I am considering going bankrupt after years of building up credit card bills and a recently failed business. I have about 17k debt with 5 creditors. my minimum payment for everything is about 500 per month. my only income is 700 a month and my living costs are near 700 (about 30 to spare)
I already understand the concept of bankrupsy, however there are a few questions i have.
I was a sole trader of the failed business. I am a single male with no wife, kids or dependancies. I do not own a house.
My only assets are my car value 2k and a laptop value 500. the car is needed for getting me to work.
What i want to know is how long will I be bankrupt for? since the debt is little and my circumstances won't change, i thought maybe it wont be a whole 3 years.
my other question is how do i get represented in court? do i have to pay for a solicitor and if i do, is there a type of legal practioner who deals with simple cases such as this? one which may not be so exspensive?
You will be discharged in a year or sometimes less, but if you have disposable income over £100 a month after your rent etc has been paid you will be expected to pay across between 50 and 70% of anything over £100 for three years. Your bankruptcy will be on the Insolvency Register, and will remain on your credit record for 6 years.
You don't need to be represented in court. In reality the petitioner often doesn't go before a judge - you sit outside the court and they come out and tell you that you are bankrupt.
The court fees will cost you £510. The forms you can fill in online yourself and you can find them here:
I am considering going bankrupt
Posted - 08 May 2009 : 17:13:40
