[edit] - sure I typed that in right...

Thanks for all the replies I think my father mainly just froze in terror and almost certainly wouldn't have fought back in the same way that I would have, bar hoping they would go away... According to Lowell / BW Legal he made a couple of small payments to them... its being dealt with on another forum too - Thank You if you read this :) So I think we are in good hands. Thanks for the further info and questions to get information on. I sometimes don't have all the information, being a third party in this, but I will continue to dig in the hope we find enough to fight I will keep you all updated on how this goes.

Already been through CAB and national debtline, none of whom seem able to help much. They already bankrupted him, back in March - as the daughter I only just found out once the trustee was trying to get the house valued for sale and my mother found out and went ballistic... I'm trying to get as many details as I can on BW Legal's behavior in case it can be challenged in some (less costly) way. It is difficult being a third party here - if this were my debt I would have acted far sooner and probably got the SD set aside as it seems to have followed dodgy Lowell practice - a minor but significant debt, nearly statute barred, aggressively pursued once equity had been established. SD does not appear to have been served by hand, though they claimed down the phone that it was... etc. Much more difficult to prove without a doubt that they have acted illegally though, particularly with their reputation for making up payments, massaging the truth, etc. Once I have enough material (such as the Lowell charges etc.) I will probably have to pay out further to send my parents to a solicitor if that would help us. The trouble is that everyone is telling us that to annul the bankruptcy by paying up, the debts and costs of the bankruptcy must be settled in full to the satisfaction of the court. Fine and dandy - I can (grudgingly) pay the initial Lowell debt, and the understandable additional costs incurred by bankrupting my father which will have had to be paid to the courts. However, unless I am being woefully naieve about costs incurred in such matters, the figures given above seem to be grossly inflated by nefarious 'legal costs'. Also the trustee has had to do little work in terms of realising assets etc. if we move to annul - bar sending some letters and answering phone calls, but I'm bracing myself for a massive bill from him based directly as a proportion of my Father's assets, rendering us unable to pay for annulment. BW Legal told me that I would not be able to challenge theirs or the trustees costs in any way and would have to pay up in full, to the penny, including any spurious charges they see fit to levy (my wording not theirs) or my Father would have to remain in bankruptcy (being stripped of his assets) - I find it astounding that this can be the case, tantamount to legalised robbery. Some info seems to suggest that final settlements can be made, but it is very unclear how the letter of the law should be interpreted here bar the most simplistic 'blank cheque' reading. Ideally I would query some of these charges, reach a settlement with them, and render the bankruptcy dead in the water bar the trustees charges (next battle!).

The woman I have been emailing at BW legal says she will endeavor to get a breakdown of the £2400 to me 'within the next 7 days' - is it suspicious that these figures are not immediately available?

Also, what the **** are 'Advocate Fees' and are these legitimate?

Hi, I recently found out that my father was bankrupted by Lowell back in March on a debt of £1365.14 they obtained from Capital One (default date 13/7/2007). My parents have significant assets in the form of their house, but little liquidity as they are both on a pension income. I have been looking at a plan to get the bankruptcy annulled, but it isn't looking good right now. Lowell have undoubtedly acted very nastily here, but I'm doubtful of gathering sufficient evidence to get the bankruptcy annulled on the grounds of it not being legitimate. I will look hard at anything that I could possibly use to do this though! Plan B was to attempt to buy my parents back out by moving to annul on the grounds of 'paid in full', however the original debt has now inflated to £4854.00, which BW Legal / Lowell assure me I would have to pay to the penny (no 'final settlement' option under an annulment, or right to challenge their costs or the costs of the trustee - can anyone confirm this is true?). In addition, as there were significant assets to dispose of my Father's bankruptcy is in the hands of a trustee rather than the OR who despite being informed that we were planning on moving for an annulment refuses to declare his fees until he has had my Father's assets valued in full, and says nothing can currently be done 'in case other creditors come forward' (Lowell / BW Legal are the only creditor, to my knowledge - an overdraft in both my parents names I am putting up funds to cover, and my father's outstanding court fines are excluded from the bankruptcy). I fear he is setting himself up for an astronomical bill that would scupper any attempts to escape the asset-stripping. The court ignored my parent's requests to stay proceedings, so there seems no way of controlling the trustee's fees from spiralling out of control and potentially far outweighing the original debt. Ironically, BW Legal / Lowell themselves suggested that this looked bad and suggested my parents contact the OR immediately to advise them of this! Although I have a reasonable but modest income I am a single parent, and have debts myself from recently getting on to the property ladder. I could raise some thousands to bail them out, but not tens of thousands. Does anyone have any advice or are we just done for here, all over a £1300 nearly statute barred debt? I have a breakdown of the fees and charges Lowell are applying now: BW Legal Costs Inc. VAT £2400.00 Court Issue Fee £220.00 HM Land Registry Fee £2.00 Service of the Bankruptcy Petition £60.00 Process Server Fee-Substituted Service £60.00 Court Fee Application for Substituted Service £35.00 Advocate Fees £72.00 Official Receiver's Deposit £700.00 Petition Debt Amount £1365.14 I have asked them for a further breakdown of the £2400 'legal costs inc VAT' Also, the 'nice' woman from BW Legal gave me a run-down of the case from their side (all very reasonable-sounding) in which she claimed that that an agent met my father, confirmed his identity and served him with the statutory demand in person, but it seems from the bill that we are being charged with the costs of having it presented by post? I see we are also being charged with the costs of checking the land registry to see if there was equity to bankrupt him over...