Bankrupcy

[BagPussAA]

I have quite a lot of personal debt and have approached my creditors with a DMP which they have rejected. The only option now seems to be bankrupcy. The debt is in my name but I live with my partner. The only \"assets\" I would have are jointly owned by us both (TV, Laptop etc). We rent the property so do not have that as an asset either. Would we be forced to sell the jointly owned assets even though the debt is only in my name and not his?

[themas]

If your only assets are only run of the mill items such as a TV & computer then you do not need to declare them on the bankruptcy form & they are not at risk. But if (for example) you went out a month or so ago and spent £2000 on a top of the range flat screen TV then yes you would have to declare it & it would be at risk. If it was bought jointly then the OR would only be entitled to your share in any proceeds, but this would not necessarily stop it being taken & sold, & your partner getting his share of the proceeds refunded to him. Alternatively, the OR might ask him to buy out your interest by passing to the OR the value of your share. This does not mean half of what it cost, but half of what it would fetch if sold.

[SMP]

You say you "approached your creditors with a DMP", did you do this yourself or through a debt management company? Creditors are more likely to accept a DMP through someone like CCCS, Payplan, or CAB. The CCCS are very good, they go through all your income and outgoings and produce a plan that they send to your creditors. I have been with them for over 2 years now and although my income has gone down a couple of times my creditors are still happy to accept the plan, please check them out.
http://www.cccs.co.uk/

[BagPussAA]

SMP - The debtors were approached via Debt Free Direct but it was still rejected.

Themas - None of our assets are new. Our newest appliance is our laptop which is 3 years old! I think that you may have put my mind at ease a little.

Thanks for the advise..

[SMP]

I have had one or two of my creditors reject payment offers but the CCCS have sent them the offered amount anyway and they have accepedt it. Give the CCCS a ring explain the situatio,n u have nothing to lose, they are very helpful. Good luck

[themas]

BagPuss - I would not necessarily rely on anything done by Debt Free Direct. In common with much of the fee charging DMP firms they can sometimes be effective & efficient but sometimes not.

How much are your debts in total? How long would it have taken to clear them if the DMP had been accepted? Have you heard about Debt Relief Orders? They are a cheaper alternative to bankruptcy if your total debts are less than £15,000 & your surplus income (i.e. what would be available for creditors) is less than £50 p mth. I would certainly talk to CCCS or go to your local CAB for advice on the options before going ahead with bankruptcy.

[BagPussAA]

themas - It was my local CAB that put me in touch with Debt Free Direct. The debt is £20K and would take about 20 years to pay off if they had accepted the offer as I have got less than £100 per month disposable income. I can not get an IVA as I do not have enough disposable income left for that so that is why the CAB & DFD suggested trying for a DMP.

[stonekicker]

make sure you immediately go out and get seperate bank accounts as any money that you have in a joint bank account will disappear. out it in your partner's account and try to save some! you will also need to open another bank account for yourself seperate to your current one if it has an overdraft or any debt associated with it (you may as well get rid of all debt while you are at it - even my milk bill got declared on my bankruptcy claim!) and i recommend rbs for that. make sure you put every penny of debt onto a bankruptcy order and even see if you can take some of your partners on also - you may as well if you are going for broke (but be subtle about it!). good luck x

[themas]

If you go bankrupt I would strongly advise you not to try anything on at all (such as Stonekicker's suggestion of including some of your partner's debts). You can only do this by committing fraud. If found out you could be prosecuted. The only advisable approach is to be totally open and honest in what you put on the forms & in what you say to the OR when interviewed.