Help with bankruptcy fees

MartinW24

Hi all.
Been on a DMP for 3 years now. However, we recently lost one wage and are struggling to survive.
Mortgage and all bills are paid for every month.
However, we are now only making token payments every month, so the DMP period has gone up to nearly 100 years.
We were advised by SC that bankruptcy would be the best course of action, but don't have any way of raising the bankruptcy fees.

SC asked if we were in arrears with any of the utility bills as some companies might have a fund for paying for bankruptcy, but we have paid all of our bills on time and have no arrears anywhere.

Is there any way the bankruptcy fees can be waived?
Are there any charities that can help?

The situation is getting worse as my wages have remained the same for the past 4-5 years with no sign of them increasing any time soon, yet all the expenses are going up.

EON contacted us this week stating we need to put our DD up, but the amount they want to increase it by is basically the amount we pay to SC.

Really starting to get worried.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[Deleted User]

Are you sure bankruptcy is the best option ? You say you have a mortgage, chances are that you will lose your house because the official receiver will count it as an asset and force a sale.

sourcrates

Maybe you could post up a statement of affairs so people can see where your money is going and if any savings are possible, 100 years on a DMP, obviously another solution is needed, there are other options instead of Bankruptcy, an IVA for example, you need to list your debts, as if you owe a particularly large amount to one creditor, they may partition for you bankruptcy if there is no likelihood of you paying it back within a realistic time scale, to be honest, if it is the course of action you decide on, just stop paying your creditors completely to save up the bankruptcy fees, but you must be prepared to lose your property, should you own one. Lots to think about.

Tixy

Worth taking a look here
Charities who help with BR Fees

If you are going to choose bankruptcy and have accepted that you will lose the house then you could also speak to the SC about ceasing mortgage payments to save for the BR fees (obviously that is not an option if the house is owned in joint names and only one is going bankrupt).

fatbelly

The key question with your house is whether there will be more than £1k of equity 27 months into your bankruptcy. Obviously that will require a crystal ball. But if your mortgage and priority bills are being paid, then I'm not sure why you would want to go bankrupt, just to deal with the non-priority debts.

A statement of affairs would be useful.

MartinW24

Only got time for a quick reply at the mo, so here goes.
In total our debts are around the £57,000.00 mark. Half is to one creditor NRAM. the remainder is split into amounts of between £5k to £10k to various creditors.
We have been through our budget with a finetooth comb when we lost the 2nd income about a year ago and SC have even accepted that some of the figures we are living on are below their recommended levels.
I would imagine that at the moment after redemption penalty, and other fees for selling the property, we would be in negative equity by between £5k - £10k.
We have 2 young children and the advice given is that we should seek bankruptcy as we will most likely not lose our home, due to having 2 young children and no equity in the property.
SC have advised that to be accepted onto an IVA we need to have around £130.00 to £150.00 per month spare.
We don't have this and are currently paying £46.00 per month to them.
I have no way of finding any extra let alone close to £100.00 per month.

When SC suggested the bankruptcy, that it what I have concentrated on being our only way out of this mess.

Just ticking over with SC is getting hard, as I pointed out above with the wage freeze, and every bill increasing. I know we will be able to get up to 2 incomes again in about 2-3 years time, but I can't see us being able to tick over with SC for the whole period.

We have work that desperately needs doing on the house that we are putting up with (building work, repair work etc started before all the financial problems that have remained unfinished as we can't save any money to get them done). I'm also sure that the gearbox is on the way out on the car.

I appreciate that bankruptcy is very serious and I did always want to pay off everything I owe, but it it seems like it;s spiralling the wrong way and can't see any other way out (apart from a lottery win of course ;-) )

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

MartinW24 wrote: »

EON contacted us this week stating we need to put our DD up, but the amount they want to increase it by is basically the amount we pay to SC.

Really starting to get worried.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi MartinW24

Hope you don't mind me popping on here but thought you might be interested in a facility on our website that gives you a bit more control over your Direct Debit.

It's called the 'Direct Debit Manager' and is designed to let you alter the payments to suit changing circumstances.

Our Monthly Direct Debits are based on current prices and usage over the past 12 months. If either changes you might want to think about changing your payments.

If you've registered with our website, payments can be changed online by up to 20 per cent up or down provided the account is billed up to the latest meter readings. Up to 5 per cent up or down without readings.

Before completing the change, though, we'll let you know how much we anticipate the account will be in debit/credit by the time of the annual review if the change is put through but usage doesn't alter accordingly.

Our website also gives advice on how to save money by saving energy. Check out the Saving Energy Toolkit pages. There's lots of tips there to help you save.

Have a look at the Energy Saving Home Improvement page too. See if you're eligible for help with energy saving improvements like loft and cavity wall insulation.

If you're eligible for this, you might also qualify for the Warm Home Discount. The payment for 2014/15 is £140 and you can apply for the Broader Group through our website now.

Depending on where you live, there might also be help available through the Water Trust Funds. We work with certain water authorities to provide help and advice with utility bills to low income families. Certainly worth asking your water provider if they're part of this scheme.

I realise all this is probably a drop in the ocean given what you're facing but hope it helps a little. Good luck going forward MartinW24.

Malc

dancingfairy

Unfortunately there is often no easy way to get the bankruptcy fees. It's generally by cutting back to the bare bones (but it sounds like you've done this already) and by selling things.
If you have decided that bankruptcy is the way forward then it would probably be sensible to stop paying your creditors back and keep the £40 a month that goes to stepchange and use it towards your fees.
I assume that there are 2 of you going bankrupt and the debts are in joint names?
You may qualify for fee remission although I'm not sure if this is just for people on benefits (talking of which you should do a benefits check and check you are getting everything you are entitled to).
This thread from the bankruptcy forum lists different places that may help you out with the fees: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4279781
The bankruptcy forum on here is full of very helpful/knowledgeable people, see here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=136
Regards
df