Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. Ok my debts are Council Tax - £3600 - Not full years but missed payments over several years. Bank of Scotland - £10500 BT - £178 Virgin Media - £95 T Mobile - £642 I've checked my credit file with all 3 agencies and only defaults are: Experian T Mobile Virgin Media Orange (marked as settled). Equifax T Mobile Virgin Media Call Credit T Mobile Only other things are a couple of old settled accounts (not in default) that are about to drop off and my current account (also not in default). I had to stop making token payments to Bank of Scotland 2 year ago as for reasons I don't know they were returning my token payment to my bank account the day after I made it. I wrote to them to ask why and received no response. They also stopped sending me letters and quarterly loan statements about the same time I stopped making payments. This dropped off my credit files with all 3 agencies just before Christmas. There is also PPi on this which I tried to reclaim but got the usual hassle from the bank. I don't know if I can try to reclaim a second time but if I can then it may be worth taking further.

Hello, I'm looking for debt advice (a payment break or the possibility of bankruptcy). I'm currently self employed and have been since 2006, business was good at one time but over the last 3 year my income has slowly decreased to the point where I'm working 12 to 14 hours a day, 7 days a week for very little money. I have tried to find full time work but had had no offers of employment locally in the last 3 years although I have had offers of work 200 miles away with a company I've worked for in the past, the offer of work with is still there. Unfortunately I'm unable to raise the money to pay rent, deposits etc so I can move to start work. I've been on housing association waiting lists for the last 3 years for the areas I've been offered work and have so far had no offer of housing, the employer hasn't been able to assist with housing. I'm 34 year old and live rent free, my home is owned by my parents. The house needs a lot of work on it and I do some of the work in return for free accommodation (I pay bills, council tax and other expenses). They supply materials and I do the work. My parents don't live here, they live elsewhere. I don't have a tenancy agreement or contract, it's just a verbal agreement between me and my parents. I have debts of around £14000 which include about £3600 priority debt (council tax arrears). My non priority debts are all unsecured. I did have arrangements with creditors to make token payments but due to a sudden drop in income I haven't been able to make any token payment for about 6 month. My priority creditor has now tried to arrest my bank account but there was insufficient funds. I fear that they may now bankrupt me. In about 3 to 4 months time my parents plan to sell the house I live in, I have been offered some of the money from the sale of the property to pay off creditors and to relocate so I can move to go back to full time employment (that's if I don't find work locally). What I would like to know is, what are the chances that if I ask creditors for a payment break for the next 4 or 5 months with an offer of repayment in full at the end of the payment break that it will be accepted? I would also like to know, if a creditor was to bankrupt me (or if I choose to bankrupt myself), would my parents be told? (They are the property owner so may be seen as the landlord). Their well aware that I'm in debt but have a lot of problems of their own at the moment (health and non health problems). I don't want to cause them any more worry than they have already. If I were to end up bankrupt (whether voluntarily or non voluntarily) what are the chances I'd lose my car? It's not worth a lot, I bought it for £750 through auction a few year ago, I don't know what it's worth now but have seen others selling for anywhere between £500 to £1200 and seen a few garages selling the same make/model for £1800+ but the cars seem to sit on their forecourt for a long time s o I don't see that as a realistic valuation. I rely on the car for my business, I also need it to help out with parents (they both got health problems and their mobility isn't what it used to be). Apart from my car I have very little other assets and my savings have already been used up paying off various creditors over the last 3 year. My only other assets are a very old laptop (not worth much and has a lot of problems, mobile phone (also not worth a lot), tools I use for business (estimated valuation £300) and the clothes I wear (nothing fancy). Ideally I'd prefer to ask creditors for a payment break with a full settlement at the end of the payment break. If I needed to I'd go for bankruptcy but it would be a shame as I've already worked hard to clear a good bit of debt. The pressure of being in debt and having creditors on my back has had an effect on me mentally and I'm currently on medications for the way I feel. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I'm sorry for a long post, I'm not that great at writing these things.