Facing the fact. Bankruptcy!

CanonMan_2

Hi all,
I'm looking for a bit of advice. I've faced the fact that my debts are causing me a problem now and I feel a right idiot for letting it get this far. For quite a few years now i've had this burden and although I want more than anything to be free from debt I seem to be getting slowly further into debt rather than out of it.
I've seeked advice from the CCCS and their remedy is bankruptcy. I was reluctantly considering this as my best option anyway.

I've just had to take a new job and a pay cut so my new take home will be about £900 per month, this is what I based my CCCS review on.
My average monthly outgoings are £898, and i'm on 0% promotional rates at the moment with my credit cards, this runs out in April I think.

My question is, what's the first step? And at what point will I have to pay the court and OR fee's? I don't really have a way of raising £500 any time soon.

Thank you.

tigerfeet2006

Hi and welcome.

You have to pay £150 court fees and £335 OR's fees. You may be able to get a remission on the court fees. These fees are payable when you go to court I'm afraid.

Do you have any space left on a credit card or the overdraft. The OR won't mind if that's the only way. Plenty of people have done it.

Are you claiming everything you should? Check www.entitledto.co.uk

If you click on this it should get you to the ex160 form

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/c...orms/ex160.pdf
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/c...rms/ex160a.pdf

One is the form, the other is the guidance.

CanonMan_2

Hi Tigerfeet,
Thanks for your reply, I don't have any overdraft left and I don't actually have the credit cards, I cut them up a while back. I could request a new card, would I have to make a balance transfer to my bank so I can withdraw the cash?
Is it advisable to open a cash account for my wages before I go through with bankruptcy?

TheEditor_2

Hi,

You can open an account (listed at the top of the forum) but it most likely be frozen when you go BR, but the OR can instruct the bank to unfreeze it. This can take some time depending on how busy the OR is. Most people apply for a bank account on the days after the BR hearing letting the bank know that you are BR.

Hope that helps. I'm just about the go BR and I'm getting everything ready to open the account on the monday afternoon after my hearing.

TheEd.

tigerfeet2006

As Ed has said the OR will notify any bank you have accounts with that you are BR. The banks will then freeze the accounts.

If the account is one of the ones approved for BR's (Barclays or Co-op) then it usually is a quick phone call to the OR and he notyfies them he has no interest in the account and it is opened again.

Annecdotal evidence on here seems to suggest that if you open a co=op cashminder, tell them you are going BR. Then on the day ring and say it is happening, then when it is done tell them. More often than not they will not freeze the account. But obviously this is not a definate.

Beblong

Hi

I became bankrupt recently (earlier today actually), and I got my fee money together by not paying my credit cards and loans.

I was chatting to other people who were filing for bankruptcy at the same time and they all seem to have raised their cash the same way.

Hope this helps.

Regards
Beb

CanonMan_2

Thanks for your help everyone,

I think I might have a bit of difficulty at some stage as I have only just moved into the address I am living at now (last week) and I think I might need proof of address when I open a cash account.

Also, I haven't had my first pay check at my new job yet, but I know how much I will be earning and have been on the same salary some years ago so I know that I won't be able to afford all of my outgoings, I struggled with them before this pay cut.

Also, my journey to work and back is a 60 mile round trip and is costing me just over £10 per day in petrol, about £60 per week. I know this is higher than usual and I hate spending this much on fuel. I'm not sure what will be made of it when I fill in my I/E. I've thought about getting a job closer to home, but the one i've just taken is not just a job, it's a career in something i'm good at and enjoy so i'm in it for the long haul and will make a great thing of it. I don't want to get 'just another job'.
I will move closer to where I work just as soon as I can afford to, so then the fuel cost will come down.

FeelingLow

we are due to g BR on the 28th & we have raised our fee';s by taking them off credit cards as it was our only way of raising that sort of money

CanonMan_2

Does anyone see any of the above likely to cause me problems?

I have stopped my direct debits to my creditors now, I will raise the money for the court fee and the OR that way.


Thanks
Steve.

malestrom07

Your creditors may get rattled but all collections processes take time, a token payment may keep them at bay for a while. I wouldn't tell them you are considering bankruptcy as they may just accelerate collections processes but even if they wanted to go to court, it could take 4-5 weeks minimum.

betterlatethannever

Yes you will need proof of address. Can you send your driving licence off quickly. They are the fastest way to have a proof of address and take about 2 weeks to come through (IME) You'll need one other proof too, you should have a water bill/CT there by now or soon so thats the two proofs done.
I'm not sure about the cost of your traveling, Thats high, but if thats what it is then thats what it is. The OR should look long term and see that you will be improving things at some time in the future.