| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| mountain.street |
Posted - 19 June 2008 : 15:47:02
Hi, I have debts of 27,000, I am unemployed due to health reasons and am unable to make the payments. Bankruptcy is my only option however in the past I have worked and claimed benefit, how will this affect my bankruptcy.
I have no assets, my partner is working but earning next to nothing, when I worked and claimed we were never any better off. I just want to know what questions are asked, what info they need, and how far will it go back. I was also self employed for a while, just to add to the mix. I would love to know as this is the only hurdle for me right now.
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| JulianDonnelly |
Posted - 23 June 2008 : 09:52:38
Hi Montain Street,
How long ago are we talkin here? Are you still on benefits? If not (and you don't list it in the SOA), it is unlikely to be picked up (but not impossible).
I would like to echo Melanie's post and say the best way to avoid situations like these is not to get into them. However, I apprreciate that circumstances can sometimes dictate a course of action that you would not ordinarily consider. It is now a moral decision to either hope you get away with it, or come clean and face the music.
The CAB would be an excellent first port of call. Best of luck!
Regards
Julian Donnelly
Spokesperson for www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk |
| mountain.street |
Posted - 23 June 2008 : 09:47:34
Thank you for being so patient,
I feel you are getting tired of this line of questions so I will make this the last one, I promise. Firstly: if they did pick it up would I be prosecuted as a result?
Secondly: How would they pick it up i.e. what part of the procedure would enable them to discover this.
There is no excuse for fraud but desperate times call for desperate measures. I am not expecting you to condone what I did, that would be stupid but I hope you can give me some impartial advice, at the end of the day what happens will happen to me it does not reflect on you. I am considering visiting a professional, either CAB or if you can recomend another professional organisation.
Thank you for your time and patience.
Mountain street |
| melanie_giles |
Posted - 22 June 2008 : 22:08:10
Who knows? It may be picked up and then again it may not. I am afraid I cannot really comment on benefit fraud, apart from to say it should not be done in the first place.
For an informal chat about any financial difficulties, or advice as to the options available, I can be contacted via my website - www.melaniegiles.com |
| mountain.street |
Posted - 22 June 2008 : 21:11:26
Hi tess.
You managed to sum up what I've been trying to say over the last few posts. if anybody reading this espscially what tess has just written can answer this quandry then I would be extremely interested to hear from you, basically to quote, I cheated the benefit system and what is the likely hood of this being discovered by the OR. again thankyou tess. |
| tess121068 |
Posted - 22 June 2008 : 18:56:08
I think what Mountain Street is saying is that they have previously cheated the system but were not caught and what is the probability of this being turned up during the OR investigations. |
| JulianDonnelly |
Posted - 22 June 2008 : 14:28:57
Hi Montain.Street,
It is also worth bearing in mind that should the court impose a fine in this instance, it would not be written off in BR.
Regards
Julian Donnelly
Spokesperson for www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk |
| melanie_giles |
Posted - 22 June 2008 : 13:40:59
If you are convicted of benefit fraud, this may result in a punative penalty such as a fine, community service or if the offence is sufficiently grave a short period of imprisonment. It is unlikely that this would affect the OR's decision to award a BRO, on the principle that you should not be punished twice for the same crime.
For an informal chat about any financial difficulties, or advice as to the options available, I can be contacted via my website - www.melaniegiles.com |
| JulianDonnelly |
Posted - 22 June 2008 : 11:16:07
Hi Mountain Street,
If you currently have an arrangement to pay this overpayment back, then I would list it on your SOA and the OR will ensure it is written off. I would always encourage full disclosure with the OR in these instances.
Regards
Julian Donnelly
Spokesperson for www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk |
| mountain.street |
Posted - 22 June 2008 : 09:22:26
Hi Julian,
thanks for that. I wasn't going to include this in my SOA, as I said it was a long time ago, so if I don't have to then I would rather not. The thing was, if I didn't include it what are the chances of it cropping up. The overall amount is something like £3000, give or take a bit. I'm sure each case is treated individually, but I feel that my case is fairly straight forward, I tried to pay off debts by using other credit cards and loans, then I had to stop work because of health reasons. I have the petition pack at home with the SOA but before I fill it in I want to know every step.
Thanks for your help on this.
Mountain street. |
| JulianDonnelly |
Posted - 21 June 2008 : 20:04:59
Hi Mountainstreet,
Unfortunately, I've not actually come across a case like this with my clients. Will you be including any benefit overpayment in your SOA? How much are we talking about?
Regards
Julian Donnelly
Spokesperson for www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk |
| mountain.street |
Posted - 21 June 2008 : 19:25:47
Thanks Julian, it's just such a big step, I'm not saying I was right to do it but it happened and I just wondered if going BR would draw attention to it. Is it possible that it would never come to light? I'm sorry to keep banging on about it but as I said earlier this is the only obsticle, it's just to unknown at the moment and that scares me. I appreciate you can't give a definitive answer but in your experience has this sort of situation arrisen before and if so what was the outcome. Thankyou for your patience on this. |
| JulianDonnelly |
Posted - 21 June 2008 : 14:03:29
Hi Mountainstreet,
As I said, the OR will examine your conduct prior and during your BR. What are the circumstances (and amounts) surrounding benefit fraud? It is possible that a coviction may arise totally outside the BR process.
Regards
Julian Donnelly
Spokesperson for www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk |
| mountain.street |
Posted - 21 June 2008 : 10:54:07
Thanks for that, I am still worried however with regards to benefit fraud. Is it possible that I may go to jail for this, It's a real worry, i don't want going BR to make things worse for us. I mean is it possible that they may never find out, it was a long time ago, and I have been unemployed now for over a year. Thanks again for the help. Sorry to have waffled. |
| JulianDonnelly |
Posted - 20 June 2008 : 12:14:08
Keep up the great work Sue ... thanks for your continued support!
Regards
Julian Donnelly
Spokesperson for www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk |
| debtfreesusie67 |
Posted - 19 June 2008 : 17:47:53
Hi Mountain.street. I had my OR phone call 2 weeks ago. All they ask is what Julian said. They need to know why you are unable to pay your debts and how you incurred them. Mine were mostly card debts that I incurred trying to live and pay debts. I also had a consolodation loan that I used to consolodate my debts and then realised that I still couldn't pay bills etc due to mine and my parents ill health. So it all started again. Just remember the OR is human as well.
Hugs
Sue
The only way is up
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