I am in an IVA, which is not good for me. I want to go bankrupt, and have been contacted by a company who have offered to do it for me. They want to charge me £900. How can I check to see if they are a creditable company? Or, could I do a bankruptcy self declaration with a chance of getting it right? Thank you for your answer.
Hi and welcome.
Firstly, why do you feel that the IVA is no good for you?
I would be very wary of using a company like that to assist you with bankruptcy. They want to charge you a very large fee to help to fill in forms. You can download and print the forms yourself from the insolvency service website.
You could then declare yourself bankrupt. All you need to do is fill in the forms and make an appointment at your local court. It will cost you around £495 (i think)
hi mumfop and welcome-are you able to say which company contacted you ?
£900 is steep. i read somewhere on here you can do it yourself for £495. wait for a pro-they will be here soon.
why are you not happy in your iva whats gone wrong ? keep posting and we will help you [:)]
Spot on, as usual, Mrs S. All but the most extreme or complicated cases don't really need specialist help, therefore unnecessary expense at a time when the individual may be at their most vulnerable is to be avoided if possible.
If you are happy to pay for such help of course then that is a different matter.
Regards.
Last edited by size5 on Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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What does the £900 comprise of - will this cover the £495 Court fee, and how will you fund that payment? Is your IVA in arrears, and why do you now feel that bankruptcy is a better option?
Also, what is the name of the company who has offered to assist you with the bankruptcy application?
The bankruptcy fee may be reduced further if you are claiming certain benefits - it is worth looking into this. £900 is for what exactly ? Think long and hard before parting with that kind of money.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
There is a solution for everyone .... Just need to stay positive !
Hi Everyone, and thanks for your input. Very much appreciated. The company concerned are Goldsmith Henderson from Leeds, and the £900 is just to aid me through bankruptcy. There plan is to cancel the IVA payments immediately, and use four monthly payments of £225 prior to the bankruptcy to claim there money. Alarm bells did ring when they said they wanted the money up front before a shot had been fired in anger, and my obvious concern is that they might pocket the money and run. I cannot find a web site for them, so the whole set up seems a bit fishy. They may well be perfectly legitimate, I just dont know. The £495 will be on top of that. Currently, my wife and I are in a joint IVA which has only been running for about 8 months. We are both nearing our sixties, and I have just got a job worth an extra £4000 per year. If the IVA people take half of that, our repayments will be larger than the ones we had to cover the debt we first had when we took out the IVA. We are council tenants, and have no major assets. It seems that payments within bankruptcy are fixed for the term, so will not fluctuate upwards as the IVA is about to. I have also learned recently that within bankruptcy I can still have a bank account, and probably keep my car too since I now work on an industrial estate with no bus service. Therefore, no car, no job. If payments are lower too, I cannot see any advantage to remaining within an IVA. Go on, shoot me down in flames. (I am strapped in tightly with my seat belt on!!). Thanks everyone, I really do appreciate any thoughts/input/experiences.
If you check this out it will explain all about bankruptcy. It will then only cost you the £495 court fees.
I would not pay any extra across to any of these firms.
If you don't make any payments to your IVA for three months it will fail, and this money you can use as your court fees.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
If you do decide that the IVA isn't for you, then please don't pay this company to 'guide you through bankruptcy'.
Once you are BR if you have more than £100 surplus income per month you would be expected to pay up to 70% of your income into an Income Payment Agreement (IPA) for 36 months. If you have a pay rise during these 36 months your IPA could increase.
How much is your car worth? You are generally allowed to keep a car up to a value of £2500. If your car is worth more than this and the OR agrees that you need a car you can either ask someone to make an offer for the difference, or the car will be sold and you will be given money to by a replacement.
Thank you for your replies, most informative. My car was valued at £4999 when the IVA started in June 2008, but it is a 4 x 4 so I expect the value has plummeted since. I don't know where to go to find out a current value for it, but I would expect it to be worth over £2500. I have recently started a new job and after contacting Debt Free Direct (My IVA people) they tell me that they would be likely to take 100p in the £ of my increase in wages to pay to my creditors. Since it is a combined IVA with my wife, it would mean our combined IVA payments each month would be close to £800. This is the level of payments that got us into financial trouble in the first place and really offers no solution or way out for either my wife or I. It would seem that the IVA is not really suited to anyone who has a good increase in salary since it takes away any hope for a better future. Surely it is better for the creditors to take a small proprotion of any increase and make sure they get something from an IVA rather than nothing from a bankruptcy? I know I am looking at it from my own perspective, but it I would still like a solution that is best for all. Thanks again everyone.
I would certainly speak with DFD again. You need to tell them that you cannot afford these payments. Do a new I&E so that you can tell them how much extra you are paying for things.
I would also tell them that you are thinking of bankruptcy and see what they say.
I would just stress again not to use one of these assisted bankruptcy firms. You can ill afford to pay their fees.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Thank you for your reply. I have just got off the phone with Debt Free Direct, and, basically, they are not interested. I told them I could not possibly afford potentially £800 per month, and that it would mean certain bankruptcy if they made this so. Trouble is, without being agist or sexist, I wonder if the 20 year old lady call centre operator has any sort of understanding about repercussions of the advice they dispense, and with little or no life experience it would perhaps seem very inconsiderate of DFD to place such onus on such young shoulders. I was unable (Cos she told me I could not) talk to a supervisor or someone who would actually have contact with my debtors. The general consensus of everyone is not to use companies who assist with bankruptcy petitions, so this will be some advice that I will certainly be taking notice of. I have to admit that although I am nearing 60 years old, and drive an articulated truck for a living, I have been moved to a tear or two reading some of the bloggs posted by other self inflicted debtors like me. Everyone has been such an inspiration. Thank you Jan, and Skippy13 and everyone else too.
Jan is right - and if they refuse to play ball you can ask them to refer the matter to Court for a reassessment of your payments based upon affordability. I hardly think that they will want to do that, and if you insist on a face to face meeting with your IP to discuss this, it will be interesting to see what they say.
Being charged £900 for "bankruptcy assistance", for filling in a few forms is ridiculous, and completely unecessary for someone who is alrady in an insolvency process. I am sure that this will not be necessary.
Mumfop, for what it's worth, I think you are being treated really badly by DFD. You should be able to speak to a supervisor or IP (although perhaps non work on a Saturday)
Otherwise, I would take Melanies advice and challenge them.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
I agree with Jan that you are being treated badly by DFD and I hope you can get this sorted out. You and your wife don't need this, an IVA is supposed to be the end of the stress.
Please let us know how you get on, and if you have any questions please post as there is always someone to help x
