High Court Writ Help

silvur

Hello,

I've got myself into a bit of a mess.

I am currently unemployed, unable to work due to health issues & commitments to my 2 young children, with another on the way and would like to get this sorted before my third is born.

My debts are approx £80k and I have a high court writ for one, of which I am receiving messages regarding enforcement at my address. This debt is for approximately £4k and was for a business loan against my old dissolved business.

The other debts are credit cards, utilities and a loan which have all been passed onto debt agencies. Some of which I have CCJs for.

I sold my home due to divorce last year & received £60k from it but given my credit score & CCJs issued I was struggling to find somewhere else to live. I had to pay £5k to live somewhere temporarily for 2 months so I could find somewhere permanent. I found a private landlord who agreed to rent to me for 6 months rent up front which led to another £15k being used. I have been living off of the money since and have around £35k left. I have also invested a small amount of the money into a small business which generates me currently approximately £300 a month.

I can't really see many other options other than bankruptcy but due to my position of income & reliance on the money in my bank I am concerned that this money will be taken as a result of the bankruptcy.

I have moved home & the Court order is for my old address, they do not have my new address, for now. I'd imagine soon enough they will find my new address since I am paying council tax etc here. What is the best thing to do here?

I have sought advice from charities such as stepchange etc but they aren't much help with debt over 50k.

I guess my main question is, do I pay any of these debts to hold them off for now or do I apply for bankruptcy? And if I do apply, would I be able to pay my landlord more rent up front before doing so to ensure my tenancy here?

Thanks in advance.

MyRealNameToo

You say this was a business loan and the business was dissolved… so was this a company or were you operating as a sole trader?

If it was a company, did you give any personal guarantees on the debt? How was the company wound up and if it was insolvent didnt the administrators deal with this debt?

If it was a sole trader then the business doesnt dissolve, that would require putting you in a vat of very strong acid, but instead it ceases trading because you and the business are legally one and the same thing.

Have you actually checked the writ is genuine? There are common scams to pretend to have a writ and try to scare people into paying over monies. Some of these are using the names of real debt collection agencies but links to unrelated websites to collect payment on.

silvur

The company was registered as a limited liability company & I was the sole director.

I stopped trading due to obvious financial issues, the company was struck off & then dissolved by the Registrar.

This is the notice I received regarding the company -

The Registrar of Companies gives notice that, unless causeis shown to the contrary, the Company will be struck offthe register and dissolved not less than 2 months from thedate shown above.Upon the Company's dissolution, all property and rightsvested in, or held in trust for, the Company are deemed tobe bona vacantia, and will belong to the Crown.

I know the company working for the court order is legit as they are certified.

MyRealNameToo

So is the writ against you or the former company?

Did you give any personal guarantees on the lending?

As mentioned, there are some fraudsters sending emails etc pretending to be from legitimate companies but the links to make payments etc are not to the legitimate company's website etc

silvur

Honestly, I am unsure as it was via YouLend through eBay. You can apply for a loan against your business on eBay & they take payments via a percentage of your sales. My eBay was hacked & I couldn't regain entry so my payments stopped and that's when they started to chase payment, which I could not afford. At this time the debt was £2k.

My eBay was registered under my company name, I applied for the loan via that, too but I believe I was possibly a "personal guarantor" for the loan.

silvur

Do I pay the money to stop enforcement or leave it for now? I just don't really want bailiffs harrassing the person that moved into my old property. If it were me, I wouldn't be bothered as I'd let them waste their time standing outside my house lol

ManyWays

I suggest you talk URGENTLY to Business Debtline on 0800 197 6026.
Persevere, it can take a few times to get through, or use their very good webchat, it is staffed by proper debt advisers:

https://businessdebtline.org/

Unless BD can give a good reason why you can challenge or ignore this High Court writ, I suggest paying it.

silvur

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81936816#Comment_81936816

Ok thank you, I will try them & see what they suggest!

fatbelly

There are lots of good points above. Do not rush into bankruptcy. If BDL agree that this is a genuine debt that you are liable for, then at 4k with 35k savings, you have the means to pay it.

But then you do need proper advice to get a strategy on the rest

silvur

Ok well scratch that, I have just received another Notice of Enforcement, to my new address regarding the loan I had a CCJ for.

It says I have until 07/04 to pay in full or agree a payment plan… The debt is for £24k.

What do I do here? Pay them both in full with my savings & declare myself bankrupt? I cant afford to pay any of these unless I use my savings.

silvur

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81936843#Comment_81936843

Missed your comment, sorry.

Since my credit is already in the gutter, is bankruptcy not the best option?

Obviously I'd like to try and hold onto my money as it's keeping me in a home, but I would also like to be able to start again without having to worry about more CCJs & enforcement orders etc.