Going BR for 1st time........

seven2seven · 17 May 2007 at 11:43AM

Hello all ,

Myself and OH going to file for BR very soon , had to cease trading ltd company so I have no income and CC/BankLoan/Car loan/Overdraft debts of around 60k (30k of which shared with OH). Got a few things I need to know now , looked on Forums but tricky to find each specific item.

I have already seen conflicting replies to the "how do I deal with letters from creditors up till the point I am declared BR ?" So do I ignore or offer £1 a month ??

If both myself and OH need to file for BR do we have to do 2 seperate ones or can it be done as a combined filing ???? (she works part-time and clears about £500 month)

Just to show my situation :-
MONTHLY
Me Income 0
OH Income 500
Rent (private landlord) 800
Car Loan 140 (14mnths of 3 yrs paid)
Bank Loan 400+
Personal loan 475
CC min of 200

Dont need to show more as fairly clearly there is a bit of a shortfall.

Followed Money Tips for couple years , great job Martin and all involved.

Any pointers would be most appreciated , I spent a year suffering major depression number of years ago and have promised myself NOT to go there again. My rule is , look for support

it is out there.

thanks for your time.

savagevixen · 17 May 2007 at 6:21PM

Hi, we both went bankrupt, and you have to fill out 2 seperate petitions. Each petition only details the debts in the petioner's name and debts that are joint.
Her forms will not have your 'sole' debts on and vice versa.
We were quite shocked as together we owed £25000, but when we filed for Bankruptcy, only £7500 was in my name/joint and in my OH's £22000. (And as they were totally jointly incurred that was a bit pants...)
Definately seek proffessional help. For us, CCCS were fab and helped all the way, supported by regular calls to the Insolvency Service.
Good Luck.

Pobby · 17 May 2007 at 6:24PM

Just a hug,Loverly people here will guide you in the right direction.

Red1708 · 17 May 2007 at 6:42PM

Hi

As savage has already said you will need to do two seperate filings and also possibly a filing for the company if any of the debts are in the company name although I'm sure somebody else will clarify that. With regards to whether to ignore your letters or make token payments that really depends how long it is before you can make your petition for BR. If you are going to be doing it imminently I would say ignore them, that is certainly what I did.

You can try speaking to creditors to inform them of your intentions if they call you but they are unlikely to believe you unless you have a court date booked. As one of the previous posters stated it is obvious that you are in no position to be able to make even token payments so the earlier you can get it resolved the better. Please try not to worry too much about the letters from your creditors, I had been dragging my heels with my head stuck firmly in the ground for nearly a year, ignoring all letters before I went BR. The creditors to be really concerned about are the likes of Rent, Utilities & Council tax...these are the ones most likely to make your life difficult

seven2seven · 17 May 2007 at 10:10PM

Thanks folks , Im sure I'll have a pile more questions as we proceed ,Im off down the court next week to make the first move.

Keep you all updated , and Thanks again.

oliviaolivia12345 · 17 May 2007 at 10:31PM

I am also going BR for the first time and I stopped paying all my highest credit card repayments a few weeks back and was generally advised not to tell any of them I am planning to go BR (by some people on this forum - not CAB or other advisors!).

I was not so sure this was the best plan really, but I have not spoken to any creditors yet about my decision. I also wrote to all my creditors requesting they only contact me by written letter regarding any matters and no longer by phone, so far it seems to have kept the phone calls at bay.

I am quite scared as I have just had a Creditor's notice in the post (giving me 7 days before legal action will be taken unless I make a payment). It feels wrong to ignore it, so I am going to write and explain my position to all my creditors tomorrow... Even if they don;t believe you, they have it on record that you informed them of your problems instead of ignoring them.

Red1708 · 18 May 2007 at 9:00AM

oliviaolivia12345 wrote: »

I am also going BR for the first time and I stopped paying all my highest credit card repayments a few weeks back and was generally advised not to tell any of them I am planning to go BR (by some people on this forum - not CAB or other advisors!).

I was not so sure this was the best plan really, but I have not spoken to any creditors yet about my decision. I also wrote to all my creditors requesting they only contact me by written letter regarding any matters and no longer by phone, so far it seems to have kept the phone calls at bay.

I am quite scared as I have just had a Creditor's notice in the post (giving me 7 days before legal action will be taken unless I make a payment). It feels wrong to ignore it, so I am going to write and explain my position to all my creditors tomorrow... Even if they don;t believe you, they have it on record that you informed them of your problems instead of ignoring them.

Seriously they wont listen to you. They are using tactics at the moment, think of it this way if you had not made the decision to go BR and had received this letter then you would probably have called them and try to make arrangements to settle the debt. Result as far as they are concerned.

As hard as it is ignore all your calls, get into the habit of doing 1471 once the call has ended to see who it was & then you can decide whether to call them back.

Try to put all of your efforts into getting you case prepared then you can get some peace of mind.

AlanD_3 · 18 May 2007 at 7:11PM

Or get caller display.

A Legal Action letter is scary but is pretty toothless unless they are giving specifics, a date, a court etc.

I hate to say it but we've been ignoring letters for years, occasionally dealing with them. It amazes me how long they will keep things running for. Doesn't stop the fear though. We're terrified of a knock on the door or calls from strange numbers... roll-on BR day!

seven2seven · 19 May 2007 at 7:57AM

That is the scary part , the great unknown...........

I am just trying to deal with one thing at a time , Im really glad I posted here (already given me a few tears down the cheeks) , there seems to be a million and one things to do !!!!!!!!

At least I suppose I have cleared the big hurdle............facing up to the fact that I have to go BR , no choice.

rog2 · 19 May 2007 at 11:05AM

seven2seven wrote: »

That is the scary part , the great unknown...........

I am just trying to deal with one thing at a time , Im really glad I posted here (already given me a few tears down the cheeks) , there seems to be a million and one things to do !!!!!!!!

At least I suppose I have cleared the big hurdle............facing up to the fact that I have to go BR , no choice.

You'll be okay Seven - Many of us have been where you are, and we all survive. I too had to cease trading - didn't even think of bankruptcy as an option. Was declared Bankrupt last October and received my early discharge notification yesterday.

The whole experience has turned me from a 'near quivering wreck' into a confident, and much wiser, person who, now, knows (hopefully) the pitfalls to avoid in the future.

The very best of luck.:grouphug: