Anyone's advice welcome

monwind

Originally Posted by monwind
Hi, To cut a long story short! My husband's business failed last year (after 22 yrs) due to economy.
He is now ill with haemochromotosis and other health probs. He is on ESA I lost my job (which I managed to work in for 10 months) last week due to ill health (I had a car accident in Nov.10) Thus we are now both on benefits. We are on a DMP (paying £183) with CCCS and have been on it for 3 months (total debts approx £40,000 which are in all my OH name when he tried to use credit cards to prop up the business, not his fault, but with hind sight a bad idea! We also ploughed a couple of lump sum pensions in so all we have left is the house.
CCCS have said that they can reduce the amount we pay on our DMP for a few months but what then if the debts are not secured on our property and are all in my Husbands name. One firm sold a debt of £3,000 to another debt company, probably for a third! (we offered to add them to the the DMP but they said over the phone that it was their company policy to apply for a charging order to secure the debt) the second firm applied for a CCJ, we got a re-determination at a hearing last month to pay them £17.00 per month however the judge said at the same time that he was going to allow them to apply for a charging order on our house. The hearing for the charging order, hearing is next month and we have received papers from the land registry asking if we want to appeal before the 19.04.11 Don't know what to do! The house is in joint names. I have heard that they are only supposed to be allowed to register an interest in my husband's share. If the CO is allowed by the judge (as he indicated to us last month when he agreed we should only pay them £17 a mth) can they make us sell at any time in the future, for any reason, and can and will the other creditors follow suit. I am really worried and confused about it all and although CCCS are very helpful I am aware that they are funded by the Credit Card Companies and the banks, I don't know what to do! Any advice would be welcome. Thanks. M

P.S. I know it sounds like a daft question but can debts be treated differently if they were run up trying to keep a business afloat!

P.S.S. Sympathetic replies only please. I am in a bit of a state and don't need any lectures from anyone (no offence intended but I have seen a few replies on this site from people which aren't helpful and I don't want upsetting. Thanks.) M

BILLIE

Monwind - I do truly understand how hind-sight is a wonderful thing. I can't offer any definite advice, but I am sure someone will come along and head you in the right direction. Have you tried talking to CAB? none of us know what is around the corner and when we are set on sorting ourselves out and something bigger hits us it flaws us for a while, but I think I am right in saying that Martin believes that there is an answer for all problems. Not sure if one of his advisers can assist. Good luck Billie x

monwind

Thanks for your kind reply. Having a bad time with all today, your support is appreciated as I feel like xxxx Kind regards. M

lollypops29

Monwind

I can completely sympathise with your situation, i was in a similar situation myself and at the time it was horrendous. But it will get easier. I am not really sure where you stand with the charging order but from my past proffessional experience in the legal world, i didnt think they could force you to sell the property at any time(this is just my humble opinion, i am by no means certain of this, based on a few cases i dealt with) but there are so many knowledgeable helpful people on this board and i am sure you will some excellent advice shortly. best of luck xx

dancingfairy

Hi - a couple of questions - 1) what was the status of the business? - ie was it a limited company etc? is your husband liable for the debts?
2) what is the situation with the house? is there equity? if so how much? what name(s) are the mortgage in?
3) are you both claiming all the benefits you are entitled to?
df

dancingfairy

I'm wondering whether bankruptcy for your husband might be the way forward. This would get rid of the debts but it very much depends on how much equity there is in the house and whose name the mortgage is in - among other things. Bankruptcy will not necessarily result in you loosing the house.
df

monwind

Thanks Lollypops29 your kind words are appreciated. XX

Hiya dancing fairy. The debts are all in my husbands name, he was a sole trader for 22yrs until last year when the recession and ill health caused the business to fail. The house has been valued last year at £245,000 when we tried to get a re-mortgage (which was unsuccessful) and our mortgage is £137,000. Total debts in my hubby's name are approx. £40,000 and the house is in joint names.

I don't know anything much about bankruptcy but I was always under the impression that if you went bankrupt you had to see your home. Selling our home is a thing I am really worried about as we cashed in our lump sums in the couple of pensions we had and piled them into the business as well as running up the credit cards etc. to pay bills. The house is all we have left and it would break my heart to sell as my mother and father worked hard all their life for it before we bought it for £137,000 in 2005. We are on an interest only mortgage and the payments are £170.00 per month. Hubby is on ESA and I had a car accident and have long term health problems so as well as being finished early at work I cannot work at the moment.
We are in the process of trying to sort out what we are entitled to but as this is the first time in our lives we have had to claim anything it is all very confusing. I am 50 and hubby is 53. M

dancingfairy

O.K so bankruptcy is out then as with that amount of equity you would almost certainly loose it.
Can you afford to stay in the house? that's probably the next question - are you able to pay the mortgage and associated bills? I guess that's going to come down to what sort of benefits you are entitled to?
I'm just wondering what the situation is likely to be with regards to your health? a dmp is all very well but with owing 40k it's going to take a long, long time to clear on a dmp - especially if you are on benefits - obviously if the chances are you or he can go back to work then you can pay the dmp off earlier.
An IVA would see you clear the debts in 5/6 years but would mean committing to the payment for all the time and remortgaging to relesae equity in year 5. With things as they are health wise things are probably a bit up in the air right now and committing to 5/6 years of payments probably isn't good.


I'm just trying to think through all the options. It sounds like a dmp is probably the best thing for you right now then. As far as I am aware a charging order does not mean that you are forced to sell your house - it just means that when/if you do sell then the creditors will get their money back. Have a look on National Debtline's website as they have factsheets all about them.
There is also a a thread on here somewhere regarding the difference between charging orders and restrictions. I will try and find it for you -although I think it's quite a long read as far as I understand it, if the house is jointly owned then it's basically only a restriction and when/if the time comes to sell a good solicitor can work their way around it.
I will try and find the relevant links for you.
With regards to the fact that 3k debt was sold on - you probably should have changed who you paid that share to as part of the dmp. It's kind of irrelevant now though as the judge has decided what you have to pay them. Charging orders are granted/bandied around like confetti and I have never heard of anyone being forced to sell to pay off the charing order.
Will try and find the links for you.
df

dancingfairy

National Debtline factsheet here:
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=15_charging_orders_in_the_county_court

Thread on restrictions (as opposed to proper charging orders) is here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1839539

I would possibly try and defend the charging order as you don't really want one - using the info in the National Debtline's factsheet but it seems from what have heard on here that the few that have contested them haven't been successful of late. Also so many people must have charging orders and I have honestly not heard of any applications for forced sales - let alone any creditors succeeding so try not to worry unduly - easy to say I know.
Best of Luck
df

snookey

Hi I understand how hard it would be to sell your home but if you can clear your debts it would give you a new start. At the end of the day its only bricks and mortar .

monwind

Thank you Snookey and Dancing Fairy I will get back to you both later as I have to take hubby for his hospital appointment for 1 pm. and I have one myself at 3 pm. so it may be tomoz before I reply properly. Thanks to everyone again for all your help so far, good to know I'm not alone XXX M