Deciding whether to go Bankrupt...

JCS1

lisa.89 wrote: »

Thanks, I am pretty sure we are not allowed to do this but hubby just asked if we could sell my car before BR and use towards BR fee (get into rental quicker). I said that I think they could go back and check on this (am I right?).
Thanks

As long as it was sold for market value, and that you account for the cash, then it's fine

lisa.89

JCS1 wrote: »

As long as it was sold for market value, and that you account for the cash, then it's fine

Oh really.. that maybe a help then.

My hubby uses his car to get to work as he starts at 4am so no chance of getting train or bus. I use my little car to get my son to child minders then me into work. There are buses etc I could get so not sure if they would let me keep it..... have to now decide to risk keeping it or sell it and use to pay BR Fee.....

Maizy

Hi Lisa

I'm hoping someone with more experience on cars can guide you but still, ultimately it will be down to the OR and your cirumstances. Best bulding up a good case to present as to why you need it and how it affects you doing your job etc.

Planning bankruptcy is no simple thing and throws up all kinds of questions/changes.

Each case is different and you may be able to prove a need for a 2nd car. As far as selling it goes, as JC says, providing you can show where the money went ie towards fees for BR/rent, I dont see a problem with that. We had to have a good clear out/car boots to raise money as well as tons of overtime and its pretty much the same thing, providing its not blown on a holiday etc you should be ok.

lisa.89

Maizy wrote: »

Hi Lisa

I'm hoping someone with more experience on cars can guide you but still, ultimately it will be down to the OR and your cirumstances. Best bulding up a good case to present as to why you need it and how it affects you doing your job etc.

Planning bankruptcy is no simple thing and throws up all kinds of questions/changes.

Each case is different and you may be able to prove a need for a 2nd car. As far as selling it goes, as JC says, providing you can show where the money went ie towards fees for BR/rent, I dont see a problem with that. We had to have a good clear out/car boots to raise money as well as tons of overtime and its pretty much the same thing, providing its not blown on a holiday etc you should be ok.

Thanks, its so hard isn't it..... I know my husband has a good case for a car as there is no public transport at the time he starts work and its about 15 miles away. I work about 2 miles away (from current house but could be further when we rent), child minder lives about 3 miles from where I work..

I am preparing myself for having to get 2 buses a day... if I am part time it may not be as bad as I think, its just a sacrifice that will have to be made...

Both cars are in my name as I deal with all paperwork etc for the household... should I transfer the one that my hubby uses into his name as BR will be done seperatley...?

We were talking last night and couldn't get our heads around how they will look at family income/exp seperater as most if not all debts are joint. What if one OR allows less for groceries than the other etc???? Our papers will basically look the same, apart from hubby has higher salary and I get the child benefit..

Is a basic cable TV package a no no???? We love our TV! Can you take say £20 from food budget and use this to fund basic package?

Thanks again, so glad we found this site as its really helping us to get our heads around whats to be expected.x

debtinfo

As regards selling asset (such as a car) before bankruptcy, as said above it is allowable but only if the money is used for essential payments, your bankruptcy fees would be an essential payment (the money has to come from somewhere, it makes no differnce if that is from cash which is an asset or a car which is also an asset) as well as other things, like rent clothes food etc, obviously anything would have to be reasonable, so a shopping spree or a round the world trip is not recomended but say you had to get new clothing for work for instance that would be understandable

lisa.89

Hi, I was just looking through the local paper to see what houses cost to rent. Do you think £650-£700 is acceptable for family of 3?
We live in South East x

IF

lisa.89 wrote: »

Hi, I was just looking through the local paper to see what houses cost to rent. Do you think £650-£700 is acceptable for family of 3?
We live in South East x

As long as that's the going rate it will be no problem, the OR will have a knowledge of how much local rent is by rightmove and local papers too.

If...x

IF

lisa.89 wrote: »

Thanks, its so hard isn't it..... I know my husband has a good case for a car as there is no public transport at the time he starts work and its about 15 miles away. I work about 2 miles away (from current house but could be further when we rent), child minder lives about 3 miles from where I work..

I am preparing myself for having to get 2 buses a day... if I am part time it may not be as bad as I think, its just a sacrifice that will have to be made...

Both cars are in my name as I deal with all paperwork etc for the household... should I transfer the one that my hubby uses into his name as BR will be done seperatley...?

You could do as it will be easy for the OR to assess and maybe.....just maybe you could keep yours, if you can back up why you need a car.

We were talking last night and couldn't get our heads around how they will look at family income/exp seperater as most if not all debts are joint. What if one OR allows less for groceries than the other etc???? Our papers will basically look the same, apart from hubby has higher salary and I get the child benefit..

See Angie's post below.

Is a basic cable TV package a no no???? We love our TV! Can you take say £20 from food budget and use this to fund basic package?

Not necessarily, once your SOA has been set with the OR you can use any surplus from other expenditures.

Thanks again, so glad we found this site as its really helping us to get our heads around whats to be expected.x

Angie’s explanation of how to fill in a couples SOA

Angiepange wrote: »

We had a similair dilemma when we went BR with how to present our SOA.

All we did was put the same outgoings and the same income on each form.

On my SOA we put my income as 0 and then under question 6.6 'do you receive any other income ie benefits' I put down our child benefit and child tax credit. I put my husbands full wage as his contribution.

On husbands SOA we put down his full income and under question 6.7 we declared my contribution (child benefit and child tax credits)

So both our SOA's exactly mirrored each others in total income and total outgoings.

Had no problems this way

If...x

Tigger1983

Hi Lisa, I'm only speaking from experience, by far not an expert but hope some of the following helps!

1. Would we be allowed to keep both our cars, which we use for getting to work (both worth around £1,000). - I was allowed to keep my car as I was a supply teacher and needed to get anywhere in the county at short notice. I think you're allowed up to £1000 anyway but you need to think about how you're going to pursuade them you have no other options.
2. Can we keep our household goods - only decent thing we have that would be worth anything is a plasma tv. - depends on the age and value of the TV, and whether you have it on credit and still owe money.
4. I know we will have left over disposable income once bills are paid (if we rent), so know that we would have to pay this into BR for 3 years. Would we be allowed to keep any money for MOT's/ car service / intermet and clothes for us all etc.. do they set a particular budget for food etc..? Do you have to provide receipts and bank statements for 3 years - we didn't have to provide any bank statements but you will have to do SOA. I claimed extra for clothes as I had to be smart for work. You can also add washing uniforms etc. If you have a lot spare they will take some of it, but they do give you a living allowance. Try and keep it to the minimum though, the more honest you are about your position and your income and expenditure the less they look into your affairs.
5. Are you allowed a bank accound with direct debit facilities & debit card?? There are lots of threads on here about BR friendly bank accounts. You are allowed direct debit facilities but not an overdraft. Look for a basic bank account witih the faclities you need. We were with Yorkshire and it was almost empty so they didn't even freeze mine. I know a lot of people recommend the co-op but we owed them money on a joint smile account - avoid people you owe money to as this can cause problems (easier said than done when they are all linked and no one knows who owns who!) You will have to notify your bank as well.

You are correct, it's the most stressful thing we've ever been through (and in our five years together there's been a lot!) Make sure you have all your affairs in order before you start. Mobile phones, insurance and private landlords all credit check, so are difficult to obtain post BR. Remember that insurance paid by direct debit is classed as credit, so if your insurance is over a certain amount you will have to let the insurance company know you are BR (if they haven't asked already in their questions).

I know "ifwishes" has already said this, but do seek advice from as many places as you can, they have to be convinced there is no other option and you have looked into all others before they will let you go BR. We had an agreement in place with creditors through the CAB before hand, but still couldn't keep up (similar to you and your IVA), and met with them again to discuss BR. The CCCS spent a very long time with me on the phone going through thinngs and the national debt helpline were also very good. There may be something you've not thought of yet, and BR really is a last resort.

I'd also recommend having a good support network - the people on here are lovely, supportive, helpful and very knowledgable. Most are at various stages pre and post BR, and there are lots of lovely experts to (see the sticky called ask a CCCS counsellor a question for specific advice from an expert). If you can, let your family know. Ours put a lot of pressure on us in the early days because they didn't know about BR and couldn't understand why we never had any money and moved from a lovely house into a LA flat. My parents recently found out, and far from being judgmental they were just disappointed I hadn't felt able to tell them.

One thing from looking through your SOA, if you spend £80 a month on prescriptions, look into a prescription pre payment certificate from the NHS. I think it's about £120 a year and includes all of your prescriptions.

Hope this helps, best of luck with it all.

Tig x

lisa.89

Thanks all, I am going to speak with IP who deals with my IVA tomorrow. I know they will agree that IVA is not possible with new income and covering the mortgage on 2nd property. I will also explain that we cannot afford this mortgage for property we live in so have no option but to let both go. I am just worried that they will try to force us into DMP, which I don't want as will be paying the debt till we are in our graves! I am just hoping they will support and guide us. x