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ns04
Starting Member
10 Posts |
 Posted - 19 November 2008 : 19:23:30
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| 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? |
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John
New Member
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 19 November 2008 : 21:23:12
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Hi ns04
welcome to the forum.
A very well intended snippet of advice, to answer all of the questions you have posted would take a long time and some questions of you may also need to be asked to give good advice on some of the points you have raised.
Try 1 or 2 questions per post and I'm sure you will see a good response from the forum members.
Good Luck.
www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk
0800 078 9367 |
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Frank
Starting Member
18 Posts |
Posted - 20 November 2008 : 12:09:27
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Another good meaning piece of advice, as diffiuclt as it may seem - stay calm and be methodical, deal with one thing at a time.
I'm no expert on here, but I have been BR before and will be going agian and I certainly learnt the 1st time th eone thing you need is a clear head, it makes things much easier.
Don't be put off and do post one or two questions at a time, you will get answers; people here are very helpful and non judgemental.
Frank
Here we go again... |
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Needafriend
Junior Member
United Kingdom
344 Posts |
Posted - 20 November 2008 : 12:38:02
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Hi NS04
Welcome to our forum. I agree with both Frank and John, please do try and post a couple of questions at a time and we will help you with some answers.
Try to keep a clear head although i do know that may not be easy but we have all been where you are now.
I am on here a lot as the other members will tell you and i will always help out where i can.
I do so much want to help you but i need you just to try and think which ones you need answers to first, then we get those done and work on the next ones.
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:
Jo's Links and added info on Bankruptcy!
http://debtfreejo.blogs.bankruptcyhelp.org.uk/
Needafriend says: Live life to the full, take it by the horns and live a little, otherwise life would be so boring!
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ns04
Starting Member
10 Posts |
Posted - 21 November 2008 : 16:08:43
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Hi again. Right, I suppose the one we most want answered is this...
we have a number of claims for bank charges, most of them are at a standstill due to the test case but consumeractiongroup is urging people to pick up where they left off. I am all for this, especially as the largest one is potentially around £30k..........this consists of around £10k in actual charges, around £5k in interest on Provident loans (I know) that we wouldn't have needed if it weren't for the charges they had applied.....and the rest is interest charged at the same rate they charged us over many years for unauthorised withdrawals.
There are numerous other smaller claims we need to get on with, probably with a combined total of around £5k. Should we carry on pursuing these or just write them off?
I feel very strongly that the banks played a large part in the state we are in today and I now (last night) discover that the bank whom our biggest claim is with, RBS, is the latest to suffer huge losses and 60% of it is now in public ownership. This means that not only do they owe us anywhere between £15-30k and are largely responsible for our business going bust and us now considering bankruptcy........my husband has to work a 15 hr day and then contribute towards bailing them out through his tax! It makes me so sick!  Talk about Dick Turpin!
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Reviva UK
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2452 Posts |
Posted - 21 November 2008 : 17:11:59
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Hi
What is your level of debt? Potentially there are solutions that you could use if you were successful in claiming back these charges - and if successful you wouldn't need to declare Br.
You should also consider that if you are succesful and get 30k and then declare Br you will need to hand it over the the Official Receiver less and expenses that you have along the way which would need to be transparant.
Paul Johns
Assisted Bankruptcy Specialists
Reviva UK
For a Free Impartial Review before taking the leap call me @ Reviva UK
www.revivauk.com |
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ns04
Starting Member
10 Posts |
Posted - 21 November 2008 : 17:51:51
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Hi Paul, thanks for your speedy response. Yes, the reason we've put off BR for so long was the thought of getting these bank charges back, but the chances of this actually happening before we are forced into BR seem to be slipping away, particularly with the latest developments at RBS, this is the biggy that we were banking on (pardon the pun). Also, this was the reason I asked the question........I always thought we'd have to give the money up and don't get me wrong, if we'd succesfully got it back it would have offset our debt but we don't want to go through all the hassle if it won't make a difference anyway............don't really get how all this BR works yet!
We also have 2 separate clients who witheld final stage payments (on their extensions) to my husband, one still owes us £4k and one owes us £8k. We were forced into remortgaging to cover trade accounts, wages etc. Can we still pursue these? My thinking was why can't they be forced into remortgaging, their properties have increased in value due to the work my hubby did, why should they get away with this? But now, same as everyone, they'll be lucky to get a remortgage and if we try and force the issue we'll surely be frowned upon for trying to force others into further debt?
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ns04
Starting Member
10 Posts |
Posted - 21 November 2008 : 18:53:09
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Oh........and our level of debt is around £60-70k, but if we need to include what's left on our mortgage that brings it up to around £120-130k. We need to sit down and do some sums to get the correct figure.
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Reviva UK
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2452 Posts |
Posted - 21 November 2008 : 20:17:59
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Hi
Before looking at Br and taking the plunge you probably need to review the whole position.
Income / Outgoings / Debts / Mortgage / Assets
Business and how life would be affected by Br.
There is no reason why you should not pursue these folk that owe you money, in the same way that creditors are free to chase you.
Really would suggest you speak to a professional to get some prespective, a strategy and a timescale for what to do and what not to do.
Paul Johns
Assisted Bankruptcy Specialists
Reviva UK
For a Free Impartial Review before taking the leap call me @ Reviva UK
www.revivauk.com |
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ns04
Starting Member
10 Posts |
Posted - 21 November 2008 : 22:20:24
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The problem here is....we could pursue the folk that owe us money and the banks, but that may take another year or so with no guarantee of success and we're up to our necks in it NOW!
We have a mortgage that had a rubbish rate to begin with and now we've come out of our fixed rate period it's gone up by almost £100/mth making it around £530. We have a secured loan (with Welcome) which is around £400/mth, we have Provident loans which come to £110 PER WEEK, and we have an outstanding building account which we have been paying off at £100/wk. There is arrears of some degree on all of the above.
Hubby's pay used to be guaranteed (he's no longer S/E) but due to the uncertainty of the construction industry they can no longer guarantee it. Sometimes it's around £500......sometimes it's as low as £300.
Obviously this is not enough to keep up with the bills mentioned above but then there's all the rest......car insurance, fuel, shopping, gas & electric, phone, council tax, TV License etc etc. As I mentioned, we don't currently have life insurance or buildings and contents, can't even remember when they lapsed........we have got to the "bury our heads in the sand" stage of not opening mail or answering the phone or door!
Hubby used to have 6 employees and 2 vans, all the men are gone now. One of the vans has been repossessed and has an outstanding balance of around £7k. The other van, which came to the end of the lease period a few months back, had options on it. We decided to sell it, and got £6k which is less than what it was worth as nothing's selling. This is where it gets really sticky.......at around the same time hubby was working for a window company. It was a relatively young company and it soon dawned on us that they were fleecing some of his wages every week. We approached them about this on several occasions (pretty much every week). Eventually hubby got sick of being messed around and went elsewhere for work. I nagged him to sit with me and work out how much they still owed us and I was not surprised when the total was around £6.5k. I wrote the company a letter with all figures involved and copies of paperwork we had used to work it out. It was a Letter Before Action in which I told them they had 2 weeks to pay up or i'd be taking them to court.
In the meantime we had been using the money from the van to cover wages, bills and living expenses, never for one minute thinking we wouldn't get the money from the window company (I had by this time taken several banks to court and won, albeit for small amounts) We were due to file on Monday 9th June 2008 and on Friday 6th June we heard they had gone into receivership that afternoon. So now we owe all the money on that van too.
We just feel as though there is no end to it and that we are unable to hang around for the banks any longer, surely with all this it's only a matter of time before we are forced into BR?
It sounds like a sob story and we DO feel hard done by but can't go on like this...........hubby is so stressed out and working such long hours and I can't get a job. I had been hoping to do a course to help me back into work but now just don't know if it's worth it.
This week as soon as hubby's wages went into the bank they were gobbled up by the loan payment. Last week they were around £300 which barely brought us back into the black, the week before that they disappeared before we even knew they were in as the mortgage came out (And was £100 more than expected, thank god for family allowance). Who knows what will happen next week, the car will probably break down. It is long overdue an MOT, uninsured and will soon run out of tax, I shouldn't be driving it. It never ends.
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Reviva UK
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2452 Posts |
Posted - 21 November 2008 : 23:09:22
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It will never end unless you take control
and although you have done a great job with the reclaiming from the banks etc you probably can't see the wood for the trees.
You need to have a conversation with someone not emotionally tied to the situation so you can get a plan of action.
First suggestions are to get a new bank account. that way new wages won't disappear into the void of an overdraft and at least then you will start to get some control back.
Also you need to check to see if the van was on a lease / HP / Fixed sum loan agreement etc etc etc .
really recomend you get some help with forming a plan.
Paul Johns
Assisted Bankruptcy Specialists
Reviva UK
For a Free Impartial Review before taking the leap call me @ Reviva UK
www.revivauk.com |
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RHB
Senior Member
1159 Posts |
Posted - 22 November 2008 : 12:51:43
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| Please DON"T drive an uninsured car. If you go on one of the online price comparison sites I am sure you could get a reasonble quote, 3rd party. |
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John
New Member
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 22 November 2008 : 14:04:37
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Hi ns04
I would give Paul a call asap.
His number can be found if you click on his website link at the foot of his posts.
www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk
0800 078 9367 |
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Skippy
forum expert
United Kingdom
3290 Posts |
Posted - 22 November 2008 : 15:20:54
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Before you get car insurance please bear in mind that as you have no MOT any insurance would most likely be invalid anyway. Also, you won't be able to renew the tax once in runs out as the you have to produce the MOT and insurance certificate.
Please don't drive with no MOT or tax, it really isn't worth the hassle of the summons and court appearance. Also, if someone other than the owner drives the car and is stopped the owner will be prosecuted for permitting no insurance/MOT as well as the driver.
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/ |
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pix1
Average Member
689 Posts |
Posted - 23 November 2008 : 12:20:25
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Hi ns04,
As John says there is a lot of stuff to answer in this post!
Broadly, a lot of those things you have listed - like showers/energy efficiency may be negotiable with the OR once you are BR. Remember, though, that the OR and the courts, ultimately, have the final say on what is allowed.
One excellent link you can go to is on the Insolvency Service website and is the following
http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/DocumentLibrary/Policy/Excel/Household%20Expenditur.xls
This spreadsheet is used by the OR examiners, so it is, as they say, from the horses mouth (see my replies today to joella68 and sti along with my own post on the subject.
Unfortunately, the bank charges you are claiming will become assets in your BR and will be the propertyy of the OR. You would be duty bound to disclose them. Perhaps it is worht keeping up the claims and then handing over to the OR any reimbursement you get from the bank/s concerned as this could only make you look good and coming across as cooperative. Of course, the bank might well close down your a/c when thye here of your BR so I don't know if this would stop the claim in its tracks, anyway. It might also depend if the bank/s are creditor/s.
Smoking. This is not an allowable expense in BR (see the spreadsheet link). Any smoking would have to come out of disposable income which is calculated as the remainder after taking off allowable expenses. By the way, any disposable income could be liable to 50-70% of it going into an IPA/IPO.
Internet. I think this is not allowed but I am not sure.
N.B. Please investigate any issues regarding your home and car. Please search the forum for, e.g., mortgage shortfall as this may apply to you.
If BR seems the right option please go ahead but you are right to check it all first before proceeding. |
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pix1
Average Member
689 Posts |
Posted - 23 November 2008 : 12:35:33
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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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getting all in order BEFORE applying?
