Bankruptcy questions

Sam2022

I think I read they will look at the 12 months before bankruptcy, so if I was able to delay br for a further 12 months would that get round it?
Ideally I don't want to wait that long but I'm figuring with the advice already received, there is little the debt collectors can do to me anyway.  Other than keep send letters, which worried me to death to start with, but now thanks to you guys on here I learned to just read them and ignore them.

luvchocolate

My OR wanted 12 months bank statements and 2 years credit card statements. 
I have no experience on the benefits side but on BR I did plan the timing well and it went well 

Sam2022

So having had a chat with my daughter in more depth, the plan would be that she buys the car from me at market value currently £11k.  She would pay me £400 a month cash, until the car was paid for.  I have no issues that she wouldn't do that, so thats not a problem.

If I sold her the car say this month November and was able to hold off my br until say Dec or Jan 2025 would that stop the OR finding out about the sale?

The other issue if anyone knows is what can the OR actually do to me?  If for example he finds out I sold the car but got market value for it.  I said my daughter paid in cash and we just spent the money?  Some on things needed and some just on daily living?

As this is a benefits bankruptcy, as I understand the OR can't order me to pay money each month, or is that wrong?

I am just trying to get to the best way to to do this, so I don't lose everything.
All help appreciated.

fatbelly

I think the question on the form is Have you disposed of any car in the past 12 months? But if you have sold it for a market price and used the proceeds for living costs there would be no problem.

Your plan is going to take something like 27 months for your daughter to repay you. So in insolvency she would be your debtor and I imagine the insolvency service might want to be paid direct. However, i have never met a situation before where a debtor was owed money so not sure. Guidance is here

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/technical-guidance-for-official-receivers/26-money-owed-to-the-insolvent

You are right that no Income Payment Agreement can be made from benefit income.

Misdemenours are dealt with through a Bankruptcy Restriction Order. I'll leave you to google them

Sam2022

Thanks fatbelly, sound advice as always!  I hadn't thought about the 27 months to repay and consequences of that going forward.
Maybe it's not going to be viable unless I gamble on holding off bankruptcy until the car is paid for.  However that then leaves me needing to deal with debt collectors during that time.

Definitely lots of food for thought.

sourcrates

The worst a debt collector can do, assuming they own the debt, is obtain a CCJ against you.

You don`t work, so no attachment to your earnings, you have no significant assets to realise either, no house owned,  so basically there is nothing anyone can do to you in all honesty.

You could just stick to the "cant pay" strategy, until it all went statute barred and avoid bankruptcy altogether.

It may be a stressful 6 years though, with lots of letter writing etc, bankruptcy would give you a clean start and take away the stress of it all, I guess it depends what`s most important to you.

Sam2022

Thanks for the reassurance sourcrates, it's taken a while for you and some of the others to get it through to me just what these companies can or should I say cant do to me!!  Its all very much scare tactics and bullying they rely on.  Is it stressful?  Yes it is but I realise now they do not hold the power, if I don't cooperate with them there is nothing they can do.

Waiting it out for 6 years and letting all my debts go to being statute barred, might be a stretch for me.  I need to consider my health, which isn't great at the moment.  Also having looked at my most recent credit report, there are still a number of credit card companies that have not even contacted me since I stopped making payments.  I assume they are going to allow the account to move to a default, then sell it on to a debt collection company?  There are 7 accounts just sat there and nothing is happening, they add up to around £36k between them.  Once they start coming for me it will add a lot more stress on me that I don't need, from a health perspective.

Maybe a half way house would be a possibility?

If I sell my car to my daughter and hang on for say 15 months before declaring myself bankrupt, would that prevent the OR from finding out I had sold the car?  If the form asks if you have sold a vehicle in the last 12 months, I can honestly answer No!  As she would be paying me in cash each month then there is no one to know anything, as the money has no paper trail.

Is it an option realistically?

ManyWays

An Official Receiver can ask whatever questions they want, no one here can say that doing what you suggest is risk-free and if it is found out, having all the transactions in cash will make it hard to prove you did not sell the car at an undervalue. I have no idea if the DWP would see this as benefit fraud. 

Sam2022

Thanks for your input and advice, I hadn't  thought of it from the same side of the room as you have.  Particularly from the benefit fraud side of things.

I am just throwing ideas around, trying to maximise the amount I can get and get the whole thing done with in the quickest way.

It does seem that my best option is to carry on as I have been doing and stick to the original plan as advised at the start;

Sell the car, use the procedes to replace the  things we need at home.  Make sure the capital remaining is under 6k to satisfy UC rules, then squirrel the rest into the biscuit tin over a  number of months.

I like Sourcrates idea of just sticking with the can't pay strategy and letting it all run until its statute barred in 6 years time.  I'm not sure about the stress that would cause in that time and the effect on my health as a result.  So I think going br might well be £680 well spent! 

Sam2022

Just a quick update regarding what is happening regards the debt collectors.  I wrote to 6 different agencies advising them I was vulnerable and disabled, asking them to remove my number from their records.  Stop sending letters other than those required by law and contact me by email.  I also advised them of my health situation and asked for a hold until I had finished my loading stage of treatment in Jan/Feb next year.

5 out of 6 have contacted me and agreed to everything I asked for.  They have all said if necessary they will hold the accounts for longer if necessary.  I was really surprised at the result I got, so a stress free few months giving me chance to concentrate on fighting my disease.

Sadly one company had to spoil things and just want me jumping through hoops all the time.  I've basically told them to get stuffed and do what they want to me, which isn't much!

I'm glad I did it, it took a lot of effort and well over a week to write the emails needed, even using a lot of cut and paste.  That's down to the illness I'm fighting though.