CCCS Just Advised me to go bankrupt

owetoomuch

I hope you can help me, I am still reeling from my phone call with CCCS and would like a little help:

Having gone through my debts with me and a planned budget, even paring back to the minimum allowed, CCCS have advised me to go bankrupt.

All of the debts are in my name, my OH doesn't know the full extent of the debt and they suggested that Bankruptcy is my best option, my question is will it affect my employment, do I need to let my employer know?

Also are the forms very difficult to complete?

skylight

Employment - depends what you do, but generally no and they don't need to know either.

Forms are easy.


But more importantly you need to come clean to OH. Today. It will make things easier.

Only issue will be if your house (or part of it) is in your name.

owetoomuch

I work for local government in an admin role, some financial work but no actual cash handling.

Home is part of OHs job

Tr@cker

Surely they MUST need to know as they have to pay you in cash with no bank account. However its far from uncommon being bankrupt nowadays-the tongues are wagging for a while but then its soon forgotten and the gossips move on to somebody else.

Red1708

If you are in an Admin role it won't be a problem. You will probably be put onto a NT tax code for the remainder of this financail year which means you will stop paying income tax as this will be payable to the OR instead. There are lots of reasons why you can be put onto an NT tax code so there isn't any reason why your employer would find out.

Red1708

You should be able to get a basic bank account from either Barclays, The Co-op or Nationwide. A lot of us have one with the Co-op as it comes with an Electron card

wherediditallgo

owetoomuch wrote: »

I hope you can help me, I am still reeling from my phone call with CCCS and would like a little help:

Having gone through my debts with me and a planned budget, even paring back to the minimum allowed, CCCS have advised me to go bankrupt.

All of the debts are in my name, my OH doesn't know the full extent of the debt and they suggested that Bankruptcy is my best option, my question is will it affect my employment, do I need to let my employer know?

Also are the forms very difficult to complete?

Well done on making the call! I know it's a shock, but if the CCCS have advised you to go BR, then you should. My only regret about going BR is that I didn't do it when they told me to, & put myself through about 6 months extra stress pointlessly.

Your employer doesn't need to know you've gone BR, but check your contract of employment as there are some occupations where the contract will specify they must be informed. If your tax code needs to change to Nil Tax, don't worry that that will tip them off about your BR, as the NT code could be for more than one reason & the Inland Revenue or OR won't tell your employer why.

The forms aren't particularly easy, but let us know any queries you've got about them & we'll help you with them. You can download them from the Insolvency Service site - you'll need forms 6.27 & 6.28. Make sure you download the Guidance Notes as well as the forms themselves, as they'll come in useful.

Tr@cker wrote: »

Surely they MUST need to know as they have to pay you in cash with no bank account.

There's no need for you to be paid in cash, as you can still have a bank account if you're BR. If you're not allowed to keep an account you've already got, then you can open a basic one with the Co-op (Cashminder Account), Barclays & I think Nationwide (Flex Account).

AlanD_3

If you are concerned about the job and find checking the contract to be difficult (I know it can be, I've no idea where mine is nor if I ever had one) then an anonymous call to the HR section (from an external phone) does the trick. Worked for me!

I'd echo WDIAG and say that I wish I'd gone BR when I was first advised.

owetoomuch

I have just opened an account with Alliance & Leicester but apparently according to some of the posts I read they will close the account when the OR contacts them. Going to see Co-Op about a basic bank account this week, should I tell them that I will be going bankrupt?

Spoke with my Union regarding this and they said that my employer will not need to know, checked my contract and there is no mention of bankruptcy in it.

Why would I stop paying tax?

Have requested the forms from the courts and the lady at CCCS is sending me documentation to help me complete the forms and has told me to ring her if I am having any difficulty with it. Still in shock though. Get paid this week and last week the CCCS told me to send a letter of first right of appropriation on this months salary so at least the direct debits will be paid and I put in money for basic living expenses, they advised me to take that money out as soon as I can, fortunately for me my council tax and basic bills are up to date, my debt was mainly loans and credit cards.

CCCS also advised me that there was no shame in going for bankruptcy and that if I thought about it my original spends on credit cards were probably already paid for and most of my debt was probably interest.

Remmer

Welcome. It's sometimes worth waiting until the day after BR before opening a new account because the OR will almost certainly let you keep it. You have to live as normal a life as possible . Timing of the BR is crucial unless you can advise your employer to pay wages into a friends/relatives account until your new one is open. Don't pay anything else towards loans/CC's it's now a waste of money. Cancel all non essential DDs. Keep it for living expenses, the OR wouldn't want it any other way!

Never forget we who have done it are here for you. You'll feel loads better after the deed is done

wherediditallgo

owetoomuch wrote: »

I have just opened an account with Alliance & Leicester but apparently according to some of the posts I read they will close the account when the OR contacts them. Going to see Co-Op about a basic bank account this week, should I tell them that I will be going bankrupt?

When I told Alliance & Leicester the day I went BR, they told me the account would be frozen at close of business that night, & almost a fortnight later I got a letter stating the account had been closed. I didn't owe them any money whatsoever, & when I rang up I was told this was company policy, so there's a very good chance they'll do the same with you. When you see the Co-op, ask for the Cashminder account & yes, tell them that you are going BR. The reason why is that all account applications have to go through credit score & fraud checks except those for people going BR, who only have the fraud checks. By not saying anything, your account could take longer to process. The Cashminder account is recommended for BRs, so they won't bat an eyelid when you say it. Take proof of address with you when you go there (a council tax/utility bill will do) just in case they need it.

owetoomuch wrote: »

Why would I stop paying tax?

Having a NT code doesn't stop you paying tax per se (if only), it just means that whatever you would have paid in tax during that tax year goes instead to the OR to service your debts. You'll see the extra in your salary payment, but you'll be expected to hand all of the extra over to the OR.

owetoomuch wrote: »

CCCS also advised me that there was no shame in going for bankruptcy and that if I thought about it my original spends on credit cards were probably already paid for and most of my debt was probably interest.

CCCS are right on that. I let worry about the stigma & thinking I knew best put me off doing it for 6 months. Once I'd finally got my head around it & accepted that it was my only choice, it was a lot easier to live with. I'm pretty sure that, if my original debt & the original interest agreed were deducted from what I finally ended up owing, there'd be a fair bit that was added on from extra/excess charges. I won't feel any kind of guilt for not paying that.