Ask a StepChange (formerly CCCS) counsellor a bankruptcy question

dmcw

Your friend could either visit her local Citizens Advice Bureau who will write to the creditors asking them to take token payments or Atep Change are also amazing at this. Or she could look at declaring herself bankrupt which would give her a fresh start. If the car is in her name then this is an asset and even if jointly owned am sure the official receiver will want to cease this asset for the creditors or will require payment from the ex to put towards the creditors. Anything joint they can go back five years. I went bankrupt and I had a catalogue account but never owed anything to them so have been able to continue using them which has been a god send for xmas and my bank account was also released back to me although was and still is basic. My only issues have been joint property but if your friend has no other assets than the car then this should be a clean break. I never owed a penny before I met my ex and then he talked me into thousands of pounds of debt which he also left me with. We live and learn.

Jasondad

Hi,

I have some questions in regards to DRO.


CREDIT REPORT

- How should accounts included in the DRO show in credit reports after being discharged in 12 months? are they reported as defaulted?


INCOME

- My only "income" for the last few years has come from family and a small income from selling bits & pieces online (selling my own personal stuff or just buying 2nd hand and reselling at a slight markup).

I'm not employed (I have a spinal injury) therefore dont have any payslips .

I dont receive any benefits whatsoever.

Will this lack of payslips/employment affect my DRO application?

I will have support from family during the process to pay my bills and will continue buying & selling online to make up my income. I won't have any spare income monthly.


BEFORE APPLICATION

- I have a little bit of credit left on two accounts, say a few hundred. If I use this left over credit to pay for the DRO, stock up on food, some petrol, and take some cash for basic living for a few weeks (no caribean holidays!) just before my DRO application is submitted - Will doing this be frowned upon and affect my DRO application?


For the record, I have strugled repaying this debt for a while now. I have made repayments for the last 6 years and have paid back a decent portion, a 5 figure sum.

There's still no light at the end of the tunnel however. I still have many years to go and due to the way the repayments are marked on my credit file, I still have over 12 years of adverse markers still to come! On hindsight, I should have stopped repayments on my account and defaulted. THEN setup the repayment plan. What a nightmare.

Former_StepChange_Rachel

Jasondad wrote: »

Hi,

I have some questions in regards to DRO.


CREDIT REPORT

- How should accounts included in the DRO show in credit reports after being discharged in 12 months? are they reported as defaulted?


INCOME

- My only "income" for the last few years has come from family and a small income from selling bits & pieces online (selling my own personal stuff or just buying 2nd hand and reselling at a slight markup).

I'm not employed (I have a spinal injury) therefore dont have any payslips .

I dont receive any benefits whatsoever.

Will this lack of payslips/employment affect my DRO application?

I will have support from family during the process to pay my bills and will continue buying & selling online to make up my income. I won't have any spare income monthly.


BEFORE APPLICATION

- I have a little bit of credit left on two accounts, say a few hundred. If I use this left over credit to pay for the DRO, stock up on food, some petrol, and take some cash for basic living for a few weeks (no caribean holidays!) just before my DRO application is submitted - Will doing this be frowned upon and affect my DRO application?


For the record, I have strugled repaying this debt for a while now. I have made repayments for the last 6 years and have paid back a decent portion, a 5 figure sum.

There's still no light at the end of the tunnel however. I still have many years to go and due to the way the repayments are marked on my credit file, I still have over 12 years of adverse markers still to come! On hindsight, I should have stopped repayments on my account and defaulted. THEN setup the repayment plan. What a nightmare.

Hi there Jason, thanks for getting in touch with us.

Once your DRO is processed, the debts that were included will no longer feature on your credit file. The DRO itself will be on there for a period of six years. You can find out more general information on the benefits and risks of a DRO on our website: http://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/DRODebtrelieforder.aspx

As your situation is quite complicated, the best way we can look into it for you is if you get in touch with us and let us take a close look at your budget. From this we can determine if a debt relief order is the best debt solution for you. If it turns out that a DRO is a suitable option for you, we can take a look at the issues you’ve mentioned and see how we can address them moving forward.

Kind regards

Rachel

katiemay_2

Hi,

I completed a one-time IVA with CCCS back in 2010.

Should I have received a completion certificate?

I will be wanting to remortgage next year, so want to plan for that if I can.

Thanks, Katie

Former_StepChange_Rachel

katiemay wrote: »

Hi,

I completed a one-time IVA with CCCS back in 2010.

Should I have received a completion certificate?

I will be wanting to remortgage next year, so want to plan for that if I can.

Thanks, Katie

Hi there Katie, thanks for getting in touch

You should have received your completion certificate from us once your IVA was successfully paid off. Could you please give our IVA team a call and we’ll look into this for you? The contact number is on our Existing IVA clients page: http://www.stepchange.org/Existingclients/IVAclients.aspx

Kind regards

Rachel

vpaladin

Hi


I am a dual South African/EU citizen who lived and worked in the UK from 2001 until 2010 and had to return to South Africa that year due to a bereavement. I've had to stay in South Africa but was last in the UK visiting friends last year for 3 weeks.


I have credit card debts that escalated to GBP 20,000.00 while I was out of work. I am employed in South Africa but am struggling to cope with the repayments due to a low income (compared to what I earned in the UK) and a fast weakening Rand.


Is declaring bankruptcy in the UK feasible or do I have any other options open to me? Would I have to travel to the UK to do it and would they freeze my South African bank account? I'm concerned as to how exactly it'll impact my South African finances and credit file.


Thank you for your time and assistance.


Regards,
Chris.

StepChange_James

vpaladin wrote: »

Hi


I am a dual South African/EU citizen who lived and worked in the UK from 2001 until 2010 and had to return to South Africa that year due to a bereavement. I've had to stay in South Africa but was last in the UK visiting friends last year for 3 weeks.


I have credit card debts that escalated to GBP 20,000.00 while I was out of work. I am employed in South Africa but am struggling to cope with the repayments due to a low income (compared to what I earned in the UK) and a fast weakening Rand.


Is declaring bankruptcy in the UK feasible or do I have any other options open to me? Would I have to travel to the UK to do it and would they freeze my South African bank account? I'm concerned as to how exactly it'll impact my South African finances and credit file.


Thank you for your time and assistance.


Regards,
Chris.

Hi Chris,

From what you've said it sounds like this debts could be statute barred, which would mean they couldn't be legally enforced. There's more information about this in our article here: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2013/10/statute-barred-debt/.

To answer your question though, it is possible to go bankrupt when you're based outside the UK but it's potentially quite complicated and whether it's possible will depend on your situation. It's much less likely if you've been away from the UK for more than 3 years.

There's some useful information about getting debt advice when you're outside of the UK on our website: http://www.stepchange.org/LivingoutsidetheUK.aspx.

Kind regards

James

Chris345

Hi there, 1st time poster here. I was hoping that someone might be able to answer a question I have about a council threatening bankruptcy over council tax arrears.

I received a letter giving me 14 days to pay off a 3000 debt or they will instigate br proceedings.

Long story short it's for a small flat owned by my dad where I used to live. When I moved in with my bf 3 years ago I let a close friend stay there for a small rent all done informally. Sadly she has had mental problems and was just hospitalised. I discovered that she never changed the name on the tax bill so it's racked up 3 years worth of debt in my name - liability orders, bailiffs etc. Now this, which she finally had the courage to tell me.

I don't wish to dispute liability and want to clear the debt. But I don't have 3k and would prefer to offer monthly payments of say 200 if possible.

I'm worried to contact them until I can confirm my suspicion from my research about br petitions and the br threshold for individuals being raised to 5k from 1 oct 15. Is that correct and does that apply to councils as well?

I can borrow the money if I have to but only if their threat is real and lawful. As far as I can understand they can't petition on a 3k debt anymore. Is this just an empty threat or can they actually do this?

I'd really appreciate knowing for sure before I contact them with an offer of repayment.

Thanks a million in advance to anyone who can help.

Chris

blonde_redhead1

Hello.
Just wanting some advice please. Iva is completed now and completion certificate received. It started Feb 2011 and was settled with a lump sum in October 14. We are now wanting to improve credit rating as wanting to change rental property or even consider a mortgage. Ive checked insolvency register and names are not there now which I was surprised about as I thought they would be there till feb 2017 (6 years after starting Iva). Noddle are saying credit score very low still.
Are we allowed to try some of the high interest credit cards etc to use to rebuild credit rating to improve our chances of getting a new tenancy /mortgage or sdo we need to wait till Feb 17? and why would names not be showing on insolvency register? many thanks

StepChange_Jen

Chris345 wrote: »

Hi there, 1st time poster here. I was hoping that someone might be able to answer a question I have about a council threatening bankruptcy over council tax arrears.

I received a letter giving me 14 days to pay off a 3000 debt or they will instigate br proceedings.

Long story short it's for a small flat owned by my dad where I used to live. When I moved in with my bf 3 years ago I let a close friend stay there for a small rent all done informally. Sadly she has had mental problems and was just hospitalised. I discovered that she never changed the name on the tax bill so it's racked up 3 years worth of debt in my name - liability orders, bailiffs etc. Now this, which she finally had the courage to tell me.

I don't wish to dispute liability and want to clear the debt. But I don't have 3k and would prefer to offer monthly payments of say 200 if possible.

I'm worried to contact them until I can confirm my suspicion from my research about br petitions and the br threshold for individuals being raised to 5k from 1 oct 15. Is that correct and does that apply to councils as well?

I can borrow the money if I have to but only if their threat is real and lawful. As far as I can understand they can't petition on a 3k debt anymore. Is this just an empty threat or can they actually do this?

I'd really appreciate knowing for sure before I contact them with an offer of repayment.

Thanks a million in advance to anyone who can help.

Chris

[FONT=&quot]Hi Chris,

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thanks for posting.

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I’m sorry to hear about this situation.

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The amount a creditor can make you bankrupt rose to £5,000 last October. We have a page about this on our website here:

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.stepchange.org/Debtinformationandadvice/Whatyourcreditorscando/Courtaction/Bankruptcyfromcreditors.aspx

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It’d probably be worth getting in touch with the creditors to set up a payment plan so they know you’re not trying to ignore the debt and want to start making payments towards it.

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If you’d like more advice about this please feel free to get in touch with our Helpline so you can have a chat with one of our advisors about your options. You can find out how to get in touch with us here:

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I hope this helps,

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Jen [/FONT]