How did you decide bankruptcy was right for you?

lindsaygalaxy

Evening all

Due to recent events, i have been trying to decide if bankruptcy is the right option for me.

I currently have £26,000 of debt, plus a £14,000 student loan debt. I am a single mum, with a fairly good job, but no money left a month after living costs etc.

My debt are at the moment with payplan, but i can only afford to to pay £100 a month, so will take me forever to pay them off, i dont see this amount changing in the near future.

I dont know to carry on with my debt plan, or to call it a day, become bankrupt, and i guess start life again.

Will this effect my tennancy?

I would love to hear how other people made the desision to go bankrupt and how hard it was?

Im 23 years old.

ClaireLR

Your circumstances are so similar to mine.

I'm 24 and have 23k of debt, I too have been doing a DMP with payplan and paying off £90 a mont for the past year. It was going to take until I was 45 to pay off my debts.

I did think about it for a long time and really looked into bankruptcy, I didnt make the decision lightly but I finally decided that I couldn't go through the next 20 years of my life with debts hanging over my head, I wanted to make a clean break and get on with my life.

So my BR date is 6 July.

You have to decide whats right for you. I suggest you contact CCCS who were really helpful, and have a good trawl through the threads on this site to make sure you're making the right decision for you.

Good luck.

Claire x

NekoZombie

Hiya,

I'm sure you've been advised already that the student loan debt wouldn't written off, so you're really only looking at writing off 26k. I'd suggest 26k is better than nothing though

Was bankruptcy mentioned as an option when you satrted your DMP with payplan?

earwig

hi for us it was not a case of the right thing to do it was the only thing to do i had a choice pay my creditor or feed my kids there was no contest my kids win every time

wherediditallgo

Lindsay, when I was first told by CCCS that I should go BR, the thought absolutely horrified me. I didn't even entertain doing it, & thought I could find a way to resolve my debts. By the time I went BR some six months later (having got no further forward & with things considerably worse), the decision had been pretty much made for me by creditors & DCAs hassling me almost daily by phone & letter, poor health, taking time off work because of the stress etc. The actual day I made the decision it wasn't hard at all, it was a total relief - I had nowhere else & no-one else to turn to, & I knew without a shadow of doubt it was the only way I was ever going to get my life back on track again.

However, only you can know whether going BR is the right decision for you. Take as much professional advice as you can get, ask the organisations you contact as many questions as you can think of even if you think they're stupid ones (don't assume anything) & only make your decision one way or another when you feel that you've exhausted every option they've suggested. Going BR is a serious decision that affects you long-term in many ways, so take your time making your decision & get as informed as you can.

bloomin_freezing

Hi

Bankruptcy was for sure the best option for me. I had about £14,000 (not a great deal compared to others) of debt an 18 mth old, with a husband who works but I won't be returning to work until my dd is at school and we have had another child.

I decided it was my best option as I didn't have a house or car to lose, my car was not worth over £2000 so why not basically. The worst thing they could've done to me was take away my lcd tv that I had recently got from a catalogue. I still have it and have now been discharged after just over 5 months.

Add up your pro's and cons and you will make the best decision for you and your family.

Good luck.

lindsaygalaxy

Hi

Payplan have never suggested it to me. When my ex left i calle payplan to seperate our plan.It took over 7 months for them to get it sorted as they are so busy, in which time ive collected 3 more defaults of missed payments.

Does anyone know if they will take my citibank account away from me? It has a chequebook and debit card. Not so worried about the chequebook but really want to keep my switch card.

tigerfeet2006

The OR will not close your bank account but will inform the bank that you are BR and it will be the bank who will close your account unless you are really. really lucky. But from anecdotal evidence on here they most likely will close the account.

Check out the sticky at the top of the forum for information on bank accounts available to BR's. Co-op are the only one that offer a card and that is an Electron card.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=474254

owetoomuch

You need to speak with CCCS or CAB and they will advise you whether or not BR is an option for you, when you go BR they will ask if you received professional advice. It is not a decision to take lightly, I went BR when CCCS advised me it was my best option. It is not an easy decision to make but I went with it as quickly as I could after receiving their advice otherwise my debts would have been much higher sometimes I still question if it was the right decision, but yes I think it was best for me.

savagevixen

In my experience, payplan was very confusing and did not give me the best advice.
CCCS were spot on.

betterlatethannever

Mine too Vix.