I have just had a judgement against me for £5500. The claimant has issued a statutory demand and bankruptsy threat within 7 days if not paid. Would an iva prevent them taking this action?
I have probably around £8000 more immediate debt plus being chased for a further £9000 for a disputed electric bill for a business I used to have. Seperate to that an estimated £4k tax/vat owed and in arrears on mortgage but under control.
Not much equity purchased house around 18 Months ago estimate £8k and not great income but would have around £250 left as disposable.
Thanks Mrs Skint, think thats my best option. I guess my main concern at the moment is that the claimant will be able to serve the statutory demand and a bankruptsy issued before an iva (if appropiate) could be sorted out and I am not sure if they could still bankrupt me even if an iva was in place.
An IVA would certainly defeat the bankrutpcy proceedings, and you do seem to have the criteria to at least explore this as an option.
As you have been served with notice of forthcoming bankruptcy proceedings, it would be very advisable to seek advice from an insolvency practitioner at the earliest opportunity.
You have 21 days from the receipt of the Statutory demand to sort your circumstances out before the automatic presumption is that you cannot pay your debts and that particular creditor can start bankruptcy proceedings.
Take advice from one or more practitioners. It is all free - visit www.iva.com for reviews on other practitioners who will be able to give you appropriate advice. Good luck.
Regards, David Mond, Insolvency Practitioner for over 46 years. Personal Insolvency Practitioner of the year 2012, Personal Insolvency Practitioner of the year finalist 2013 & 2014 awarded by Insolvency & Rescue Magazine and 2015 finalist for Personal Insolvency Firm of the Year.
This sounds like a nonsense from the start, as Mrs Skint suggests. The clue is in the 7 days.
You legally have 21 days to respond to a Stat Demand before anyone can pursue bankruptcy.
Also, was the stat demand delivered by a Bailiff or just stuck in the post ? If the latter it is more likely to be a bluff.
Also, if you have a judgment you can apply to the Court to enable payment by installments on the debt in question. This will make it much harder for the creditor to get a Bankruptcy order.
You do not say who the claimant is. If it is for a statutory debt eg Tax/VAT you need to be a lot more careful as these people are much more likely to make good on the threat. However they are also much more likely to follow proper procedure.
Thanks. The judgement was for commission to an agent who sold a business lease in 2006. I had tried to cancel the agreement but the contract stands and I lost the case.
The judgement was originally issued in March 08, the claimant gave 14 days for me to pay which I couldn't and so they issued a Stat demand. This was hand delivered by an enforcement company giving 18 days before bankruptsy req in my local Court.
I applied to have the judgement set aside on the grounds that I had not recieved some of the Court documentation but this has just been rejected and the threat re-issued. It feels like they are serious to follow this through possibly more out of spite.
In the meantime I am in a mess financially partly through 2 redundencies in 18 Months and previous Business debts.
I have just gone through all finances and gathered the information to forward for advice on an IVA however I am worse off than I thought and only break even when I add in a realistic amount for housekeeping and clothes etc.
My unsecured debt including some bad debt as per credit files totals £25k, priority debts VAT, tax, n.i. and Council tax totals £4500 and Mortgage arrears £1700.
My partner was working around 30 hours a week on a casual contract on minimum wage but on having time off in July the Company told her they no longer needed her. This income was I guess keeping us a float and would have give us the disposable for an iva. Whilst my partner is actively looking for work there has been no joy as yet and my daughter has just started School it is limiting job options available.
So I am beginning to think that br is a good option as I have had enough of everything but I am so scared regarding losing the house. I have read that it may be possible to stay in your house for up to a year proving Mortgage is paid. Is this quite often granted?
Yes, it does sound as if they are serious enough to at least warrant your attention!
Another option is to offer the creditor security on your property. The Court can refuse bankruptcy if a reasonable offer has been made. You would obviously lose that amount in equity, but that may be better than losing the lot in bankruptcy.
If you do go BR, you would be OK for at least a year I believe subject to mortgage payments. Whether or not your house would be under threat depends on how much equity you have in it, and whether anyone would be able to buy it out on your behalf.
I should add that if you have substantial statutory debts as you suggest ie VAT/Tax/NI these people are certainly not above using bankruptcy and you may find yourself trying to jump round very small stepping stones in a very large bog.
Last edited by go_4_broke on Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
