I need advice

limdylou29

Please could someone give me advice, I’m at my wits end. I’m seriously thinking about going bankrupt. My mental health is in a bad way due to my debt consuming me. I worked part time for years and claimed working tax credits/child tax credits. Over 10 years ago I got myself into debt and sorted it to pay small payments to each debt. One I stopped paying over a year ago and ended up with a ccj. Which I started paying a couple of months ago.
in the last 6 years I’ve accumulated lots more debt 2 credit cards and a loan and a catalog.My family always helped with money and I took advantage of this and got in more debt. Its spiralled out of control.
im petrified about going bankrupt
as the loan I got out last April was for 7000. And payed it till nov/dec time.
i have been very stupid regarding money and I believe I lied to get this loan. I can’t even remember. It seemed so easy at the time as it was available on my credit report. I paid a car off with it and paid the catalog down. But stupidly built the catalog up again. I’m completely holding my hands up to this debt it’s around 21000. My benefits stopped in august as my sons decided not to continue in education after college.
my dad passed away in 2017. His wife continued to help me along with other family members but that has now ceased. When my benefits stopped I started realising what a mess I had got into. It took a couple of months and my company gave me a new full time job. With receiving no help for rent etc anymore or from family I stupidly choose to pay my debts rather then rent and council tax. Come December I realised and started sorting my rent out. I managed to still pay the debts from years ago as where small payments.
but stopped paying the more recent ones. It’s been 4 months now.
i had a breakdown in February due to not coping feeling suicidal and everything getting on top of me. I lost my job and am now claiming universal credit. I’m in such a mess. 

Could I go to prison for lying on the loan? My debt has consumed me to the point where I’m not coping with anything. I’m taking medication for depression and anxiety. I’m at the lowest I’ve ever ever felt.

mwarby

I highly doubt you'd go to prison over 7k loan, you might end up with a CIFAS marker(if you lied on application form) and BRO/BRU if the OR judges you knew or ought to have known you had no prospect of being able to repay it while meeting other debt obligations. A CIFAS marker would be 6 years, a BRO/BRU anything from around 3-15 years. Both of these would impact your ability to gain credit(for period of BRU/BRO), the CIFAS would make it difficult for you to obtain a bank account

If you were to go bankrupt it wouldn't be all that bad. You wouldn't be able to get credit for 6 years, passing a rental credit check will be trickh, and you may need to pay an IPA for 3 years depending on your income and expenditure. But all your debts would be wiped and your are then free and clear to start afresh

You clearly need help with your mental health, but dealing with your debts can only help you there. £21k of debt is far from ideal but it is easily dealt with, either with bankruptcy or another debt solution. If you feel able fill out https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php and post here or discuss with Stepchange and you can get advice on what other debt solutions may suit you best

Willing2Learn

You will not go to prison.  A significant number of people use incorrect numbers when completing their application.  There is nothing wrong with that.  People make mistakes and the system accounts for that.  Don't worry.

And see your GP about your mental health.  To me, it sounds like you would require a referral to your local Community Mental Health Team for support. 

Sometimes, the continuous build-up of debt is a symptom of poor mental health.  It then becomes a vicious cycle, as the debt makes you more depressed and the depression leads to more debt as the patient becomes unable to manage the day-to-day stresses of life.

Chicken and egg theory 

limdylou29

I was under the mental health team for about 5 weeks back in February. Who upped my medication and am to go back to them in the future. I’m also trying other avenues regarding my mental health also.
i just feel there are a few things that worry me regarding the OR. 

One my brother came into some money back in dec  19. He transferred 8500 into my account because he is an alcoholic and didn’t want to overspend it. I made some transactions for him and transfers back to him. We had an argument about 6 weeks later and what he had left I transferred it back to him. Feel I may get in trouble for this. Also where I worked we never took cash. So I would let people pay into my bank account and I would use my card to pay there fee to my company. Does anyone know what actually happens once you submit the form and what the OR will require. It scares the hell out of me. Also with family helping me out over the years I’ve put cash into my account. I also got paid by cash for a good 4 half years. Noted on wage slips cash. If I got cifas how would I get money from benefits? Not that I know what CIFAS is. 

All I know is everyday I’m crippled by how I’m feeling. I’ve not been looking after myself properly at all or my home.

Willing2Learn

I can only talk about your mental health as I don't know much about bankruptcy.

If your self-hygiene and ability to keep your home clean and tidy are being 'disrupted' due to problematic thinking patterns, then I recommend you contact the mental health out-of-hours service, as they need to know exactly what is happening inside your head.  Do that, and they will be able to provide you with a holistic service. 

mwarby

limdylou29 said:

I was under the mental health team for about 5 weeks back in February. Who upped my medication and am to go back to them in the future. I’m also trying other avenues regarding my mental health also.
i just feel there are a few things that worry me regarding the OR. 

One my brother came into some money back in dec  19. He transferred 8500 into my account because he is an alcoholic and didn’t want to overspend it. I made some transactions for him and transfers back to him. We had an argument about 6 weeks later and what he had left I transferred it back to him. Feel I may get in trouble for this. Also where I worked we never took cash. So I would let people pay into my bank account and I would use my card to pay there fee to my company. Does anyone know what actually happens once you submit the form and what the OR will require. It scares the hell out of me. Also with family helping me out over the years I’ve put cash into my account. I also got paid by cash for a good 4 half years. Noted on wage slips cash. If I got cifas how would I get money from benefits? Not that I know what CIFAS is. 

All I know is everyday I’m crippled by how I’m feeling. I’ve not been looking after myself properly at all or my home.

CIFAS - have a look on https://www.cifas.org.uk/ basically they are an organization much like a credit reference agency (like Experian, Equifax, Transunion) but they don't access your credit worthiness but instead look to prevent fraud and identity theft by looking for inconsistencies between applications (eg saying you earn 20k, then a few days later saying 30k) and maintaining a list of those who have been the victim or perpetrators or fraud/ identity theft. The CIFAS marker would be unconnected with your bankruptcy, if would depend on when/if your bank found evidence of fraud

If you end up with a CIFAS marker which is far from certain tame a look at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/benefits-introduction/payment-of-benefits-and-tax-credits/ at the moment if you can't get a bank account you can get a post office card, which you can use to draw your benefits.

Nothing regarding who you use your bank accounts sounds illegal or any form of insolvency issue. However it maybe that the OR has to ask many more questions in order to separate your financial life from that of others whos money has been through your account.

Your bank would probably not be best pleased about what is business use of a personal account, but that's not illegal its just against their terms

If you do end up going bankrupt the use of your bank account for anything other than your money and purchases would need to stop(you should do this anyway). You will need to be very careful about money from family, this could be caught up within your bankruptcy, it would be best if gifts during your bankruptcy(which would last 12 months) were more in the form of items than cheques/bank transfers, and even then they should be modest

If you go bankrupt you will need a new bank account preferably with a bank that you have no debts with. It's likely that an existing account would be closed

limdylou29

I don’t think I could cope with going ahead with bankruptcy. It seems so complex for me to deal with. I never realised that about my bank account. I don’t owe my bank anything no overdraft or anything. Helping customers out where I worked was all I did. Not realising the effect it could have on me further down the line. I’m in such a mess over my debt I just don’t know which way to turn any more. 

limdylou29

Willing to learn.. my mental health is truly at a low, lower than I could ever imagine.
Suicidal thoughts are consuming me and have been for a while. The mental health team where I live are not great  

Willing2Learn

Don't let them put you off.  Systems are designed to be an obstacle for patients to get past, so you just have to persevere.  Ring them up, let them know how you are feeling (the suicidal ideation), let them know how you imagine you would do it, let them know that you cannot perform your day-to-day tasks, such as eating, having a bath, cleaning your home and sleeping.  If necessary, and if you find that you forget the things that you wanted to say, then make a little list of the bullets you want to talk about.  If they know what is happening, then they it will all be put all onto their system and then they will carry out their duty toward you.  Your struggles will be obvious to them.  They can help you to take the necessary baby-steps to enable your emotional and psychological recovery.  Recovery is an important statistic to mental health services as it demonstrates that the service is doing a good job.  So let them know, then services will kick-in, just a little slower than you would like.  But the help is there if you reach out. 

Sometimes it can be very difficult to see the path that you would ideally follow.  It all works out with those little baby-steps.  Recovery is within reach.  So wipe away those tears and make that call. 

As for the financial side of things.  Priority number 1 is to keep paying your rent, maybe set up a standing order so it is all automated.  Set that up and it will relieve a little bit of the pressure.  

I hope this helps 

mwarby

limdylou29 said:

I don’t think I could cope with going ahead with bankruptcy. It seems so complex for me to deal with. I never realised that about my bank account. I don’t owe my bank anything no overdraft or anything. Helping customers out where I worked was all I did. Not realising the effect it could have on me further down the line. I’m in such a mess over my debt I just don’t know which way to turn any more. 

it's not really that complex, stepchange or CAB can help you fill in the forms. The interview with the OR can be scary to some but most say once its done it was much easier and nicer than they thought, for many this is the last step everything else just happens in the background. Everything else bankruptcy related can be dealt with on an as and when basis, CAB or stepchange im sure can still offer advice as can many on this forum

The first step in dealing with your debts is to draw up a list of what you owe and to whom, and a list of bills and spending(eg rent £700, council tax £90, Food £200 etc). Once you know that you can formulate a plan

None of the problems that have been flagged are insurmountable, and as long as you are honest and cooperative they can all be dealt with quite easily

sourcrates

Hi,

I`m reading your posts with a fair degree of concern, money is not worth worrying about to the extent you are worrying about it.

Worst case senario, if it dosent get paid, it dosent get paid, the very worst that can happen is a county court judgement to pay the debts at a rate thats affordable to you, i think where debt is concerned, the "not knowing what will happen" is the problem, your mind invents all kinds of things that really are not ever going to happen.

Debts are actually the easiest thing to deal with as the solutions are there, put in place by government, all you have to do is access the right solution, and impliment it, its that simple, no one is out looking to trip you up.

If you decide bankrupcy is the right course of action, you simply pay your fee online, and that is it, the OR has heard every possible senario beleive me, your case will not stand out, your interview is more of a box ticking excercise, just be honest, once thats done, that is it, keep some cash at home as your bank account will be frozen for a short time, and as you don`t owe your bank any money, you should be ok, if your bank is not bankrupcy freindly, there are plenty that are, and a new account can be opened in seonds online.

After 12 months you are normally discharged, free to start again.

Your health issues i cannot help with, but your debts should not be a reason for them.

Good luck.