I owe around £30,000 on credit cards and overdraft. i have considered an iva but i think i may struggle to pay an accepted payment each month.
2006-09-14 21:37:40 · 12 answers · asked by danny s 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
Probably but unless some one forces you to go bankrupt it will cost you £300-450 ( I do not know the exact price )
2006-09-14 21:41:41 · answer #1 · answered by philipscottbrooks 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
IVAs have consequences. Bankruptcy has consequences. The two are similar but not the same.
If you are on an IVA - Individual Voluntary Agreement, you cannot have any credit for anyone for 6 years. This is because an IVA is based on your priority outgoings, rent and heat/light/food etc, and assigns EVERYTHING else to the creditors. So you can't borrow any more because you have no more to repay it with.
Bankruptcy is pretty similar. You declare to the court, and ask them to consider that you are unable to repay your debts. The court will rule that you are insolvent if they agree. Your estate is then taken over by The Official Receiver - a body that handles your estate for you.
If you are insolvent, you are not "fit and proper" and it is illegal for you to work in a bank. Do not go bankrupt if you work for a bank as by law they must terminate your employment.
If you have a house, going bankrupt will take a long, long time and you will probably lose your house.
You are immediately disqualified from being a company director if you are made bankrupt. You are still able to be a sole trader, ie self employed and work on your own. You can still have a job.
The official receiver will make a decision based on your situation - how much you can afford to repay and based on how much you owe, may ask the lenders to write off all the debt, or a percentage. You repay the rest over a course of months or years.
If your situation is very bad, they may rule that you can repay, say, 5% of your total debt and you pay that over a year.
The worst case scenario for bankruptcy is that you overestimated how bad it really is. If they rule you can afford to pay 95% of what you owe, you'll be "bankrupt" for a long, long time before you're discharged. When you are a discharged bankrupt, there is nothing more to pay.
Bankruptcy stays on your credit file for 6 years from when you are discharged. The time before this happens depends on how co-operative you are with the official receiver.
For some people, the official receiver will say they don't earn much, have no assets and can afford to repay say, 5% of what they owe. If they do that, they could be discharged in as little as 6 months.
Do not think bankruptcy is an easy option, it is not. You stand to lose everything you own and your pension. You will lose all savings.
If you have no pension, no savings, no assets, owe many many times more than you earn in a year and don't ever want to work for a bank or in the legal profession, bankruptcy may be a brutal but effective means to exit your current situation.
Whatever you do, seek PROFESSIONAL advice before starting bankruptcy proceedings. Do not take as gospel anything you read here, I could be wrong.
Speak to a debt councillor or a debt management charity.
Good luck,
froggie
2006-09-15 01:44:02 · answer #2 · answered by froggiezebra 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
going bankrupt seems like the trendy thing to do at the moment - problem is is that you wont be able to get a mortgage in the future which will screw you up if you intend to have a family and want to live in your own place rather than a rented hole somewhere horrid. you'll also have problems getting loans in the future and the ones that will give you money will screw you for an awful percentage rate - you may say you never want a loan again but you probably will need one at some time for a car or something. employers can also be funny about employing people that have made themsleves bankrupt. your bankers will screen you more thoroughly and if you ever want to run your own business you'll have difficulties.
best thing to do is sit down with a financial advisor and consolidate your loans into one payment with a low interest rate and promise yourself not to get cards and credit till its all gone.
2006-09-15 01:07:17 · answer #3 · answered by BigBoy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi. I was in the same situation as you. I had large debts, i was paying. Then lost my well paid job, and had to make arrangements with all of my creditors to make small payments. This kept them happy for a while, but inte end they get bored and started chasing me. I got some advice about the different options, and as i did not own a house, only had a low valued car and no assetts, i went bankrupt. i was allowed to keep my car, and the only thing that they took off me was my £2.00 premium bond that i had when i was born in 1976. I was discharged after 5 months as i had nothing.
It was a hard thing to do, and to admit to myself just how much debt i had got into. (£38,000).
If you own your own home, then i would advise you to not go bankrupt as you will lose it, and you will struggle to get a loan or mortgage for a few years.
My main advice is go and see citizens advice, take all your letters and info about your debts and see what they suggest.
I hope you manage to get things sorted out.
2006-09-21 10:56:41 · answer #4 · answered by angel 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm in the same boat I owe 25,000 and only have goods with a market value of around 2,000.bankruptcy has been advised by a debt counsellor but i feel that i have had the money and wish to repay my creditors for my own peace of mind.try a debt management plan it is the first in a line of options leading to bankruptcy followed by an iva.iva@s are not a good idea as they just prolong your suffering.if your creditors wont accept reduced payments by way of priority/non priority basis then advise them that if you go bankrupt they stand to get nothing.bankruptcy will give you a new start but it's on a no credit spend what you earn basis.ps keep away from provident,welcome and loan sharks like these they will mess about with your figures just to get you in debt......good luck...pps dont listen to polly friggin pock she still lives with mummy and daddy.or she was born into it.try struggling to bring kids up dear then you'll know what real life is.
2006-09-14 21:45:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
yes provided you have no long terms plans to buy property, howerver I dont think you make yourself bankcrupt you stop paying your creditors and eventually they will make you bankcrupt you cant do it yourself,
To Pollypock whats more irresponsible him for getting into debt or the credit companies for allowing him to take so much credit, the more debt they create the more interest they earn for there stockholders. I quite sure he got offered lots of credit to get him there should the credit companies not take some responsibility, perhaps stop at £5000 £10000 £20000 then say we are not sure you can pay this back so we wont offer you more money
2006-09-14 22:38:34 · answer #6 · answered by jojo 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Contact the Citizens advice Bureau, the national debt line or the consumer credit counselling service. Their services are free and you need to get specific advice before making your next move - whatever it is. And do not go into further debt or take on any credit advice till you've spoken to them and they advice you - remember they are independent. Bankruptcy is a very seroius decision to take.
2006-09-15 02:12:31 · answer #7 · answered by scallywag 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Unless one of your creditors presses the case, you will have to pay the cost of the writ.
It's not all fun and games or an instant answer but if the problem's so severe you may have no other choice.
2006-09-14 21:47:40 · answer #8 · answered by Michael E 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your just irresponsible!
The money has to come from somewhere to recover losses accrued by lenders.....guess who pays for it in the long run!
EDIT
DAZI.......Love yer style! If you spend more than what comes in, then its tough. Your thought of my life is very clever....how can you describe such an opposite! I never accrued so much debt when my three were growing up. What you are saying is that you cant provide for your kids.
2006-09-14 21:41:22 · answer #9 · answered by PollyPocket 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The first thing is to take advice and see what best option is. There are a range of ofrganisations that can give you advice (most for free, there are more and more charites set up to help people in debt).
here is a load of websites from a website i set up for an voluntary organisation, some of them may be of help.
Good luck, don;'t worry, in my experience £30k is amoun that can be coped with, all best
Consumer CreditConsumer Credit Counselling Servicehttp://www.cccs.co.uk/about/aboutus.htm...
Consumer CreditCredit Actionhttp://www.creditaction.org.uk/about.htm...
DebtCitizens Advice – advice guidehttp://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life...
DebtDebt Advice Bureauhttp://www.debtadvicebureau.org.uk/about...
DebtNational Debt Linehttp://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/agency...
Debt in DivorceDivorce Aidhttp://www.divorceaid.co.uk/financial/he...
Money adviceCommunity Money Advicehttp://www.communitymoneyadvice.com/...
Money AdviceMoney advicehttp://www.moneyadvicetrust.org/...
New parents Money AdviceFSAhttp://www.fsa.gov.uk/financial_capabili...
General adviceCitizens Advice Bureauhttp://www.adviceguide.org.uk/
Law CentresLaw Centres Federationhttp://www.lawcentres.org.uk/
Legal issues (court hearings)Courts Servicehttp://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/...
Legal ServicesLegal Services Commission
http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/...
Local GovernmentLocal Government Ombudsmanhttp://www.lgo.org.uk/
Multiple issues – Housing, family mediation, benefits consumer affairs, employment etcAdvice nowhttp://www.advicenow.org.uk/
Work & pensions (benefits information)http://www.dwp.gov.uk/
Entitled To http://www.entitledto.com/
Enables people to see if potentially entitled to benefits and where to enquire about applying for any they may have an entitlement to
Family Tax Creditshttp://www.hmrc.gov.uk/renewals/...
Housing & Council Tax Benefit Calculator – Liverpool City Councilhttp://benefitscalc.liverpool.gov.uk/...
Housing Benefit Information (Shelter)http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/adv...
Housing Benefit Rooms Calculator (Rents Service)http://www.therentservice.gov.uk/online-...
Pensions Servicehttp://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/reti...
Tax Credits Online – Inland Revenue http://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov....
Tax Information – Tax Aidhttp://www.taxaid.org.uk/
Tax Tools & Converters – Inland Revenue http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/practitioners/too...
DEBT & BUDGETING
Business Debtlinehttp://www.bdl.org.uk/
Credit Check – Checkmyfile.comhttp://www.checkmyfile.com/
Financial Health Check - BBChttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/bu...
Home Repossession – Home Repo pagehttp://www.home-repo.org/
Loan Calculator – Financial Services Authorityhttp://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer/04_credit...
You can use this loan calculator to work out what your monthly repayments would be for various loan amounts, repayment periods and annual interest rates. This could help you decide whether or not you can afford to take a loan out, and also to compare how much you would actually be paying back with different offers you might be considering.
This page also has sections on:
•Borrowing & Debt Frequently asked questions
•Debt Test
•Credit Scoring
•Putting things Right.
Money saving Tips for your Household – Communication Workers Friendly Societyhttp://www.cwfs.co.uk/factsheets_560.asp...
BBC one Life – information on various general finance issueshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/fina...
2006-09-14 21:55:04 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋