Support for individuals

Reassuring help through insolvency or financial difficulty

Insolvency and recovery » Support for individuals

Practical advice and solutions

If you’re suffering under the emotional burden of financial difficulty, don’t wait until your situation becomes desperate.

Our experts are here to help, from the moment you think you might be in trouble. There’s no need to face county court judgements, bailiffs, repossession or bankruptcy alone.

Ignoring the debt is never a good idea, so we’re here to encourage you to take positive action. That’s why we offer a full review of your financial circumstances and advice on the most practical and realistic way forward.

Our insolvency practitioners operate through Price Bailey LLP. For information about our regulatory status see www.pricebailey.co.uk/legal.

Bankruptcy

If you can’t pay your creditors, bankruptcy can free you from overwhelming debts.

But remember, any assets you have may be sold and the proceeds shared among your creditors. Bankruptcy normally lasts 12 months – after that you can make a fresh start.

You give the Official Receiver details of your financial affairs, you’ll usually have to close your bank account and you won’t be able to get credit over £500 without disclosing your bankruptcy. The bankruptcy order is registered with credit reference agencies for at least six years, and you can’t be a company director or hold public office. But our specialists can help soften the blow, if bankruptcy is the only option.

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Individual voluntary arrangement (IVA)

An IVA avoids bankruptcy and is a really useful way to deal with personal debts.

It’s an agreement between you and your creditors, where you make funds available to the creditors bound by the agreement. This usually involves making one monthly payment out of your income for a set period of time and, if you have any assets such as equity in your property or endowment policies, you may have to make some of this available too.

An IVA gives you protection from your existing creditors, and once your obligations are fulfilled, your debts are written off. Your credit rating isn’t as seriously affected as in bankruptcy, and you can continue to trade.

Final settlement

This negotiates a lump sum payment to creditors to avoid bankruptcy.

When your circumstances are unlikely to improve in the future, creditors might be prepared to accept a final settlement that’s less than the total amount you owe. If creditors accept your offer, they agree to write off the balance of your debt. This is only really appropriate if you have no assets and no income to make monthly contributions to creditors.

After the settlement, creditors will stop calling and writing to you. But remember, negotiations can take some time, and creditors might continue legal action, as there is no legal protection.

Debt management plan (DMP)

With a DMP, you make a single monthly payment to a company that negotiates with your creditors on your behalf.

The DMP company handles all communication with your creditors and negotiates repayments. It might have interest frozen on your accounts, and it has day-to-day control of your debts. There is no ‘end date’ to your debt problems, so this is only really a short-term solution.

Debt relief order (DRO)

You can apply for a DRO from The Insolvency Service if you’re unable to pay your debts, owe less than £20,000, don’t own a car worth more than £1,000 and have other assets of £1,000 or less.

After taking away tax, national insurance contributions and normal household expenses, your disposable income must be no more than £50 a month. A DRO lasts 12 months, and in that time, creditors can’t take any action to recover their money without permission from the court. At the end of the period, if your circumstances haven’t changed, you’re freed from the debts included in your order.

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Call us on 0800 434 6460