Could do with a bit of advice

xoxlauraxox

Hi.

I'm just looking for a bit of advice really. Myself and my partner have got ourselves into a bit of a mess with debts we both had before we met.

My other half has a loan of around £17'000, credit card of around 1'000, various catalogues adding upto around 500 and a 200 overdraft with his bank

I have a loan for about 9'000 which hasn't been paid for a couple of years now =O(

We have recently reduced payments for my partners loan but we are still really struggling to get by... I can really only see bankruptcy as a solution.

We can't afford to pay the fees involved because of all we pay out on debts... do we need to stop payments totally to save for the fees?

also, because the debts are individual debts, some been mine and some been my partners will we need to do 2 bankruptcy applications?

I'm really scared about doing it, because what happens if we stop payments to everyone then bankruptcy doesnt get granted? what are the cases that is doesnt get granted?

sorry for all the questions, it just all seems so complicated and I'm trying to get my head round it all.

any help would be much appriciated.

Thanks

Laura

perfectlypoor

Hi have you contacted the CCCS they take all your details and work out the best thing for you personally, they are free so worth looking into. Good luck

Notgotapottoweein

Hi Laura.

First thing you need to do is ring one of the debt charities cccs,national debt line etc with a full list of your incomings and out goings.

They will advise of the best course of action for you.

If bankruptcy is recommended then stop paying all non utility bills straight away and save this cash for your BR fees.

If you are clearly insolvent there is no way that you will be refused bankruptcy.

Is your property mortgaged or do you rent?

If you both doing the bankruptcy then seperate forms will be needed ( 3 copies of each. one for the OR one for the court and one to keep )

Please don't be scared Laura and any questions you have no matter what they are feel free to post the people on this forum are fantastic.

Good luck.

xoxlauraxox

I have contacted CCCS and they said bankruptcy would be our only option because we haven't got enough money left each month

xoxlauraxox

Our home is rented, we have no assets, if we were paying my loan as well as all the other debts we would be minus about £200 every month

Thanks for the advice, its just so scary stopping payments, I'm so worried it will all go wrong and we will end up in even more of a mess.... i think its a chance we need to take though or things are only going to get worse

Notgotapottoweein

xoxlauraxox wrote: »

I have contacted CCCS and they said bankruptcy would be our only option because we haven't got enough money left each month

Clearly you are insolvent then.

Next step is to contact your local county court.

Not sure how you do this but a knowledgeable person will be along soon!

Just tell the court that you have been advised to go bankrupt by cccs and ask them the procedure ( not every court is the same some you have to book some you don't ) obviously leave yourselves enough time to get your fees together.

Also get them to send out the forms to you in the post.

fermi

Just to add to what others have said:

xoxlauraxox wrote: »

also, because the debts are individual debts, some been mine and some been my partners will we need to do 2 bankruptcy applications?

Yes. You need to do one each.

xoxlauraxox wrote: »

I'm really scared about doing it, because what happens if we stop payments to everyone then bankruptcy doesnt get granted? what are the cases that is doesnt get granted?

You hardly ever hear of it being refused. Only really happens if it is clear to the judge/court that you haven't taken proper advice, or that you have assets that would cover the debts.

The fee's are £335 deposit for the Official Receiver and £150 court fee's. That is each.
The £150 can sometimes be waived if you are on certain benefits or your income is below a certain level.

You can search for contact details of your local County Court here:

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/HMCSCourtFinder/

They should also be able to help you work of if you can be excepted the £150 Court fees.

Notgotapottoweein

xoxlauraxox wrote: »

Our home is rented, we have no assets, if we were paying my loan as well as all the other debts we would be minus about £200 every month

Thanks for the advice, its just so scary stopping payments, I'm so worried it will all go wrong and we will end up in even more of a mess.... i think its a chance we need to take though or things are only going to get worse

I know this is difficult but trust me on this things will get easier i promise.

When we started out on this road with debts totaling hundreds of thousands of pounds we were scared witless now just under 3 weeks away from D Day its looking much better.

Thanks to the excellent advice on this forum and support it does get easier.

If you decide to go bankrupt it is perfectly acceptable to stop paying for your debt.

We decided in December to go for bankruptcy.

My wife booked the court date for Feb 18th and from then on we paid only utility bills no debt whatsoever was paid as this can look like favouring creditors by the official receiver.

xoxlauraxox

Thanks for all the useful posts, once its all in motion I might feel better.

It will take us quite a while to save up fees as we will need 2 lots of fees. maybe best for us to do it one at a time rather than going through 2 lots of bankruptcy at the same time.

So is it best for my first step to phone the court and get a date.. or should I be filling in the forms online first. sorry for all the questions just want to make sure I have got it right.

Laura

tigerfeet2006

Work out how long it would take to get the fees together if you stop paying debt ie 8weeks, phone the court and book a date for 9 weeks and ask them to send you the forms so you can start working on them or start the online ones.

Welcome to the board and well done on taking the first steps to sort yourself out. It takes courage.

Notgotapottoweein

xoxlauraxox wrote: »

Thanks for all the useful posts, once its all in motion I might feel better.

It will take us quite a while to save up fees as we will need 2 lots of fees. maybe best for us to do it one at a time rather than going through 2 lots of bankruptcy at the same time.

So is it best for my first step to phone the court and get a date.. or should I be filling in the forms online first. sorry for all the questions just want to make sure I have got it right.

Laura

I've not done the online forms as i like writers cramp!:D

But from other experiences on here make sure you regularly save your work otherwise it has a tendency to go awol.