Hi there Well in bankruptcy, your property is likely to be affected, dependant on how much equity is in the property. However, there is an upfront cost to bankruptcy of £600 and you may be asked to pay into an income payment order for 3 years. In an IVA, you would be required to remortgage in the 4th year to release 85% loan to value of your equity (value of home x 85% - mortgage/secured loan balances). At the moment, with property values being so low, you may not have to pay any equity in at all, and all assets along with your property are fully safe in an IVA.

Hi I haven't done this, but I am with payplan too. The only problem that could arise from this, it that if you clear your smaller debts, the other creditors would see this as you treating them preferentially, and this could jeopardise your plan with your other creditors.

Hi I know that when a mortgage is first taken, they will complete a credit check to ensure all debts have been paid on time etc. However, with the rate coming to an end, and you remaining with A & L, I doubt that they would do this. At the end of the day you are paying your mortgage without any problems, it is just the unsecured element that you are paying through the DMP. When your fixed rate ends, your mortgage payments are likely to come down, which will also increase your DMP payment, reducing the overall repayment time for you

You would let the DMP defend this, and sort it out on your behalf. I would suggest contacting your main point of contact at the DMP company, and explaining what you have received, forward the court papers on, and they will then contact the court and that creditor to resolve this on your behalf. x

Hi There are a lot of people who I have spoken to who are receiving phone calls from different companies, advising of different options. I dont know where they are getting the information from, but my advice would be to ignore the calls. You have already made a good start in sorting your finances once and for all by way of an IVA. Bankruptcy was, and still is an option for you, but as you have been paying into your IVA just over a year, it would be a shame to have to fail that and start over with bankruptcy. The IVA is also an alternative to bankruptcy which many people prefer, as all assets are safe, and their is no stigma attached. Also, to go bankrupt, you would need to pay the upfront cost of £600 and wuold be asked to pay into an incoem payment order for 3 years in bankruptcy anyway. x

If you owe £14K, your debt level is not too small for an IVA. However, it does depend on how much disposable income you have left at the end of the month. The IVA company would also need to take into account your age, but may be able to try a 3 or 4 year IVA before you fully retire and start to receive state pension. It would be worth looking into this option further as it does seem on the information given so far that you could be eligible x

yes, just to add to this, once you are discharged from bankruptcy, that is it completed. You are no longer obliged to inform them of any information.x

Hi there It is totally down to you if you take the new role, but the IVA company would review your wife's Income and Expenditure details at her next annual review, and this pay increase would need to be taken into account, as your wife is obliged to tell the IVA company any updated information. Therefore, as you say this will increase payments into her IVA. However, if you are earning more, wont your working tax credits reduce, meaning that the surplus payment should remain around the same??? x ? It is a tricky one, but down to you at the end of the day ?

Hi So, has Payplan now said that you should be proposing to pay £400. Are you comfortable in affording this each month? As in my previous post, you can try an IVA based on your sole details, but they are likely to ask for a joint income and expenditure to show a realistic reflection of what is coming in and going out of the household. I hope you manage to get this sorted, if I can be of any more help at all, please contact me

Just to add to this, as long as you have the original documents to prove that your mother owns 95% of the property, that equity is rightfully hers, and I think the OR will respect that, and maybe just focus on your remaining share of the equity, if any x

Hi there Yes, if you are out of work at the moment, and any benefits received does not leave you with any disposable income at the end of the month to pay into any payment plans, bankruptcy may be a good option for you to go down. Your cars would be looked into, but generally if they are worth less than around £2K the OR would not touch them, as it would not be worth their while. Your property would need to be declared to the OR, and this may be at risk, especially if you have equity. You can appeal to keep your property but this is ultimately down to the OR. You would need to find the upfront cost to bankruptcy though of £600, and with you having no disposable income your bankruptcy should not last any more than 12 months. If you are on benefits though, you can claim court fees back, in the end costing you less than the £600. Please remember though, depending on your ages, that bankruptcy can carry a stigma attached to it, such as it can affect future credit and occupations. Thank you, and hope this helps x

I would have thought you could definately challenge this. Especially after you have seperated, I would have thought you can look into the beneficial interest side of things in more detail. The beneficial interest is usually determined by the following: Who has been paying the mortgage payment? Who funded the deposit? Who has made home improvements? How long has the person lived there? When all of these points have been looked into by a solicitor, they can prove beneficial interest. As you have funded the deposit solely, I would say that already this gives you an advantage over your ex partner and you should have more equity entitlement than her. I know that it costs a lot of money for solicitors, but may be worth shopping around for these to find out how much you are entitled to. Definately worth the fight x

Unfortunately the creditors are not accepting a lot of IVA proposals with single income and expenditure (their criteria changes all of the time). You will be told that you could try an IVA if you are adamant of using a sole Income and expenditure, but it is likely not to be accepted by your creditors. You would need to put forward a joint income and expenditure (where your partners income would be cancelled out by most of her expenditure), or at least showing your partners contribution towards half of the household bills, with your other sole expenses. Dont forget also that all DMPs and IVA companies have certain guidelines to adhere to that the creditors require you to stick to. This is to ensure that you are paying back as much as you can afford within the given time span of the plan, and to give your IVA the best chance of being accepted.x

Hi First of all bankruptcy costs £600 to set up, so you would need to be able to find this money. Your assets are at risk in bankruptcy, but dependant on how much equity there is, and the OR dealing with your case, you may be able to keep your property. Although the bankruptcy would be 12 months, you would be asked to pay into an income payment order for 3 years. Bankruptcy is a quicker option but the stigma of this needs to be taken into account. For example, it may be issued in the paper, and it can affect future employment and promotions. Take a look at the following link on bankruptcy which may help you further: Piggy’s bankruptcy information and advice, help going bankrupt

I would suggest speaking with other IVA companies like Payplan, as I know that the lower offer they put forward is 10%, so I cannot understand why the IP you have been speaking to is saying it will not be accepted Why dont you consider going forward with the IVA, and then your wife making reduced payments to her creditors in a DMP. This way you will be able to do the IVA, and she will be clearing her debt in a DMP? x

Yes, just to add to this, it would only be your assets affected in bankruptcy as it is your debt. Your fiancee's assets and finances will not be affected in any way xx

Statute Barred A debt is considered Statute Barred if a creditor has not contacted a debtor for a period of 6 years and no action has been taken on the account. Although the debt is still legally acknowledged as being owed, the creditor is not able to take any legal action against the debtor in order to recover the debt. It is considered unfair if a creditor or debt collector misleads the debtor into believing the debt is still legally recoverable. It is also considered an unfair practice if the creditor or debt collector press for payment after the debtor has stated they will not be paying the money owed. This could amount to harassment contrary to Section 40(1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 I have just located this from the folowing link: Your Rights against Creditors from Debt Questions

I have always been told that ANY communication or correspondence between yourself and the creditor would be classed as contact, and would then affect the chances of the debt becoming statute barred, therefore I would say that the statement from Payplan is correct. If someone is calling, discussing or chasing you for a debt, you are still liable. It is only if you have had NO correspondence or communication from them aknowledging the debt that this would be statute barred.

Hi In order to do an IVA, you would need to show you have a stable income coming in from your business. The debt management plans are good options for you, and can be used on a temporary until your decide what option to take, or a permanent basis, clearing your debt in full. In the DMP, you would need to declare an income and expenditure statement, which will show how much money you can afford to pay into this each month. This payment would then get distributed to all creditors pro rately. Look out for those companies that charge fees though. With you having a lot of equity in your property, have you considered either selling or remortgaging to release some of this equity to clear your debts in full? Even if you remortgage and get a % of this equity released, you could propose a full and final settlement either in an IVA or DMP to clear your debts once and for all x

A short settlement is just like a full and final settlement, proposing to offer a lump sum to clear your debt in full. If you agree with the creditor for this debt to be settled and you have this in writing, they cannot come back for it. Your credit file would also be amended.

By the time of your tribunal, you would have already started with the bankruptcy proceedings, so definately ensure that when you have your interview with the OR, that this HB debt is also included in your bankruptcy. If this has been confirmed, I would suggest writing to the company dealing with this overpayment, and explain that you are proceeding with bankruptcy, or you could still attend the tribunal to represent yourself, explain your situation about the bankruptcy, and give them your OR's details to contact to resolve the debt. Hope this helps, and I hope all goes well with your bankruptcy x

Hi The IVA is an individual voluntary arrangement, so it wouldn't be a joint plan as such, it would be two arrangements using the same household income and expenditure. With you making an offer of around 15p in the £, an IVA is definately a good option for you. With regards to your wife also doing an IVA, she does have enough debt, but you will need to sit down and look through your household income and expenditure to see if you have sufficient surplus (disposable income) between you for you to both pay into individual arrangements. You will need to include all income, and then excluding any unsecured creditor payments, write down all expenses for the both of you, including any children you may have, for example, housekeeping, clothing, footwear, travel costs, bills, etc. If you then have at least £100 each between you to spare at the end of the month, then you could both possibly look at doing two IVAs alongside eachother, and have both of your debts written off after 5 years. If your wife does receive an inheritance, from her elderley mum, and has already entered into an IVA, this is not a problem. She would need to declare that she has received this money, and then could offer a full and final payment to her IVA to clear her debts in under the 5 year period. The problem with making token payments is that your debt doesnt clear that much at all, and the amount of interest charged will be very high. Another option, if your wife does not want to entr into an IVA, is for her to enter into a debt management plan alongside your IVA. This way, she could make monthly payments she can afford, whcih do not have to be her contractual payments. the debt management company would then disctribute these payments to all creditors each month. You can as above continue to pay into yoru IVA whilst she is doing this, and ocne your IVA has been completed, after 5 years, you will both be able to put more into her DMP pot to clear her debt quicker. If she receives the inheritance in a DMP, it would be the same thign in that she can propose a full and final offer to her creditors to clear debts in full. I hope this helps. I would be interested to hear how you get on or what you decide to do x

I would say that the Coop or Nationwide are the better bank accounts to open with. It does now say as part of the new government that everyone should be entitled to a basic bank account, so dont give up hope x

I would see what it says on your credit file, and write to them offering a payment. This should then get passed to Fairfax, however to be on the safe side, send a copy of the letter to Fairfax for them to see you have offered a payment to the original creditor. A lot of the companies will say that they will come round to your home as a threat tactic - some do come round, but depending on where their offices are located. If they do come round, they are not bailiffs and cannot force entry - either do not answer the door, or explain to them that you will be wiling to offer a reduced payment until you can afford more. x

You can dissassociate your wife from financial affairs. I would also say with regards to selling your share that the official receiver would not like for this to be done, as it is giving away some money/an asset that couldve been given in bankruptcy. As above, the OR will go through your income and expenditure details, all debts to be included in BR, and details of all assets and their values.