sliding fast due to bank charges

[j.c.d]

We owe approx £90,00 to credit cards and suppliers.We are currently self employed and earn about £2,200 per month.We have however never made a profit in the business and closed a large portion of it prior to Christmas to reduce overheads adn haev survuved to this point only by my husband completing a job and then us paying the next most important person. We have however had an offer of sponsorship for Australia our joint income would be £2,600 per month approx and we would aim to go in approx 2 months. We have been struggling in the business for nine years and the credit card debts have been mainly used for subsidising the business. We owe £206,000 on our house and a £10,000 penalty if we sell before October . It would sell realistically at about £230,000. If we went we would like to rent it out to at least get to the redemption stage. Could you let me know if an IVA is an option, we are sliding fast due to bank charges and I have just had to stop all the payments on my credit cards so I do not incur any more.
Hope to hear from you.Part of the above debt is £7,000 to VAT.

[MelanieGiles]

Hi jcd and welcome to the forum

I assume that your debts are actually £90,000?

An IVA will only be an option for you if you are able to make ongoing voluntary contributions on a monthly basis, as the sale of your house is unlikely to realise much in the line of equity. However if your debts are only £9,000, then I would ask your creditors to wait until the property is sold.

Can you clarify the numbers here please, as it does made a difference!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[j.c.d]

Sorry Melanie it should have read £90,000.

[Beechy]

I take it that you will be looking to make monthly VP's plus the equity from the house sale (when it is sold), or are you looking just to offer the equity as a full and final. If it is the later the dividend is quite low.

Do you intend to remain in Aus?


Dave Beech

[j.c.d]

I am not sure what are the pros and cons of each. my brain is dead at the moment, therefore I need all the advice I can get.
My property is on the market, if I got an offer would I be better cutting my losses.

[j.c.d]

Sorry , forgot to answer one of the questions. If things worked out we would hoep to stay in Australia but we are not sure if an IVA would affect our appication- does anybody know?

[Beechy]

There are several consideration you need to look at is there any clause in the sponsor ship that states you must not be an undischarged bankrucpt and will it affect you if you want reside. Another problem is that the OR may stop you traveling to reside in AUS until you are discharged from bankruptcy.
There should be no problem is terms of an IVA (subject to creditor approval of the repayments) with you living in AUS





Dave Beech

[MelanieGiles]

Beechy

How do you suggest that the OR stops someone travelling? Do you have personal experience of this - if so I would be interested to hear this as in 22 years of dealing with bankruptcy cases I have never come across such a deliberate breach of human rights. On what grounds would you say from your experience that the OR could remove someone's passport - as that is the only way they could stop someone leaving the country.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[cat 1]

Melanie..I would hate to be on the recieving end of your tongue, but I love your posts.Human Rights position.It's so refreshing to hear someone so passionate about people's rights and you attempts to empower people despite thier situation. Breath of fresh air ...

[MelanieGiles]

Oops - didn't mean to sound so stiff!

But I simply cannot see how an OR could justify stopping someone travelling abroad to further their career prospects. We used to be able to intercept a bankrupt's mail in the good (or bad!) old days, but that was stopped a whilst ago as an abuse of Human Rights legislation, and now is only available in certain circumstances.

As a young trainee about 20 years ago, one of my favourite jobs was opening the redirected post, but in hindsight it was rarely necessary as the majority of bankrupts are relatively honest, and the thought now of being able to open someones personal and private mail is horrid.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[cat 1]

I totally agree.I work with people who have psychosis and they are frequently undermined, recieve prejudice and second class service.Thier rights are not considered.I too am passionate about what I do and always defend the 'underdog'..that's why when you get indignant it's funny but very ,very refreshing to hear.Cat

[Beechy]

ouch, should we start a campaign for people who live in Singapore
Section 131(1)(b) of the Act provides that an undischarged bankrupt “shall not leave, remain or reside outside Singapore without the previous permission of the Official Assignee”.

Dave Beech

[MelanieGiles]

I wonder if we have ever had any provisions like this in the UK, because Malaysian law would originally have been based on English law. Must dig out my dusty copy of the Bankruptcy Act 1914 to check.

Good excuse to start a competition to find the whackiest international bankruptcy provisions. Are you an expert in Singaporean insolvency?

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[Beechy]

No, I was just checking to see if there were any examples of restriction cases in UK law.

According to the Hong Kong 6 month review whith Margaret Beckett signed off it ruled
On 20 July the Court of Final Appeal ruled that a travel restriction under the Bankruptcy Ordinance was unconstitutional. A four to one majority held that the provision, which required bankrupts to notify their trustees before and after travelling abroad, violated Law as well as the Bill of Rights Ordinance guaranteeing people’s rights to travel. Chief Justice Andrew Li said the travel notification requirement was disproportionate and went beyond what was necessary to protect the rights of creditors. Mr Justice Ribeiro, dissenting, held that the requirement was a legitimate and proportionate limitation on freedom.


Dave Beech

[MelanieGiles]

So on balance, unlikely to cause our poster any problem in travelling to Australia.

Well done for doing the research, Beechy, I have learnt something today!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp