Your IVA seemed like the perfect solution when it began, but now it may be failing. Will you be back to square one and have difficult creditors to deal with? Or could you even be made bankrupt? First, there may be ways to rescue your IVA An IVA failing may not be a disaster, for some people there are better options! That's what the rest of this article looks at. But don't assume nothing … [Read more...]
Adding Liability Orders to credit records – a bad idea!
County Court Judgments (CCJs) are added to people's credit records, so why shouldn't the same be done for Liability Orders (LOs) for council tax arrears? This is a really bad idea, involving major problems and costs for local authorities and magistrates courts. These would massively outweigh the potential benefits. Magistrates Court Liability Order processes are not comparable to County Court … [Read more...]
How to reply to a Letter Before Claim about a debt
A creditor has to send a Letter Before Claim before they take you to court for a debt in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This letter may be headed something like Letter Before Action or Notice of Pending Legal Action or even Letter of Claim. You can tell if you have been sent one of these as there will be various attachments including one headed Reply Form. This letter is part of the … [Read more...]
How to add a Notice of Correction to a credit record – and is it worth it?
Finding something negative on your credit record is bad enough - but it feels a lot worse if you think it is wrong or unreasonable. You have the legal right under the Consumer Credit Act to add a "Notice of Correction" to your credit report if you feel something is misleading or you want to provide an explanation. What is a Notice of Correction? A Notice of Correction is something you … [Read more...]
Bailiffs – do you have to let them in? What you need to know.
A visit from bailiffs is a nightmare idea for many people. They have changed their name to enforcement agents but that doesn't make it any less scary. This article looks at what happens after a debt is sent to the bailiffs, the two key rules for dealing with bailiffs and what to do if things go wrong. There is a section at the end about good (and bad) places to get help. In 2021 the new Debt … [Read more...]
Inheriting money when in a DMP, DRO, IVA or bankruptcy
What happens if you inherit money when you are in a debt management plan or one of the three forms of insolvency: Debt Relief Order (DRO), bankruptcy or IVA? The answers are surprisingly different... Inheriting in a DMP This is the easiest case. Any money you inherit comes to you, not to your creditors or your DMP firm. And it doesn't matter if the person dies before your DMP started or … [Read more...]
I want to sell my house to end my IVA
A reader asked: We are desperate to end our IVA. So difficult. The IVA firm that seemed helpful at the start now after two years doesn't care about our extra costs. We have decided to sell and downsize. My wife is hoping for a discount but I said they were more likely to charge us more to get out early! We need as much equity as possible for the next house. This is a tricky situation. There … [Read more...]
PPI claims after your IVA has finished
In March 2017, the Court of Appeal decision in the Green v Wright case was published: Mr Wright's IVA firm was allowed to collect PPI after his IVA ended, even though he hadn't consented to this before his completion certificate was issued. As questions about this continue to arrive, I thought it would be useful to summarise the current situation: what is clear and what is less clear. The … [Read more...]
Won your Financial Ombudsman case but worried you won’t be paid?
Financial Ombudsman decisions are legally binding on the firm. But if it's been a couple of weeks and you haven't been paid, you may be feeling worried... This article gives some information on how you can enforce a decision from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) through the courts. I'm doing this to re-assure you that it can be done, not to encourage you to rush out and do it! It is … [Read more...]
Which debts can you go to prison for not paying?
I don't think people should be sent to prison for not being able to pay a debt. It rarely happens, but it's important to know the sorts of debt where this is a possibility. About a hundred people a year are sent to prison for council tax arrears - here is a case where a mother was in prison for 40 days before being released. About 30 people a year go to prison for not having a TV licence - … [Read more...]
Joint debts – what happens in an IVA / DRO / bankruptcy
A reader asked: I have received a letter saying we still owe £4,000 in council tax. The debt was included in my bankruptcy a few months ago but they are chasing my wife for the full amount, what should we do? This article looks at what happens to joint debts which are unsecured, not mortgages or secured loans. It covers all three forms of insolvency - bankruptcy, DROs and IVAs - because the … [Read more...]
What is the difference between “settled” and “satisfied” on a credit report?
A reader asked: My Credit Karma report shows some settled debts but one is shown as satisfied. I am sure I paid them all off in full. Does it make a difference and should I ask for this to be changed? … [Read more...]
Is my house safe if my new partner goes bankrupt
Ms P asked "I want my partner to move in with me but he may have to go bankrupt so we need advice on the timing. He has got a lot of debt trying to keep his business going but it doesn't seem to be working. I have a house with a lot of equity and we don't want this to be at risk at all. The question is if he moves in now and goes bankrupt in a few months, will that cause a problem? Or is it … [Read more...]
IVA early exit loans – Perinta/Creditfix and Sprout/Aperture
Early IVA exit loans from Perinta offered in 2016 to Creditfix customers Some people have been told they can end their IVA by taking an "early exit loan" from Perinta Finance Ltd, via a broker called Just Lending. Creditfix is sending these emails, but the loan may be available to people in IVAs with other firms. Pearse Flynn, the CEO of Creditfix, used to be a director of Perinta, but no longer … [Read more...]
“Can I use the Right to Buy my council house when I have debts?”
A reader asked: I moved in with my parents into their council house several years ago and we are looking into the right to buy scheme. We received the paperwork and it stated that you are not entitled to the right to buy if you owe money to creditors. Five years ago I lost my job and had a relationship breakup and unfortunately got into debt. Two accounts were defaulted and I went into a payment … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- Next Page »