https://www.gov.uk/government/news/improved-help-for-people-struggling-with-problem-debt

Hello I was made Bankrupt by HMCR in Oct 2013 while I was in the process of trying to agree a IVA, on visiting the Insolvency service I was advised as I was trying to agree a IVA, I would not have to resign my company directorships unless this was unsuccessful and my Bankruptcy was not annulled. In December 2013 my IVA was agreed and following this my Bankruptcy was annulled. It has now come to my attention that the other director has informed Companies House that I was bankrupt and resigned my directorship. I am asking was the Insolvency Services advise correct and could the director do this without my consent and is it possible to get this reversed ?

Hello, I would be very grateful for any advice / input on my options to move forward with my debt. I currently owe £50k to about 11 creditors. I have been on a DMP for 3 years paying £140 a month. I am self-employed, I rent and now live by myself so am covering all bills etc. I will be paying off debt until 2046 so am thinking IVA or Bankruptcy may be better solution to enable me to move forward in my life within 10 years. Many thanks in advance FF

A really quick question for anybody in the know - I have paperwork for several loans I took out between '98-'01 (they were all churned one into the other) and I have spoken to the FOS who said I am fine to put in a claim. The car dealership who sold me the product were not regulated by the FSA at the time, however the loan underwriter / product provider was and I presume this is who the FOS will go after? I was bankrupt in 2008, discharged 2009. Loans in question were not part of BR as they were paid off in full 7-9 years prior to BR. I have several compelling reasons why I believe each policy was mis sold, so if I put a claim in and am successful would any monies be mine to keep? It seems clear where a loan forms part of the BR then any PPI monies would go straight to the estate, however all of my loans were paid off by the end of 2001, and BR was not until some 8 years later. I have had a quick look around the internet and opinion on this is varied: yes / no / don't know / definitely / definitely not! I am a bit confused, hence my post. Nothing a good lawyer won't be able to get their teeth into - if I end up needing one! I thought I would try and get a heads up on here to begin with. Many thanks

Hi, Bit of a complicated one really. Will try to be brief! Ex employer has been trying to recover training costs and other costs from me. I did sign a contract that stated they would recover training costs if I left, so cannot dispute this, though I do dispute the total. The first I knew of it was when I had a Statutory Demand delivered back in July. Have spent the intervening time contacting people, but have run into problems getting straightforward legal advice, as it is technically an employment law issue, but they are using methods more commonly used to recover consumer debt. (as I understand it!) Got free advice from a solicitor who was recommend by a legal forum, who basically said that it was too risky to fight it in court as we only had a 50/50 chance of winning, and that we should just make an offer/ come to an agreement to pay. We do dispute some of the debt but have been advised it is not worth trying to dispute a bit of it, we tried to request receipts for the training but they have refused to produce them, we contacted the training centre to get a rough idea of costs but before they could send us a letter (the staff were initially very helpful) they were contacted by ex-employer and asked to not to contact us or supply any information. So having had this advice we then started trying to start getting some money together to come up with a reasonable offer. Initial offer was roughly 20% of the total (a couple of thousand) plus a monthly sum. This was rejected but they accepted the 20% plus way more a month but we couldn't afford that. Tried to negotiate lower monthly figure but again rejected. We managed to scrape together about 80% of the total and offered that plus a monthly sum, this was again rejected, despite being much higher than the sum previously discussed. Eventually they gave us a deadline and we spent a week frantically trying to get the last thousand. We eventually came back and said that we had most of it and could pay the remainder on a credit card, but they then rejected this as they wanted it to come from one source and would not accept 2 separate payments?? Despite the fact they could have had the money then and there! So we received the notice that they were going for a bankruptcy in the court, and I want to oppose it. In an ideal world I want the court to recognise he is being vindictive (he has done this before to others) but I know it doesn't work like that! (plus I still can't believe that you can bankrupt someone based on an invoice printed on someone's home computer, they have never produced any further documentation and when asked by the solicitor we spoke to sent the same home printed document) So as I understand it I can now oppose it on the grounds that we can pay, and have in fact tried to pay many times. Is this possible? And can anyone help me with the wording of the form, as I have no idea of the correct terminology or even where to start! :/ Thanks for reading.

Hi everyone. Please sign this petition, #share it, #retweet it everywhere. I appreciate for a petition to be valid, you need to give your personal details to be counted, but that should remain restricted viewing. This is a properly set up Govt. E-Petition to try to get them to look at the Law Of Property Act, where Debt purchasing relies upon this loophole to take your data, your unsecured debts, pay a small price for the info and chase you for the full amount, it is pure greed and the very fact it CAN stand up in a courtroom, assuming they have enough data (re. your debt/paperwork etc) and they CAN take your homes and property, it is about time this was stopped. Can't guarantee this will succeed...it needs 100,000 valid and true signatures to get this to be looked at. It has been tried before and if people won't sign, it won't go anywhere....but hey, let's try again! Some of you will likely prefer your debts to be bought cheap by these greedy grabbing DCAs, but the point is, they are heavy handed, they make people more stressed, more ill and the original banks/creditors as yet don't maliciously go after people's homes simply because they can. Obviously if there is a CCJ and that is not paid, there is that chance of losing home, property, becoming bankrupt, but we need to take away the one Law or loophole that makes it so easy for debt buying companies to manipulate say 900% profit or more (where applicable), if they succeed, but more so we need to STOP them bullying people that are in a financial mess and already unable to cope with the pressure, let alone the harassment. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/60324

Hello I have a friend who has used this advice forum a lot and it comes highly recommended This is my first posting and use of this forum Over the last 6 months I've found myself in a really tricky situation. I lost quite a high powered job, high income and so on, had no savings, high outgoings etc and stopped paying cards, mortgage and so on. I've recently been re-employed and look well back on track. But long story short, I've been declared personally bankrupt in court in the last few days. I took a long look at the options, took advice, it was the right thing to do. Whilst not pleasant much of the process seems straightforward. However one item is pretty tricky and is like to ask for some advice on it please. I live in separate rented accommodation, but I own another flat. The Mortgage is £155k, the mortgage company currently value it at £140k Mortgage payment is £750/Mth, service charge £150/Mth = total £900/Mth The flat is rented out for £900/mth (to two Chinese student with poor English skills) They have paid £900 deposit plus a full year Upfront to cover 1st September 2014 to 31st August 2015. They paid a year upfront as this tend to be normal for foreign students. The money was paid direct to my mother and is held in her bank account as I intended to shield it from my personal bankruptcy. However, since late August around half had to be used for day to day expenses and there is £5800 balance remaining. The mortgage on the property has not been paid in 6 months and a repossession order is in place with a hearing booked for Monday 1st December. The official receiver has indicated she's not likely to be interested in the flat as its in negative equity and therefore it's up to the mortgage lender if they wish to force a repossession. However she is keenly pursuing the rental money held in my mothers account. If the lender insists it is repossessed then the students will be evicted at some point. They rightly should expect the remaining balance of rental money. However the official receiver is demanding I hand it the rental money immediately. I fear if I hand it over now the tenants will not not see it and not only be asked to leave but will also be left without any rental money to find a new place, along with this being hugely disruptive to their final year studies. The thought of this is a heavy burden to me and I'd like to know what my options are with the tenants and the situation as a whole. Aside from dropping them right in it, I can see them pursuing my legally for the rental money. Ultimately I'd like to keep the flat, setup a plan for payment with the lender to settle the shortfall and get it back on track. I wondered if there was any way I could do this. Any advise or guidance would be very helpful. Kind Regards, Rob

Hi guys, I wonder if anyone can help.... I moved out of my property some 4 years ago but rented it out and I'm now selling it. As part of the buyers checks, and my solicitors checks, I apparently have a bankruptcy petition against me and my solicitors want to know if this has been discharged. "We have noted on the Office Copies of the above property that there is a Bankcruptcy Notice dated 23 May 2012. Please can you provide us with more information of this notice and confirm details of who the trustee in bankruptcy is. Please can you also confirm if you have now been discharged from this notice?" I know nothing about this at all. I'm not bankrupt on the Insolvency Register and I've not been personally served anything, I wasn't living at that address (although I do own it). I don't know what this means! Am I bankrupt?? How do I get rid of this petition so I can sell the property? Help!

I have an appointment to attend court on Wednesday of next week to finally go bankrupt after having debts totaling £21,000. I have received a letter today from the DWP that my PIP application has been granted at the enhanced rate of the daily living component (A bit of good news at least) and they are backdating my claim and paying £3700 into my account tomorrow. With the money I am going to clear my rent arrears (to safeguard my house) and council tax (the last remaining BIG player in my debts). Will the insolvency service take the rest to pay off my creditors with it being a large amount? or will they leave it as it is a benefit payment? I am asking because I would REALLY like to finally own my own fridge/freezer (having cold milk would be a blessing) and purchase some new clothes (lived out of charity shops for 4 years) and having the cupboards full would be nice. I am not going to squander the money but I am frightened that they are going to take it all.

Hi. I have been self employed for 3 and a half years now. Running a fashion store, bricks and mortar etc. I was in one location for 3 years and 6 months ago moved to a bigger location, more 'prominent' and the rest. Long story short (for now), I am now closing the store and hope to focus online selling clothing, but not under the business trading name. (a new venture). However, I have debts chasing me, from clothing suppliers/brands. I do not have the money they are asking for, and I have had a letter in the post now asking for a final payment immediately. Or the usual 'take legal action'. The business is now LTD. But these debts where incurred when the business was a sole trader. What are my options here? Is there anyway at all I can cancel this debt under the business and fold the business? Any advice/suggestions welcome. Thanks.

Is it just me or are Lowell's still serving Statuary Demands on a large scale? I Ask as I saw the sticky on them issuing Statuary Demands and looked at the London Gazette and there are still loads being issued! Some as most recent as the end of August!

Hi, I was made bankrupt in May this year and I co-own two properties with my wife. one of them, (the one we live in) has a small equity and the second has minus equity. The second one is being rented out and is the only income that I have. now the trustee of my bankruptcy has written a letter to the tenants that all monies should be paid directly to them. This will leave me with absolute £ 0 income, and they are taking my wife's part of the rent as well. is this legal and is there anything I can do stop them? thanks in advance for any help. Lolli

Hi there, My husband and I have been left in a bit of a pickle with debts and low wages. After doing much research we have decided the best option for us is to go bankrupt. Also we are going to need to claim housing benefit as his wages have just been cut. We rent our house, and I've looked through the tenancy agreement for any clauses about bankruptcy or housing benefit, but neither are mentioned anywhere. Can I therefore assume that we can go ahead on both counts and legally nothing can be done to evict us on these grounds? We're good quiet tenants and apart from 6 months of late rent payments, we've never been any trouble. The rent has been paid on time for the last 5 months and there were zero issues on our most recent house inspection. I'd appreciate any advice anyone can offer. It's a scary time for us. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I hope someone can help. My bankruptcy will be discharged in September and my file has been passed over to the LTADT. The query is that although I hold a 'declaration of trust' on a property that my ex-husband bought 14 years ago, I have paid nothing towards the mortgage or upkeep of that house and the OR has now put a charge on it. I never wanted to buy this property which is why I wasn't put on the mortgage, it is solely for my ex-husband. We had the trust drawn up on the advice of our solicitor at the time just in case it ever became my home and something happened to my husband at the time so I could go on living in it. My ex husband is, understandably, fuming and wants the charge taken off as the trust does state that although I own 50% of the property, I also have to pay 50% of the debt/payments, which I have never done. I have spoken to someone at the LTADT and they have told me that as long as I can prove I have never made payments to the mortgage (which I can) that SHOULD be ok and they MAY remove the charge, but my ex-husband MAY have to pay £1000 costs. They said it was a very grey area and they don't seem very sure... If anyone could shed some light on this I would be grateful. Christine

I was made bankrupt in 2008 & am cleaning up my credit file - there are a number of CCJs which do not show as satisfied despite the subject of the CCJ being satisfied on my credit agreements file - can I get the court to mark them as satisfied by my bankruptcy?

Hello, I’m looking for some help in sorting out my CRF. I ran into financial difficulties as far back as 2006 but continued making payments as best I could before finally petitioning for bankruptcy in 2009 to get some peace from my creditors. Although it was a relief at the time, the issues have still continued to this day. I want to get my CRF sorted so that when I try to obtain a mortgage later down the line, I don't have too many issues. I was declared bankrupt in February 2009 and discharged in October 2009. Two of my three creditors behaved well, but the third – Egg – continued to harass me up until November 2010 with Arrears and Default notices every few months. It was eventually sorted with a complaint to the FOS - Egg acknowledged that a fault on their system kept sending out these letters and they said they had corrected the issue plus they paid £50 compensation. However, in June 2011 they contacted me to tell me that my Egg Loan was being transferred to Britannia Recoveries – Arrow. Britannia-Arrow wrote as well to confirm this. They stated their knowledge in the Notice of Assignment that I had been made bankrupt and that any payments would have to come from the Official Receiver. The validity of Egg selling on a debt that had been included in a bankruptcy – and discharged 20 months before – did not occur to me at the time. In May 2013, while checking my credit file on Experian, I noticed in my credit account that not only did I have the original Egg loan which was defaulted, balance marked as Satisfied, but Arrow-Global were listing that I had a defaulted account with a balance of nearly £7000 (the sum that I originally owed Egg). So I have two defaulted accounts due to the same debt. I have also just received another Notice of Assignment which seems to be sent on the pretext of my account being purchased by Arrow Global from Britannica Recoveries (Britannica-Arrow). Quite bizarre since both Notices of Assignment are on Arrow Global headed paper and is essentially a transfer between slightly separate divisions of the same parent company. This Notice of Assignment is different to before. They mention the debt amount owed, they state that their records show that I have a repayment plan in place (obviously NOT true) and the account is now managed for them by Debt Managers (Services) Ltd. How can Egg knowingly sell on my “debt” 20 months after I am discharged from bankruptcy? How can a debt that is wiped clean in a bankruptcy be sold on? As I understand it, my Egg Loan account should have been marked as “Satisfied” once I was discharged, with a settlement date shown as no later than the discharge date. What has actually happened is that Egg has marked the Egg loan account with a satisfaction date of 11/2010 (linked to FOS complaint?) and a partial settlement date of 04/2011 (debt sold to Arrow). Can I write to Arrow-Global – with copies of my discharge notice - to request the removal of this default account from my CRF? If so, do I write to the Compliance Manager at Debt Managers or bypass them and send it to Arrow-Global’s head office. A further issue is that the default date on the Arrow-Global account AND the original Egg account from which it originated, is shown as 5 months after my bankruptcy petition. Can I instruct Egg to amend this date to the date of my bankruptcy as per ICO guidelines on Defaults? If they don’t deal with the complaint and update my information, do I just complain to the ICO initially or do I involve the FOS as well. Is it not illegal for DCAs to chase up debts post-bankruptcy? If so, is there not a Regulatory body to complain to so that they are fined? I know that Barclays got hit with a big fine over “silent” phone calls. Am I entitled to compensation? How can this be enforced? Based on threads on this site ICO or FOS seem to support only paltry settlements? It was also suggested that even without being able to prove specific financial loss, compensation could be sought in the Small Claims Court over general damage to creditworthiness. I would be grateful for any advice on the best course of action to take and legal perspective to use in my letters. It’s obviously much easier to argue your case when you are crystal-clear on your legal rights.

Following the usual route of a liability order the council went for bankruptcy. I challenged various issues and got two adjournments whilst they came up with answers on the third occasion i challenged that i did not believe the council had followed the correct process. I.E i asked for proof that they had carried out the correct searches and if not the case should be struck out, the searches are; a) The royal courts of justice & b) the central london county court & c) in any county court which it is believed is or was within that period the debtors own county court within the meaning of rule 6.9A (3) i asked this as i believe it is virtually impossible to carry out all three searches see here, http://tremark.co.uk/news-a-views/365-bankruptcy-update-searches-to-be-undertaken-before-issuing-a-petition The councils solicitor did not show up and the judge said upon hearing the evidence it is ordered that The application for bankrupcy be dismissed. the case was dismissed i have since had the registration removed from the land registry. (this was 4th july 2013) The council have now made an application to have the petition re-instated, on the grounds that, they are claiming that they were not made aware of the previous hearing. I need help or advice how to defend this. Surely anyone can say they did'nt now about a hearing, is'nt there a law deeming that a letter sent by post is deemed to be served? can i claim that their internal system failed them? any sugestion or help please

Hi Some advice needed please. I declared myself Bankrupt in June 2010 and was discharged from this in June 2011. Most of my creditors who were included in the Bankruptcy then gave a default date of June 2011, however some of them have continued giving my defaults for every month on my credit report right up to todays date, and they have stated that the amount I owe them is the same as when I went bankrupt. I know that the amount should not be the same as before I was bankrupt I was involved in an IVA and had paid four years of money towards this which was then divided up between all my creditors when I went bankrupt. My question really is should they still be actively defaulting me every month and stating that I still owe that amount to them? Any help much appreciated. Sarah

Hello all. I've come here looking for a bit of advice. I recently split up from my long term partner and can no longer afford to meet the minimum payments for my debts and see no way out of the situation. I have written to the majority of my creditors informing them of my situation and inability to pay (asking for a reduced repayment rate and interest / charges freeze) but have had no positive response from any of them. To be honest, even if they did accept reduce payments then I can't see me being to afford the payments or ever paying off the debt I am now being phoned at home, on my mobile and on my work number daily (despite sending them letters to stop doing this) and my life has become a stressful nightmare. I cant sleep and on top of this all am struggling to get access to my child so am in a complete downward spiral. I've read a little about bankruptcy but am struggling to understand the full results / process of becoming bankrupt - obviously it means no credit in the future but trust me this would be a god send! Is bankruptcy a viable option for me to wipe my debts and try and move on with my life? I work full time (claiming no benefits - none available for me) and my current income is just under £20,000 a year before tax (so around £1300 a month into my bank) - I am a member of a of a professional body (and need to be registered each year to maintain my current position - I'm not sure if my ability to register would be affected by bankruptcy? My role is not anything to do with finances etc). Although I am currently full time I am suffering from Rheumatoid Disease so becoming part time may be a necessity in the future. My current debts are: Shop direct (Very, K and Co, Woolworths, ISME) in excess of £7000 Bank Overdrafts (2) £3800 Vanquis £1200 Capital One £600 M&S Money £3000 PayPal £400 Provident £500 Studio £250 Current expenses: Rent: £500 Gas and electric: £100 Overdrafts £80 Broadband and Telephone: £20 Child Maintence £160 TV licence £12 Professional Reg Fee £12 House insurance £15 Council Tax £115 Mobile £90 (two contracts) Sky (in contract) £45 PayPal debt £40 Provident £54 So, after paying the above bills even WITHOUT paying for food, petrol or parking or the minimum payments to Shop Direct (£250+), Vanquis (£100), Capital One (£40). Im left with only £57 every month to survive. I understand that it can cost around £500 to be declared bankrupt but this amount has been promised to me by a close friend if needed (although no more assistance can be given).

Good morning, Just a quick spot of advice required. I used a company called I-smart to chase a credit card for a PPI claim a few years ago. They were successful and I received a payment into my bank account. I understood that I-smart would deduct their fee from my final payment but apparently they messed up and did not take the payment. I spent the money almost immediately when I received it paying off another credit card, now I do not have the £904.81 that Wilson Rose are chasing me for. I have received a letter this morning from Wilson Rose stating that unless I pay immediately they will start bankruptcy proceedings against me. Is this legal and can they do this was my initial question please? I am trying to get the money together in order to pay, but do not wish to be threatened with something like this if it is not right. many thanks in advance for your advice if possible, Geoff66

First of all hello, just recently found the forum. Oh, I have been so so silly. I bought a caravan on HP in 2008 over 60 months, last year I sold the caravan and didn't get enough for it to pay off all the loan. I know now that I shouldn't have done this, that I could have let them take it back as I'd paid half the loan. I feel so stupid, but I really didn't know this, and I didn't realise I couldn't sell it on either. I've made such a big mistake. I have never defaulted on the loan payments, I'm still just about managing to pay everything I owe (there are other debts too) but it's tough as I'm a single widowed mum with two kids and I"m a full time student, so just about manage to meet payments by using my student loan etc too. If anyone has any advice how best to manage this and get myself out of this pickle I'd appreciate it. I'm a bit scared now I know I could be prosecuted for selling the caravan with outstanding hp, I have no idea where it is now.

Hi all I currently have about £80k worth of debt about to chase me, due to a failed business and the fact that I had personal guarantees on loans etc. Anyway I will almost definitely need to be looking at making my self Bankrupt and was wondering whether the following would be ok to do..... I have a Caravan on HP in my name and the current balance is £18k with 8years left to run, I have had a settlement figure from the HP company which is £10,800.00 and the caravan is probably worth about that anyway. Can my wife take out a personal loan in her name only for £10,800.00 to buy the caravan and then make a payment to them by debit card to clear the HP? Is this ok to do in the eyes of the OR as I will not be making money from the deal and I am not selling it undervalue? How do I then show that she legally owns the caravan? Advice would be very much appreciated, thanks

I do not wish to apply for bankrupcy but I really don't see any other option. Several years ago on two consultants and my GP's advice I ended my career this was due to multiple progressive illness and I am now disabled.I contacted all the companies I owed money to and arranged payments.I have kept up the payments although at a reduced rate and never defaulted the agreed amount since leaving employment. Altogether I owe approximately £30k including £2,500 on a Barclays overdraft the amount varies but never gets lower than £2,000.This is the current bank account we use it is joint in my wife's name.She has no income and my only income is ESA support group,Child tax credit,child benefit for one child and DLA. I have a car which I am still paying for the money was lent to me by a family member and the car is registered as a disabled vehicle I use my DLA mobility to pay for it.We have few possessions most of which are my wife's.She has several antiques non of which are worth more than £40 -£50 each most are a few pounds they include paintings,sketches,coins etc total value maybe £500, if sold at auction they would fetch less than half that amount. Barclays are changing the way they calculate their overdraft charges.The amount we would be charged pcm will mean we will not be able to survive as the charges will treble.With mounting utilities debts and our council tax bill increasing by 150% I cannot see anyway out apart from bankruptcy.I am not sure if this is even possible I don't think we will be able to even find the fees. The overdraft debt is mine although it is in both our names but as I said the wife has no income.As the account is in both our names I suppose she would have to apply for bankruptcy as well? I really don't want her to go through all the stress as she suffers from PTSD and is really not well.I am not sure I have the strength myself to go through it all. We have already cut everything down to the bone we don't even have hot water anymore and the heating is just about bearable but not fun with arthritis. I would be grateful for any advice. I have searched the net but to be honest I am so stressed at the moment and really feeling unwell the more I read the more my head wants to explode.

1) Is there any objection I can make to the petition which has been automatically served after failure of IVA? The IVA has failed in part because I was not made aware that funds had to be introduced at the start to cover bankruptcy. Although this was an amendment by HMRC the IP never mentioned it and never made me aware of the amount to be introduced.2) Can the petition hearing be adjourned / delayed to allow me time to contact the creditors and attempt to make a proposal?

Just received a letter from a DCA claiming ownership of an alleged debt and also in the same letter is another letter from the original creditor claiming to have sold the debt to the DCA, however the letter has obviously been produced at the same place as it has markings from the printer or computer that match identically with the DCA. Also on the DCA letter it states the amount owing etc but next to it it states annual interest 12%. Now forgive me if i'm wrong is that them intending to charge interest on the amount owing?