Bankruptcy - anyone been/going through it?

[mamazon]

and if so would you mind if i asked you lots of very annoying questions?

basicly i was always the main earner in our relationship and so most of the credit was placed in my name.
when i left i ended up taking our debts with us.

i never really noticed just how much we had dotted all over teh place as when i was working it was all perfectly managable.
however now i have left and no longer working i have sorted through it all and i am just over £16k in debt.

I have been useing a debt managment company for the past 6 months but the minute amount i can pay them each month is not even covering the charges i am still having added each month.

I applied for an IVA but have been refused because i am on benefits.

bankruptcy is pretty much all thats left to me.

i have been reading a fair amount and spoken to a company but i want to know what its like from someone who has been through it. what are the positives and negatives.

tyia

Have you been to CAB? I only ask because sometimes I am a bit wary of 'debt management companies'

CAB are brilliant at dealing with this kind of thing? I apologise if you have been to CAB already....perhaps you have and the route you are taking is the only one you have.

Hi.
I went bankrupt in June this year.
Such a relief to not have a load of debt hanging over me that i couldn't afford to pay since becoming a single mum.

My only negative so far was Natwest freezing my bank account 2 weeks later without notice which they had told me they wouldn't do! it meant my benifits were stopped from being paid in a Direct debits refused by the bank!

Barcleys let me open a basic account with them and have been really nice.

I could be discharged with in a year which i hadn't expected.

I did all mine through CAB. She helped with all the forms and did all my incomings and out goings for me. I would of missed loads out with out her help.

Its also a pain not being able to have a bank card which can be used online or in any cash machines! Has to be Barcleys bank or a post office! I miss all the christmas online bargains!

Hi,

I went bankrupt earlier this year. It was the best thing for me but it will really depend on your circumstances.

You can speak to the CCCS who are a registered charity and therefore they aren't out to make money out of your problems. I can't recommend them highly enough and they were more useful to me than the CAB, although you can wait a couple of weeks for an appointment sometimes. They can tell you what your best options are, and can either set up a payment plan (like an IVA) or advise BR. I did the payment plan for a two years, brought my repayments from around £450pm down to £130. Ultimately I couldn't pay that either so I went bust.

Some questions to ask yourself:

What do you have that you can lose? Do you own your own home? Will it matter to you if there are certain jobs you can't apply for, or that mortgages might be out of the question for a bit?

In my case, it was the best thing I could have done. I don't own a house but live with DP who does - they didn't touch it. They also didn't take my car but your assets will be assessed.

It quite stressful but I'm so glad I did it; it's miserable being skint. Let me know if I can help further.

Tort - that's unlucky re cashcard! I was allowed to keep my main bank account with Nationwide (but that one was in credit!), they just downgraded my card but it's still a debit card and I can still use it online and in shops. I think I might have got very lucky with that, but no one really seemed that bothered about my accounts.

The only prob I've had is that I couldn't get a new mobile in my own name. I'd say it's a fair swap to get rid of £15k worth of debt!

My bank account ws in credit. I had no over draft, wasn't an account that was allowed one.
It really is a relief to not be in debt anymore. (Haven't told my parents though!)

i have a friend who is considering this option so would be grateful for any advice I can pass on to her.
She and her Dp do own their own home (or the building society does)-he is considering being made bankrupt but their home is in joint names-am gus=essing this could be seized?
If they were to sell the house and put what little equity they have in her name-could he be make himslef bankrupt and not affect her or their 2 dds?
Interesting about the bank card-I thought that as a bankrupt you weren't "allowed" a bank account.
it is such a sad situation,they have both worked their butts off,never missed a repayment but it is now all too much and they are really suffering.
How do you go about declaring yourself as bankrupt?

Whooosh - I'm not sure what would happen if he signs the house over to her; the forms are really thorough and ask about any assets you have had or got rid of in recent years. If he is perceived to have an interest in the property they will take some or all of it, but again, this will depend on the situation. CAB is the place to start in BR is unavoidable. They will give you the number of your local court.

I was given a date within 2 weeks. I turned up with the form, had 2 minutes in with a judge and that was it, job done.

You can still have a bank account though, you just can't apply for credit over £500 without asking permission until you get discharged. A friend of mine was discharged after 7 months.

I hope everything works out for them.

Whoosh - if people try to reduce their capital to evade paying debts, ie by putting assets into anothers name, then this is not allowed. It is sometimes referred to as a gratuitous alienation and means that you cannot give away assets in order to avoid liability. Even if your friend did this the court could seek to set it aside in order that creditors could seek to have the monies due paid to them. Hope this helps. I would always advise seeking legal advice in this kind of matter. CAB are fantastic.

teh next question is how much did you all have to pay?

i know its a fairly personal question but i have been told varying amounts.

does it vary on which court you use or is there a standard fee that alters depending on whether you use a facilitating company or not.

oh and what sort of jobs woudl i not be able to do? im a social worker (when i work) so dont' want to rule myself out of future employment and ruin the 3 years of uni.

I wrote a reply then lost MN for ages!
Mine cost £335 but i didn't have to pay it. CAB applied to the British Gas Energy Trust and they paid it. I think you have to be with British Gas.But not 100% sure.

I don't remember ever being told it would effect and future employment.

Hello - I'm in the process and am going through CAB (they are brilliant). They've said going bankrupt will incur costs of about £500.

Beware of IVA costs, I started off down that route, going via CCCS, who put me onto a company (can I name them withough getting into trouble??) and they prepared paperwork for me and are charging me £2,500 for the pleasure even when I never signed anything knowing their costs. Be warned...

Hope it all goes ok for you Mamazon.

bohemianbint
i am in the same possition as you. i want to go bankrupt due to old bsiness debts. i got the forms and was put off by the questions about household in and outgoings. did you have to put dps earnings on the form as i will be using our adress ( he owns the house) adn will it effect his credit rating ie black list the address. i just done want my debt to effect him

Hi pud. I can't remember if I had to put DP's earnings, I think I did. Put all our outgoings as well which made it obvious that we weren't just having a laugh - there was pretty much nothing left over.

It hasn't affected DP in any way; he recently got a credit report as he got turned down for a loan and wondered why, but his report was fine. I think the only reason he got turned down was that about 50% of loans are at the moment.

So long as you haven't got your name on the mortgage and it can't be proved that you've been paying half, or put a significant amount of your own cash into the house, you'll prb be fine.

www.debtquestions.co.uk is absolutely the best forum for those considering bankruptcy.

I have found that one of the best things to do early on is not pay anything to your creditors as that means that they will soon pass your debts onto debt collection agencies who will be more likely to freeze the debt. I've had no interest added to my debt for over 2 years as they are all with dca's and that means what I do pay comes directly off my debts.

HTH