To go Bankrupt? Advice...

R_USS

Good evening guys, I am after some advice if possible.

I currently owe just over £40k in loans, credit cards etc and have been on a debt management plan for approx 4-5 years with.

I have been considering starting up a IVA this summer but recently my part-time job have dropped the hours due to companies cutting back meaning that I may not be in a position to apply for a IVA and therefore will have to continue on the Debt Management Plan which at this rate will have me clearing the debt when I am close to retirement... I am 32 by the way.

My query is whether to go bankrupt or not

It certainly seems the easier way out but my concerns are:

1. Since occurring the debt resulting in the overall issue (£40k debt) I had taken on an extra p/t job which I did not declare to debt management company, so realistically I could have been paying back more to the creditors that I have been and naturally this will show in the statements etc that they will want to see.
2. Within the past few years I have won some money on the coupons which I gave to my sister to look after in her account... BUT... it shows in my bank statements the amount in the account of the time of winning the bet
3. I pay child maintenance and in the past have not declared the additional income from the p/t job... despite me no longer having this p/t job as the hours are gone from next week... would they all the same be questioning why I was not paying more child maintenance than I was? Or, do they not look into this.

Hope someone can help me on the above. I have heard and read stuff about being classed as committing 'gross misconduct' with respect to the debt leading to bankruptcy... is this a possible risk for me?

Please help :A

R_USS

Hi guys also some further queries if you do not mind...

1. On one of the loan applications when I was younger (1 of the loans resulting in the large debt) I put on there that my employment was a Lecturer at the university when infact I was only a student.... appreciate some advice on that?
2. My main bank account... would they ask for previous bank statements and if so how far back to they usually go? also my main account will show the credits for my gamble win etc so would it be an option to close this account down before going down the route of a bankruptcy and open up a new account elsewhere?

From what I can gather from reading up on it tonight on the net the debt I have is a mixture of loans, credit card (unsecured debt) that I took out while in university and when I had a good job directly after graduating. I quit that job due to stress resulting in a large decrease in salary resulting in me then entering into the DMP... to this day.

Does this therefore mean despite what I have been up to since, such as having extra funds to pay additional amounts of the debt etc etc... that this will not be taken into consideration? as the debt and cause of it was in fact genuine (apart from saying I was a lecturer on one of the loans).

Sorry for so many questions, I just want to be sure about everything.

Please help.

System

Nobody on here is qualified to absolutely recommend BR or not, however we can try to give you some pointers.

First things first - BR is not an 'easy' option, there are difficulties to overcome and may affect your credit for the rest of your life in some way, including mortgages.

Secondly, when you go BR you will have an interview with the Official Receiver. You will need to tell them all your income and expenditure. Hiding anything is pointless as they WILL find out and if they get a whiff of you trying to deceive them they'll be all over you. But, they're not there to judge you or to punish, but if they feel the case is worthy of more investigation they will go through everything in more detail, especially when it comes to hiding income from official bodies!

In answer to your questions from the second post:

1. I think that's more an issue for the loan company than the OR. Technically it could be considered fraud (maybe?) as you were purposefully exaggerating what you could pay back.

2. Yes, they'll ask for statements from the last year, possibly two. Either way they will have access to every statement going back to when you open the account if necessary, direct from the creditor. You have to tell them about any accounts you've closed down recently as well, so that line isn't going to work. They will question you on what you spent the money on, but they're not there to judge or to say you're a naughty boy, but just to understand how you got to this position. They do specifically ask about gambling, but I'm not sure what effect that has on the rest of their investigations.

R_USS

Cheers for your reply

Sorry which official bodies are you referring to?

If I went down the BR route then I wouldnt decieve the OP or try to I was just curious or wondering how they would react to my expenditure and income since the debt and DMP had started.

Would I still be able to get a mortgage once the 6 years has expired then? as I know my partner would like to go down this route once it was complete if I did a BR.

JoePublic

I don't think there's any 'maybe' about it, making a false declaration to obtain a loan, and then not repaying that loan, is fraud. Obtaining money by deception in fact. Whether it is discovered and subsequently revealed to the Bank, and whether the bank choose to chase the matter is conjecture at this stage, but it is fraudulent and by going BR the OP will be opening himself up to potential prosecution.

If it were me, I'd close the account and would get a new one opened, i'd then declare everything to the relevant bodies, including the winnings, and would run the new account as good as gold for a minimum of 12 months, that way, if you do go BR in 12/18 months time, and have ran everything correctly, the OR is unlikely to dig any deeper than they need to. If the OR discovers that you've lied somewhere down the line then they may well take the view that if you've lied about one thing, what else have you lied about, at that stage they could well start poking about...

I'm making no judgement and wish you well, we've all no doubt done something when we're young that we're not proud of later in life.

R_USS

Cheers Joepublic.

When you say close the account down, what do u mean exactly? as the account in question is a loan and I wouldnt be able to afford to close it down or it would I think be classed as 'unfair' to pay of the one loan and not pay anything of the others... I think that is correct?

Yeah regret it but I was young and very foolish I am sorry to say

JoePublic

I meant your current Bank Account squire, if you boot that into touch now and get yourself a new one, and then run that new one for say 12/18 months, then the OR will never need to see the original account showing your gambling win entering and leaving the account. The original issue with the loan application shouldn't be a drama so long as the OR has no reason to question your transactions. If they find monies going in and out of your account and ask about them then they may well start scratching their heads about other things.

I honestly don't know, not sure anyone other than the OR knows in fact, if they go to the lender and request copies of the original loan agreement when they look into your finances or if they simply look at the repayment history on the account, but i'm a wuss and would always err on the side of caution, just in case!

R_USS

Cheers Joe.

I was thinking about a Iva but then if I went down the route of a BR then I would save myself 5 years of payments, if you know what I mean. But then as you said I would need to close down the account and maybe give it 2 years but then in the 2 years they may make me bankrupt so could be a bit risky

I can see the obvious benefit of doing a Iva being that I wont be classed as Bankrupt or have it against my name and also I am assuming I would have more joy getting a mortgage at a later date?

Tricky one choosing the right option.

sniggings

to me nothing in your history is worth worrying about,if you feel like you need to go BR then I would just do it as soon as possible,dont go closing accounts,give CCCS a ring and get an appointment and give them the full story I would think they would agree with me,I would think misconduct would have to be far worse than the examples you gave to warrant any penalties from the OR.


But I would from now on stop hiding stuff as it's just not worth the stress.

lilibet1

i have seen a thread similar to yours on here before so hang around and im sure you will get tonnes of good advice shortly, try not to worry x

R_USS

What would the worst case scenario be Sniggings if I did just go BR without worrying about what I have mentioned?

I have read about the potential of up to 15 years in bankruptcy or something like that?

Bit confused by it all.