Conflicting advice Please help

joneb_2

I am a carer for my mother and receive income support and carers allowance. I live with my mother and she receives pension benefit and attendance allowance and therefore she pays no rent. Three years ago I took out a five year loan to buy a car and put it on the road as a taxi which i did for a year and a half once I left my old job.

To explain my mother had alzheimer's and I had work pressures in my old job so I tried to balance it all by starting my own business and working close to home but the demands and pressure on me took its toll and now I still have 2 years of my five year loan left to pay and I just cant do it on this income. Plus I also have visa card bill.

My total debt is only about £7500 which is pennies compared to many of you but I have to pay out £270 month on a budget of £346 a month leaving me less than £20 a week to live on.

I contacted a local council employed money adviser who has told me without a doubt I have no choice but to go bankrupt as I can not be expected to live on that kind of money and my present situation doesn't look it will be resolved for along time.

I then contacted CAB who advised me to write to the bank and my credit card company if I don't want to go bankrupt and try to strike a deal with them so that I pay them only £15 and £10 a month.

Now the original money adviser said he didn't want to rattle the bank and the credit card company and that I should just ignore everything until I get the first court letter in then I should attend, where as i will be told to pay so much in a certain time, where then I declare my self insolvent as I cant do that. To this end the adviser said it could take a long time to get round to me becoming bankrupt and as the only thing I have of some value is may car by that time it may have decreased so much in value it isn't worth taking.

My current concern then is that if I follow the advice of CAB to write to the bank and credit card company they will see that my situation wont get much better in the near future and just force me to go bankrupt so much earlier and then I will lose the car.
My mother has alzheimers and arthritis and the car is important to her for getting around and just getting out on occasion

Also another concern is that the bank and credit card company will be charging my accounts with late fees and so on too and making it all worse.

I currently have depression which is also a factor that doesn't help anything and I just want all this financial worry off my shoulders. I know I cant lose my home if I become bankrupt as its my mothers and its rented through her so the car is the only problem I think. Please note I live in Scotland in regards to the legal issues.

So what road should i go down. Just ignore everything until the court notice comes through then declare myself insolvent and become bankrupt which could be months or years I was told and at that time my car would be les valuable and less chance of losing it. Or should I try writing and taking the risk it makes me go bankrupt so much faster therefore losing the car? Or is there another option I havent been advised by the money adviser or even CAB?

backontheup

1. It is very unlikely that any creditor will make you bankrupt for such a (relatively) small amount, so that cast that one aside.

2. Offering up token payments of £1 per month for the next 6 months will certainly give you a bit of breathing space.

3. I would imagine for the long term solution you are better off entering into a DMP (Debt managment Plan) via CCCS or Payplan.

There will be light at the end of the tunnel :-) I only really know personally about bankruptcy. I would seriously recommend that you DON'T go bankrupt on this one

Angelatotten

my company went into liquidation this year, and I was not advised by the liquidation company to clear all personal debts first. Now the company is in liquidation I have 2 personal guarantees on debts. One is for £9500 and the other is £6000.00. The first one wants to take me to court for bankruptcy, which I do not wish to do. I am married with a joint mortgage, these guarantees were made in my name only. Please can you advise me which route to take. I am now working but money is still tight and we are only just on the recovery road. Thank you for your advice.

RAS

Backontheup.

Hi

other will be along to help, but there are some bits that peopel need to know to help you.

Firstly, you need to check you existing agreement regardign the car. Is it hire purchase or a loan. preferably explain with whom.

The others are a bit more personal, but are you of an age where you are likely to go back to work at some time. In which case a DMP may be an option. Companies will put up with £1 per week if they have to.

If you are already of retirement age and caring for a elderly relative, then you need more advice.

Try speaking to CCCS or Payplan if you can and see what they adivse.

Also head over to the DFw bforum and ask them to look at your Statement of Affairs as the now stan; see the sticki on the front page for first time posters. There is also an excellent stckie on maximising income which lists pay for clicks and survey sites that you could do from home.

Angela

Could you go to the front page and start your own thread, see the button "new thread" towards the top on the left hand side?

What people need to know is who has written to you, is it the court, creditor or the DCA and exactly what it says.

There are occasions when creditors/DCAs will try and make someone bankrupt but these are rare. It costs tham quite a lot of money and if you do not have it then they will not get the money and they get no preferential treatment by the OR. Also people need to know how much equity there might be in the house.

joneb_2

My car isnt on hp. I got a loan rom the bank which I told them was partly to pay for the car and partly as aconsolidation.

Thanks for the new advice and I take it then that this local council money adviser is unreliable to say the least? I did contact a debt management company but they wanted a big cut too. I believe there are those who organise iand handle it all for free but I dont know who they are.

I am 40 so I will go back to work eventually but maybe not for a long while due to the way my situation is because of my mums illness and demands. Maybe years even. Right now Im struggling and I am very unhappy. I am on medication and to tell you the truth I really would rather not be here at the moment but that is by the by and this is not about my depression its about my money problem.

Also I feel very frustrated by the system as I read about how there is so much help but when I went looking for it before this thread what I found was unsettling and not very satisfactory ie special council based money affairs adviser telling me I have no choice but to go bankrupt, or the debt management company who wanted quite a high cut.

Are you saying then that I should follow CABS advise and write to the bank and credit card company and organise some sort of payment with them. If so will they freeze the interest or will I find myself making small payments for possibly years whilst the interest mounts substantially really just increasing the debt?

backontheup

This is a good site for information and templates for creditors

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#6

If you suggest the token payment of £1 PLUS insist that they freeze the interest, it will at least give you 6 months to sort your head out a bit. Your next stop is either payplan or CCCS and get them to help with a debt managment plan.

Forget about the ambulance chasing firms that are always on TV. They are after a cut, as you rightly point out, and your debts are less than £15k.