Bankruptcy affecting those I live with when sofa crashing? 25 November 2022 at 12:56PM in Bankruptcy & living with it 6 replies 561 views

resiliante

Hey folks,

I’ve had financial advice and I’m close to filing for bankruptcy as it’s the best option given situation but I wondered…

I am currently living on my friends sofa as I am fleeing DV and have nowhere to live or finances to fix that.

I’ve only just come out to them abiut my situation needing to go bankrupt. Thankfully they’d re supportive but worried it might affect them.

They are renting a house from a letting agent so I’m not officially meant to be here. So I made an account to file for bankruptcy but they want my address and I’m worried that even though I’m not living here and they aren’t subletting, that the receiver might tell their letting agency in here.

is that possible? 

I want to be honest and lay everything on the table but I don’t want them to lose their rental… I’m willing to put myself on the streets first before I allow that to happen but is it too late when making the application with their address or will recieve give me the option to leave here before it’s fully submitted etc?

I know I can register to have the address not published because I don’t want perpetrator to find me even if it’s a small risk. 

I can’t move in with family while doing this as I don’t have any.

Any tips and advice?

molerat

https://debtcamel.co.uk/8-sections-bankruptcy-application/

It is possible to go bankrupt if you are homeless:

• if you have a correspondence address, put that in and under “Do you own the property?” select “other” and say “correspondence address”
• if you don’t have an address you can use for correspondence enter “‘no fixed abode’ into the ‘First line’ field and ‘x’ into all the other address lines. Make sure you are providing a valid email address and a contact telephone number as a back-up to the email address.

RichinFriends

If you are fleeing DV, you can approach the local authority that you have a local connection with, i.e. where you can evidence that you lived for the last couple of years. They will place you away from that borough in temporary accommodation. You do not need to disclose you are bankrupt to them, it makes no difference if you are fleeing DV.

cymruchris

The bankruptcy is for a named person, and not an address. Everyone has their own credit history - your bankruptcy will not have any impact whatsoever on the credit history of the friends you are staying with. As has been mentioned above - when you apply - list it as a correspondence address. 

sourcrates

You give your address status as homeless, and give the address of the place you are staying as a contact/correspondence address.

MalMonroe

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear of your situation. Before filing for bankruptcy it might be a good idea to see if you can get help for your homeless situation. You will be feeling very vulnerable, having escaped domestic violence and you really need to have some breathing and thinking time before jumping straight into a bankruptcy. You need to stop and think. 

People suffering from DV can get help and there's some information on the government's website here -

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/homelessness/help_if_youre_homeless_domestic_abuse

And there is a lot of information here -

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/homelessness/help_if_youre_homeless_domestic_abuse

And there's information in this link about what to do if you have had no alternative but to make yourself homeless because of DV. You do have some rights when you are in that situation.

https://rightsofwomen.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/guide-to-domestic-violence-housing-and-homelessness.pdf

If you do decide to go ahead and file for bankruptcy once your living situation has been sorted out (people WILL help you if you know where to go for the help) - then you could contact one of the free debt help agencies - StepChange or National Debtline or Citizens Advice.

I always recommend StepChange because they helped me to get out of debt when I was in a terrible state. 

They will discuss all your problems with you and they are confidential, non-judgemental and extremely helpful. If they recommend a bankruptcy for you, they will help you to achieve it. If not they will help you to find an alternative.

But I do urge you not to act in haste. 

Please do seek help first of all for your living situation. Your friends are very kind and I'm sure their landlord won't mind you staying with them for a short time but in the long term, filing for bankruptcy while you are living with them would not be advised.

I do hope that some of the information here is helpful - and I hope that your situation improves. You have managed to remove yourself from the DV and now you just need to start rebuilding your life. I wish you all the very best for the future.

Minkym00

If you are concerned about an address being published you can apply for a PARV order (person at risk of violence) and your address will be redacted from the insolvency register. 

See here for more info. https://www.gov.uk/bankruptcy/parv-order