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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to buy stuff on credit when I know I am about to go bankrupt?

99 replies

dingdong05 · 08/09/2009 20:40

so, here I am, I am getting everything together to go bankrupt- got new basic bank account, details off all my creditors, rearrange all my direct debit payment etc
Suddenly, through the door comes a letter from my cc- they've increased my limit by £600!

With £600 I could pay off a debt to a small company (the rest is all credit cards) and buy that dishwasher I've been desperate for. Maybe even get a new, although cheap, carpet to replace the disgrace in the hall. Of course I'd need to do this before I sent in the paperwork, but that's no problem.

And really, what's £600 when it's added to the £12000 I already owe? Of course, when I borrowed the £12000 I did intend to pay it back, but know for a fact I won't be paying back the £600.

Assuming I am on benefits, have no other support and have been labouring under massive debts for years, AIBU to take advantage?

OP posts:
MrFlibble · 08/09/2009 21:02

I could take thousands of pounds worth of stock from my shop, sell it on and get away with it. But Im not going to. Because its theft.

alwayslookingforanswers · 08/09/2009 21:05

stupid woman.

Original poster
dingdong05 · 08/09/2009 21:08

but i really need a dishwasher, i hate washing dishes! i could do without a carpet, i have slippers, but my poor hands are cracked and dry!

ok, ok, cool yer jets! it's a moral question, isn't it? not everyone has said no, 1 because they have no morals (apparently) and the other hates credit card companies/banks

obv the idea of the dishwasher doesn't elicit much smpathy, how about if it was food / winter coats and boots for the kids / a much needed trip to the dentist?

seriously, would it ever be ok to use that credit?

OP posts:
lucky1979 · 08/09/2009 21:09

Actually, you're highly unlikely to get away with it. Going bankrupt isn't like flicking a switch and all your debts are cancelled. They will look at things like this when they're assessing you, and it is fraud. Bankruptcy isn't meant to be easy, and the various authorities are smart enough to have put measures in place for people who think it's OK to take anything they can get their hands on and then cry bankruptcy when no one will give them any more.

scottishmummy · 08/09/2009 21:09

you are taking the piss,trying to evoke a response.

i fear this is a made up story. pants on fire

scottishmummy · 08/09/2009 21:10

you are taking the piss,trying to evoke a response.

i fear this is a made up story. pants on fire

LaurieFairyCake · 08/09/2009 21:11

Yes, I think morally for new coats it would be better and you could leak a few tears to a sympathetic OR.

But not a dishwasher. I don't have a dishwasher, I don't like doing dishes.

But they still have to be done.

LuluMaman · 08/09/2009 21:14

if your children were starving, freezing and had no shoes, then i would say buy some basic clothes , some basic food and an electric radiator. for a lot less than £600.

otherwise, you cut up your credit card and forget that you even thought about pissing money up the wall on a farking dishwasher

alwayslookingforanswers · 08/09/2009 21:14

food or winter coats then I'd apply to the social fund wouldn't use the credit.

HecatesTwopenceworth · 08/09/2009 21:16

Yes. If you were starving. If your children were starving. If you had no heating in the middle of winter. If you were going to be evicted...(are you spotting a theme here? )

If you had no other way to meet your most basic needs, then yes. You do what you have to do. And that includes taking money you know you can't pay back.

Because morals don't put food in your children's stomachs, or stop them from freezing their arses off. So if you were in that situation, you wouldn't get judged by me!

Dishwasher. Erm. no.

Parmageddon · 08/09/2009 21:19

The OR will take a dim view of this whatever you spend the money on. As others have said you may get an increased bankruptcy term, with a bankruptcy restriction order which makes the difficulties associated with bankruptcy even worse. I know this as it actually happened to someone I know who used credit offered at the last minute to pay council tax.

alwayslookingforanswers · 08/09/2009 21:20

thing is though chances are if you're about to apply to go bankrupt (and you're as close as the scenario in the OP) you're not going to be making most of the payments on the debt - so I'd wonder wtf you were spending your benefits on that you couldn't buy food or get winter coats in a charity shop.

And besides - chances of a credit card that someone is behind on the payments on increasing the limit by £600 is extremely slim (I have one of those ridiculously high interest rate credit cards and even though I've never missed a payment, and the balance has been going down very steadily for a year they haven't increased the limit).

GColdtimer · 08/09/2009 21:23

ffs, are you for real or are you just bored and taking piss?

SomeGuy · 08/09/2009 21:26

Scottishmummy this is not a troll: www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=legal_money_matters&threadid=796879-Debt-forcing-major-decisions-go-ban krupt-or-not

scottishmummy · 08/09/2009 21:26

but my poor hands are cracked and dry.who are you Mimi from la boheme?Che gelida manina

this is a piss take or you really are daft

expatinscotland · 08/09/2009 21:29

you do realise you'll need to pay someone to install it properly, too, though?

scottishmummy · 08/09/2009 21:29

time to get some good advice
a real life plan
prioritise outgoings
offer a repayment plan

maybe using nonchalance on this post as a diversion for the real stress you are under

get a plan

Original poster
dingdong05 · 08/09/2009 21:30

ok, i think i am feeling the mood of the mnet community

i was just struck as to how easy it would be, but didn't know they'd be checking it out once i'd submitted the forms- good to know!

and of course i wanted a response, why else does anyone post on this topic?! not pants on fire though, it could be me... if i had a criminal mind.

thnks to those who tried to help, i appreciate it.

you've all given me something to ponder as i go to wash more dishes

sigh

OP posts:
ThingumyandBob · 08/09/2009 21:30

It?s not worth the hassle, the OR (Official receiver) won?t need to track back to far to see that you opened your new basic bank account before you spent the extra £600 of your credit card. He or she will throw the book right at you and instead of a tear to be discharged you could have longer.

Plus the OR has a host of other things up their sleeve that they can pull out to make the whole process go a lot more painfully than it could do. The OR is someone you want to keep very very happy. Do it if you want, but you could grow to hate your dishwasher and it might not last as long as you discharge period.

No judging here?just hard facts.

Quattrocento · 08/09/2009 21:32

LOL at desperate for a dishwasher. Good effort. Like the alliteration. Not so keen on the theft, but hey, I'm going to skip the moral indignation on the grounds that you're clearly a Daily Mail journalist looking for a headline.

ThingumyandBob · 08/09/2009 21:34

Sorry....a year that is, not a tear.

Hmmm, do the dishes and pnder being debt free, no more nagging phone calls from debt collectors and a fresh start...all good.

PrammyMammy · 08/09/2009 21:34

Yeah right. A dishwasher? Some people live in such small flats that they could never dream of even fitting a dishwasher in the kitchen. Our tumble dryer broke last week. We are SAVING to replace it, because even with dcs, 2 sets of adult clothes and working clothes it is much more practical to hang on a heater than get into debt.
I KNOW people who live on benefits can buy coats and winter things from charity shops/george/primark, and seeing as you have the internet, you could join freecycle.
YABU and possibly (hopefully) a liar.

scottishmummy · 08/09/2009 21:34

all this where's me dishwasher tabs is bluster.some mirth to deflect from the enormity of situation you are in

and responses- dont shot the messenger
get your head down and try sort this mess out

ThingumyandBob · 08/09/2009 21:34

Sorry....a year that is, not a tear.

Hmmm, do the dishes and ponder being debt free, no more nagging phone calls from debt collectors and a fresh start...all good.

scottishmummy · 08/09/2009 21:35

oh and i am judging this post
absolutely fuck witted