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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| dazed and confused |
Posted - 16 September 2008 : 15:50:13
Hi Suzanne
Sorry to bother you, but I was hoping you would be able to answer a specific BR question for me regarding my situation and how the OR is likely to see it please, and which option you would recommend I take? Thanks to everyone else who has given me advice etc. but I still feel no clearer about what to do and my main worries all come down to the reaction of the OR to my situation.
I am not sure if you have seen any of my previous posts, but my situation is that I have approx. £45,000 unsecured debt (2 Credit Cards, Overdraft and Personal Loan). I live in rented accommodation. My main assets are:
Car - worth about £1,000 - used for work
Laptop - worth about £400
Camera - worth about £400
Snowboard - worth about £500 - used for work (P / T Snowboard Instructor)
Video Camera - worth about £200
I am currently working, but am due to be going to Canada in January 2009. My girlfriend is Canadian and she had to go back to Canada in May 2008 as her work finished, and her Work Visa and Passport were up. I have a 1 year Work Visa myself to go to Canada to be with my girlfriend, I am qualified to teach Snowboarding in Canada (so hopefully should be able to get a job once there) and my current work have very kindly granted me a 1 year Career Break. There is a possibility that I may not return from Canada if things go well out there.
I was initially looking into an IVA but have since been advised against it due to the uncertainty of my future financial circumstances, and am currently just entering into a DMP as I was advised that in a DMP it would be more flexible whilst I am in Canada and that I would be able to protect what little assets I have. Also, the allowances which I have been given in the DMP are quite generous (set by the DMP provider) which still leaves me with a bit of spare cash each month.
However, I have also been advised to go BR and get a fresh start and be debt free if / when I do return to the UK. I feel that I have 4 options:
1. Continue with the DMP and go to Canada and see if I can continue to pay into it from there, if I can't then go BR from abroad.
2. Continue with the DMP until just before I leave and go BR here in the UK.
3. Go BR now and face the consequences.
4. Continue with the DMP and if I find I can't afford it in Canada, then just leave it and 'forget about it'.
Sorry for the long post, but how do you think the OR would see my situation and which option would be most favourable to them? I feel that BR is inevitable and probably the right thing for me either sooner or later and I really don't want to just leave the country without having some sort of closure to this whole mess I have got myself into, but I am really worried how the OR will see my past expenditure (as I don't really have much to show for it) and my intended trip to Canada. I fear the worst with the OR but at the same time I really don't want to miss this opportunity to make a fresh start and be with my partner. I am really concerned too about the whole 'publicness' of BR - in the papers, having to tell work / landlord etc.
What is the worst the OR would do to me?
Sorry again for the long post!!! |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| dazed and confused |
Posted - 16 September 2008 : 17:04:57
Ok thanks once again! |
| Suzanne |
Posted - 16 September 2008 : 17:02:48
You just need to let the OR know if you will be unable to continue with the payments, and any change in circumstances generally. Your bankruptcy would not be extended just for this.
Suzanne Stocker
Bankruptcy Manager
Jones Giles Ltd
www.jonesgiles.co.uk
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| dazed and confused |
Posted - 16 September 2008 : 16:36:11
Thanks Suzanne!
You really have set my mind at ease for now!
Sorry - I just have one more question - as I am very likely to be given an IPA / IPO based on my current situation, what would happen when I go to Canada, as I am unlikely to be able to pay a huge amount if any at all into it? Would the OR accept this? Could they extend the BR so I could continue with it when / if I come back?
I am sure I will be back soon though with more questions!
I just need to pluck up the courage to tell my Employer and my Landlord now...I am not lookking forward to that!!! |
| Suzanne |
Posted - 16 September 2008 : 16:26:49
Hi
It will not make any difference to the OR when you petition for bankruptcy, but it may be better for you to be around during the administration of it. You may even find you are discharged before you leave.
I don't think there will be any repercussions from stopping paying your creditors and saving the money towards your flight, and it is only £500 which isn't much in the grand scheme of things.
They will be fine with your family paying for your flight and expenses.
Suzanne Stocker
Bankruptcy Manager
Jones Giles Ltd
www.jonesgiles.co.uk
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| dazed and confused |
Posted - 16 September 2008 : 16:20:50
Hi Suzanne
Thank you ever so much for your reply. I have been really worried about this.
Regarding the trip to Canada I have been a bit silly I think. I was unable to make full payments to all my creditors so I was advised to stop paying them so I stopped paying them back in July. At the time I was thinkng of going into an IVA but as mentioned earlier I was then talked out of this. I started offering token payments of £1.00 each a month, which left me with a bit of surplus cash. I bought a flight to Canada with this money with Zoom Airlines for £500 (who have now gone bust and I've lost the flights with no refund - the irony of it!). Looking back, this was a stupid thing to do as now if I do end up going BR this is not going to look good at all with the OR.
Since then, I am now aware that this cannot be done and was going to very reluctantly call the Canada trip off. However, my family have been really kind and generous and really want me to make this trip as they see the potentail of it and have offered to pay for certain expenses e.g. flight etc. and as far as I understand this will be ok with the OR?
I have checked and the Canadian Authorities do not have a problem with BR - just criminal offences.
The debt has been accrued over a period of about 12 years - starting from going to University and just building and building from there - getting consolidation loans, paying off credit cards with balance transfers etc.
What if I was to continue with the DMP and then go BR just before leaving the UK - would this look worse in the eyes of the OR do you think?
Thanks again for your post and sorry again for the long reply! |
| Suzanne |
Posted - 16 September 2008 : 15:59:51
Hi
The OR would not be interested in any of the assets you have listed. In fact the only one you would have to list is the car and it is of sufficiently low value to be treated as exempt.
I would say that if you have all intentions of declaring bankruptcy eventually you might as well do it now while still in the country rather than complicating things.
I don't think you are any different than others in the same situation, as there are not many people who have anything to show for money spent.
As far as the trip to Canada is concerned the OR will question how you are funding the flights and expenses, as this could be from surplus monies and therefore should be paid into the estate.
I don't know how the Canadian authorities would view bankruptcy in terms of getting a work permit or whatever you will need in order to extend your stay, so that might be worth looking into.
I don't think the OR would see your case as any different to the others they deal with, on the assumption that the debt has not all been accrued over the last 2 years or so, but over a longer period.
Suzanne Stocker
Bankruptcy Manager
Jones Giles Ltd
www.jonesgiles.co.uk
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