www.iva.co.uk

HI everyone!

I'm in a bit of a quandry here! Me and my partner oth have £45K worth of unsecured debt, some joint, some in y name , some in his....
I believe , after alot of soul searching and stress and worry that ourbest solution is to go bankrupt.....

BUT my partner is digging his heels in, point blank refusing to go down the bankruptcy route even though we have been declined an IVA based on lack of I and E due to the mortgage increase in june of £903 per month!

Isit ossible for me to go bankrupt on my own and if did what are the implications on his, his debts and the property?

Hey Helen, I'm sorry that you both don't agree on a solution. I'm sure an expert will be along shortly to advise. I wish you all the luck in the world, and I hope you both find a solution together. Viki X

Is your mortgage on interest only or repayment? If repayment you might be able to get it changed to interest only to help provide more disposable income.

It is definately possibly for you to go bankrupt without him, however he will remain liable for all of the joint debts as you are both responsible for all of them. So whilst you can sit back in the knowledge that creditors cannot pursue you any longer, it will leave him with perhaps added pressure from the action of creditors and debt collectors.

Do you have any equity in your property at the moment? Or any other assets which would be affected under bankruptcy proceedings?

Hi Melanie, the mortgage is on interest only payment already and it is still going to be £903 a month from the 1st of June, which we will struggle to pay

We have joints debts of £14K mine is about £10K and the rest is his. We have about £20K equity left in the property if the house is sold NOW but the creditors are sending us threats to put charges on the property as we speak and so i doubt that we will get alot from the house even if it was sold very quickly, which is highly unlikely, given the curent market.

We do have things that could be sold like a plasma tv, laptops and our son's pc, which was his birthday and christmas presents about 3 yrs ago. This is the main reason my partner doesnt want go bankrupt because he dooesnt want to lose these assets with no hope of ever replacing them. I can see his point to some extent but i thnk it is more important to get rid of these ever increasing debts as th interest is always beig added each month.

Also, i forget to mention he is self employed recently so doesn't have any accounts as yet to prove his earnings. I am employed and come out with £840 a month.

Helen, No one will take your son's computer, please don't worry about that. I'm sorry I can't help but I'm sure Melanie or one of the other experts will post back soon. Viki X

Tell your partner that your domestic assets will not be touched, but the equity in your property is at risk, so you might need to think about selling in any case. It is a shame to be going bankrupt when you have such low debts - are you sure that you could not make some sort of offer of ongoing payments if you tightened your belts a bit?

Hi Melanie, I thought £45K was ALOT to be in debt?

Ive tried to make offers with some of the creditors but some are being unreasonable now e.g. wanting £191 per month for a £6,000 credit card - wheres my partner managed to get the MBNA to agree £80 a month for a £10,000 credit card - seems a bit unfair to me? When i explained i couldn't afford £191 a month they refused to accept any less and said because we've got our own property with equity they will start court proceedings to put a charge on the property.

ive read on this forum that a poor chap lost his car, his digtal camera, his pc and his golf clubs

Oops Sorry Helen - I just added the £10k and the £14k and didn't realise there was more. How much do you think you and your partner could afford to offer to creditors each month, and have you considered whether an IVA would be better for you given your equity. Your domestic assets would definately not be touched under these proceedings.

well, my partner needs to get an accountant first to sort out how much tax he needs to pay since hes been self employed ? His boss has written him a letter stating hes earned £3,650 in the past 10 weeks, then he needs to take tax and insurance from this to find his true earnings.

Once weve done this then we can do an I & E and see what weve got left with my earnings as well?

Maybe i could ring you to try and work this out tosee if an IVA is still an option for us?

Helen ... I just wanted to say that it must be very stressful for you both trying to deal with this by yourselves ... sounds as if you need an expert working for you ... give Melanie a call tomorrow ... and let us know how you get on.

Debbie

Thankyou Debbie, it is very stressful and I want to sort this out once and for all because i cant sleep at night and its making me ill

Im sure if there is a way out that someone like Melanie can help us t do it?

I know Bankruptcy is an end resort and its not an easy option as it means losing your home etc., but if thats our only option we've got to work together to do it.

Thankyou for your kind support

Helen xx

hi helen

please get some professional advice, you will feel better just for having someone to talk things through with who can give you honest advice!

i know it feels as though the world is on your shoulders at the moment but there will be a way to get things sorted!

your health and your family is far more important than these debts, so take the step to getting advice and you will be on your way to a solution and getting things sorted!

i wish you the very best of luck!

barb x

Hi Helen, we sold our house back in Janauary and went into rented. If we had realised at the time that we were going to proceed with an IVA, we would have kept hold of our house and tried to work things out. We are happy in rented, but I was brought up with the notion that is was a good investment to own property. Never mind its done now, but we contacted Melanie a couple of weeks ago, and thankfully she is willing to take on our case. Just talking to the wonderful people on this forum made us feel that we weren't alone. You are among 'friends' and don't need to travel on this journey alone. Keep posting for some real useful advice and ask any questions you need to be answered. Someone will always be here to help you. Keep your chin up. Kazzy x [:D]