I’m in the UK And in IVA But Wonder if Actually Filing Bankruptcy Would Be Better. – Sarah

“Dear Jon,

Up until april this year I was a director of my own company with my husband. In april we decided that after 7 years of trading we could not carry on trading, a lot of the debts were in my personal name and I was being hounded by the creditors,

I now have my iva approved but I am wondering if I should just go bankrupt as my iva payment is £426pm, the debts I have is £198k, I own a property with my mother but I do not speak to her and have not lived with her for 12 years, my name is on the mortgage but I have not made a financial contribution for 12 years. I would prefer to go bankrupt but obviously could not make my 65 year old mother homeless through no fault of her own. Please can you advise me.

Will I lose a property that I have made no financial contribution to for 12 years if I go bankrupt?

Sarah”

Sarah,

I can understand your concerns and your question about not having contributed to the property so why would it be an issue if you were to go bankrupt, but the property very well could be a problem.

Just because you have not contributed to the property in anyway does not take away the fact your name is on the mortgage and it does appear you have an interest in the property.

A few questions:

Are you on the land registry as well as the mortgage for the property?

Is there any equity in the property?

Can your mother document/prove she has made all the mortgage payments and paid for every expenses associated with the property?

Have you ever contributed to the property or even lived there, even if for a short period of time?

Was the property disclosed or considered or a part of your IVA?

In an IVA if you own or have an interest in a property it must be disclosed and a portion of any equity can be required to be released at the end of the IVA.

If the property was disclosed in the IVA and was of no consequence, meaning the IVA supervisor wasn’t concerned with it, then there could be a slight possibility in bankruptcy the property could be OK as well. I say slight possibility.

Also, if there is no equity in the property then it may be OK in bankruptcy as well.

I can understand wanting to go bankrupt to just be done with the debts and start over, as bankruptcy is the quickest way to be out of debt and move on, but the fact you have an interest in a property could be an issue if you were to go bankrupt.

I hope this helps and let me know the answers to my questions and we can look close at this.

Regards,

Jon Emge is an experienced UK debt advisor who has helped thousands and thousands of people in the UK to deal with problem debt. Jon specialises in finding good solutions for problem debt using a variety of UK specific techniques.

If you have a question you’d like to ask about how to get out of UK debt, just use the online form. I’m happy to help you for free.