****Should I go bankrupt ?****

Lenous

I am in a real pickle and would really appreciate some help and advice please.

I am 23 yrs old, living with parents and with no real assets. For the past couple of years I have been trying to make a living with a small internet business ( I am registered self employed). This has gradually gone downhill and now reached the point where I have no cash flow and the bills are starting to accumulate, direct debits being returned, missed payments etc etc.

I have been to my bank to ask about putting everything onto one loan, but presumably as my credit scoring is not too good now, was only offered a horrendous 14.4% apr.

Realistically I now find myself owing £18k, which is made up of a couple of loans, credit cards etc. I have no regular income - I am looking hard for a full time job.

What would you consider the best option - I am considering declaring myself bankrupt - what are the future implications?

I really can't see any way out of this.

tight_jock

Hi and welcome.
Firstly, you are not the only one in a pickle on here so you are in good company!

The only person who can make the decision to go BR is you but only after you have got yourself some advice from a=one of the debt help charities. This is all available FREE.

www.cccs.co.uk
www.payplan.co.uk

Citizen`s Advice Bureau - Money advice unit
National Debtline. Phone number escapes me but others will help here.

Tell them everything and they will help you come to a plan of action which may or may not be BR.

Feel free to ask away as there are a few bods around today.

:beer:

AlanD_3

I would strongly suggest you contact CCCS as advised. There may be issues with living at home and so forth however I would guess from what I've read the issues could be far worse if Baliffs with court orders get involved as they won't care which things are yours and which are your parent's.

The folks on here will need a lot more information on income/expenditure/nature of debt etc before they could say much more but having gone through a CCCS interview I would highly recommend them.

Broken_hearted

Have you tried speaking to your creditors, asking them to freeze interest for three months while you sort yourself out and get advice.

Bakeybadoo

Just wanted to welcome you here and say you've been given great advice already, please do get some proper professional advice asap now you've realised that things are getting really bad.

Lenous

Hi guys,

Firstly thanks for all your advice, it really is appreciated.

It makes a difference to know that people are here to help.

I realise I need to seek advice and will do so from next week.

However when some are saying that the bailiffs will do/take what they want I dont possibly see how.

Im living at home with my parents, but Im not tied in financially with them whatsoever, with anything at all so I dont see how it could effect my parents?

Effectively Im just a tennant renting, so how would the situation be if I was renting from a landlord for example, because thats essentially what Im doing.

I dont have any assets whatsoever and have nothing to give.

For the bailiffs/or whoever it is concerned to take action against my parents wouldnt be justified. It would be like walking in to Mr Smiths down the road at number 10 and getting him involved...surely?

Thanks.

fermi

Lenous wrote: »

For the bailiffs/or whoever it is concerned to take action against my parents wouldnt be justified. It would be like walking in to Mr Smiths down the road at number 10 and getting him involved...surely?

Not quite, but bailiffs could not legally seize any of your parents possessions. If they did/tried they would have legal recourse.

Anyway, this is not the point, since going BR (or any other reasonable solution) if it ends up being the right choice for you would avoid bailiffs altogether.

Reading through this guide on the insolvency service website will give you an insight into the process and its consequences.

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/guidanceleaflets/guidetobankruptcy/guidetobankruptcy.htm

Please read it through, then come back with any questions.

So many of us here have already done it, are preparing for it, or are wondering if it is the best option. We will help all we can, as we remember the stress we at at your stage.

AlanD_3

Sorry I wasn't meaning to panic you. We've lived with debt for a long time without it ever getting to the stage of baliffs being granted leave to enter the premises. There has, however, been a thread on here before where someone was living with friends and when the baliff was granted leave to enter they took the friend's property too as they had no reciepts for them. That was quite some way down the road though and I'm sorry if I worried you by mentioning it. I thought it was worth bringing up (even as a far future risk) as it had been a thread on here before. SORRY.

Your debts are possibly still within a manageable bracket so there may be other ways out. I wish I had sought advice at that stage myself and but we were too scared to even ask on here (so well done!).

Speak to CCCS and others and they may be able to help put together a plan of action. IF you feel up to it BH's suggestion will almost certainly yield results too but do so after advice from professionals. If you speak to your creditors armed with professional advice they won't be able to mess you around, you may even find that they apprechiate that you are trying to work things out... I really wish we'd done that at that stage of our debt but we just physically and mentally couldn't bring ourselves to pick up the phone. Our irrational fears that still cripple us today paralysed us utterly.

Please seek out the help others have posted, you could find that some of the agencies listed will be able to help with the contacting of creditors.

It could also be that after talking to CCCS etc you decide BR is the best choice for you. In which case given your age you'll be better to start that process asap. We have just spent ages with debt that would merit BR paying some back but failing for various reasons (and thus restarting the 6 year no contact period) and so on. We could have been clear of BR twice over (at least) by now if we'd gone BR when we first realised it was best for us. At 23 you'll be a discharged BR for the rest of your life... a downer but you'll still be young and at the start of your career and able to rebuild your credit history bit by bit. IF it is the only option (after taking professional advice) then don't do what we did and put it off. I would have been clear of BR in my 20s I'll be 35 before I'm clear and it might not be until I'm 40 (and Dawn is 50) or later before anyone will look at us for a mortgage, loan or whatever and with 2 kids and another due soon that isn't a nice prospect.

Sorry if I panicked you with my earlier point I just remembered the previous thread and that living with someone isn't as straightforward as living alone.

wherediditallgo

Lenous wrote: »

However when some are saying that the bailiffs will do/take what they want I dont possibly see how.

Im living at home with my parents, but Im not tied in financially with them whatsoever, with anything at all so I dont see how it could effect my parents?

Effectively Im just a tennant renting, so how would the situation be if I was renting from a landlord for example, because thats essentially what Im doing.

I dont have any assets whatsoever and have nothing to give.

For the bailiffs/or whoever it is concerned to take action against my parents wouldnt be justified. It would be like walking in to Mr Smiths down the road at number 10 and getting him involved...surely?

Thanks.

It's not quite as simple as that, as your creditors would have to go to court before they could send bailiffs to your address. However, the point that was made is correct. Bailiffs will assume that everything at that address belongs to you unless other residents can prove it belongs to them. They can't strip the property bare as they are required to leave certain things like cooking facilities in place. However, you or them saying a vase/guitar/chain/ring belongs to them won't make any difference to them unless you/they can actually prove it, & you'll only get a certain amount of time in which to do so.

You seem to be dealing with your debts well before bailiffs are called in, so this is unlikely to happen in your case. However, it's something anyone living at home or sharing property with others who has unresolved debts should bear in mind.

Lenous

Hello everyone,

Its fine about the so-called 'worrying me' you didnt, I was just curious thats all, as to why they would perhaps take possesions that were nothing to do with me.

I will speak to one of these debt managment companies next week.

The situation is this though;

Realistically being 18k in debt (and believe me it's embarrasing) this will just take too long to pay off. Realistically 20-30 years. This is just not a realistic and possible scenario. I would end up with no life for those number of years. It would debilitate me from doing anything. I know filing for Bankrupcy may be seen as the easy way out but its not, I just see it as the only realistic way out.

Do the debt management companies work something like this;

Basically when I was younger my father refused to pay my mum child maintenence and it ended up going through the 'Child Support Agency' where eventually they ordered that he payed just £3 per month for X number of years because he was telling them continuously that he couldnt afford it.

Does it work something like this by going through a debt managment company, therefore meaning there is no need to file for bankrupcy?

Once again thanks for your support and answers.

wherediditallgo

Basically, they look at all your income & expenditure, then decide what can be put towards paying your creditors. However, I think they are harsher in what they allow than what the OR would allow in BR - people seem to get a lot more things queried or disallowed. That said, if you are with a reputable company & can agree a sum you can honestly stick to, then it can work very well for you. However, you must keep in contact with the companies involved, & inform them if your circumstances change so that you can no longer stick to the payments agreed. Don't be bullied into going along with a DMP - look at what your plans are for the next year or so (for instance, will you be leaving home, or having to increase the rent you pay your parents?), & work out your payments based around possible reductions in income. Only sign up for the if you really think it's the best option for you - if you & the company can't agree an amount, don't do it just because it seems better than facing going BR. It's a big long-term commitment, & you may find after talking to them that going BR is the only option.