Confused and terrified

Kermit7

I’m in a mountain of debt through various life challenges including loosing my mum, self employed husband being sick and loosing my job. I am now working as a community nurse and need my car that’s valued at approx 4,100. It’s eight years old but serves me well getting to patients houses. I’ve looked into an IVA through stepchange but was considering bankruptcy. I’m worried I’ll loose my car and then I’ll be in a worse situation unable to work.

Grateful for any advice or input. Not sleeping and am so done with the constant worry.

National_Debtline

Hi Kermit7 and welcome to MSE,


Debt is understandably worrying, and when you have other stresses such as bereavement it is made all the more difficult, (I am sorry to hear about your mum). In order to look at your options properly, it would help if you could post a few more details, such as how much you owe and the type of debts, when you get chance.


In bankruptcy, your car could be at risk due to its value. If you can demonstrate that a vehicle is essential then the official receiver may allow you to downgrade the vehicle to buy something cheaper and they would take the difference. Check the value of the car on several sites (such as www.parkers.co.uk) but if it is worth around £4k, then it is unlikely you would be able to keep that exact car in bankruptcy.


Laura
@natdebtline

PaulL2

Hello - try not to worry, it sounds like you are taking positive steps to deal with the debt issues you have, and once you've chosen the right path the worries will be gone! My life is so much better after my bankruptcy.

Are you sure the car is worth that much if it's 8 years old? The value should be the value if it was privately sold (not by a dealer) so check Autotrader for similar examples.

If you need the car for your job and they decide to auction off yours, they will give you £1000 to buy a runaround which should do the trick. Running costs like insurance, petrol etc will be allowed in your SOA.

Give StepChange a ring (they're very helpful) or use the forum if you have further questions.