Time to put DCAs in their place

MCBIRNIE25

WARNING – LONG POST
This post has been inspired by a number of people who of late, have been reduced to tears and in one or two cases, have even thought about 'ending it all'.
UNDERSTAND THIS, AND UNDERSTAND IT WELL! – YOU OWE CREDITORS MONEY, NOT YOUR LIFE!
Yes, your creditors or their agents are allowed to contact you if you default on a loan repayment or credit agreement. They are even allowed to contact you at work (but they must not discuss your debts with your work colleagues) or call at your home to discuss the matter with you (although you are not obliged to discuss it with them and you are perfectly within your rights to ask them to leave). But what they are NOT allowed to do is to harass you, discuss your situation with neighbours, pretend that they have more powers than they do have, pretend that they have the right to visit your home and take away goods or add collection fees to your debt, call you repeatedly at work or during unsociable hours.
Regrettably, some over zealous collection agencies seem to be flouting the laws because they know that most people are not aware of what they can and can't do. There are a number of laws that protect people in debt from unreasonable behaviour from creditors or their agents, namely, Section 40 of The Administration of Justice Act 1970 and specifically, The Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
Let's be clear about this, it is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE if a creditor or their agent makes demands for money in such a manner that it causes the debtor or his/her family, alarm, distress or humiliation. Specifically, harassment is a criminal offence under Section 2 of The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and punishment on conviction, is six months' imprisonment and/or a level 5 fine (up to £5,000).
Before we can begin to tackle harassment, I think it is relevant to understand why creditors or their agents use 'questionable tactics' in their endeavours to collect in delinquent accounts. In a nutshell, it is fear. The first thing that happens is that they realise that they are not the only creditor. Upon this realisation it seems to set off an 'every man for himself' reaction and they appear hell bent on forcing as much payment as they can, in as quick a time period as possible, from their 'victim'. The idea here seems to be, damage limitation. “The more we can get in now, the less we are likely to lose in the long run”. In my opinion, this is a very short sighted policy and in fact only serves to worsen the situation and in many cases, actually tips the decision to declare bankrupt.
Let's look at some of the more common threats or tactics used by these 'debt collectors' and analyze them a bit.

1. “We won't accept £25 per month, we will only accept a minimum of £38.50 per month and if you don't pay this, we will take you to Court.”
It's the 'Take you to Court' part that is designed to frighten you and understandably this does get results for them. No-one wants to go to Court do they? Or do they? First of all, the threat of Court action is usually an empty one and this action is usually reserved for people who won't make any kind of payment or who ignore them. If you do what we recommend on this board, produce a statement of affairs and make a realistic offer in line with your ability to pay, there is no way in this world that they would take you to Court. Why? because the likelihood is, that the Judge would absolutely wipe the floor with them for wasting Court time and it is even more likely that the Judge would make an order for payment for LESS than what you actually offered and also it is likely that the Judge would not award them any costs. FACT: the Courts will not permit your income to be lowered below a level which you require to subsist. So, if you can't afford to pay more than you've offered, there is not a Law which will make you do so. Creditors know this but they are banking on the fact that you do not – now you do.

2. “If you don't pay us at least £50 a month, we will send one of our collectors round to your house”
And? Let me know what time he's coming and I'll buy a cake, is it one sugar or two? Again, it is the 'fear' of someone turning up on your doorstep that they are relying on to get you to commit to more than you can afford. Debt collection agencies do have a license to make 'site visits' (within reasonable hours) to your home to attempt to discuss the matter with you although they very rarely do this because it costs them a lot of money. However, they have absolutely no right of entry, they have no right to take anything from you and you are under no obligation to discuss anything with them. Very often you will get more sense from a visitor than you would with someone calling you over the phone so I'm not saying categorically don't discuss anything with a collector if they do turn up, but I am saying don't feel intimidated and don't feel obliged to do so. If you are not comfortable discussing the matter with a visitor, keep cool and ask them to leave, if they refuse to leave, tell them they are trespassing and that if they don't leave, you will call the police. If they remain, call the police, tell them that someone is trespassing on your property and there is likely to be a breach of the peace.

3. “If you don't pay us now, we will send the bailiff around next week to seize your goods” – 99% of the time this is total hogwash. Unless they have a County Court Judgment against you, they can not instruct a Bailiff. Even if they do, contrary to popular belief, you do not have to allow a Bailiff into your home and they cannot force access.

These are the three most common frighteners that they will use. Now if this doesn't have an immediate effect, they will resort to harassment, that is, they will call you on the phone continually, some times being mean and nasty. This means that they are getting desperate and whilst you should recognise it for what it is, there is no way that you should put up with this, so how should you tackle this?

Well, the first and most vitally important thing to do is as I said previously, is to work out your expendable income by deducting all of your essential outgoings from your total income, this will leave you with your expendable income. From this figure deduct £50 per month for emergencies because they do happen (boilers have an alarming tendency to break down in the middle of winter) and with the remainder work out a pro-rata payment plan. This way, the larger creditors get a proportionately larger payment and the smaller creditors get a smaller payment. To do this you first need to calculate the 'Multiple' this is the figure which you will multiply each individual debt by, to determine who gets paid what.
For example, for simplicity's sake, let's say that your total expendable income is £400 per month and you have 3 creditors, creditor 1 is owed £10,000, creditor 2 is owed £7,000 and creditor 3 is owed £3,000. You have a total debt of £20,000 and you have £400 per month to service the debt. First, divide £400 by £20,000, this will give you a Multiple of 0.02. You then multiply this figure by the amount owed to each creditor, so using the above example, creditor 1 would get 10,000 X 0.02 = £200 per month. Creditor 2 would get 7,000 X 0.02 = £140 per moth and creditor 3 would get 3,000 X 0.02 = £60 per month. This would take 50 months to pay off.
OK, now that you have worked this out, you should send by recorded delivery , a copy of your statement of affairs together with your proposal of payment to your respective creditors. It would also be a good idea to send the first payment cheques to them at the same time, as a gesture of good faith It is also a good idea to include in your letter, the fact that you will review the situation every three months and that if circumstances permit, you will increase the payments. If you use recorded delivery, you can prove receipt of your correspondence by using Royal Mail's track and trace facility on their website here: http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm If you do this properly, this should make the situation clear to the creditor and even if they don't like the proposal, they will realise that there is nothing more that you can do about it. A point to note here: if £1 per month is all you can afford, do not be tempted to increase the offer because 'it doesn't sound much' if that's all you can afford then that's the end of the matter. The worst thing that you can do is to be intimidated into paying more than you can afford because this will inevitably break down and you will have set yourself a bad track record.
Now the fun starts. Creditor 1 isn't happy that he isn't getting the £400 a month that he's supposed to be getting so he sends for Dennis the Debt collector. Dennis is a real mean sunamabich, 5'2” and seven stone soaking wet but he has the meanest tongue in debtcollectorland. Dennis has learned his trade well and he can use his plastic phone to reduce you to tears in a heartbeat and get you to commit to ridiculous payment proposals so he can get his bonus. Dennis makes dozens of phone calls a day because he knows that he can frighten people by being nasty, telling lies and shouting down the phone. Remember Dennis the next time he calls and realise what he is using to frighten you, it's a piece of plastic, it's not moulded to your ear, if you don't like what you hear in the earpiece guess what? You can put it down and if Dennis rings again, you can go and make a cup of tea (Dennis is paying for the call) and if he's still there when you've had your cup of tea, put it down again. Repeat as often as necessary. You can actually leave the phone of the hook for a couple of hours if you want.

OK, so Dennis starts ringing you at work or starts ringing you regularly, what do you do? Let's play out the scenario:
Phone rings:
You: Hello
Dennis: Hello you, I have been trying to call you all night over this debt that you owe to grabbit and runn
You: Oh really Dennis, why is that?
Dennis: well, we are not happy with your proposal and we want more from you
You: Well I'm sorry but I am just not able to pay any more than I've offered
Dennis: I don't care about that, we want £400 a month or we'll take you to Court.
You: is that so? Well I guess you had better start your proceedings then. I'm sure that the Judge and myself in particular will be very interested in finding out how I am going to be able to conjour up this extra payment when I have made it absolutely clear that I am unable to pay any more. Incidentally Dennis, you would actually be doing me a favour if you did because then, apart from the Judge giving you an almighty rollicking for wasting Court time, he would likely make an order for the payments to be lowered.

Dennis beats a hasty retreat at this point because he has discovered someone who know their rights so he is off to attempt his terror tactics on someone else.

Scenario 2:

You: Hello
Dennis's Mate: Hello you, it's us and we want more money out of you
You: Did you know that I spoke to Dennis last night about this?
Dennis's Mate: I don't care about that, you owe us money and boy, if you don't pay there is going to be real trouble.
You: Look, I am getting tired of this, I have given you my written proposals based on my realistic ability to pay, I am not trying to avoid payment, I am simply not able to pay any more than I have offered.
Dennis's Mate: Yeah well, I've heard it all before and as I said I don't care, if you don't make a payment right now, we are sending someone round to your house tomorrow.
You: Really? Well, let me just make you aware of this. I am now taping the rest of this conversation: (Pause for effect) and I am putting you on notice, that I intend reporting you to the Office of Fair Trading, under Section 40 of The Administration of Justice Act 1970, for Harassment. Furthermore, I will from this point on, only communicate with you in writing and if I receive one more telephone call from you or your organisation, I will see that you face criminal proceedings under Section 2 of The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and before you say anything further, you may be interested to know that your consumer credit license will not protect you from prosecution. Are we now absolutely clear on the matter?
Then put down the phone and write the following letter:
Dear Sirs,

RE: Your Client – Grabbit and Runn Credit Card

I refer to my correspondence of (date) regarding the debt that I owe to your above named client. A copy of this correspondence is enclosed herewith, for ease of reference.

Since making my financial position clear to you, I have been constantly harassed by your operatives, who have attempted to intimidate me into making payments that I simply cannot afford to make, under my present circumstances.

I wish you to know, that I am aware of my rights and that your constant telephone calls are a breach of Section 40 of The Administration of Justice Act 1970 and any further incidents of this nature constitute a course of conduct, which is a criminal offence under Section 2 of The Prevention from Harassment Act 1997.

Please note, that whilst I take my obligation to you seriously, I will not tolerate such abuse and if I receive any further telephone calls from your organisation, I will have no hesitation in reporting the matter to The Office of Fair Trading, whom you may be interested to know, are currently encouraging reports of this nature.

I would be obliged if you would kindly acknowledge receipt of this letter and confirm that there will be no further attempts to contact me by telephone. I am entirely happy to communicate with you in writing and would be obliged if you would give my proposals, serious consideration.

Yours faithfully

Etc

This should do the trick, but, if it doesn't, keep your cool and report them to the Office of Fair Trading and your local trading standards office. There is now a specific complaint form which you can download from the internet to make an official complaint and you can obtain it here:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/nr/rdonlyres/b.../complaint.doc

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE USE IT

I hope that this will help some of you put things into perspective. Remember keep your cool at all times, don't be intimidated by a piece of plastic, if you don't like what you're listening to, put the phone down and remember the most important thing of all is to put and get things in writing at all times. If you think this will help, print it off and keep it near your phone – have fun.
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MCBIRNIE25

Oh, and I feel 100% better now. Hope everyone is good.
I am still here tuning in to your adventures ;-)

Toomuchdebt

Great post

lynsayjane

watch out world, mike's back with a vengence! :rotfl:

two thumbs chuck!

nickij_2

Excellent post - so much I didn't know - thanks Mcbirnie25 for taking the time to do this.

GingerSte

Love the post MCBERNIE26.

I just have one small thing to add, regarding using the multplier to work out how much to pay each one.

Once you have worked out how much to pay each creditor, add them up to make sure the total adds up to the amount of expendible income. This is a good check and will instantly tell you if something's wrong. I do calculations for a living, and checks like this are invaluable, believe me.

Hope this helps.

Money-come-lately

Fantastic advice !!!

Money-come-lately

But what if you are being threatened with bankruptcy?

livinginhope

Thanks MCBIRNIE25,you must have put a lot of thought and effort into it,top marks for you ,you helped me a lot a while back and this will help others too. :T

MCBIRNIE25

What is Bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy is a way of dealing with debts that you cannot pay. Whilst you are bankrupt any assets that you have might be used to pay off your debts. After a period of time (usually one year) all of your outstanding debts are written off and you can make a fresh start. The effects of going bankrupt are the same whether you file your own petition or are made bankrupt by your creditors. Many of the bankruptcy rules have changed from April 2004 under The Enterprise Act.
How to go Bankrupt
Filing your own bankruptcy petition
If you wish to make yourself bankrupt, you can obtain a form from your local county court offices. From 1 April 2006 it costs £325 deposit plus £150 as a court fee, payable in cash when you submit your form to the court.

You can now fill in your bankruptcy petition and the statement of affairs on line. You can complete the forms in stages and save the information for later. You then save your details on-line and print the forms off to hand in to the court in the usual way. The on-line forms service is provided by The Insolvency Service, https://www.insolvency.gov.uk
If you are on a low income or certain benefits you may not have to pay the court fee.
Only the larger county courts deal with bankruptcy petitions so you may not be able to take your petition to your local court. If you live in central London you may have to take it to the High Court but the procedure is the same. There will then be a hearing in front of the district judge, which is often on the same day. The judge decides whether it is appropriate to make the order.
If the order is made you will then have an appointment to see the Official Receiver who deals with your bankruptcy, sometimes this will take place over the telephone.

They will want to go through a long questionnaire with you to look at all your personal and financial details, such as your National Insurance number and pension policy details, income, outgoings and assets.

A creditor making you bankrupt
A creditor can make you bankrupt if you owe £750 or more to that creditor and you have not been able to agree how to repay the debt. Creditors can club together to make you bankrupt but this is rarely done. You can also be made bankrupt if your Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) fails.
Before presenting a Bankruptcy Petition a creditor must send you a "Statutory Demand".
A Statutory Demand is a pre-court form that requires you to either:
pay the demanded amount
offer to secure the debt against any property you own (create a voluntary charge)
offer to pay the debt in a way that is satisfactory to the creditors e.g. by instalments.
Statutory Demands can be hand delivered or posted. Some creditors use them as a bluff to try to get you to pay the debt quickly, for example by borrowing elsewhere but the creditor may not actually apply to make you bankrupt. This is because it does not cost very much for a creditor to send you a Statutory Demand but the creditor would have to pay large upfront fees to make you bankrupt.
Twenty-one days after a Statutory Demand is served, the creditor can apply for a bankruptcy order through the county court. However, you can apply to have the Statutory Demand "set aside" in certain circumstances - for example if your debt is below £750 or there is a dispute about the money owed.

If you have been sent a Statutory Demand you should check if you can set this aside.
Do I have Assets?
Once you are bankrupt the Official Receiver, or appointed trustee, may wish to sell any assets you have. Certain goods are not treated as assets (these are things such as clothing, bedding, furniture and household equipment for basic domestic needs). Items necessary for you to carry on your employment such as tools, books or vehicles can also be excluded. If you have valuable household items such as antiques or expensive electrical equipment then these could be sold in order to raise money. Your car might be sold if it is valuable but it can be exempt if it is necessary for your employment. You may have to buy a cheaper car instead.
If the Official Receiver decides you have assets then they will usually be sold as soon as possible. If you are discharged from bankruptcy before any assets are dealt with they will not belong to you on discharge. Your assets will continue to belong or "vest" in the Official Receiver until they are dealt with. The only asset treated differently is the house where you live.
Bankruptcy & Hire Purchase Agreements
There may be a clause in the hire purchase agreement which allows the hire purchase company to terminate the agreement if you become bankrupt. In this event, you will have to return the item. If you wish to keep the item, it is possible for the hire purchase company not to cancel the agreement and for the trustee to allow you to continue to make payments.
Pensions
Bankruptcy before 29 May 2000
If you went bankrupt before 29.5.00 you need to be very careful if you have a personal pension. The whole of your future pension could be taken as an asset. This means that you would not get any future lump sum or weekly payments from the pension.
Bankruptcy after 29 May 2000
The law has been changed, and if you went bankrupt after 29.5.00 then personal and occupational pensions should be unaffected by bankruptcy. You will be able to keep your pension fund except in rare cases where someone has paid huge amounts into their pension to try and stop creditors taking their savings.
Property and your home
If you own property then this might be sold depending on whether it has any equity (value) in it. If your partner and children live there then the sale can be delayed for 12 months to give them time to find somewhere else to live.
Once you have gone bankrupt your interest in your home is transferred to the Official Receiver or trustee. This enables them to sell the home.
If you are the sole owner then the whole of the value of the property is transferred to the Official Receiver or trustee.
With jointly owned property the Official Receiver is usually only entitled to the bankrupt person's share of the equity. This is called your "Beneficial Interest".
Depending on your circumstances, you may be considered to have a "beneficial interest" even if you are not named on the mortgage. This is a complex area so phone us for advice.
It may be possible for the joint owner or family and friends to make an offer to the Official Receiver to buy out your share of the equity. This is particularly helpful if there is little or no equity
It is very important that your beneficial interest in your home is bought out as soon as possible or the Official Receiver may be able to sell the house, even if you have been discharged from bankruptcy.
If someone is willing to buy your beneficial interest in the home they should contact the Official Receiver or the trustee who is handling your bankruptcy. The Insolvency Service runs a low cost conveyancing scheme to organise the transfer of your beneficial interest to someone else. There are various fees to pay to cover the costs of this. You will also have to agree with the Official Receiver how much your beneficial interest is worth before this can go ahead. If there is negative equity or no equity in the property then the value of the beneficial interest can be set at a minimal amount of £1.00. For details of this scheme there is a leaflet called "What will happen to my home?" available from the Insolvency Service.
If you cannot save your home through someone buying out the Official Receiver's interest, the property is likely to be sold.
If your home has very little equity in it (up to a set level of £1,000), then the court will not be able to order a sale or put a charging order on your property. They still have up to 3 years to see if your house has risen in value and is worth selling. Try and come to an agreement with the Official Receiver over your beneficial interest as soon as you can to avoid this happening. Phone us for advice.
If you have a mortgage or secured loan on the property the monthly payments still need to be maintained to stop your lender taking possession action.
New rules from April 2004
If you went bankrupt before April 2004 then it was the case that the Official Receiver could come back at any time in the future and sell your property. This has now been changed. The Official Receiver has 3 years from 1 April 2004 to deal with their interest in your property. After this date, if no action has been taken, your home will belong to you. This will apply to you if you are already bankrupt on that date or are made bankrupt in the future.

The Official Receiver will have these options:

Come to an agreement with you about the property
Sell your home
Apply for an order for sale
Apply for a charge on your home.
This means that you should not be left with the possibility of the Official Receiver coming back years after your bankruptcy has ended, wanting to sell your home unless a charge is placed on your home. In this case the Official Receiver has 12 years to ask for an Order for Sale.
Will I have to pay anything from my wages?
This will only happen if your income is above the average and appears that you might have available income after paying ordinary household expenses. The Official Receiver can look at your income and expenditure and decide if payments should be made and at what level. When looking at how much you could pay they will take into account essential expenses such as your mortgage, rent, household bills and housekeeping.
Income Payments Orders & Income Payment Agreements
Under The Enterprise Act most bankruptcy orders will end after one year. You may be asked to sign a legally binding agreement to pay monthly instalments from your income to the Official Receiver for 3 years from the date of the agreement. This is called an Income Payments Agreement. If your circumstances change then you need to tell the Official Receiver as the agreement can be looked at again. If you do not pay the Official Receiver can go to court for an Income Payments Order instead.
If you do not make a voluntary agreement then the Official Receiver can ask the court to order you to pay the instalments they want. This is called an Income Payments Order and will run for 3 years from the date of the order. You can ask the court to look at this order again if your circumstances change.
The effects of Bankruptcy
You will usually have to close your bank or building society account when you are made bankrupt. You may be able to open another one as long as the bank or building society allows you to, and the Official Receiver gives you permission to do so. It is important to wait to open the account until after you have gone bankrupt and got the Official Receiver's permission.
We have details of instant access type accounts which allow you to have a cashcard but no cheque book or cheque guarantee card. Phone us for advice.
Gas, electricity and telephone companies usually want you to pay in such a way that involves you not having credit. If you live with a partner you could transfer the account into their name. Sometimes a deposit is also asked for as security.
A business that is trading will normally be closed down. You can continue to be self-employed but some people find it difficult if it is the type of work which involves using credit of more than £500. This can include having time to settle bills e.g. allowing 30 days to pay.
Depending on the type of job that you do, your employment may be affected. Always check your contract of employment to see if bankruptcy is mentioned. You can also ask your staff welfare officer or trade union if you are uncertain. If you belong to a professional body which prohibits bankruptcy you could be struck off, e.g. solicitors or accountants.
If you handle money your employment could be at risk. If you work in the finance industry you will lose your consumer credit licence.
Even after the bankruptcy period you may find it difficult to obtain credit. The bankruptcy order will be registered with credit reference agencies for at least six years and even after this time you may be asked whether you have ever been bankrupt before when applying for some credit, particularly a mortgage. Details of your bankruptcy are also kept on the Individual Insolvency Register for 3 months after the date of your discharge from bankruptcy. The address is at the end of the factsheet.
Details of your bankruptcy are usually published in a trade paper called "The London Gazette" and may also appear in the "classified" section of one of your local papers.

Bankruptcy offences
Whilst you are bankrupt is it a criminal offence to:

Take out credit of more than £500 without telling the lender you are bankrupt.
Use a new business name without revealing the name you were made bankrupt under.
Act as a director of a company without permission.
Act as an Insolvency Practitioner.
Bankruptcy restriction orders
Under the Enterprise Act you will usually be discharged from bankruptcy after one year. New rules have been brought in that give the court power to make a Bankruptcy Restriction Order against you if the Official Receiver feels your behaviour has been dishonest in some way or there has been "unfit" conduct. A Bankruptcy Restriction Order can last for between 2 and 15 years and will appear on a public register. If you break the order it can be a criminal offence.

Unfit conduct can include:

Not keeping proper accounts for your business in the two years before you go bankrupt
Gambling
Trading whilst you knew you couldn't pay your debts
Taking out credit which you knew you couldn't pay
Giving away your assets to avoid them being included in the bankruptcy
Paying some creditors over others
Failing to co-operate with the Official Receiver
Concealing property from the Official Receiver.
A Bankruptcy Restriction Order means you are not allowed to:

Apply for credit over £500 without telling the lender about the order
Become an MP or local councillor
Be a director of a company or form a new company without permission
Be an Insolvency Practitioner.
A Bankruptcy Restriction Order does not stop the Official Receiver from taking criminal proceedings for an offence such as selling goods you have on a hire purchase agreement or putting false information on a loan application.

Discharge from Bankruptcy
Under the Enterprise Act 2002, if you go bankrupt on or after 1 April 2004 you will usually be automatically discharged from your bankruptcy after 1 year however much you owe. If you co-operate with the Official Receiver this can happen even earlier.
These rules do not apply if you have had a previous bankruptcy or your automatic discharge has been suspended. This may be because the Official Receiver stops your discharge going ahead if you do not co-operate whilst bankrupt.
If you need proof of your discharge you can ask for a Certificate of Discharge but this will cost £60.00.
You can also apply to have your bankruptcy order annulled if you have paid all the debts and expenses of the bankruptcy in full, or a bankruptcy order should never have been made.
Alternatives to Bankruptcy
Individual Voluntary Arrangements
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is a formal arrangement through the county court and can be a way of avoiding bankruptcy. You need to be able to raise a lump sum to pay the creditors or to make regular payments from your income to your creditors.

To arrange one you need to find an insolvency practitioner prepared to act for you. The insolvency practitioner prepares a proposal to put forward to your creditors. If the creditors who are owed 75% in value of your debts, who choose to vote, agree to accept the proposal then the IVA is put in place.

An IVA will usually last for 3 to 5 years. If the arrangement is not kept to, the insolvency practitioner or your creditors can apply for a bankruptcy order to be made instead.

Insolvency practitioner fees can be expensive and they will usually want some payment in advance. It is worth asking them for an initial free meeting to discuss whether an IVA is appropriate. You can obtain names of local insolvency practitioners by contacting the court offices or official receiver for your area or phone us for a list.

Warning: Be careful of companies who offer to put you in touch with an insolvency practitioner for an up front fee. You can contact an insolvency practitioner yourself without paying a fee to a third party.

Fast Track Individual Voluntary Arrangements (FTVA)
Even if you have been made bankrupt it is still possible to have a special form of IVA called a "Fast Track Individual Voluntary Arrangement" which means your bankruptcy order can be annulled. You have to put forward a payment proposal to your creditors that would mean they will be paid more than they would under your bankruptcy. The Official Receiver runs the FTVA for you if they agree with your proposal. The Fast Track Individual Voluntary Arrangement is cheaper than an ordinary IVA as there are set fess and costs. If it fails then your creditors could try to make you bankrupt again.

You need to carefully weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of asking for an FTVA. Phone us for advice.

Informal arrangements and Debt Management Plans
If bankruptcy or an IVA are not suitable options you may be able to make informal arrangements with your creditors. Our self-help information pack "Dealing with your Debts" goes through how to negotiate with your creditors. If you have not had a copy of our pack phone us for advice.

If you would like an organisation to act on your behalf to negotiate affordable payments you might want to consider a free Debt Management Plan (DMP).

COUNTY COURT FEES
DO I HAVE TO PAY A FEE FOR AN APPLICATION IN THE COUNTY COURT?
There will usually be a fee to pay with your application. You can ask the court not to pay the fee in some circumstances. The form you will need to fill in is called an EX160 'Application for a fee exemption or remission.' This form needs to go to the court with your main application. If the court agrees your application you will not have to pay the fee. If you pay a fee when you should have been exempt or would have qualified for a remission, then you have six months to apply to the court for a refund.

EXEMPTIONS
If you are on income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA) you can ask the court for exemption from the fee. You need to give the court proof that you are getting the benefit. You will be exempt if you or your partner are on the guarantee credit element of pension credit.

If you are on working tax credit you will be exempt from the court fee in these circumstances:

if you are also on child tax credit,

or

you receive the disability or severe disability element in your working tax credit,
and in either case
your gross annual income taken into account for working tax credit is £15,460 or less (from 6 April 2006).
You will need to show the court your tax credit award notice to qualify.
If you do not qualify under these rules for an exemption then you can ask for the fee to be remitted or waived by the court. See below.
REMISSIONS
Ask the court for the fee to be remitted (or waived) if it will cause you what the court calls " undue financial hardship". You can use the same EX160 application form. You may be on a low income or a benefit that does not automatically exempt you from paying the fee. Give as much information about your circumstances as you can. Explain your financial situation on the application form and any exceptional circumstances that apply in your case. The court can remit all or part of the fee depending on what they decide you can afford.

MCBIRNIE25

Thanks livinginhope.
Had enough of bullies.
People are scared to actually get on and live their lives because of these people and it's just wrong.
We only get 1 attempt at living this life. Sod the bullies.