www.iva.co.uk

I had a very unpleasant experiance with a baliff last week re: council tax arrears and after a friend paying £340 I felt forced into an agreement of £120 a month of top of all the other debt. I am really now on the edge. I have been told that an IVA is not possible because after all the outgoing incoming expenditure it left outgoing of £40. Is there any way around this. It is an absolute disaster. I am desperate to do anything to straighten this out on some level. Please advice

Hi Kate to propose an iva you have to have a reasonable amount of disposable income generally around £200 and at least £15,000 of debts. How much are you debts in total..

Ang

My debt is approximately 16,500. I have just be advised by a very experienced person that bankruptcy seems to be my only real viable option. Has anyone else had experience of bankruptcy? This is all rather terrifying

I was thinking the same, though I would still wait for other answers I am not a technical expert. Bankrupcy will give you a chance to clean the slate and start afresh. It will cost I think £485 and £150 less if you are on benefits. The forms you can print from the insolvency website. I would take a look at the blogs on bankrupcy, a couple off my head would be that of skippy, scardekez, mish. You will find the link at the top of this page just click on blogs. This will tell you what it is like.
Dont be terrified, the main thing is to sort something out and get your life and money back under your control, bankrupcy is something I would have done had I not been in a position to propose an iva, and still will should things become too hard and unmanageble.
Anyway kate wait for other answers and ask anything else that you want.

Ang

Hi
Have a look at a few blogs from members that have been through bankruptcy[Skippy13,Scaredkez,Coco]you will see that it is not as bad as you may imagine
Regards

I am also a tenant of keyworkers housing. I am currently in arrears but repaying an agreement which I dont defer which is 40 pound extra on top of my rent. Will going bankrupt jeopardise my tenancy. Losing my tenancy would just about finish me of and as you can imagine keyworkers housing is like gold dust. I will do anything to keep my tenancy

Anyone who could give me advice on this I would be very grateful

Hello Kate

In bankruptcy as a tenant you are in potentially a far better position than someone who owns their own home.

If you want to know what the position is have a careful read of your tenancy agreement. If you are in some kind of socially based or subsidised housing it's highly unlikely that just going bankrupt will have any effect at all. However if you are in rent arrears I think I'm right in saying that the landlords will not be able to recover this in bankruptcy, which might annoy them a bit, so as a belt-and-braces you might think about stopping payments on any credit cards and loans (they would go in bankruptcy anyway) and chucking everything you can at the rent arrears, especially if there does not appear to be any clear guidance on this.

Most debt advisers will tell you to always pay your loans and credit cards last, they do not have a direct route to bailiffs or other nasties, unlike some as you have found out!

However if you have been bailiffed you will find bankruptcy a walk in the park (if it comes to that) as long as you don't mind a bit of form filling! However you may find you have other options before you get that far.

Best Regards, Simon

Thank you Simon. I have tried every avenue and Bankruptcy seems to be my only viable option to get out of this hell. I will try and locate my tenancy agreement. During the bankruptcy process will they allow to continue to address my rent arrears as part of outgoings. And could someone please tell which form i first need for bankruptcy . My mind is totally racing !!!! I dont think I have any brain cells left. And I have substantial surgery on the 3rd April. so things are looking so fragile at the moment

You can find the bankruptcy application forms on the Insolvency Service's website, and I am sure that you will be allowed to include rent arrears in your ongoing rental payments but this will need to be discussed with the examiner at the Official Receiver's office.

You can (or could) even fill in the forms on-line but I don't recommend this (unless they have improved the system) as it is all a bit long-winded and flaky, but you can at least have a look at what's required. If you want paper forms get a 'Bankruptcy Pack' from your local friendly(?) County Court Office.

Don't panic tho, you can buy some valuable time by not paying (or paying very little) on your consumer debt (loans and credit cards) and use any spare money to keep the Bailiffs at bay and avoid running up any more rent arrears.

Best Regards, Simon

Thank you go for broke. My rent arrears are fine and I am meeting the rent repayment agreement. Its the council tax that is a mess and not helped by mistakes made by my local council and a really unhelpful group of solicitors on their behalf. This is still being dealt with. the case has been divided in two so need to deal with the Baliffs again. Once I have got the pack, how long does this process normally take. I am mindful that I have to have a major operation in 3 weeks which i need 6 weeks to recover from I am about to enter into a pay month from hell so I want to start this process as soon as possible. Thanks

I filled the forms in online, and while they were long winded you can save and amend them as you go along so there is no need to worry about correcting mistakes.

Thanks Skippy. I live with Epilepsy so the thought of staring at my laptop screen for long periods of time is not a helpful one unfortunately. So is my undertstanding that the initial forms can be obtained at my County Court? Sorry for all the questions but my mind is rather crazy at the moment. Trying to keep the stress in check !!!

Yes, if you want good old-fashioned paper forms just call in at your local Court office, they keep usual 9-5ish hours, say 10-4 to be on the safe side.

Best Regards, Simon

Hi Kate

I am moved by your situation, I can identify with the feelings of hopelessness and panic youre feeling right now. I too didnt pay my rent and council tax and threw everything at the loans and cards. Its so common (according to te money adviser I had). Amyhow, I was told that the council tax and rent would be written off in BR but I wasnt too sure as council tax is a legal debt. I would agree with the person who advised throwing everything at the rent and council tax and ignoring the cards and loans. I know they phone and scream, ninety odd times a day but if youre honest and say your only option is ~BR they really cant do anything about it.

Please remember that there is an end to this mess, I was just like you. I could barely function and was sooo ashamed and tired of trying. Living through this is hard but there is light at the end of it.

Onr more thing that springs to mind, living with epilepsy; Do you claim disability living allowance for this?? If not then you should.

You must take care of yourself, its only money, youre far more precious than what you owe (although it dosent feel that way when creditors are giving you hell, and you feel like hell).

Good luck Kate, keep going, its not as bad as it seems to be right now. Youre on the right track,(doesnt feel like it, I know).

Keep posting, none of your questions are silly, most of us have been there.