Hi jeangrey

Firstly you should check the Register of Insolvencies to confirm that the Trustee has been discharged. If they have, then this will allow you to petition for sequestration.

The petition form itself is pretty straightforward and would need to be completed and sent to the Accountant in Bankruptcy's office with a cheque or payment for £200 to cover the admin cost of processing the application. They would then deal with the sequestration in house or pass it to one of their agents to deal with who will contact you directly to complete a further form and review income and expenditure to see if a contribution will be payable.

While there is no requirement to notify your husband, I think it is always wise to do so. The sequestration will be between you and the Trustee.

If there are no assets as you mention, then the process should be quite straightforward as advised.

Mark

Thank you Mark, I have just checked and the PTD is not discharged yet. So I have to wait until they do this? I have a letter which says that I can use it towards my application for Sequestration should I wish to - does that mean I don't need to get a Certificate? There is a lot of information on the web, it's kind of hard to pick out what I need.

Apparently, there were PPI investigations going on but the woman I spoke to on the phone said she didn't have any information about that. What happens with that if I am discharged?

How can I get them to speed up so I can just move on? If they are still Trustee's can I get them to sequestrate me?

Thanks again,

Also, meant to ask - it is possible to be sequestrated without assets? I mean, the house is nothing to the AIB if it's in mu husbands name? Also, would my TV and household goods be at risk?

TIA

Hi jeangrey

You can petition using the LILA option ( Low Assets Low Income ) depending what your weekly income is. Just complete the form and put in the letter that you are applying under the LILA Scheme. The sequestration does not take account of household goods, so don't worry or start moving things into the garage!!

If you or the Trustee has not been formally discharged as you decribe, then you cannot apply until this has taken place. If there is no PPI then the process for the Trustee is easy enough to finalise.

Mark

Thanks Mark - this has really started to put my mind at rest a bit. I was looking at the application and got quite panicky going through the essential and non-essential items! I am a bit worried about my car though. It is second hand but I own it outright (bought for me by a relative), I checked the value online and it comes in anywhere between £2k from trade in or £4k from a dealership. I can't get to kids to childcare and myself to work without the car. Is there a risk I would lose it upon discharge? It is my only asset.

I'm also wondering about the LILA wage limit, it says £248 a week, I work part-time earning £165 a week, I get tax credits of £72 a week but pay £104 a week in childcare. I also receive child benefit for my two children so in total my weekly income comes in at £275 so would I not qualify?

In the meantime, I need to get all my creditor details together for filling out the form so I will have to contact them. What do I tell them, there are a couple that are hounding me and I'd really like to get them off my back. I know that I can't get any help from anyone else until I am discharged by my trustee but would it benefit me to get an IP to help me or am I better off just doing it myself?

Also, if I can't find all my creditors what happens if they are missed off my application?

Thanks so much for you help.
JG

Hi jeangrey.

If you are receiving working tax credits then you automatically meet the income rules for LILA so should have no problems on that score. Even if it is child tax credit you get, that would not be included in the calculation as to whether you meet the LILA criteria.

If you would like help completing the form etc then your best bet would be your local free money advice agency (eg citizens advice bureau, local authority). An IP may be willing to help, but usually only if you would be nominating them to be your trustee in sequestration. Given your circumstances I am guessing that you have little or no disposable income to spare, so LILA may be your best way forward instead.

Thanks Kevin, that's really helpful. It is just child tax credit I get but clearly it's all sucked up with childcare costs. Hardly seems worth actually working but I'd rather be working than not!!

Yes, I have very little disposable income - I'm just wondering now about the scrutiny placed on my family's financial circumstances; my husband has the mortgage and he pays this and all the insurance related to it, he also pays the phone bill and for Sky TV. I don't pay anything towards the mortgage, I pay the council tax, gas, electric and childcare which given the tax credits etc is far less than he pays out a month. Would this be frowned upon - we have always done this rather than a joint account because of my debt problems it seemed the most sensible idea.

Should I tell my creditors that I am doing this - will they be able to put some kind of hold on my accounts and stop harassing me for a while?

JG

Hi jeangrey,

As Mark said when you apply for your own Sequestration either the Accountant in Bankruptcy will handle your case or they will pass it out to one of their agents to deal with. We are one of their agents and there is a 60% chance that they may pass it to my firm to deal with if they don't deal with it themselves. When we complete an income and expenditure with a client we will look at the whole household income and expenditure. It is pretty fair and we use StepChange charity guidelines figures for assessing your budget and if you can afford to make a weekly/monthly contribution. Do you feel that you could afford to make some level of payment towards the Sequestration?

In regards to your car, we use two website to value vehicles. We use Parkers which allows you to put in the registration of the vehicle to value it (providing it's not a really old car) and also wisebuyers. We tend to go on the fair to poor condition valuation for the vehicle. I think based on your figures your car wouldn't be an asset in the Sequestration.

The wage limit is based on your income and don't not include any benefits. You will be fine in this regard.

Do you have the application to apply for your own Sequestration? If not, if you hit the contact David button and provide me with your address I can organise for one to be sent out to you. I'll also put some information on Sequestration in with the pack and my direct contact details if you have any questions.

Don't worry about missing any creditors off, if you do and it's picked up later on down the line these can still be included. Ask your Trustee in your Trust Deed to post you out a creditors summary which should show you all of your creditors, their address, reference number and outstanding balance. This should save you having to contact them all.

Your still technically protected from the Trust Deed so there is nothing that your creditors can do against you. Just advise them that you are subject to your Trust Deed and direct them to your Trustee. You can tell your creditors about your intentions to apply for your Sequestration but they probably won't take much notice until they receive official confirmation in writing.

You want to keep on top of your Trustee in your Trust Deed so that they push along your case and then release you from the Trust Deed ASAP. If you are constantly on at them they should push your file forward a little quicker.

Thanks David, that would be great. I have messaged you.

I have had more help on here than any of the phonecalls I made yesterday. Thanks to all who have replied to me 🙂

Hi jeangrey

We're always glad to help. Once you strip the thing down, it's actually quite a straightforward process and in my experience it is no where near as bad as people expect.

There must have been loads of terrible TV programmes on bankruptcy to give people the ideas they have, but when you deal with it everyday, it's amazing how things quickly quieten down.

Mark

Hi jeangrey,

Got your email, thanks!

The Debtor Application for Sequestration along with information will be coming out in the post to you today. Don't worry it will be in a sealed envelope although on the front of the envelope it does have our name and address but it makes no reference to debt. When you receive this have a read through it. You can start to complete it at the moment that way it's ready to go when you are released from your Trust Deed. I'll put in my contact details and phone number so if you do have any questions you can give me a quick call and I'll be happy to talk you through things.

It can be a pretty stressful time and it's the fear of the unknown that can really play on peoples mind when it comes to Bankruptcy. People always think that things will be a lot worse than things actually are.

The main thing you need to do at the moment is make yourself a nuisance to your Trustee to get released.

Thanks again, once my application is completed and received what sort of timescale am I looking at?

Once it's received by the AIB it normally takes between 5-7 days to be processed and awarded. It's pretty quick.

Once it's awarded/official you will receive a letter in the post confirming it. You can check the register of insolvencies as it will appear on this first.

Wow - that is quick, I've been reading other forums and things saying it can take 3 months to set up. I am feeling better although I just got an email from my Trustees with the balances/creditors etc and added to the £5k I have I am shocked to discover that I am £30k in debt - that is ridiculous, I am so ashamed that I have got myself in such a horrible mess.

I have always had a very poor relationship with money and this is the last chance for me to try and be debt free - I would love to be free and clear before I turn 40 in a little over 3 years time. I do wonder though if there is someone I can talk to about my relationship with money etc - clearly I have a problem.