Sequestration assets

masterone

Hi, been trying to find info online but haven't been able to.

So got myself in a bit of a mess, a debt of about £30000 to British Gas (micro-business account) it was a mistake where the payments were going to the wrong account etc, tried solving it with ombudsman but no luck, still a debt of over £30k.

I cannot afford to pay this. I have no assets.. House is in my wife's name, I have no car, my wife does, I pay her money for the kids, she takes care of everything else, I'm working on minimum wage so don't have much income anyway.

The house has about £15k equity but again the mortgage is in my wife's name always has been... Would they want to sell the house to get the £15k?

Thanks for any responses.

macman

Your wife is not liable for debts in your sole name. Is your debt as a sole trader, or a limited company?

masterone

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply. It was a limited company but I'm being personally held liable, due to a paperwork error, the actual amount I owe it about £9k which I was willing to pay over the course of 12 months, but the ombudsman upheld the decision that British Gas claimed and the amount they are saying is £30k plus, there's no way I could pay that.

I read somewhere about beneficial interest in the property.

My wife was gifted the deposit for the house by her mother, the mortgage company asked for supporting evidence so that paperwork is up to scratch. nothing is in my name everything is in my wife's name, I give her money monthly but that's to cover the kids stuff like school meals, after school clubs, clothes etc. We've made no changes to the house, lol still have the same carpets even etc... So how do they decide whether I have a beneficial interest?

If the house was ever sold I wouldn't get a penny, that was the deal between me and my wife as she's the main breadwinner and if anything were to happen to her the house would be put in a trust for our 3 kids, again when she got the mortgage there was paperwork regarding this also. Not sure if any of this is relevant, but thought I'd add it.

Thanks again.

RattyIrk

Am in a similar position although going back further.

They will likely ask questions but provided you can back up argument you genuinely do not have a beneficial interest you should be fine. I genuinely don't in my case and am able to back it up with paperwork and proof of payments made etc. To be fair they haven't requested that evidence yet but I have it should they ever do so.