Please if anyone can help

Richard_S

Dawn,
We were, prior to bankruptcy, almost £230k in debt. Up to the end of 2004 we were managing reasonably well with my salary and my wife running a successful business. Within the space of 6months, for various reasons, our income had dropped by approx 70% and we were deep in trouble.

After some time getting to grips with our situation we decided that we were not in a position to pay anything other than the mortgage, utilities and food and clothing. Any spare cash we had was stashed in a safe place and now six months later the whole situation looks considerably better. The phone calls and post were a nightmare at times but even that turned out to be amusing at times; letting the grand kids answer the phone, giving wrong security details and pretending not to speak english.

I think you're at the stage now where, subject to yr meeting with CCCS, you should not be paying anything other than mortgage, utilities and groceries.

Read the Bankruptcy Club Thread there's loads of sound advice on there. You'll soon be walking around with a smile on yr face again :j

Rich

climbgirl

Richard_S wrote:

I think you're at the stage now where, subject to yr meeting with CCCS, you should not be paying anything other than mortgage, utilities and groceries.

I'm not sure that's an option though because so much of this debt is secured against the house. They can't really touch for you unsecured credit cards and loans but when the debt is secured against the house, it's a different ballgame. I'd get to CCCS as quick as possible to try and sort this out.

dawn35

Thanks all

ClimeGirl, I have to pay mums cards as it is my debt. I have no problem geetin rid of sky im in the middle of doing that now. The food forum is a fantastic idea and i will have a go at that. as far as winding the business up goes, i would struggle to ge t a job that pays me that much at the moment, take home pay of £2000 per month, plus its my last lifeline i guess on the basis that if it takes an upward turn ill be ok. I totally understand about the repossession, This is my main concern.

Richard, I know where your comming from with the business thing, Sometimes i think its the wost thing ive ever done and then sometimes th best. Ive got my head around the fact that i cant pay anything except for the mortgage abd secured loans and mums credit cards as these are mine, but even this is a struggle.

Ive been bankrupt before so not worried about that. I suppose if i can just get through the next two years then i might just survive this.

Dawn x

dawn2dusk

Just wanted to say hi and welcome.:D
You will get plenty of support and sound advice on here.
Good luck with CCCS on Friday.:)

lynzpower

hiya there dawn pleased to meet you hope you are still not behind that sofa LOL

Let me have alittle look here

Income
Do you get Child benefit? WFTax credits? Any income from your sons dads side of the family ( dare I ask- ae the CSA involved)

2000

OUtgoings
HSBC Mortgage £410.21
HSBC Secured Loan £167.81
First Plus Secured Loan £661.25
CitiFinancial Unsecured Loan £252.24
HSBC Unsecured Loan £215.00
HSBC Overdraft £1700.00
Poll Tax £64.00
Gas £26.00
TV Licence £11.00
Phone/Internet £29.99 ( whos this with? You might be able to get this cheaper?)
Sky £40.00 this is going to have to stop Im afriad, but if youve had your sky box a while you should be able to pick up digital channels on that)
Life Insurance £28.06 (bank said i have to have it for mortgage)
HSBC Secured Loan Insurance £15.00 ( doesnt this kick in - as you cant afford to pay it? If it doesnt kick in under your circs, Id take advice about cancelling this)
Maintenance for Flat £33.00 ( is this a service charge?)
Ground rent £10.00
School Fees £4.00 ( wahts this days out etc)
Water Rates £26.41
Pet Insurance £10.50 ( whos this with you may be able to get this cheaper M&S & ASDAs are thought to be the cheapest but do shop around)
Mums catalouge £90.00 ( i cannot not pay this) As climbgirl says, why not?
Mums Credit Card £110.00 (I cannot not pay this) As above
Electricity £31.00
Food 260- as someone else said you can cut this right back

Do you have a car or anything?

Do you have anything that you can sell, clothes, CDs, anything goes on ebay, worth doing just for a clear out and to signify a new start

Hugs to you
Lynzx
xx

Richard_S

climbgirl wrote:

I'm not sure that's an option though because so much of this debt is secured against the house. They can't really touch for you unsecured credit cards and loans but when the debt is secured against the house, it's a different ballgame. I'd get to CCCS as quick as possible to try and sort this out.

Hi climbgirl,

I agree with you to an extent, but the facts are that even debt that's secured on property can take an age for the lender to actually get to the point of re-possession. When it comes before the court the judge will give the debtor every opportunity to make even token payments and will only agree to a re-possession order if there's no attempt on the part of the borrower to make some effort.

It may well not get to that either if CCCS can negotiate on Dawn's behalf. We do have first hand experience of secured debt and the lender certainly does not get it all their own way. Don't forget Dawn will be content if she can stay in her house until her son starts uni in a couple of years and that's realistically achievable.

What she can't do is to carry on paying creditors by incurring more debt; that's ultimately going to make the situation a lot worse. She does have a profitable business and it would be a big mistake to lose that source of income by trying to meet unrealistic debt repayments.

We made that mistake; in the six months before our bankruptcy we worked ourselves almost to exhaustion to pay creditors somewhere in the region of £6k-£7k, and for what?

Rich

dawn35

Thanks for the ideas guys. I have to pay for the credit cards as they aremy debts.

Tax credits cocked up, no surprise there. hardley ever get maintenance, and yes i get child benefir 15.55 per week. (forgot that one).Flat is service charge, i have a car which need to get my son to school and go and see cleints with. Mums catalouge is my debt.School is an agreed fee per month when he joined. I have been thinking about ebay, i need some serious help with figuring out what to do! Will speak to my son about it lol

Dawn x

dawn35

Thanks for your post Richard, I was considering jumping out of the window for a min there !

Its the reposesion that i need to hold at bay , thats my aim. I havent come accross that many people who have had problems paying back the secured lenders well its only the last one i have a problem with and if they took me to court by the time the hsbc took their share there would actually be no money left for First Plus which is what i dont understand. But yes staying here has to happen , its not an option. I cant leave.

Dawn x

Richard_S

dawn35 wrote:

Thanks for your post Richard, I was considering jumping out of the window for a min there !

Its the reposesion that i need to hold at bay , thats my aim. I havent come accross that many people who have had problems paying back the secured lenders well its only the last one i have a problem with and if they took me to court by the time the hsbc took their share there would actually be no money left for First Plus which is what i dont understand. But yes staying here has to happen , its not an option. I cant leave.

Dawn x

Hi Dawn,

I think you're starting to look at things more objectively now, your priority is staying where you are for at least a couple of years, so paying your mortgage is a must. As for the secured lenders they cannot reposses the house until it gets to a court hearing and if you can make some reasonable offer of payment no judge is going to sign that order especially when children are involved.

That is why it's important to start building up a cash reserve instead of continuing to pay creditors; being able to offer £1k lump sum and £50/month will almost certainly have a court ruling in your favour. Can you put cash in an account in yr son's name?

I think you're right to tell your son, we've got two teenagers still at home and when we knew things were not going to improve we told them exactly what was going on, and to expect naff phone calls and probably some tension on our part. They were wonderful, really supportive and now things are starting to improve for us it's sometimes difficult to believe just how bad things really were.

Rich

P.S And enough cash to pay the cards in your mum's name of course.

dawn35

I cant tell my son . Theres no way.

Ive been spoken to regarding a time order, has anyone ever heard of this? Plus so far the council have been quite nice to me, i know this may change lol. Do you think I should tell them about the gambling or be selective with the truth on the basis im not sure if they would think that ive made myself intentionally homeless.

I have medical records to back up my illness but its not always recognised.

Dawn xxx