Newbie seeks Bankruptcy advice

mrs_notsosmart!

Hi there i'm new to this so please forgive me if i mess up! Need to ask some advice, I've been trawling through your previous threads and now i'm confused.. stressed...distraught...all the usual. I've finally woken up to the fact that i owe £12K on my credit card and £4k on an unsecured loan. I'm skint..Just had my second baby 12weeks ago, so getting SMP &the repayments have been wiping out most my wages every month and i'm left using my credit card to live on. Spoke to CCCS yesterday and they tell me I should declare BR. This is the bit i'm getting worried about... What exactly do they have the power to do with assests? and what do they consider assets to be? We live in a council rented house so i know that we are okay in that sense but what about our furniture etc(most of this was purchased by hubby if that makes a diff?) my car is in hubs name (worth about £4K), athough he has his own car(£1k) (and motorbike(£2k) also. As all the debts are in my name does that mean cars &bike okay? or does the OR look at both our assets? I have loads more questions but i think maybe one at a time should suffice for now!

For the necessary bit here is my Sorry SOA......
Wage £451.69 (£760 when maternity leave ends in April)
CHB £116.60
total £568.29
No tax credits due to me this year as they messed up my first year's payment and they have held the payments untill this is paid back!!!
Outgoings
Credit card min payment £235.00 approx
Cahoot loan £156.75
Car insurance £33.92
Telephone/Internet £35.00
Electricity £25.00
Child #1 savings ac £10.00 kiddie #2's not set up yet
Car fuel £80
Clothes etc £30
food £400
when i go back to work add child care at £250 (approx need to confirm if my mum can help or not)

My husband pays rent at £260, plus all the other bills tv licence, mobile phones, etc he has agreed to take over the food bill until i get myself sorted. I havent included his soa as the debts are all mine & he has his own to pay also (not as dramatic as mine mind!)

Bambywamby

One of my friends was declared bankrupt. She never had any belongings taken off her however her bank closed her account and she hasn't been able to get any credit since. (Which aint such a bad thing).

Good luck x

fatbelly

The section on the form that asks about assets suggests 'e.g. paintings, furniture, jewellery'. It's really looking for antique-type things that might fetch a thousand or more at auction. You're probably going to put 'none' in that section.

However, there is also a section about 'a car that you have the use of but do not own.' I think there is a possibility that the Official Receiver might decide that, although you are not the registered keeper, you could be the owner of your 4k car - might depend on whether your husband can prove that it's his.

Bankruptcy will cost £325 plus £150. I think I'd be looking at token offers to your creditors while you work out whether bankruptcy is your best option and where the fee's coming from. If the CCCS won't take you on at that level, try the CAB. I think they'd want to deal with you as a couple - all income and all debts on the table.

I'l leave others to make comments on your SoA