Ask a StepChange (formerly CCCS) counsellor a bankruptcy question

baileybear.01 · 2 August 2015 at 9:06PM

Hi
I have no choice but to go bankrupt.

A baliff has put a claim on the car. Which I have moved away from my home, to a safe place. At what stage can I bring it back.
Being disabled without a car, is not easy. The guy wouldn't put it on hold, it speak with the agency that was helping me. As it's not a "mobility car".

Also ....

I had a DRO 5 years ago. So changed my bank across to coop. I know I know it's recommended to get a new account. But I'm not sure I can go anywhere else.

(I don't owe the bank money. But my tax credits and ESA go in weekly)

Thank you xxx

StepChange_James · 3 August 2015 at 3:40PM

baileybear.01 wrote: »

Hi
I have no choice but to go bankrupt.

A baliff has put a claim on the car. Which I have moved away from my home, to a safe place. At what stage can I bring it back.
Being disabled without a car, is not easy. The guy wouldn't put it on hold, it speak with the agency that was helping me. As it's not a "mobility car".

Also ....

I had a DRO 5 years ago. So changed my bank across to coop. I know I know it's recommended to get a new account. But I'm not sure I can go anywhere else.

(I don't owe the bank money. But my tax credits and ESA go in weekly)

Thank you xxx

Hi BaileyBear,

Thanks for posting. It sounds like things are pretty tough at the moment.

If you're disabled and use the car to get around then a bailiff shouldn't take in into "control" - which is where they put a claim on it. So if you let the bailiff know that you were disabled and needed the car to get around then it sounds like they've made a mistake.

I'd recommend getting in touch with the company that employs the bailiff and explaining what's happened. If they don't deal with your complaint to your satisfaction then you can then pass the complaint on to their trade body to investigate (they'll be able to tell you which trade body they're a member of).

So I'd hope that taking these steps should stop your car from being at risk of being taken away. But it still doesn't deal with the immediate problem of sorting out the bailiff debt and the longer term issue of whether bankrutpcy is your best solution.

I'd recommend you get in touch with us for advice and we can try to give you some help. If you call our Helpline one of our advisors will be able to give you in depth advice that's specific to your circumstances: http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx.

We can discuss strategies to deal with the bailiff debt and look at the big picture and recommend a long term solution. That might be bankrutpcy or it might be something else, whatever it is we'll talk you through the pros, cons and practical steps to get things sorted out.

Kind regards

James

twister2k · 6 August 2015 at 7:25PM

Hi,
my wife has a debt of £55,500 with NRAM following voluntary repossession of the home she and her brother bought in 2007 prior to our marriage (we married in Dec 2008). The repossession occurred about 18 mnths ago. She and her brother currently pay £5 per month each to NRAM. The home we live in is solely owned by myself, with the mortgage being solely in my name. The property was purchased 26 months ago. Prior to that, we both lived together in a house i purchased in 2001, some years before we met. That house remained in my name solely, as did all utility bills and renovations which were funded from my own bank account (we do not and never have had a joint account). The sale of the first house provided the deposit and transfer of mortgage in to our current property - therefore solely funded by myself. Again, all bills and mortgage payments, plus all renovations and works, have been made from my sole account that I alone pay in to. The current property has about £40K equity. My wife has never contributed financially to any bills, mortage, deposit, or renovations as can be confirmed through bank statements, receipts, etc.

Moving on to her debt- she, along with her brother, are jointly liable for the £55,500 shortfall following voluntary repossession of the house they co-owned. She works part-time and earns less than £100 per week, hence she only pays £5 per month to NRAM. She would like to clear the debt, but realistically she will be unable to do so. My question is that is she was to go bankrupt would she be seen to have any beneficial interest in the house we live in - the house she has never contributed too in any way financially?

Thanks

StepChange_James · 7 August 2015 at 11:06AM

twister2k wrote: »

Hi,
my wife has a debt of £55,500 with NRAM following voluntary repossession of the home she and her brother bought in 2007 prior to our marriage (we married in Dec 2008). The repossession occurred about 18 mnths ago. She and her brother currently pay £5 per month each to NRAM. The home we live in is solely owned by myself, with the mortgage being solely in my name. The property was purchased 26 months ago. Prior to that, we both lived together in a house i purchased in 2001, some years before we met. That house remained in my name solely, as did all utility bills and renovations which were funded from my own bank account (we do not and never have had a joint account). The sale of the first house provided the deposit and transfer of mortgage in to our current property - therefore solely funded by myself. Again, all bills and mortgage payments, plus all renovations and works, have been made from my sole account that I alone pay in to. The current property has about £40K equity. My wife has never contributed financially to any bills, mortage, deposit, or renovations as can be confirmed through bank statements, receipts, etc.

Moving on to her debt- she, along with her brother, are jointly liable for the £55,500 shortfall following voluntary repossession of the house they co-owned. She works part-time and earns less than £100 per week, hence she only pays £5 per month to NRAM. She would like to clear the debt, but realistically she will be unable to do so. My question is that is she was to go bankrupt would she be seen to have any beneficial interest in the house we live in - the house she has never contributed too in any way financially?

Thanks

Hi Twister2K,

I wouldn't want to say for certain, as the decision is made by the Official Receiver in bankruptcy, but from what you've said it doesn't sound like your wife has beneficial interest in the property.

From what you've written it sounds like she hasn't paid towards a mortgage, put money in towards the deposit or paid for any improvements to the property. So in that case it's hard to see how any beneficial interest could be established.

Having said that, I'd still recommend your wife get in touch with us for more in depth advice. We can carry out a full income and expenditure budget with her, give advice about all the available debt solutions and if we recommend bankruptcy we'll be able to support her through the application process.

As part of that process one of our debt advisors will be able to talk in more depth about benefit interest as well as any other important details about banrkuptcy.

Our contact details can be found here: http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx.

Kind regards

James

twister2k · 7 August 2015 at 11:32AM

Thanks James,
She has spoken to someone yesterday and has a different number to talk to an advisor later.

LunarBerry · 11 August 2015 at 11:15AM

Hi all, I'm currently thinking about going bankrupt as I have lost my job due to depression & anxiety & have no money to pay my debts.

I was just wondering, I have a car that is registered in my name which is on finance, but I didn't buy it & don't pay for it. Will it be safe?
Also I have a phone contract, what will happen with that.
Many thanks in advance
Amanda x

philnicandevan · 11 August 2015 at 6:56PM

LunarBerry wrote: »

Hi all, I'm currently thinking about going bankrupt as I have lost my job due to depression & anxiety & have no money to pay my debts.

I was just wondering, I have a car that is registered in my name which is on finance, but I didn't buy it & don't pay for it. Will it be safe?
Also I have a phone contract, what will happen with that.
Many thanks in advance
Amanda x

Hiya amanda perhaps I can offer a little help till stepchange answer....cars are difficult best of times especially if on finance depends if the paperwork has a bankruptcy clause in it at all..although i'm confused as you say you didnt buy or pay for it so who did?...just because your the registered keeper isnt always a sure fire case you bought it as well..BUT be prepared to put a pretty good case together as to why you need a vehicle and what impact without one would have on your life...how old is the car what condition etc?

Phone contracts are usually fine (unless pretty high monthly payments then the official receiver will sometimes question) not heard of many providers cancelling a mobile contract due to bankruptcy (apart from O2) in the 6+yrs i've been bankrupt so mobile should be ok

Best thing to do is speak to stepchange on the phone or contact one of the free debt charitys in person (rather than here) as IF bankruptcy was an option as you say you've been thinking..there are other issues you could look at depending on your ammount of debt..one of the questions asked is "have you had advice from a debt agency" sadly MSE forums dont count! lol

LunarBerry · 12 August 2015 at 11:40AM

sammie28 wrote: »

Thanks James for clarifying those things.

I had an old car that broke so my mother purchased a new one for me on finance. She needed me to have a car as she has a Brain tumour & has to go to the hospital for regular mri scans. She doesn't drive, so the car is registered to me but she owns it.

I spoke to a cab advisor on the phone yesterday & they are going to send me an appointment through in the next few days.

It's a relief about my phone contract, I'm with T-Mobile. Although switching to PAYG wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Just want this nightmare to end :sad:

StepChange_Jen · 12 August 2015 at 1:38PM

LunarBerry wrote: »

Hi all, I'm currently thinking about going bankrupt as I have lost my job due to depression & anxiety & have no money to pay my debts.

I was just wondering, I have a car that is registered in my name which is on finance, but I didn't buy it & don't pay for it. Will it be safe?
Also I have a phone contract, what will happen with that.
Many thanks in advance
Amanda x

Hi Amanda,

Thanks for posting.

I’m sorry to hear you’re struggling at the moment.

Debt and mental health problems often go hand-in-hand but please know you don’t have to deal with either of these alone.

If you haven’t already, I’d suggest getting in touch with your GP for some advice about your depression and anxiety.

It’s good to hear you’re thinking about your options when it comes to dealing with your debt. Bankruptcy is one of the solutions we offer as a charity, however we’d need to know a little bit more about your situation before we’d be able to recommend it to you. It’s a big step to take and it could be that there’s a different debt solution that’s more suited to you.

If you’d like to give our Helpline a call one of our advisors will be able to have a chat with you about everything. They’ll ask for information about your income, debts and budget and from this
they’ll talk through the options available to you. If you decide to go ahead with a debt solution we’ve recommended, we’ll be here to help every step of the way.

You can find out how to get in touch with us here: http://www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx

Alternatively, we also have a debt advice tool called Debt Remedy. It works in the same way as a phone call to our helpline however you just need to enter your information online instead on talking with an advisor.

You can find out more about Debt Remedy here:

http://www.stepchange.org/Debtremedy.aspx

If bankruptcy is recommended to you as a debt solution, our team will be able to help you with any questions about what assets you might be able to keep. As philnicandevan mentioned in their reply, you’ll usually be able to keep a mobile phone contact during a bankruptcy. Whether you have to sell your car or not will vary between situations so it’s hard to give a definite answer. The official receiver may allow you to keep it if the vehicle is essential and of low value, for example:

You couldn’t do your job without it
You or someone in your household needs it because of a disability
There’s no possible way you could get to work or school without your vehicle

You can find out a bit more about this here: http://www.stepchange.org/BankruptcyGuide/Bankruptcyandmycar.aspx

I hope this helps but if you’ve got any more questions please let us know.

Kind regards,

Jen

Jakefrom · 16 August 2015 at 11:24AM

Hi
I would appreciate some advice please
I went BR in 2007 and was discharged 12 months later and now have my life back in order
I recently found out that I had a pension that I had completely forgotten about. ( It was opened in the late 1980's when the government were trying to get people to start saving for their pensions with an incentive of paying some money in.)
I can't remember if I made an opening payment/deposit but have never paid any money in since opening it. Moved on shortly after that and just forgot about it. Didn't mention it when I went BR as I just assumed it was worthless .
However, last year the pension company traced me. I didn't think about any ramifications/liabilities to my BR.
Even more surprisingly, it is now worth £21,000 !!
How do I go about informing the relevant authorities about this. I wouldn't mind cashing it in but not sure if I would be breaking the rules/law ?
Any help would be good thank you

Ask a StepChange (formerly CCCS) counsellor a bankruptcy question

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