Help with Trustee & creditors

stillinamess

Hi, I wonder if anyone has any expert knowledge in dealing with a Trustee & trying to make a deal with HMRC?
Long story short...
Both husband and I made bankrupt by HMRC in March 2015 , unpaid VAT & PAYE debts due to failing (now failed) retail business. We were a partnership, not LLP or Ltd so debts are joint & several.
Met OR who appointed Trustee in Bankruptcy as we own a (mortgaged) property.
Buried head in sand for a year or so.
Trustee wished to know if we have a third party to purchase her interest in our property.
Finally pull fingers out & submit corrected figures to HMRC as we were made bankrupt on estimated figures.
The actual amount is less than half of the estimated.
Statement of liabilities show various other creditors.
Really unsure how to proceed from here. Have written to HMRC for a revised proof of debt. Does anyone know if they will cut a deal?
Any advice gratefully received.
By the way, my credit report shows that I am discharged from bankruptcy though have no proof of this.
Thanks in advance

silvercar

What is the property?

Assuming it is your main residence, it is the amount of equity in the property that you now need to consider.

stillinamess

The property is our house. Approx £200k equity.

Brock_and_Roll

HMRC have a reputation as just about the most hard-nosed of creditors - which is fair enough as they are protecting the general taxpayer.


I cant see why it would be in their interests to cut a deal in relation to selling the beneficial interest for anything significantly less than the amount of equity available.

luvchocolate

You would have been discharged 1 year from declaring B.R, you get no notification of this.

National_Debtline

Hi there, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news......


I am afraid it is more complicated than 'making a deal' with the HMRC now. Because you have been declared bankrupt, the only way to undo this is to apply to annul the bankruptcy. This would require very specialist legal advice (which can be pricey), plus full repayment of all of the debts that went into the bankruptcy and the Trustee fees, which I am sorry to say, can be extremely high. It is my understanding that this has to be done as a lump sum in order for the annulment to be considered, and can't be a payment plan.


If the debt was joint, and the property is joint, with substantial equity I am afraid you are going to be in a very difficult position. Unless someone can approach the Trustee to purchase both of your interests back, it will be extremely difficult to save the property.


The Trustee has 3 years to deal with the property (from the date of the bankruptcy order), so they may not take action in the immediate future, however, don't ignore this. Talk to family and friends, and see if they can help, I appreciate it is a lot of money, but someone would need to approach the Trustee with an offer, similar to the equity they will get from a sale, to try and save it. Give any free charity a call for your next steps,


Laura
@natdebtline

silvercar

stillinamess wrote: »

The property is our house. Approx £200k equity.

So which is lower, 200k for the equity in your house or the sum total of all your debts plus the fees for dealing with the bankruptcy?

If all your debts + trustee fees are lower and you could find someway of finding this money, then it would be worth while trying to annul the bankruptcy. If not, then it is a question of working out if you can raise money to buy the beneficial interest off the Official receiver.

If the totals are about the same then you may have more of a chance negotiating with the OR on the value needed to buy back the equity.

stillinamess

Equity is greater than debt so hopefully Trustee will adjust beneficial interest since actual debt is lower than originally stated. Thanks for your reply.

silvercar

stillinamess wrote: »

Equity is greater than debt so hopefully Trustee will adjust beneficial interest since actual debt is lower than originally stated. Thanks for your reply.

So it is really in your interest to get the hmrc to agree an accurate figure. You will get a hefty charge for the trustee bankruptcy costs.

luvchocolate

My trustees fees were just over £21,000 my B.R involved 3 properties but only 5 creditors.

TimeToDoIt

Unfortunately as someone has already said, the fees that will be included in any annulment will be hefty. It isn't unusual for debtors to end up paying double what their debts were to have the BK annulled.

I wish you luck, whatever you do.