Bankruptcy

[tankusmaximus]

Hi All

I posted not long ago regarding a stat demand I was served from Shoosmiths solicitors regarding a company overdraft, prior to my company winding down.

I agreed a payment plan due to trying to clean up my credit report, and i should have received a clean bill of health at the end of this month.

However from out of no where i've been slapped with a default with no previous correspondence from Cabot Financial services....I didn't receive any warning, letters of intended prosecution, nothing. The debt on my file is for £1295, it doesn't say for whom and i don't even recognise it plus its for a debt from 2002 however apparently i defaulted last year.

Im also receiving CCJ threats from robinson way for older debts I was paying off in DMP plan that were over 12 years old

To be honest I just give up now and im considering bankruptcy due to having no decent car or mortgage etc and surely whether i file for bankruptcy or not my credit rating damaged for a further 6 years anyway ..... wouldnt I just be better off

im 38 years old was hoping to get a mortgage at some point and all of this seems a distant dream now, depressed doesn't even come close to what im feeling

can anyone provide some advice

[Debt Camel]

Re: Bankruptcy

hi tankusmaximus,

you may have listed all this before, but it would help if you could do it again, so everything is here at the start of this thread....

Could you provide as complete a list as possible of your debts. Ignore any where the creditor has already agreed that they are statute barred or cannot be enforced for some other reason. Please list for each:
- original creditor (or ? if you don't know),
- current owner of the debt,
- approx current size of the debt,
- the approximate date you last made a payment to the debt OR the amount you are currently paying to the debt each month

What happened to your DMP? How much spare income do you have to pay towards your debts each month?

[tankusmaximus]

Re: Bankruptcy

Hi Debt Camel

Unfortunately i dont have a full list of old debts or creditors, and I stopped my DMP 2 years ago when my business folded and became unemployed for 12 months.

The debt letters coming through now are all from DCA's mainly Robinson Way and Arc... none are from original creditors which makes it even harder to trace

Debts range from a 2k to others that are a few hundred.

I have sent a CCA request to Howard Cohen ref a 12 year old debt that they are now pursuing a CCJ for.

In total i remember my debts being around 20k last time i checked 5 years ago however robinson way etc are the only ones that have chased...there could be more and this doesn't include the recent 10k stat demand im now paying off.

I know it all sounds very disorganised im usually quite the opposite, but with the recent default now added to my account I just give up....BR seems like a much more logical route as it will take me years to pay off this debt and my credit rating is damaged for another 6 years anyway.

[Debt Camel]

Re: Bankruptcy

Well first there is no way a default should have been added to your account now, this article explains how to complain and get it removed / backdated so far it drops off immediately: http://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-default-date/

However none of the debts in your DMP will be statute barred, so if creditors are threatening CCJs, your choices are either to fight these individually (as per your CCA request), go back to a DMP for them or go bankrupt.

With such old debts the CCa requests are more likely to work, but it could be a stressful few years and it only take one to fail for you to get a CCJ and have no chance of a mortgage for 6 years after that.

It is of course a pity you didn't go bankrupt 10+ years ago, but that shouldn't alter taking the right decision at this point.

It sounds as though you probably owe more than £20,000 including the recent stat demand. Could you go back to the DMP firm you used and confirm what the debts were at the point you stopped paying? And ask for a list of your debtors?

20k is a significant figure as if your total debts are under that amount, you may qualify for a Debt Relief Order rather than bankruptcy.

[tankusmaximus]

Re: Bankruptcy

Hi Debt Camel


I could I suppose what im trying to say is as you've rightly pointed out I should of not entered a DMP years ago and should of gone bankrupt

Entering a new DMP means it will go on well into my 50's ... whats the point when my credit rating is already damaged again....i would of considered it if I can remove the recent default.

That on top of all the other old debts that are rearing their ugly head...i just want them to be over for good.

Is there a template I could use to contest this default, i still cant believe DCA's can do this ive probably been defaulted for this debt previously, and I dont even know who its for....it just says Credit Card

Thanks for your help, im really feeling down and for hopeless which is out of character for me, i suppose ive just had enough

- - - Updated - - -

this a letter ive constructed so far

Cabot Financial (Europe) LTD


Re: Manipulation of Credit File Data.


Dear Sirs


I am making a formal complaint regarding the conduct of Cabot Financial (Europe) LTD in relation to a default made to my credit reference files. Please see image attatched


I have absolutely no knowledge of this debt nor have I received correspondence from Cabot in regards to the alleged debt.


I cannot see any reason for this manipulation of the credit file data other than to give Cabot Financial (Europe) LTD and extended time scale to pursue this alleged debt unfairly.


Therefore Cabot Financial (Europe) LTD Will correct all credit reference files to which the alleged debt has been reported with immediate effect and confirm in writing that it has done so.


I am aware that this situation is not unfamiliar and I will be making a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office and will send a statement to The FCA for information and will comment on the fitness of Cabot Financial (Europe) LTD to hold a consumer credit licence.

[Debt Camel]

Re: Bankruptcy

Entering a new DMP means it will go on well into my 50's

Not a good idea!

Even if you get this new default removed (which you should be able to) that would leave you with a clean credit record but still probably unable to get a mortgage, see http://debtcamel.co.uk/dmp-mortgage/ for details.

So in practice your options are either bankruptcy now or not make any more payments and fight the individual debts as they start getting in contact with you over the next 4 years (going by your rough dates they should be statute barred 6 years after your last DMP payment) and carry on paying the one you have just been forced into by the statutory demand.

It's not an easy decision but bankruptcy isn't a stupid idea.

[tankusmaximus]

Re: Bankruptcy

Hi Debt Camel

Im just going through your great site and wish I had know all this years ago.

To give you a run down of my life history

I'm almost 38 years old

I live with my partner and child who is 15, the house is under my partners name and i have no association, so im a lodger in theory and just pay for bills etc.

My job is in Digital Marketing and i get paid a relatively decent salary

I dont have many assets in my name, just a car worth around 4k the clothes on my back and a couple of credit cards I keep in good order.

When i lost my business a couple of years back, I also ended my 10 years of being in a DMP due to the fact that barclays had defaulted me with no warning, even though i was in the DMP for years....the DMP company couldn't even explain how this has happened, so I took it on myself and contested through Noddle and weirdly enough it dropped off,

So I was expecting 2016 to be a turn around year for me and any old debt could do one as they are all ancient and i stupidly thought whats the worst they could do now they are all over 6 years old they can keep chasing but im done with paying for the majority of my adult life and the stupid decisions i made in my young twenties.

On top of this I may be made redundant in my Job due to a merger.

I have prove it letters ready to send to these DCA'a and solicitors as the debts are so old now, however the default is on my file for a further 6 years meaning any chance of getting a mortgage now is screwed.....ill be 44 and a loser.

Ive spoke to my partner about this as fundamentally all I care is about my families well being if I were single I wouldn't really give two hoots so what I really need advice is

1. If I go bankrupt will a OR come around to the house thats in my partners name and create an inventory ...I wouldn't want them to take her possessions or my daughters, or her brothers who also lodges in the house.

2. If i were made redundant or took redundancy then I were to let the Solicitors who were trying to make me bankrupt make me bankrupt anyway, would i still be made to pay back debts during my BT when I have no Job?

3. If I decided to pay back some of the debts based on what I could afford....will it ever go away otherwise ill be in debt my whole life and BR makes more sense

4. If I were made BR would my partner be able to get a mortgage on a low income, however im the main bread winner so would be paying it and she would have a sizeable deposit

[nemesis45]

Re: Bankruptcy

A point on the debt now owned by Cabot, a debt purchaser updates credit file not places new
defaults any queries on the validity of the default/ late placement etc., need to be taken up with
the original creditor.

If in the very unlikely happening that Cabot has acquired a debt which has not been defaulted by
the OC you make a Formal Complaint to Cabot and the original creditor ( Write to the Data Controller)
The aim is to get the default back dated closer to the actual time the default occurred.

Your partners possessions / assets are nothing to do with your finances.

The possibility of getting a mortgage on low income is not likely now, the
inquiries and questionnaires are very, very tough to the extent of being
extremely intrusive.

The fact that you would be paying the repayments will make no difference as
mortgage providers will want to establish if payment are not only affordable on
application but for many years down the line if you are not part of the application
they will decline the mortgage.

BR is for you personally a good idea in my opinion, there is a big BUT the mortgage questionnaires
I've seen ask if you are or EVER have been bankrupt.

All defaulted accounts are removed from Credit Reference Files on the 6th anniversary of
the default date paid or not, clearing credit files as they come off. After this has happened
you would need " rebuild" a credit profile for at the very least 3 years.

nem

[tankusmaximus]

Re: Bankruptcy

Hi Nem

And many thanks, i've written a complain letter to Cabot asking for paperwork as I didnt receive default notice nor do I have an account number. I honestly dont know what this debt is, its just appeared from nowhere and says Credit Card.

I think the way forward for me is to write the DCA's as they come in and ask them to prove the debt, should they manage to do so then of course i may consider a DMP rather than BR.

However if it all comes in fast and furious like they are ... i have 4 letters from Robinson way for all sorts Debts that should have been defaulted over 6 years ago etc and its too much to manage then BR may seem the most logical step to take, I just want it to be over for good and i've been paying back debts since i was 22 years old.

Thanks

T

[Debt Camel]

Re: Bankruptcy

1. If I go bankrupt will a OR come around to the house thats in my partners name and create an inventory ...I wouldn't want them to take her possessions or my daughters, or her brothers who also lodges in the house.

No one comes round and does an inventory. And if they did (which they won;t) they wouldn't be interested in anything that didn't belong to you.

. If i were made redundant or took redundancy then I were to let the Solicitors who were trying to make me bankrupt make me bankrupt anyway, would i still be made to pay back debts during my BT when I have no Job?

In bankruptcy you may be asked to make monthly payments for three years. this depends on your income. No job, no payments.

But if you "took redundancy" then the redundancy money would probably have to go into your bankruptcy.

3. If I decided to pay back some of the debts based on what I could afford....will it ever go away otherwise ill be in debt my whole life and BR makes more sense

With a lot of old debts that have been in a DMP for a while, the best way of settling them is with a full & final settlement. You could do this one at a time as you get some money together.
You might find these articles useful http://debtcamel.co.uk/paying-old-debt/ and http://debtcamel.co.uk/no-calls-or-letters-about-debt/.

4. If I were made BR would my partner be able to get a mortgage on a low income, however im the main bread winner so would be paying it and she would have a sizeable deposit

Basically, no.

How large a deposit? One option would be for her to offer some of that to your creditors in a full & finale settlement, including the stat demand. It may be possible to settle them for say 20p in the £.

Obviously its her money and your debts ... but if you want to buy a house together this is probably the best way forward. You going bankrupt now will "save" that money but mean that buying a house is impossible in practice for at least 6 years.

[edited]
I have just seen your car is worth c 4k. That would be a problem in bankruptcy. If you need a car for work, and your car is worth more than 1k, normally your car is sold and you are given 1k to buy an old one with.

[tankusmaximus]

Re: Bankruptcy

Thanks for all the above Debt Camel

I assume my car is worth 4k however its expensive to run so i would probably let them take it.

Im at a point where materialistic things are of no interest to me, my families future is, so the quicker I can resolve this debt the better, however BR of Default are really the same thing for the next 6 years my credit is still screwed.

I'll send out the complaint letter to see if I can remove the wrongly placed default, if I can then I may look into a DMP and try pay off the debts, however If my credit is going to be ruined for the next 6 years regardless then BR might be the best route once and for all.

Thanks for all your help guys

T

[Debt Camel]

Re: Bankruptcy

BR of Default are really the same thing for the next 6 years my credit is still screwed.

I'll send out the complaint letter to see if I can remove the wrongly placed default, if I can then I may look into a DMP and try pay off the debts,

Your credit record is NOT the only thing that will stop you getting a mortgage. If you "clean up" your credit record (and I would be surprised if you can't do this) and resume your DMP you are very likely to be refused for a mortgage. Mortgage lenders look at your bank statements and will see the DMP payment... you will then be asked about your other debts which aren't showing on your credit file.

[tankusmaximus]

Re: Bankruptcy

Hi Debt Camel

So are you saying my only choice is to go bankrupt as I dont have the kind of money I would need to pay off the debt and start a fresh in 6 years time as unless I settle with my debtors no matter what I do my credit will still be bad for years to come

Thanks

[tankusmaximus]

Re: Bankruptcy

HI Debt Camel


If defaults drop off your credit file after 6 years is there anyway of going back further than this to see when the original defaults occurred?

As I mentioned earlier I have no idea what this default was for, so although i will send a prove it letter I can t prove the original default date?

Thanks again

[Debt Camel]

Re: Bankruptcy

If defaults drop off your credit file after 6 years is there anyway of going back further than this to see when the original defaults occurred?

As I mentioned earlier I have no idea what this default was for, so although i will send a prove it letter I can t prove the original default date?

In this case it doesn't matter that you can't prove what the original default date was, you just have to point out that the debt was included in your DMP (well once you know what the debt is!) which started over 12 years ago, so the default must have been more than 6 years ago.