How much should you owe?

nicola1982_2

I have a friend who is considering going bankrupt, however I think it is uneccessary and have been trying to steer her down other paths first. She is single with no children and her debt is just under £15k. She earns circa £14k PA. I'm not sure that her debt is high enough to file anyway, could anyone help me out by advising me how much debt one needs to be in before filing. It would help me fight my corner.

backontheup

You can file for BR if your debt is over £750. This amount hasn't increased for years now.

But I agree with you, £15k is not alot to go BR for - especially as she has no dependants. It would be worth her giving one of the debt charities a call, such as Payplan or National Debtline

philnicandamy

backontheup wrote: »

You can file for BR if your debt is over £750. This amount hasn't increased for years now.

But I agree with you, £15k is not alot to go BR for - especially as she has no dependants. It would be worth her giving one of the debt charities a call, such as Payplan or National Debtline

I'd agree in part she would be better contacting one of the free debt helplines in my sig below BR may be an option but also other routes to consider DMP IVA etc..15k may not seem much to owe but if shes not got the money to pay the debts it might as well be 15p...and I went BR for just short of 11k

nicola1982_2

Thanks everyone - I'll have a chat with her tonight. I think she sees BR as an easy route out, but I'm going to explain the impact it will have on her, especially as her mum wants to give her a house soon.

Richard_S

nicola1982 wrote: »

Thanks everyone - I'll have a chat with her tonight. I think she sees BR as an easy route out, but I'm going to explain the impact it will have on her, especially as her mum wants to give her a house soon.

Hi nicola,

I'd echo all that's been said so far, but I can see another angle.

If she is prone to spending on cards without any real thought for how the money is going to be paid, then perhaps a bankruptcy at this stage would be a lesson she would do well to learn. It's certainly going to mean that she hasn't got access to credit for at least a couple of years.

If she goes half heartedly into an IVA or DMP and then receives a house from her mother, she could well use that as security for further borrowing. A scured loan to repay her debts and then another few years bingeing on credit could see her facing a much bigger debt burden, with every chance of losing the house she was given.

Providing her mother doesn't give her the house while she's undischarged then she'll get to keep that and hopefully have learnt how to live within a budget.

Richard

Graham_Devon

nicola1982 wrote: »

Thanks everyone - I'll have a chat with her tonight. I think she sees BR as an easy route out, but I'm going to explain the impact it will have on her, especially as her mum wants to give her a house soon.

Well done, I like your morals, bankrupcy should always been seen as the very last option.

Richard_S

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Well done, I like your morals, bankrupcy should always been seen as the very last option.

We agree on something Graham; that's progress of a sort.;)

betterlatethannever

Nicola..your obviously a good friend!
Is there any way you can steer her across to the DFW boards and get her to post her SOA and ask for help there, maybe show her the old style thread too. There a great bunch and will give her loads of help and advice.
Br should be a last resort and not a get out of jail card.

Bakeybadoo

I went BR for just under £5k. Not a lot to most, but to me it was impossible to pay off. I don't work and I'm just about to have our third child.

It's not a figure you can put a line on, over and you should go BR. It's about individual circumstances and situations. Your friend should seek professional, neutral advice to see which would be the best way forwards for THEM.

Peter_Pan

I have approx £6K of debt (some of it a joint debt after OH went B/C a month or so ago) and at moment am on a 6 month payment plan paying £1 a month to be reviewed after 6 months , I am considering bankruptcy as well because OH has health issues which limits his earning capability and I am desperate to get back to work but i have to weigh up what i will need to earn to be able to pay off my debts and to make sure we will also be better off as we are receiving Benefits at the moment (wftc, ctc), and i'm not sure i will be able to go straight into a part time job after having several years away raising a family and earn sufficient and then theres school holidays to think about and days the youngest is ill. I'm hoping OH health will improve and his earning capacity go up but then if it does he'll probably have to pay some to the OR anyway.
I feel i'm in a really difficult situation and its starting to get me down.

Aspiring_entrepreneur

Could you help yourself in terms of getting a new job by getting some new skills to help you with free online training courses. I'm no expert here but if you have to stay at home for some time you may be able to use your time wisely. Sorry this doesn't help with the bankruptcy part!