advice/opinions please

hesslehotspur

Hi all, i am thinking about declaring bankruptcy, i have looked through previous and sticky threads but non seem like my situation, i will try and explain it so i apologise now if it goes on a bit. i am in full time employment and over the past few years i have been living beyond my means taking any available credit offered to me and just spending quite frivolously. i am currently approx 35000 in debt. Now where it gets a bit complicated is that in my job i work around the country on different construction sites, living in hotels that the company pay for, for approx 12 weeks then fly to thailand where my wife(thai) of 5 years stays. in thailand we rent a modest bungalow and living expenses there are cheap (approx 500 quid a month inc electric,water, telephone etc.0
i own a home in my hometown which i rent out which just covers the mortgage at the moment but if interest rates go up it wont.
my problem now is that over the last year or so work in the construction industry has drastically decreased to a point where although still employed my earnings have dropped considerably to a point i can no longer keep up with my repayments approx 1200 a month not including the 500 for my wife in thailand. to add to this because i no longer have consistant work i am having to rent a room in my hometown to stay whilst i am between sites.

i have no assets at all and the house that i rent out is in negative equity.

i know that my situation is totally self inflicted but has anyone got any thoughts ideas? (please dont kick me too hard!)

silvercar

It seems that your expenses of living in two countries are greater than your income. If there isn't more work in the near future likely, then I would suggest that either you need to bring your thai wife here and give up the Thailand place or you need to go to Thailand and find work there. Is either a possibility? Does your wife work? Do you come to the UK only when there is work or do you come here and wait for work?

hesslehotspur

i am unable to get a work visa for thailand as anything i can do a thai can do for approx £4 pound a day. my wife does work although she only earns approx £80 a month. i used to fly back to thailand every 10 to 12 weeks or so stay for approx 3 weeks then fly back to england straight onto a new site, but it appears them days have gone.
taking away the difficulties and expense of bring my wife to england i would then need to find a place to live, also when i do work she would be stuck at home alone .

i seem to have got myself into quite a predicament.

silvercar

taking away the difficulties and expense of bring my wife to england i would then need to find a place to live, also when i do work she would be stuck at home alone

But you would be saving the cost of the home in Thailand.

debtinfo

You weren't kidding when you said it was complicated

I see 3 issues here

1) Juristiction - You may have problems declarig bankruptcy here if you are normally resident in Thailand, however you do spend a majority of time here and work here, but it is something you may need specialist advice on.

2) Allowable expenses - it is unusual but i do think that the OR would allow both sets of expenses to be deducted from your income in this case.

3) Tenanted property - It is most likely that this will be lost in the bankruptcy

Ineedaname

Could you and your wife not live in your tenanted property in your hometown?

Obviously that doesn't solve everything, but it's a consideration if you bring your wife to the UK. As for her being home alone while you work, perhaps enrol her in a load of free courses and sign her up for local community groups. Social interaction and a chance to learn English at the same time?

hesslehotspur

debtinfo wrote: »

You weren't kidding when you said it was complicated

I see 3 issues here

1) Juristiction - You may have problems declarig bankruptcy here if you are normally resident in Thailand, however you do spend a majority of time here and work here, but it is something you may need specialist advice on.

2) Allowable expenses - it is unusual but i do think that the OR would allow both sets of expenses to be deducted from your income in this case.

3) Tenanted property - It is most likely that this will be lost in the bankruptcy

thanks for the reply. i am not bothered about losing the property, i bought it when the good times where good, 2007 as an investment and it immediately started crashing. i am registered living in the uk, and pay full uk tax and national insurance. Allowable expenses, i dont really know what that means. is it worth me speaking to one of these debt companies?

tigerfeet2006

Don't talk to a fee paying company, you need to speak to someone like National Debtline.

Allowable expenses are what the Official Reciever (OR) will allow you to pay out of your income. If there is any surplus money after the allowable expenses have been taken into account then if any is left it is paid to the OR (Income Payment Agreement or IPA)

debtinfo

Although you may be registered here, there are specific rules for bankruptcy, which is basically that you need to have lived or traded here for the greater part of the 6 months directly previous to when you petition for bankruptcy. As i say i dont think it will be a big problem but it is something to consider, for instance you may end up petitioning at the Royal court of justice in londen rather than a local court.

As Tiger says the OR looks at your income and deducts reasonable expenses, they take what is left off you, the reasonable expenses are for your own home only not any second home, but as this is an unusual situation the OR may allow the £500 you send to Thailand, it is likely that no one will be able to give you a definate answer until you have actually gone bankrupt.

I dont expect that many of the fee paying debt firms would really be able to help you, many are simply form fillers with no real experience, It is worth a call to the debt charities simply because they are free and you lose nothing by doing so, If they cant help then i would recomend speaking to an Insolvency Practitioner, they are experienced but of course are costly, most will give you 30 min free advice though

hesslehotspur

thanks for the advice everyone, i will give citizens advice a ring.