to keep myself afloat and of being terrified (literally) to log onto internet banking.

I'm not that worried about losing my car, I have been thinking of selling it anyway! But I need my computer for work & stuff like cable TV and the internet are the only things that keep me sane, since I can never really afford to go out. So I would be devastated to lose those.

So should I declare myself bankrupt? Am I delaying the inevitable by not doing it? Or do I stick it out until the promotion & pay rise and see what my income is like then?

There is a certain attraction to going bankrupt I must admit. The thought of having a fresh start within 6 months to a year is very appealing. And the relief that you all speak of is something that would be very welcome to me.

Thanks for listening everyone :T

Steve.

Ill try again.. Daft PC deleted my last attempt to reply...

Welcome to the club.. would you like a number ??

Like you said above, it really is your decision. It all depends on what you want now, in the imminent future and the far away future... I was in £130k debt with my Partner and had a business.. we closed the business and did have an attempt of paying it back, but at £400 for a million years isnt really practical. We both went B last Noveber.. Its a massive emotional roller coaster.. worth it for uis as things have improved and we have a futuire now without one penny debt.

But its your decision, there are loads of other ways out of debt, Debt plans where lenders may stop interest, IVA's etc etc... what ever route you take there will be advice and support here for you. If you do decide to go B then this will be your virtual home.....

What every you wanna do, welcome to our world... its a nice place here and we can have a laugh at times...

Welcome once again.

Mike

lou031205

Hi Mike,

Yeah, I do feel different, actually. I was determined to, because I read so many posts talking about the anti-climax of leaving court, but not feeling much.

I spent the first hour or so telling myself all the different implications of what I'd done (in a good way): "You're bankrupt" "You have no debts" "You are debt free" , etc. Sounds wierd, but I thought the more I tell myself I'm bankrupt, the less impact it will have if I hear it from other people!

I applied for a joint co-op cashminder today, and got referred. So wait to hear the verdict. It felt good to answer the question "Do you have any credit cards" with "NO!"

Louise x

tammyfshr

hi can someone fill me in on the cashplus prepaid card.just had mine arrive today.going bankrupt next week.have i got to put down on forms?there is no funds on it but i might put what ever is left in my bank before it is frozen on to it.

dabble

This club is so supportive - it is really helping me a lot to read of other experiences - it definitely makes this all something I can deal with. Thank you.

Having had a wonderful VAT lady visit this week who advised that perhaps the best move would be to dissolve the business as well as go BR and start with a fully clean sheet, and putting into perspective that I am not cheating anyone, that I did the best I could, and that if I had been better advised a long time ago, some of the debts would not even be there (though I know it is my responsibility when it comes down to it), I think this is going to be the most sensible. My health is not getting any better and I want to stop the anti-depressants as soon as I can, not increase the dosage (which it feels like I need to do - but keeping calm). Anyway...

We've worked out our SOA and I just need to get on and sell what I can on eBay to raise the 2 lots of fees needed. I'd like to get it done this month, but that is pushing it, though I do have some work still to be paid for (now there's another tale - cashflow, cashflow, cashflow!). So that is the priority just now - a very weird feeling - that this could be dealt with by Easter and we could actually have a family life (I won't say again, as we've been battling with debt since the children were born anyway - they're 6 and 3).

So - hope to get through to the Business Debtline today to ask them a few things - like what will happen to the business rates that are unpaid (will the landlord have to then pay - who happens to be family, so really don't want that), what will happen to anything owed to Inland Revenue, and things like that.

We've included a holiday fund in the SOA - that would be nice - once we get past the stigma of being/going BR, we will actually have a hugely better quality of life, and not just with the stress being alleviated.

Thinking of you all - and thank you again.

Dabble
Member 30

Whoops_Apololypse

dabble wrote:

This club is so supportive - it is really helping me a lot to read of other experiences - it definitely makes this all something I can deal with. Thank you.

Having had a wonderful VAT lady visit this week who advised that perhaps the best move would be to dissolve the business as well as go BR and start with a fully clean sheet, and putting into perspective that I am not cheating anyone, that I did the best I could, and that if I had been better advised a long time ago, some of the debts would not even be there (though I know it is my responsibility when it comes down to it), I think this is going to be the most sensible. My health is not getting any better and I want to stop the anti-depressants as soon as I can, not increase the dosage (which it feels like I need to do - but keeping calm). Anyway...

We've worked out our SOA and I just need to get on and sell what I can on eBay to raise the 2 lots of fees needed. I'd like to get it done this month, but that is pushing it, though I do have some work still to be paid for (now there's another tale - cashflow, cashflow, cashflow!). So that is the priority just now - a very weird feeling - that this could be dealt with by Easter and we could actually have a family life (I won't say again, as we've been battling with debt since the children were born anyway - they're 6 and 3).

So - hope to get through to the Business Debtline today to ask them a few things - like what will happen to the business rates that are unpaid (will the landlord have to then pay - who happens to be family, so really don't want that), what will happen to anything owed to Inland Revenue, and things like that.

We've included a holiday fund in the SOA - that would be nice - once we get past the stigma of being/going BR, we will actually have a hugely better quality of life, and not just with the stress being alleviated.

Thinking of you all - and thank you again.

Dabble
Member 30

Just wanted to say that your situation mirrors ours in many ways - so you are definitely not alone. We have childred aged 3 & 6 and I'm on anti depressants because of all the stress and worry. We are just about to stop paying the mortgage and the secured loans on our house so that we can save up the money to go bankrupt. This will then start the process of our house being repossessed. We've been to the CAB and this is our only option. We are in a desparate situation and owe £330K (inc mortgage. Losing the house is sole destroying and humiliating and having to explain to our parents is going to be hideous. The one thing that is keeping us on track is this thread. We are trying to be pragmatic about this and rational in that the clean start will be worth all this stress. We just need our hands held during this horrible process and if we can help others on the way we will.

dabble

Thank you, Whoops

Our total debt is about half yours - I do feel for you. Thankfully we're renting our home, so won't lose our home - that must be the toughest thing.
Let's get through this together.