£250 debt became £2700 owed!

sourcrates

Bank accounts included in bankrupcy would be frozen, then closed, but everyone can have a basic account, bankrupts included, they are not frozen for long.

An IPA is payable if you have £20 or more disposable income per month, and as for gaining further credit, I doubt that would be at the top of the OP’s list.

You can be declared bankrupt today and still lead a perfectly normal life as long as bankrupcy won’t affect your employment, your credit is trashed for 6 years just like any other debt solution, you only need to disclose your status if asked on official forms in the future, such as a mortgage application.

The majority of people won’t be affected in there future lives by bankrupcy.

It’s not the Hugh deal it once was for most people.

Hollysastar

I've lived in my current home for 8 years and I stopped paying it at my last home which is how I know it's over 8 years and more likely 10 years since I last paid or contacted them.

fatbelly

Karonher wrote: »

A link to the full article is here

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/money-made-easy/the-real-impact-of-going-bankrupt/#

It's a bit out of date and not completely accurate.

This one is better

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/bankruptcy/how-to-go-bankrupt.aspx

but even that seems a bit negative.

The boys on the bankruptcy board would be able to answer specific questions. But bankruptcy is over the top for £9700 of debt. A Debt Relief Order would be your backstop if thing got tougher. I think stepchange led you up a bit of a blind alley with that.

fatbelly

Hollysastar wrote: »

. And the court was further than I thought, it was Northampton not Nottingham as I originally thought which is 124 miles from me, a 248 mile round trip and I couldn't do it with children to drop off at school and collect.

Northampton is the county court bulk centre for electronic claims. If a claim is defended it is held at the court nearest to the defendant.

Hollysastar

I'm not sure I'd be able to be made bankrupt because I'm nearly 8 weeks into 2 ppi reclaims.

I don't want to fight this to avoid paying. I've paid! I want to fight it because it's wrong.

Thank you for your help everyone.

Hollysastar

I'm pretty sure I didn't receive any letters saying it was moved to a local court. I've got all the paperwork. Northampton was the issuing court.

fatbelly

It's on the directions questionnaire.

The rule is

Quote:

if the defendant is an individual and the claim is for a specified sum of money, at the relevant time the claim must be sent to the defendant’s home court (save that where there are two or more defendants, one or more of whom are individuals, the claim must be sent to the home court of the defendant who first files their defence).

Hollysastar

I acknowledged the claim online and asked for more time to gather evidence and create a defence. This was done by clicking a box. I don't have any other CCJS and have never dealt with this process before and have also had to prioritise hospital appointments for my child during this time and it meant the deadline passed without me realising and a CCJ was issued through the post.

In all honestly I did not believe and court would be able to suddenly issue a CCJ on a debt I stopped paying around 10 years ago for a ridiculous amount and after knowing the details of the case. But it appears an American acquisition company can purchase an old debt and force me into bankruptcy.

I will have to pay this first payment on the CCJ and it will be this month's rent money I pay it from. I have no other way to pay it. I won't be buying a Christmas dinner, I'm lucky enough to eat with my family. I literally have 68p in the bank. I appreciate there are rules and ways I should have done things and I should have asked for help on here sooner - but didn't spend thousands of pounds. My debt was £250. To have me pay back just under £3000

Hollysastar

...is disgusting.
Posted too soon

National_Debtline

Hello again,


Be very careful Hollysastar, a payment on the CCJ could compromise your set aside application as it could be interpreted as an admission of the debt and possibly weaken a future defence. It is also important to prioritise your living expenses. I appreciate the alternative is that you default and risk enforcement. So I would suggest you prioritise putting in your set aside application ASAP and request any enforcement action be suspended pending a hearing.


The set aside fee can be discounted with an EX160 as other posters have said (apologises this was missing off my original post) and if you qualify for that then that is a big help. You can also try and get cheap or free legal advice from a local law centre if you need that.


With the original claim forms, it doesn't sound as though a defence was actually entered which makes me question whether a hearing was scheduled or forms just came from Northampton (which is the bulk centre as previously mentioned). Instead it seems you did the acknowledgement of service and then no other form was filed. This is not overly relevant now, but just important to be aware of the process.


I also agree with Fatbelly that a DRO would appear to be more suitable than bankruptcy, if push comes to shove. Best of luck,


Laura
@natdebtline