The "what do you need to know before you go bankrupt?" thread!

allofadither

ClaireLR wrote: »

When I rang the court to book a date they told me that the process will take 2 hours. Anyone wnat to hazard a guess as to whether I will see the OR the same day?

I would hazard a guess and say No...most of that two hours will probably be spent doing a little bit of admin and then waiting around, and waiting around....but I could be wrong

allofadither

NekoZombie wrote: »

I can't help but wonder if contesting my IPA will scupper my chances of early discharge. I hope the hell not! :eek:

I hope the hell not too Neko!:D

allofadither

ClaireLR wrote: »

Just thought of something else that may be of importance.

I haven't taken any professional advice about making myself bankrupt, do I need to do this?? I'm worried that if I contact somewhere like cccs they will advise against it and I will still be stuck paying a DMP for virtually the rest of my life.

Will it be looked on unfavourably by the Judge/OR if I haven't taken professional advice?

My personal feeling is that the Judge really wants to be sure you have thought about your options and that you haven't rushed into BR without due care and attention. Sometimes people think BR is the only option and by speaking to CAB/CCCs/Payplan they discover there are alternatives, one of which might be better for them.

If you have done your homework Claire, and it seems to me you are, then that is what you must tell the Judge if asked. Of course it wouldn't do any harm to approach the CAB for advice...just to be sure. Even if the CAB suggested a DMP you are not under any obligation to take it. It means you can tell the Judge you have considered all the options and decided BR is best for you.

Red1708

Hiya Claire

Just a quick note It's imperrative that you get proffessional advice, the judge will ask you if you have and if not is likely to turn down your petition. Try either CCCS, Payplan or CAB. I used CCCS and Payplan, my report from CCCS stated my two options were BR or DMP. I guess that they will always suggest DMP as it is a viable option for lots of people but as long as they suggest BR too then you wont have any problems

wherediditallgo

NekoZombie wrote: »

I can't help but wonder if contesting my IPA will scupper my chances of early discharge. I hope the hell not! :eek:

You're entitled to contest your IPA if you feel it's unfair, & unless you get into a real wrangle with the OR or are thought to be non-compliant it shouldn't have any bearing on whether you're offered early discharge (not everyone is offered this). However, I'd give it a lot of thought before doing so.

• Compare what the IPA is asking you to pay with what you were struggling to pay before.
• Does the IPA amount require you to give up things you genuinely can't do without, or just things you'd prefer not to have to give up?
• If the IPA is for the minimum amount (£50pm), what are the chances that you contesting it might make them want you to pay even more?
• What have you actually got to gain by contesting it?

An IPA is for 3 years from the date you agree to it. If they give you an IPA of £100 for instance, it may well be worth contesting it if it can be reduced to £50, but if contesting could mean you still stuck paying £100 or taking several weeks to get it resolved only to find it reduced by £10, I'd question whether it's worth doing. There are instances of people getting it reduced, but you really need to weigh up the pros & cons. On another forum (start at reply #42) a guy got told of his IPA in late November (£70pm), & contested it in December - he couldn't come to an agreement with the OR on the amount so had to attend court in late March for a very in-depth hearing. In the end, he had to accept the £70 because his argument about sundry expenses was rejected. He put himself through 4 months of aggro to get nowhere in the end. If you contest it, you must have very good supporting evidence & very sound arguments for doing so, otherwise to me you're just putting off the inevitable.

ClaireLR

Ok heres an update on what I have done today.

RED - I didnt really make it clear but I am actually doing a DMP with payplan and have been for the past year. I pay them £90 a month and for the last 12 months I've had no life. They don't allow anything in the way of fun/social occasions, I was even told they would not allow me to save a fiver a month towards the cost of Christmas. That seemed unfair to me but at the time I thought it was my only way out so agreed. With my level of debt it will take me until at least 2027 to pay things off, this is as long as all creditors stop interest which up to now they haven't (some have but Lloyds are still hanging on for their pound of flesh). So although I have taken advice re my debts I haven't until today taken advice about bankruptcy.

I rang CCCS and briefly told them my situation. The chap I spoke to was lovely and told me that as I had been doing a DMP for 12 months just to put that on my form and the judge would then accept that I had taken advice, that was the full extent of his advice to me! So that's what I will do.

He also gave me a phone number/website to contact https://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk I did call them and left my number but no one has called back today (assume it will be tomorrow now). The CCCS man told me that they would be able to help me a little more in regards to my SOA and tell me what will be acceptable amounts to put down, so looking forward to speaking to them.

And thats it for today! I did a lot of research/asking questions yesterday so thats all I'm going to do for now, I still have over a month left before B-day so I'm going to take things slowly to make sure I don't get overwhelmed by it all.

ClaireLR

Meant to ask in my last post, has anyone had any dealing with the website I mentioned and if so are they any good?

Red1708

Hi Clare, glad you have things sorted a little more. I used CCCS but only online.....didn't actually speak to them in person. When you fill out your SOA online it gives you estimates of amount allowed for the likes of housekeeping etc. I found these amounts to be a little on the meagre side to be honest but I think that is because they're website is set up to advise on all forms of debt management. The allowances for DMP or IVA's are a lot tighter than those for BR so keep that in mind when you are completing your forms.

ClaireLR

Thanks Red.

Just thought of a question (probably a daft one)

a while ago one of my poor kittys was ill so I took her to the vets. We didnt have pet insurance then (we'd only just had her!) and to cut a long story short ended up with a bill for £350.

At the moment Im paying them £50 a month out of what I usually pay payplan with (they agreed to accept reduced payments for 7 months while I did this, unfortunately my creditors werent as happy). Anyway, when I fill my forms in do I have to put that down as a debt? I'm assuming I do but Im a bit worried, I know there are other vets but I really like the one I take my cats to and Im assuming that they wont let me take them there again if I owe them money through making myself bankrupt.

Any thoughts??

chompie

how do the OR/judge look upon people with gambling debts
will they ask for all my bookie/casino account details?

will they close the accounts and seize any monies in them?

will i be made to seek advice/help (GA)

just thinking about BR as an option and need to know this.

also i have just been filling the online form, and see a section where it asks if you have use of a vehicle you don't own. asking who owns it and how much it costs.

why is this?