Any advice would be a great help.

[knozy]

Hi,
Really hoping I can get some help here as I am stuck in a rut.
I am 31 years old and still living with my mother as I am to scared to apply for any sort of credit.
I managed to get myself into quite a bit of debt. Most of it through a shelf company but a bit personal to. I was only a kid at the time and worked for a company who had big promises with little return. I worked on a commission basis and got brain washed by the company promising I was going to be rich. I started spending on store cards, credit cards and bank loans and before I knew it I was up to my eyeballs. I didn’t think it would be a problem as I was soon to be rich. Anyway it didn’t quite turn out the way I expected.

I started suffering from personal issues through stress and as I didn’t meet curtain targets, the company whom I was under the umbrella of sack me. My partner and myself went to citizen’s advice and were advised to go bankrupt. In hindsight I so wish I did. Instead, through youth, ignorance and stupidity we decided to ignore them and move to Australia. This I thought was the easy way out as my wife was Australian so we buried our heads in the sand and forgot/ignored them. A few weeks later we had a major argument and split up resulting in my now x wife moving back to oz and me moving back with my mum

8 years have now passed and the only thing I have herd from the various creditors is a letter about 6 months ago asking if I live their and in total 3 phone calls asking if I am about. On all of these occasions my mum has denied knowing my where abouts. Im asking for advise on what to do as I cannot keep going on like this and im scared if I own up to them now I will be in serious problems. Friends have told me that they will be written off in 6 years but I don’t think this is the case as I have had a letter 6 months ago from a credit company and a phone call a week ago. Please somebody help. I also cannot understand why the government has not caught up with me, as some of the money was owed to them through tax and vat.

I have been working here for 8 years and have bank account and pay my tax and insurance so why are they not asking for anything? The most worrying thing is I have gone into business with someone whom I have not told of my debts, as I am ashamed and own 50% of the shares. Im worried that if and when I get caught they will be taken and I will be stuck living with my mum for the rest of my life. Any advice would be a great help.
Many thanks

[MelanieGiles]

Hi knozy and welcome to the forum

The reality of your situation is that you do still have debts for which you are responsible, and ought to deal with the situation so that you can move forward in life.

As you are now a shareholder of a company - therefore I assume a director as well - you will be unable to act in this capacity (director) if you are made bankrupt. Therefore, if this business is important to you, you may be better off looking at either an IVA or a Debt Management Programme to recommence payment of these amounts.

The statute of limitations (6 year period) runs from the time that the creditor last issued you with correspondence with you acknowledged. Personally, I would not rely on this and encourage you to face the debts head on and get rid of them.

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

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[ivoriva]

By acknowledgement - this means that you will of had to either paid towards the debt or put it in writing that you acknowledge the debt in the last 6 years. If you are sure you havent, then the debt is legally statue barred - meaning it cannot be enforced in court. That doesnt mean they aren't free to pursue the debt, they just cant use the courts to enforce it (so they can only hound you by phone and letter etc!). But if you do pay or acknowledge it now, the clock will start again I believe.

Most of the debts will probably now belong to Debt Collection Agencys. You could put it in writing, if they contact you, that you do not acknowledge the debt, & even if it was yours you believe it to be statue barred. Then send a CCA request asking them to prove the debt is yours by sending a true signed copy of the agreement. They most probably cant, and may well back off altogether at that stage - or at least offer you a much reduced settlement figure. You can see www.debtquestions.co.uk or www.consumeractiongroup.com for more info on this.

Morally speaking, if you know the debt is yours & the balances are what you expect you should still pay. You could try the above approach and offer to settle at a reduced rate (not by acknowledging the debt, but as a goodwill gesture - put it in writing that any such offer is just that). Some types of debt cant be statue barred, though.

[ivoriva]

I forgot to say, if the debt had a CCJ registered against it, the debt might still be enforceable and therefore may not be statue barred.

[knozy]

First of all thanks very much for your advise[:)]
How would i find out if i have CCJ against me?

[Sadsack]

Credit Expert offer a 30 day free trial to check your credit rating. It will have all your details - past loans etc whether they be settled or not. It will also show associations (people you had joint loans and mortgages with). Any CCJ's, Defaults etc will be noted on your file.
Hope this helps
Sue

Ho Hum! Think I'll bang my drum!

Read My Blog
http://sadsack.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[jamesfalla]

I would be inclined to agree with Melanie on this one. Very often, the only way of finding out whether your creditors are still chasing your for money is to open up the whole can of worms. Given that you want to respolve the problem once and for all and are prepared to meet your obligations, I suggest you consider either a Debt Management Plan or IVA.

As Melanie says, Bankruptcy would not be an option if your are a Director of a limited company or involved in the management of one.

James Falla

Expert in IVA, Bankruptcy and informal Debt Management solutions for over 10 years.

For more information visit www.jamesfalla.com and visit my blog at: http://jamesfalla.blogs.iva.co.uk

[scaredkez]

there is another site which is free where you can see your credit history etc you sign up and opt for the send code by second class post it comes in two days the site is annualcreditreport.co.uk i have used it and found it ok, you don't have to put your card number on on this one.
kerri

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/