Been there, done that, got the t-shirt about 18 months ago, I will qualify my advice that it's based on rules then and I have no idea if anything has changed in that time.
#1 point, forget any so called 'stigma' I held on for a year past what I should have, when I did the deed the release of stress was amazing. It was singly
the best thing I have ever done.In no particular order.
Go to
http://www.cccs.co.uk/ these are a registered charity so not in it for any money. Fill out the online debt remedy form (they will ask for this when you call), then call them
IVA's are bad, if you get the option avoid them.
Cost used to be a bit over 500 quid, (350 to go bankupt, 150 court fees), that split caught me out.
If you still have credit get the fee out cash, put it to one side, wait a couple of weeks then hit the courts, this way your fee is in the total that you go bankrupt for
£1500 for a car is about right, any thing over that they expect you to sell it and buy cheaper. Declare the car as a necessity to work, ditto with your tools. Don't worry about the council house, just make sure that they get paid in full and never go into arrears, ditto with council tax. You can in theory add them to your bankrupt total but that just gives them leaway to evict you.
When you fill out the CCCS form write down all your figures and how you calculated them, you WILL end up referring back to them. You can get away with very creative accounting so long as you don't take the piss, for example I based my petrol usage on 20mpg, taking the longest route to work and filling up at the most expensive garage.
Google is your friend here, I spent a week searching govt sites, finance forums etc etc looking at what I could claim. For example a lot of people miss that you can put in a monthly amount towards a cheap 1 week holiday. Your aim is to create a list of essential outgoings as high as possible while making it look like your minimum requirement to live.
Discharge period is 12 months, if your situation is simple it can be as little as 5 months. You dont have to remain unemployed to get early discharge, the key is that your monthly income must not exceed your declared (agreed by them) expenses by more than £50-£75, if it does they review the figures and expect you to pay the excess to them. This is bad because although you still get discharge at 1 year you have to pay back that figure for 3 years (I think). To give you an idea, council house,1 kid, I picked up an equivalent £34k contract at month 4 and they still early discharged because I was only £55 above my monthly figure.
Before I stop this wall of text one last piece of advice, don't blatantly lie to the insolvency service and dont think bankrupt next month i'll go get a new plasma tv on credit. One of my neighbours pulled that stunt and the only investigation he is missing is a rectal exam for stashed money
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Topic: bankrupt (Read 3760 times)