CCJ or continue with IVA/Bankruptcy?

sunflower2022

Hi everyone, thanks for reading this. As I write this, it’s 2:30am and I have nothing but stuff whizzing around my head preventing me from going back to sleep. So I’m up with a herbal tea and want to express my concerns and questions on here.

I posted on here a little while back about my situation, it’s a little complex. But jumping to present time, I’ve been going through the process of an IVA to which the debtor is being funny about and not open to our offers, we can see bankruptcy being the only option. However, while the IVA application has been going through, the debtor and his solicitor have been taking me through the claims court to try and get payment. This recently came through and the amount the court has asked me to repay per month is really low (£130 per month) and I can see the debtor not being happy with it whatsoever as they were demanding a min of £1000 per month. I currently claim universal credit and receive only £500 per month, so this would be impossible in my current situation. Leaving a 16 year financially controlling relationship left me with nothing.. 

Anyway, so that is my current situation. The thing that is worrying and confusing me is the protection the CCJ has. I was fully expecting the debtor and his solicitor to refuse the payment and take me to court, of which I haven’t heard anything .. so I assume they haven’t appealed it. But my concern is that they keep pushing for more money. What if in a year let’s say, my situation changes and I have more money per month, will they go back and keep trying for more? They keep following my social media accounts and are convinced I have money and even put this in the court claim so I doubt they’ll just push me to one side and get on with their life, they’ll keep following me!
With the IVA or bankruptcy, I felt that once a decision was made, that was it and I could move on with life. I don’t know enough about CCJ’s to know if I have that same protection. The debt in question, at £130 per month will take almost 20 years to repay. I should add that the debtor is an individual and not a company. 

I’m hoping someone can shed a bit of light on the CCJ and also what my best option is heading forward .. 

thanks

fatbelly

Creditor. You're the debtor.

So you have one debt of about 30k and you are on Universal Credit.

You have been trying to get an IVA on a single debt. As the creditors have to agree and an agreement by 75% is binding on the other 25% this can sometimes be useful if you have one awkward smaller creditor. But this doesn't apply here and if you are not a homeowner (you don't say) then I'm not sure why you'd be looking at an IVA anyway.

You say that they have a CCJ against you with an order to pay £130 per month, which is unaffordable. One you have missed the first payment this becomes a ccj in default and they can enforce this by (see which ones are relevant):

• putting a legal charge on property you own
• making an attachment to your earnings (not benefits)
• sending in bailiffs to take control of expensive assets 
• freezing your bank account to take your savings

Any of those a problem?

sunflower2022

Thanks for your reply. The IVA isn’t on a single debt, I have some smaller ones too which have never been a problem to keep on top of but Stepchange have included them all in to it. That total is under £5000. I have a bounce back loan in my name of £50k too but have since found out that I never signed a personal guarantee on it, therefore isn’t included in the IVA. 

The court payments of £130 is affordable, I’m happy to pay that but it’s that the debt is over almost 20 years and my concern is that they will come back at some point in the future and try and push for more. So my main question really is whether they’re able to do that? Or whether once the court amount is decided, that is final indefinitely..?

I have no assets other than a car worth about £4000 which I rely on. 

sunflower2022

I should also add to my last comment, the bounce back loan is paid monthly by my ex partner of over £550 per month. I don’t pay anything personally but obviously I have to rely on him to pay it. He took that loan the day in landed in my account and spent it. 

fatbelly

sunflower2022 said:

Thanks for your reply. The IVA isn’t on a single debt, I have some smaller ones too which have never been a problem to keep on top of but Stepchange have included them all in to it. That total is under £5000. I have a bounce back loan in my name of £50k too but have since found out that I never signed a personal guarantee on it, therefore isn’t included in the IVA. 

The court payments of £130 is affordable, I’m happy to pay that but it’s that the debt is over almost 20 years and my concern is that they will come back at some point in the future and try and push for more. So my main question really is whether they’re able to do that? Or whether once the court amount is decided, that is final indefinitely..?

I have no assets other than a car worth about £4000 which I rely on. 

If the court has ordered payment of £130 per month and you are paying it, then no further enforcement is possible and the order stands until you or the creditor apply to vary it.

If the debt goes into an IVA then no further enforcement is possible and the creditor just receives their share of the IVA payment

sourcrates

You might as well just go bankrupt, all this messing about with an IVA, your putting yourself through 6/7 years of financial restrictions, which you may not be able to stick too.

Why not go bankrupt (£680 fee) and get rid of the lot of it, all in one fell swoop, 12 months, your debt free.

No brainer to me, and I'm guessing fatbelly has a similar strategy in mind.

sunflower2022

I have thought about bankruptcy and do feel it could be the better option of them all. Stepchange said I can pay the fee in instalments too. I just want it all over and done with if I’m honest! 

sourcrates

sunflower2022 said:

I have thought about bankruptcy and do feel it could be the better option of them all. Stepchange said I can pay the fee in instalments too. I just want it all over and done with if I’m honest! 

Its very straightforward these days, and no longer carries the stigma it once did.

As long as its not a complicated case, it can be done online, and be accepted within 48 hours normally, there will be a telephone interview with the OR, basically wanting to know your story, how it unfolded etc etc, all information gathering, they won`t be judging or looking to trip you up.

And that will be that in a nutshell, I don`t want to make it sound that easy, but as your on benefits, there won`t be an IPA, you`ll be discharged after 12 months, credit file cleared in another 5 years, and normal service can be resumed.

To me that is a much better option than fiddling with an IVA, which could possibly fail, bankruptcy is almost assured, it won`t fail, and you can include ALL of your debts.

fatbelly

The car's in danger with bankruptcy but an IVA is bankruptcy for someone with an asset to protect.

That's an expensive way of protecting a 4k car if that's the only asset you have.

Have we established that you're in rented accommodation?

sunflower2022

I appreciate your thoughts on this, thank you. I agree and think bankruptcy is the best option, just to enable me to move on! I’ve emailed stepchange this evening and expressed what I’d now like to do. Hopefully everything goes
smoothy 🤞🏼