BR questions, help, advice...support!

kisto

I've read back through 7 pages of this forum, and there has been some great advise, but I'm still left feeling uncertain.

I have a fairly small debt compared to most people that face bankruptcy, but nonetheless it is unmanageable and a huge burden. I owe in total around £6,000, to numerous creditors. Some of the debts stem back 5 years. I'm currently receiving help from CAB.

I'm an unemployed single mum of 2 in receipt of income support. I have done an income and expenditure sheet with CAB and I have no spare income. I live hand to mouth. I split from my husband a year ago, and several of the debts are joint.

Several of the debts are high priority i.e. HM Revenue & Customs (N.I. payments, tax credit overpayments) and Council Tax arrears. I've had a court summons today for council tax arrears.

I have spoke to my CAB advisor today and he agrees that bankruptcy would be a good idea in my circumstances. The prospect is incredibly scary. I'm so naive when it comes to finances. I feel so stupid and ignorant. I know very little about bankruptcy and I'm not entirely sure about the affect it would have on my life.

I'm in a private rent with a guarantor (my ex FIL). I have contacted my landlords today to obtain a copy of my tenancy agreement as I need to know whether there is a clause regarding bankrupts in the agreement. If there is, then I guess bankruptcy won't be an option.

I've no assets, no car, no mobile phone contracts. I already have key meter for gas/electric. It's very unlikely that I'll want credit, EVER! I've been defaulting on debts for at least 5 years and I've lived without credit during that time.

I have a few questions that I would like help with.

1) I have a phone line/broadband with Talk Talk. I owe them at least £200. My phone line is disconnected for outgoing calls (but I can receive incoming calls). My broadband works fine. The phone line was originally in my ex's name. When we separated it took my ex 4 months to agree to sign it over to my name (during that time Talk Talk refused to communicate with me). The debt stems back from this period (and Talk Talk just transferred the whole debt to my name, GREAT!) and I haven't had a phone line in a year now. What is likely to happen to this if I went bankrupt? I would end up completely isolated without internet access. I don't care so much about the phone line as I have a PAYG mobile.

2) I have a basic bank account with HSBC. It's my only account and all my benefits are paid into here. I don't owe them anything, and i am always in credit. What is likely to happen to this account on bankruptcy? I doubt I'll be able to get an account with coop (as is often recommended on here) as they closed an account a couple years ago because I bounced some direct debits.

3) I haven't a clue how I'd raise the £350 quid to go bankrupt. I've looked at the utitilities grants sites, and it's not clear whether they will pay towards bankruptcy. I do owe both British Gas and EDF (which is being paid off via a key meter). I'm also ex forces and wondered if anyone knows whether British Legion help towards bankruptcy. My ex, has in the past offered to pay, but in reality I doubt he would.

4) Is there a website that details the bankruptcy procedure and the consequences one can expect from being bankrupt.

Sorry for so many questions. I feel like such an ignorant, incompetent fool.

fiveyearplan

Welcome to the board. Barclays have a bank account for bankrupts. I don't know how Talk Talk managed to transfer your ex's debt to you. Anyway, I'm sure someone will be along soon who can help you further.

betterlatethannever

No Time to post properly but i'm sure someone else will.
Firstly, welcome Kisto.
Secondly, do you owe any money to the Landlord? if not, then you could try doing a nice letter explaining whats happening, but that your rent will always be paid or you could just do as i did, and say nothing to the LL. I asked my OR if he would contact the LL and hes said he wouldn't as i didn't owe him any money.
Thirdly, can you open a basic post office account? if not as FYP said, Barclays do a good basic account that accepts bankrupts
Good luck and i'm sure someone will be along shortly with more advice for you.

kisto

fiveyearplan wrote: »

Welcome to the board. Barclays have a bank account for bankrupts. I don't know how Talk Talk managed to transfer your ex's debt to you. Anyway, I'm sure someone will be along soon who can help you further.

I'm not sure how Talk Talk managed to transfer the debt to my name either. I don't recall the form that my ex signed saying anything about transferring his debt to me. It was more of a simple change of ownership/contact details form. I think Talk Talk are just trying it on. They're a complete nightmare when it comes to communication and I just get passed from operator to operator (the left hand doesn't know what thre right hand is doing). Hence, I've not bothered contacting them at all for 6 months and just lived with having no landline (I can't even call 0800 numbers, but can call local numbers that are on my exchange!!). Whilst my broadband still works I don't want to rock the boat.

and thanks to betterlatethannever for your reply. I have sent my tenancy agreement to my CAB advisor for him to have a browse through to see if there is a clause

This week I'm going to collect together some items to sell on ebay to try and raise funds towards the BR fee.

stubie

Hi,

I think the big problem here is that you only (I say only but its still a debt you cannot afford) owe £6k? From my understanding anything under £15k in a court will not be considered for BR.

You might be jumping the gun on your BR and waste £500 :eek:

Can someone confirm this?

tigerfeet2006

stubie wrote: »

Hi,

I think the big problem here is that you only (I say only but its still a debt you cannot afford) owe £6k? From my understanding anything under £15k in a court will not be considered for BR.

You might be jumping the gun on your BR and waste £500 :eek:

Can someone confirm this?

Stubie you can go BR for £6k with no problems at all. Where did you get £15k from?

stubie

I thought I read that somewhere...there again that could have been one of my creditors I took for £15k.

kisto

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

Stubie you can go BR for £6k with no problems at all. Where did you get £15k from?

Thanks for confirming this. I appreciate the help so far, thanks all.

I have just spoken to my ex and he is thinking through a way for us to go bankrupt together. He owes near £25k, so in larger debt than me. He works full time so is financially better off, though.
One question he did have is, would he lose his mobile phone contract (which he has only just taken out) once bankrupt?

susieh_2

hi, welcome,

just a quick note, are you claiming housing benefit & council tax benefit, which as alone parent you are entitled to?

Sushieh

fermi

kisto wrote: »

1) I have a phone line/broadband with Talk Talk. I owe them at least £200. My phone line is disconnected for outgoing calls (but I can receive incoming calls). My broadband works fine. The phone line was originally in my ex's name. When we separated it took my ex 4 months to agree to sign it over to my name (during that time Talk Talk refused to communicate with me). The debt stems back from this period (and Talk Talk just transferred the whole debt to my name, GREAT!) and I haven't had a phone line in a year now. What is likely to happen to this if I went bankrupt? I would end up completely isolated without internet access. I don't care so much about the phone line as I have a PAYG mobile.

Did you ask CAB about this when you spoke to them?

If you go bankrupt you must list all outstanding debts, which will then be included in the bankruptcy. I'm not sure what Talk talk's reaction would be, but I can't imagine they would be too pleased. Are there any alternatives?

2) I have a basic bank account with HSBC. It's my only account and all my benefits are paid into here. I don't owe them anything, and i am always in credit. What is likely to happen to this account on bankruptcy? I doubt I'll be able to get an account with coop (as is often recommended on here) as they closed an account a couple years ago because I bounced some direct debits.

HSBC will almost certainly close or permanently freeze the basic account.
Barclays and (sometimes) Nationwide are bankrupt friendly.

3) I haven't a clue how I'd raise the £350 quid to go bankrupt. I've looked at the utitilities grants sites, and it's not clear whether they will pay towards bankruptcy. I do owe both British Gas and EDF (which is being paid off via a key meter). I'm also ex forces and wondered if anyone knows whether British Legion help towards bankruptcy. My ex, has in the past offered to pay, but in reality I doubt he would.

Don't know about the British Legion, but it would be interesting to hear if you have any luck.

4) Is there a website that details the bankruptcy procedure and the consequences one can expect from being bankrupt.

Lots of links here: http://bankruptcysupportersclub.co.uk/links.aspx

kisto wrote: »

One question he did have is, would he lose his mobile phone contract (which he has only just taken out) once bankrupt?

Many people manage to keep a contract going.

Really depends on any terms in the contract and whether he is in arrears at the time of the bankruptcy. Also the Official Receiver will allow a reasonable amount per month for mobiles, but ones that are very expensive may have to be paid for out of any surplus you are left with which is not claimed by the OR.

kisto

Many thanks for your full and informative response, I appreciate it. I have a couple further questions.

If you go bankrupt you must list all outstanding debts, which will then be included in the bankruptcy. I'm not sure what Talk talk's reaction would be, but I can't imagine they would be too pleased. Are there any alternatives?

Do you think it's worth trying to change my teleco company now, before I go bankrupt? I'm not sure whether Talk Talk would release the line, without me clearing the debt?

HSBC will almost certainly close or permanently freeze the basic account. Barclays and (sometimes) Nationwide are bankrupt friendly.

With this in mind I assume it's sensible to try and open a barclays account now, and explain to them that I will be going bankrupt in the future. I also wonder if it's worth getting a post office account and start having my benefits paid into that?