seafree Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 I don't know where to post this.From a combination of being a complete shopaholic twat, having to survive on £100 income a month and taking a few too many drugs i'm in over £5,000 of immediate debt. Problem is i'm a uni student, so options are limited. And i'm not declaring myself bankrupt.Does anyone have any ideas on where to go/what to do?Advice much appreciatedJess x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerPeace Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 I guess you're in the UK talking in £s. Why not go bankrupt? Although I would say it's best to avoid it if you can, especially as you've spent the money on drugs presumably with no reasonable prospect of repayment because you'll be heading for a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order which will increase the 1 year period that the restrictions apply for under a normal bankruptcy.When you say £5,000 immediate debt, what do you mean? Is the money being demanded in full now? How come you haven't got minimum repayments? If you can't afford minimum repayments bankruptcy is you're only option and if you keep incurring credit it will make things worse.Go to the CAB or CCS. Don't go somewhere that charges you money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike99 Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Hi, I did some voluntary work for the Citizens Advice Bureau.....The amount of people in financial trouble is amazing, where I was there was a dedicated financial advisor that took on all responsibility for correspondence with banks/ loan companies for everybody that contacted them irrespective of who they were or what their situation was...In most cases he negotiated a repayment plan of a nominal fee of like £1 a month.....There's so many people in the same position as you that there are legal mechanisms to protect you from banks and loan companies...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyP Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 you're right in not wanting to go bankrupt, it totally screws up youe financial life for years you wont be able to get a mortgage, car loan etc. your credit rating will be shit and you wont be able to do anything about it because no one will give you a chance. It's not as glamourous as it is made out to be. I would suggest you contact the below org. They are a charity wwho work on your behalf. They will work with your creditors to negotiate repayments that you can afford n such. They also stop creditors phoning you. They wil lphone the charity instead.Consumer Credit Counsellng Service (CCCS) 0800 138 1111www.cccs.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerPeace Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 Jess, people are able to obtain credit again after they have been bankrupt. Some people even manage to go bankrupt more than once. It does follow you though, you have to declare past bankrupcty if asked.The important thing is to get advice and if you are advised that bankruptcy is your only option then you must follow that advice. Avoiding bankruptcy when that is the reasonable thing to do and continuing to incur further credit will cause more problems. Your financial conduct prior to bankrupcty will be looked at to see if there are any breaches of insolvency law, so go bankrupt sooner rather than later if that is what you're advised to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyP Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 yes you can get credit again..eventually, but at extornionate APRs. My husband works in Finance, he sees it everyday. Your average joe can get say a car loan at 10% flat rate, a bankrupt person once they are eligible for credit again will have to go with a scroaty company and pay 30 or 35%APR.People are making themselves bankrupt far too easily thesedays only to regret it later. Ok, you're not earning right now but 5k is pretty easy paid off. I imagine that a fair bit of that is through Student Loans Co? In which case you dont have to pay it back til you start earning anyway. And if it is not through SLC then take one of their loans out (which is 0.14% roughly) and pay off your other loan :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucy Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 doesnt it need to be more than 5k for bankrupcy?any way you \you far better talking to an org that will help you like nicky saidLucy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerPeace Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 doesnt it need to be more than 5k for bankrupcy?any way you \you far better talking to an org that will help you like nicky saidLucy£750 is the limit but they are bringing in new alternatives to bankruptcy, a kind of halfway house.It's best to get advice like I said earlier and act on it...you can find yourself in trouble for avoiding bankruptcy when it finally comes around. Misconduct can not only lead to a bankruptcy restrictions order, in some cases it amounts to a criminal offence...much better to accept bankrupcty when there really is no reasonable alternative.The Insolvency Service is the government body that deals with bankruptcies, here is there website which contains a lot of useful information:http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colourfulcarly Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 i dont know if this can help but i think you can get your debts wiped clean without bankrupty under medical grounds. i know that i seriously considered this as ova a 3 month period when i was really ill a racked up a £1500 credit card bill, but i didnt look into it futher. might be worth asking your care co ordinator or even the cab about it cos from what ive heard it wipes your debts without your credit rating be damaged too much if at all. just a thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerPeace Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 i dont know if this can help but i think you can get your debts wiped clean without bankrupty under medical grounds. i know that i seriously considered this as ova a 3 month period when i was really ill a racked up a £1500 credit card bill, but i didnt look into it futher. might be worth asking your care co ordinator or even the cab about it cos from what ive heard it wipes your debts without your credit rating be damaged too much if at all. just a thoughtIt will be up to the lenders whether they're willing to write off a debt. Usually the CAB and other organisations will suggest writing to the creditors and asking for interest to be held and repayments reduced for a certain period, unless there's enough income for an IVA or if bankruptcy is the obvious option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkiegal73 Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 i had agreements of £1 per month after getting into a similiar amount of debt. I then wrote to all the companies explaining my mental health history. Debt is seen as a trigger for my breakdowns so the gp wrote a letter supporting it. Some of them agreed to wipe out what i owed them without going down the bankrupcy or IVA route. I saved £4000 by doing that. I think the companies are scared of coming down too heavy on someone who then commits suicide. I felt guilty for putting them in that situation but on the other hand, these were credit card companies who gave credit to a woman with an appalling credit history and then charged 29% interest. I've probably paid them the value of the goods bought several times over already, but was stuck paying interest for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pain-dance Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 I don't know where to post this.From a combination of being a complete shopaholic twat, having to survive on £100 income a month and taking a few too many drugs i'm in over £5,000 of immediate debt. Problem is i'm a uni student, so options are limited. And i'm not declaring myself bankrupt.Does anyone have any ideas on where to go/what to do?Advice much appreciatedJess xI agree with NickyP, I wouldn't go bankrupt unless your back is up against the wall. For the moment, I would go to CAB and seek financial and legal advice. From a damage-limitation point of view, I would make a list of all your incoming and outgoing sources of money, and make savings wherever possible, such as shopping at budget supermarkets, charity shops and discount stores; not buying anything that you can live without, maybe getting a part-time job (if you haven't already). You'll have to be ruthless with yourself and kill that "shopaholic twat" that probably lives in all of us. Whatever you do, do not piss off Peter to pay Paul, such as taking out additional loans to cover existing debts or burying your head in the sand. Maybe you could take a year out of the course and work full-time to pay off all the money. As Joe Louise said to his opponents, you can run, but you can't hide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Borrow more and more. Then declare bankruptcy. Lawyers here used to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerPeace Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Borrow more and more. Then declare bankruptcy. Lawyers here used to do it.Nice idea but here can land you with a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order or even a criminal record if it amounts to theft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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