how does it actually work?

sunshine124

thx all,

she doesn't care about her house anymore as she can live with her parents, so she isn't worried about it getting repossessed. As for her outgoings - thats the tricky part, she hasn't paid ANY of her creditors in over a year!! The last payment she made was in septemeber 2006! She has already had bailiffs (council tax) come to get her stuff, but she wasn't in.
Anyway her secured loan is £11,000 her house is worth about £100,000 and her income is only JSA, so its not much. She has been living off her parents for a year, and has not made any payments to anyone, but it all got to her at christmas time, when she realised that she couldn't hide her debts anymore. i'll try to remember some more info, but at the moment, any advice?

fiveyearplan

I know she's been to CAB but probably didn't see a debt advisor there. Her next step should be to call CCCS or National Debtline early tomorrow. Their phone numbers are in Fermi's signature above. They are completely non-judgemental and will be very helpful. When she declares her bankruptcy on Monday, they will ask if she has taken professional advice.

I'm not sure what JSA is.

sunshine124

JSA - Job Seekers Allowance

Addicted2Chocolate

Can i clear up a common misconception, that i have seen (i think) here and on numerous other threads. It is NOT a mater of claiming all you are entitled to on the outgoings section 7 of the statement of affairs. There is no such thing as entitled to. Maybe i have misunderstood to, but i read this as saying she can claim for things that she does not pay for. For example you can claim for optical about £15 per month, but you only put this down if this is what you really pay. I may have read it wrong, sorry if i have.
Its just a matter of putting down what you really pay, of course you need to try and remember everything, and if you are not sure if OR will view it as an essential expense so put it down anyway. The examiner will disallow any non allowable expenses, and revise down any figures which are too high.
If people put down expense on the S of A which they do not in reality pay, they will be commiting an offence under the perjury act.
Reading your post again you probably meant you wil help make sure they include things which they do pay but are often forgotten. Apologies. But still worth making the point i think, from other threads.

fiveyearplan wrote: »

If your friend is going BR on Monday you need to get started on the forms. You will need to do an SOA (Statement of Affairs). That is just all income and expenditure. IF you post on here what the income and expenditure is we can help to make sure your friend claims for everything they are entitled to. Also be sure to let us know how many people in household etc.

sunshine124

she is not just claiming for things, but she actually cannot afford the course fee of £165, and i just think its unfair that for someone who can afford the fee can get off with a course, but for someone who cannot afford the fee, then they have to go to court and possibly face criminal charges. Which I might add she is under mental stress from her debts which is why she was caught driving the way she was.

fiveyearplan

Addicted2Chocolate wrote: »

Reading your post again you probably meant you wil help make sure they include things which they do pay but are often forgotten. Apologies. But still worth making the point i think, from other threads.

A2C - that's exactly what I meant, little things you often forget that you pay for. Also I meant to be sure you get the full 'allowance' ie, I would say I spend much less on housekeeping than I actually do because I forget all the other times in the week I have to pop to the shop for bread, milk etc. That is one reason every time I've tried to set a budget it has always failed - because I forget to include things I really need.

Oldernotwiser

sunshine124 wrote: »

she is not just claiming for things, but she actually cannot afford the course fee of £165, and i just think its unfair that for someone who can afford the fee can get off with a course, but for someone who cannot afford the fee, then they have to go to court and possibly face criminal charges. Which I might add she is under mental stress from her debts which is why she was caught driving the way she was.

I may be being stupid (it's not unknown!) but is your friend in court on Monday for a bankruptcy hearing or for a prosecution for a driving offence? (Just trying to make sense of the above post.)

fermi

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I may be being stupid (it's not unknown!) but is your friend in court on Monday for a bankruptcy hearing or for a prosecution for a driving offence? (Just trying to make sense of the above post.)

I think they replied to (and read the previous comments as relating to) the wrong thread, since they have two going.

See: driving course fee in bankruptcy?

Oldernotwiser

fermi wrote: »

I think they replied to (and read the previous comments as relating to) the wrong thread, since they have two going.

See: driving course fee in bankruptcy?

Goodness, sometimes you need to be bloody Hercules Poirot to post here! (Thanks for the explanation.)

Richard_S

Addicted2Chocolate wrote: »

Can i clear up a common misconception, that i have seen (i think) here and on numerous other threads. It is NOT a mater of claiming all you are entitled to on the outgoings section 7 of the statement of affairs. There is no such thing as entitled to. Maybe i have misunderstood to, but i read this as saying she can claim for things that she does not pay for. For example you can claim for optical about £15 per month, but you only put this down if this is what you really pay. I may have read it wrong, sorry if i have.
Its just a matter of putting down what you really pay, of course you need to try and remember everything, and if you are not sure if OR will view it as an essential expense so put it down anyway. The examiner will disallow any non allowable expenses, and revise down any figures which are too high.
If people put down expense on the S of A which they do not in reality pay, they will be commiting an offence under the perjury act.
Reading your post again you probably meant you wil help make sure they include things which they do pay but are often forgotten. Apologies. But still worth making the point i think, from other threads.

Hi Addicted2Chocolate,

I accept what you're saying and your posts are always welcome. However, one thing that is an immense problem when you have no access to credit is how to deal with unforseen expenses. The only way a bankrupt can hope to deal with that is by building up a cash reserve as quickly as possible.

I would always suggest that a bankrupt completing an I&E form should maximise expenditure wherever possible. In the first 6 months of bankruptcy the two old vehicles we were driving cost us about £1,500 in repairs; I couldn't believe the problems we had at a time when we were most vulnerable.

For you its a job; for a bankrupt it's the difference between being able to survive and not; there's no safety net, and no security. As I said, I always enjoy reading your posts, but you can be a little harsh at times. That only serves to frighten people who are quite often in a fragile state of mind anyway; what would you do if you found yourself bankrupt? I suspect your I&E Budget would have the maximum "slack" possible.

Richard