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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ns04 |
Posted - 19 November 2008 : 19:23:30
Questions questions. We have a number of claims for bank charges should we still keep them going once we file for BR? We have clients who did not pay hubby for work he did for them when he was self-employed we want to pursue these as between them they owe us £12k, should we? We had to remortgage our home to cover hubby''s trade accounts as he had to carry on trading. We have mortgage arrears and no home or contents insurance, health insurance or life insurance! We have not claimed benefits for years mainly because it seemed really hard to claim while self-employed and our accountant was not very helpful, would it be wise to get all this in order BEFORE applying? Does an IPA allow for essential repairs and servicing on a car? Would it allow for us to reach an acceptable standard of living, for instance (this seems like a silly question) we don''t have a shower as we have not been able to afford one but we have two teenage daughters and a son (who admittedly prefers not to wash) so our gas bill is high,is it acceptable to become more energy-efficient to reduce monthly outgoings? To improve my skills and get a decent job I have been looking into a few courses,most of which are payable in instalments,would an IPA allow for this? Due to the nature of hubby''s work our weekly income is erratic,how would an IPA allow for this? What if we smoke? Can we keep our internet connection,our kids use it for homework,hubby uses it to look for a better job and I use it for email as it''s cheaper than phone. We know that while we are BR we can''t start a business, but what about freelance work? We have four dogs and a cat,I read somewhere that an IPA would allow £20 per month to cover all pets £20/mth would just about feed them all but what about worm and flea treatments booster jabs vet care pet insurance,these are all essential surely? |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| pix1 |
Posted - 02 December 2008 : 14:13:04
ns04,
as to the person taking you to court just give him your bankruptcy order reference number and name of your OR. any claim will have to go through your OR,anyway. |
| gally |
Posted - 02 December 2008 : 13:29:46
have u phoned paul in the last 2 hours ? |
| ns04 |
Posted - 02 December 2008 : 12:15:32
Thanks for the reply Gally....but....regarding the rent arrears and the former employee....NONE of the arrears are anything to do with him....the account didn't go into arrears until after he wanted out of the lease, it's just Hubby didn't get around to putting it in writing so now he remains jointly liable and it's not his fault, it's actually ours which we hold our hands up to....that's no help to the poor guy when he's got a DC banging on his door and phoning him! 
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| gally |
Posted - 02 December 2008 : 11:35:32
ns04 been there done all that . just stop a minute and have a cup of tea and list your priorities / problems/ starting with sleepless nights / who do you talk to /not talk to etc your former employee new the risks as well as you if its failed its failed nothing can now be done about it pick the phone up and speak to paul wish i had' things can look better very quickly i bet after one call you will feel better take care |
| ns04 |
Posted - 01 December 2008 : 23:35:11
 Thank you! 
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| Nat |
Posted - 01 December 2008 : 19:44:09
Hi N's
Sounds like you have an awful lot going on here. I know you posted that you came on here anonymously and people are saying for you to contact Paul but i really do think that you probably should. I've not personally had advice from Paul but from what i can gather he is very experienced and helped a lot of people. I think you need to get some really good advice at the mo, br may or may not be right here but until you get to go through it all thoroughly and with someone who's not emotionally tied to it all you're not going to know for sure.
I went br in september totally different circumstances for me but it was definitely the right choice for me but everyone is diffeent. I strongly recommend you give Paul a ring, if nothing else it might settle things down a little for you and you will not have lost anything there.
This site is great for moral support, good advice and no-one will judge you.
Take care and all the very best
Nat |
| ns04 |
Posted - 01 December 2008 : 13:26:23
Hi, not been on for a few days, we've been busy sorting through paperwork!
Thanks Integrity, that's a good point about equity.....if there is any in our home it's not much and we will look into getting a valuation done.
My main worry at the moment is, three things:
1) The van that we sold and then couldn't pay back. If we declare this debt in the BR will they try to repossess the van even though it doesn't belong to us anymore? I'm worried for the guy who bought it from us......it's not his fault we're in this mess and he bought the vehicle fair and square, is he about to be punished for our stupidity?
2) Hubby had a lease on a Council unit on an industrial estate. It was jointly leased by himself and one of his employees at the time who was looking into another venture. The employee's venture did not take off and he wanted to come out of the lease, which was fine by us. Hubby phoned the council to ask for the lease to be changed into his name only and though the council acknowledged this nothing was ever put in writing. We ended up with arrears on the lease and now they are chasing the former employee for the debt. We have informed the council and the DCA that the debt is completely ours and has nothing to do with the other party, which they are happy to go along with IF we arrange and stick to a payment plan, but it's a similar situation to above....if we declare this debt in the BR will they then chase the other party for it as they obviously need to recoup their losses in any way possible. He's a young guy with two young kids and a mortgage and one of the main things that is holding us back from declaring BR is guilt and concern for him.
3) When we had employees we had an accountant, just for wages and tax returns etc. We tried to pay our bill and keep on top of things and expected him to keep up his end of the bargain but we ended up with an outstanding bill to him (as a result of this he failed to file returns when due and we are now in trouble with tax, but that's a different debt) we now discover that he has filed a claim at court for the recovery of this money. What should we do? Ignore it? Go to court to defend it? Go to court to admit liability? Where does all this fall into the BR? Do we have time to file for BR before court? Can we got to court and say that we are about to file? Will it make any difference?
Worry worry worry........
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| Integrity |
Posted - 24 November 2008 : 22:27:58
Hi Ns
I can understand that you are feeling pressure. It is good that you are going to chat things through with your hubby. This forum is a good place to get answers as the contributors have a wide range of experience and it is intereractive.
Part of the problem is all of your "unknowns" which can add to the stress.
The 3 year thing is an Income Payment Agreement.These are only issued if there is a lot of remaining income after all the allowable expences have been take into concideration.
The main thing you may need to consider is your home. You mentioned a morgage. Is there any equity? This will need to be addressed. House prices have fallen so it may be a good idea to get a free valuation.
What is the main thing that concerns you at the moment? |
| movin on |
Posted - 24 November 2008 : 21:16:41
Well if you do it yourself it will give you alot more control with regards to dignity and timing etc, and you are not constantly worried everytime the phone rings and being chased by creditos all the time. Plus they could wait for months before doing it.
Please do not worry about your possessions, unless you have an individual item that is worth alot of money, that has certainly not happened to me.
What assets do you have again - do you own your own home? car and value ? other than your elder grandparents.
Would you be willing to say what your total secured and unsecured debts are and also your incoming (i realise this is difficult, due to your husbands job)
Jenny
xx
Onwards and Upwards is the way im going :-0)
xx |
| Skippy |
Posted - 24 November 2008 : 21:11:27
The chances are your creditors won't make you BR as it will cost them upwards of £1500 to do so. By making yourself BR you are in control - you can do it when it's right for you.
The OR is only interested in items of high value, and they are not interested in your children's things.
I know it's worrying - I can remember being terrified that the OR would want our TV. We've got a 42" plasma and I was convinced that it would be taken. I then realised that it wasn't mine! My OH had paid for it on his credit card so I didn't even declare it.
Tomorrow is a mystery, yesterday is history, today is the present, a gift to make the most of.
View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.bankruptcyhelp.org.uk/ |
| Needafriend |
Posted - 24 November 2008 : 21:09:42
Hi NS04
No they wont touch any of your kids stuff etc unless things are worth inexcess of about £500 and then they have to get money from selling it to benefit your creditors.
If you declare BR yourself your incontrol and get a plan together and make sure that you stick to it, it is the better way to do it as you plan the date and ge things in order first. If a creditor makes you BR and they dont like to do that, it costs them more than us and then it may take an awful long time it can be a bit more stressful.
If you really are considering it then you def need a plan of action, i would say really its better to do it yourself rather than hope that a creditor will do it for you.
LOL
Jo
x
For more info on how i have come through bankruptcy and for links to help, you can read my blog here called:
Needafriend's Info on Bankruptcy :-)
http://debtfreejo.blogs.bankruptcyhelp.org.uk/
Needafriend says: Live life to the full, take life by the horns and live a little, otherwise life would be so boring!
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| ns04 |
Posted - 24 November 2008 : 20:49:32
Thanks for that Jenny,
Yes, i've read the 2 blogs you mention and found them both very helpful.
I have more questions....
What is the difference (if any, and apart from the obvious) between declaring yourself BR and having a creditor force you into BR?
We know that the OR can sell our possessions to pay our creditors, but what about the kids' stuff? Playstations, PCs, CDs, DVDs, clothes etc? Things they've received for Christmas & birthdays? Things they've bought with their own money? They can't take these things, can they? 
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| movin on |
Posted - 24 November 2008 : 20:08:07
Im so sorry you feel your being pushed into a certain direction.....and im sure everyone understands if you want to stay private and will certainly respect your wishes.
Everyone on here understands exactly how your feeling and is always there to support and advise you as you need it.
My experience so far is this .....
Went br 13 October (just me, not hubby) - Court went better than expected and was over within 2 hours (i spent more time waiting around)
OR Telephone Interview - 21 October - 1hr 1/4 - They asked same questions as on SOA, just in more detail.
Only had 1 letter so far asking if i want to keep my life insurance policy, and if so i will need to pay £50 to get it signed back over to me. Hubby is waiting to hear when he can buy the beneficial interest in our house, which is negative equity - so he will pay £1 plus fees of £211)
Im expecting automatic discharge 13 october 2009 - unless i dont comply or my case is tricky, which i know it isnt (but i intend to comply and hopefully they will give me early dishcharge)
Im not sure on the ipa (payment for 3 years) as im not working so have not been given one.
Not really got any other info for you, but can i suggest you check out Skippy and needafriend blog, as they are so useful and have lots of info on there.
You sound like your still very much undecided and so its best not to rush into anything and end up regretting it. I did call the helpline number on this forum and they called me cack on my mobile - i didnt have to give any personal details, they simply advised me.
Is there any way you can offer your creditors token payments until you have fully decided on a route to take?
If so, maybe this could enable you to be able to pay for those more important bills and expenses that need paying.
I really hope you keep posting your questions and concerns ?
Good luck and take care
Jenny
xx
Onwards and Upwards is the way im going :-0)
xx |
| ns04 |
Posted - 24 November 2008 : 14:58:18
Thanks guys for all your responses, really helpful! I'll wait until Hubby comes home and we'll need to sit down and talk it all over....he's adamant that BR is the only way out but i'm still not sure.
You're all telling us that we need to contact Reviva asap, but we've come to the forum anonymously to get answers to all our questions first with no pressure. We could have Googled BR and insolvency firms direct but decided to come here first for some impartial advice from folk who've been there.
I suppose the next questions I want to ask are..........how does it all work? I mean, what is the procedure? I thought that once you were discharged, that was that......but i'm hearing people having to continue payments for 3 years. What happens during the 12mths during BR before you are discharged and what payments have to be made during this time?
Oh, and as for 'Welcome', when we went to them for our secured loan we had tried everywhere else (and I do mean everywhere, they really were last resort) and they told us that a few months after taking the loan (when our mortgage reached the end of it's fixed rate period) that we'd be able to remortgage with them, incorporating the loan and drastically reducing our monthly outgoings. When we started to realise that we could no longer cope with both the loan and mortgage repayments we contacted them with a view to discussing their previous proposals and were told it was impossible as they no longer do mortgages Don't get me wrong, we'd still have taken the loan as it was the only solution at the time (or so we thought) but we do feel that we were given false hope by them, even tricked?
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| pix1 |
Posted - 23 November 2008 : 12:35:33
ns04,
Just looking through your post once more and I agree that you sohuld contact Paul soon. There are a lot of issues here. My gut feeling is that you should declare BR sooner rather than later. The bank charges might never be repaid, at least, not in full. Imagine you are the bank. They will try there hardest to stretch this out as long as possible, particularly in a financial climate where our government is falling over backwards to help them - not you or me! Your poor husband may be slaving away for his family unnecessarily and in a forlorn hope. As soon as you mentioned the nmae 'Welcome' my alrm bells started ringing. Like you husband my wages are cyclical and variable. We were faced with a ridiculous mortgage which we were ill advised to go into and ended up voluntarily becoming repossessed. I had 37k debt, my wife 35k debt and she was offering to work 80 hours a week to keep us going. I thought ' no way', something has to give. We were also faced with a potential £70-100k mortgage shortfall debt if we did not go BR and now we have avoided that. All writtewn off and I just got discharged, though my wife went BR later and is still waiting. We're hoping to bounce back.
P.S. Do you know that if you go BR and do not plan to keep your property you sohuld STOP making mortgage payments - and loan payments immediately. You could then save the money for a rental when you get repossessed which, depending on if you have arrears already, could be several months. Of course, your husband could then legitimately spend more time with his family as he would not then need to work extra hourse to keep up an unmanageable situation. Is this an ethical thing to do? Yes. People make mistakes with finances (we did it) and it is right and proper to address it through BR. They should, of course, learn and manage finances responsibly in future. That's our aim. |
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