Couple of bankruptcy questions........

N71

I'm a year into an IVA - that's failing miserably.

The IVA supplier called me today, after receiving my current income/expenditure for my annual review. The IVA supplier have advised me to go to the CAB and discuss bankruptcy. My IVA payments up to now have been £280 per month, which is crippling me. As the amount I can afford is now less that £100 - it won't be accepted and bankruptcy is my only option.

Just some questions...

My house won't be affected - i'm in council rented, but will the council evict me as a bankrupt?

My car is a vehicle supplied by mobility for my severely disabled son - will this be affected?

I work as a Civil Servant - am I allowed to be bankrupt?

Which court do I go to? I live pretty much the same distance from 3 courts?

Household goods - i've not got much worth taking, but my b/f has just bought me a new fridge/freezer as mine was old and very broke. Can they take that from me?

I'm going to get to the CAB after the bank holiday - but these questions are playing on my mind. IVA people are sending me an advice booklet.

I'm sooooooo terrified!!

ClaireLR

Don't be terrified!!

Easier said than done I know.

Go to CAB and they will be able to answer all of the questions you have (if the people on here haven't got here first!)

As I understand it council houses are unaffected.
mobility car for disabled son will be unaffected
Household good unaffected unless you have items worth a lot of money, for instance very expensive electrical items that are not necessary (an expensive computer for instance) or art/jewellery worth a lot of money.
Court - I think you shoul go to the one under which your council is, but not entirely sure on that one, nor about your job but someone will answer your questions!

Have a look at these websites

https://www.insolvency.gov.uk
https://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk
https://www.cccs.co.uk
https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
https://www.payplan.co.uk

All are free and provide free contact numbers for any questions you might have.

Try not to worry, I was so scared at the thought of going bankrupt (I haven't actually done it yet, my date is 6 July) but I find that the more I know the less scary things are.

Good luck! x

N71

Thanks Claire! I'll have a look through the links to hopefully put my mind at rest! And try and get to the CAB on Tuesday.

allofadither

Hi N71,

Claire has pretty well summed it. CAB are a good place to start and if BR is definitely your choice then you'll receive loads of support and advice on here.

The OR does inform councils about BR, but as Claire says you won't be evicted.

Ring one of the courts, they'll tell you which one to use. I lived equi distant between two courts but it was decided on postcode.

Most jobs are unaffected but it really depends what you do.

Try not to worry too much, you're doing all the right things at the moment.

AlanD_3

With job and house make an anonymous call to them to ask. It worked for me.

wherediditallgo

N71, do you actually owe any money to the council? My OR told me they'd only inform the council if they were a creditor because of the Data Protection Act, so if you don't owe them anything (rent or Council Tax) there's no reason for them to be informed.

My council told me that whether you're BR or not is none of their business if you don't owe them money. They also told me that, even if they were informed, they wouldn't automatically evict someone, but their rent/Council Tax accounts would be monitored more closely to ensure payments were received on time & appropriate action taken if payments were late. The times where it might make a difference further down the line are (a) if you wanted to buy the property under the Right To Buy legislation, as the council can help with mortgages, & may not feel able to help you, & (b) if you want a council transfer to another area, as the new council may ask if you're BR or have been BR & may not take you on their waiting list because of it.

I had rent arrears several months ago. It's precisely because I may either want to buy or transfer further down the line that I made sure all the arrears were cleared up well in advance of me going BR so I didn't have to put the council down as a creditor. I've ensured that I overpay every month since then.

allofadither

Wish I'd known about the Data Protection thing WDIAG...my OR said she had to inform the council even though they were not a creditor, we have never missed any CT payments, and we are not council tennants. The council immediately wrote to us to inform us that they had given us a new 'ref number' for our CT and I figured that must mean we are being monitored in some way :eek:

N71

No rent or council tax arrears up to now! So thats a good start!

wherediditallgo

allofadither wrote: »

Wish I'd known about the Data Protection thing WDIAG...my OR said she had to inform the council even though they were not a creditor, we have never missed any CT payments, and we are not council tennants. The council immediately wrote to us to inform us that they had given us a new 'ref number' for our CT and I figured that must mean we are being monitored in some way :eek:

Gosh, how annoying! If you didn't owe any money to them, there was no reason for them to inform them! I think you're right about the monitoring - when I spoke to my council anonymously, the woman was very open & said that they would monitor more closely. I didn't give the OR my rent account or Council Tax numbers just in case, but the OR said they wouldn't be contacting them anyway. Maybe some councils operate differently once they've got the info - it must be really upsetting though to feel watched like that.

whatatwit

allofadither wrote: »

Wish I'd known about the Data Protection thing WDIAG...my OR said she had to inform the council even though they were not a creditor, we have never missed any CT payments, and we are not council tennants. The council immediately wrote to us to inform us that they had given us a new 'ref number' for our CT and I figured that must mean we are being monitored in some way :eek:

Maybe this was so that in case of arrears or overpayments of any council tax benefit for the period covered up to bankruptcy further along the line, then it would be clear what was pre and post bankruptcy.

allofadither

whatatwit wrote: »

Maybe this was so that in case of arrears or overpayments of any council tax benefit for the period covered up to bankruptcy further along the line, then it would be clear what was pre and post bankruptcy.

Yes I suppose that could be a reason, but obvioulsly not standard policy across all councils.