Insolvency ???

tfromkerry

Not sure this is the place for this post

A friend of mine is going to lose his house as he cant repay bank , plus he has other personnel debt also in the region of 50,000 to 60,000

He has had trouble for the last 3/4 with money , mainly from a failed business that went belly up years back . and is now wondering what if anything he can do . he is given to the fact that he will lose his house , but can he give back house and just walk away debt free

He is in his 50s and need to get this monkey off his back and get back to living some bit of a life .

Any help would be grateful

dotsman

He needs to talk to a PIP (Personal Insolvency Practitioner).

Over the last year (and really only effective from a few weeks ago), the Government's plan for assisting people in your friend's position is the Personal Insolvency process. Like most government proposals, it is well intentioned, but potentially very bureaucratic and possibly ineffective. Basically, there are 3 processes, all with the intention of wiping off/down debt (while keeping their house etc) as long as the debtor is proven to be making their best effort for a period of time. It is early days yet, probably won't be another year or two to see if it is any way effective.

More info hear

From what I hear so far,

1. Once receiving notification from the PIP, most banks deal directly with the customer to do a deal as they lose out greatly from the Personal Insolvency process.
2. Something like a third of potential cases stall once the customer is asked to sign an affidavit confirm that they have been telling the truth!

phormium

Is he working at the moment? The PIP will charge a fee so not too easy to pay for that if unemployed. The process is a bit of a mess really. Has he spoken to MABS at all, not that they can get rid of the debt but they may be able to offer advice.

tfromkerry

Hi no he is not working at the minute , and no he has not made any contact with mabs or any other group .

I think he has been hiding the fact to be honest .

So all i want to do for him is to find as much info as i can and compile it all for him .

So he can restart some kind of life again .

phormium

A trip to his local Citizens Information office might be a good start, many have facilities where you can make an appointment with free legal aid clinic so that he can find out what the legal position is with his debts. These are brief meetings and only verbal advice is given but it's free!

I would encourage him to make an appointment with MABS, there is probably a waiting list so best to call as soon as possible, you could go with him to the meeting if he wanted, they could outline what options he has.

He could approach a PIP if there is one in his locality but upfront fees might make that a non-runner.

tfromkerry

The problem with the citizens advice center is that its staffed with local people and with the whole taboo with having money problems he is not likely to go to them . We live in a small town and know all of the people in them and in fact have know of stories getting out from them office,s and been chatted about at the bingo night

phormium

Surprised to hear that, confidentiality is very important in that line of work.

What about the next nearest town that has an office?

tfromkerry

Well phormium , confidentiality goes with people and not the line of work , and he can go into next town however with the way the office is run in our town i doubt it very much he would trust it .

phormium

MABS is best bet so, is there an office in his town?