So confused, what shall I do?

Barry1108

Hi, I am in my mid 40s and recently separated from my wife. We had around 50k of manageable debt (loans and credit cards) in my name. She left 6 months ago and I am now sinking financially.
Should I go through with bankruptcy? I have read up on it and it seems like it would relieve a lot of stress and worry for me but is it feasible for me to be able to get back to a decent level of credit rating within the next 10 years?
I have always been sensible and paid all debts but my outgoings since I am on my own have just become unworkable.
Thanks in advance

MalMonroe

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. Before you do anything, you need to just step back and take some deep breaths. My advice (I've been through something similar - my husband up and left me with a child to raise alone and I ended up in a terrible financial state) don't panic and don't rush into anything just yet. Please consider contacting one of the free debt advice agencies. I know it sounds a bit scary but it's what I did - eventually! - a few years ago and I am so glad I did. They were so helpful. I contacted StepChange but there are others as well. After speaking to one of the advisers I felt far more positive about my future. If it turns out that there is no alternative for you but bankruptcy, they will help you with that process. I found it was just good to feel that I wasn't on my own trying to struggle with mountains of debt. They helped me so much, please consider contacting them before you do anything. It's free and if you don't want to take their advice, you don't have to. All the best.

thevdm

Agreed that it would be best to speak to a debt advisor, I would personally recommend citizens advice as many of the charities try and push IVA's that may not be suitable (as they stand to make money from it). Don't rush into anything, it can take quite a while for things to get serious if you can't afford to pay the debts right now.


It would be hard to say what would be the best option without knowing the financial information, but with over £50k a DRO would be out of the question, this still leaves bankruptcy, DMP and IVA if you can't afford the payments.


As for being able to access credit after bankrupcy (or any other form of insolvency), it is entirely possible, there's a few stories of people on here who have managed to get a mortgage after bankrupcy. There are certain processes that you have to go through afterwards, such as cleaning your credit file, showing good spending habits with sub-par credit cards etc... From my understanding it takes a bit of work over a good few years to rebuild good credit, but it can be done.