bankruptcy fees

A question about : bankruptcy fees

help! i'm in debt to the tune of about 18k and i'm a recently single parent with 3 kids. i'm on DMP but will be paying this off longer than my youngest (3) will be at home. i was just wondering, how do i get the fees up together to go bankrupt in the first place?
the debts are solely my fault...borrowing to pay off debts and getting swallowed up on credit and loans.
i'm just not sure what steps to take first and whether it is actually the right option.
i'm blacklisted but no CCJ, just debt collectors and begging letters (for money from me) every now and again.
i just don't know what to do now... any advice would be gratefully received
just to say, an email reply would be great
sarah

Best answers:

• Hi I went through the same thing. I contacted CCCS and they were very good in their attempt to contact the companies to arrange an affordable financial plan for me to stick to. I tried for 3 years but a couple of companies didn't freeze any interest and just kept dumping fines on me so in the end I took bankruptcy. It was very difficult but I was cleared of bankruptcy last August and am getting a house in January. So it can be done and you can survive. You may be best speaking to the citizens advice or CCCS or one of these charitable debit companies and they can look at your options - if you have your own house for instance then bankruptcy may not be a good option as you would lose it.
  There are loads of people out there though that can help and offer good financial advice (probably several on this board!) but if you type in 'debt help' under UK google you get lots of sites, CCCS, Insolvency helplines etc all wtih free confidential helplines and advisors.
  Good luck and don't worry. x
• it's hard NOT to worry. i'm just pretending to shrug it off at the moment while still keeping my head dry. i'm in a council house on benefits at the moment. getting a divorce so no chance of working yet until lil un is at school full time (2008)
  the debts just seem to be going on and on and the tv adverts don't help for christmas
  i can see myself spiralling into panic mode soon
  reading this board makes me think that bankruptcy is my only option for a fresh start, not just for me but mainly for the kids too
• you can write to your creditors and advise them that you are going to go bankrupt and are saving for the fee. you would therefore send them a token payment for say 4 months until you had saved the £475 that you need,
• Oh sorry i didn't mean to sound like I was making light of it but one thing I did learn (once it was over) was that all you can do is all you can do. I used to want to go to sleep and never wake up, I used to dread the phone going or the postman coming, it was all I could think about every minute of every day. But you are right, its absolutely ridiculous that you have to get the best part of £500 to do this. I never knew about the option that thefoolonthehill gave re token payments but at least thats one option available to you. make sure you keep copies of any correspondence to prove you've informed them. (If you are going to go bankrupt then its not worth paying them all of your cash anyway - I know my official receiver urged me to put every single bit of debt I had into it so i would get a clean slate).
  Jo
• even debts accrued after the DMP ? i just spoke to cccs and they basically passed me back to my own DMP who is byrom and keeley.
  my head is spinning and i don't know what to do first...
• All debts accuired even the day before bankruptcy are included. All utilities, Council tax, taxes all debts apart from your mortgage.
• jo you didn't sound flippant. what i'm saying is it's so hard not to worry about it
  mike i read your posts and well done to you
  i'm going to go to CAB tomorrow or thurs and get some advice on how to go about it
  i have a natwest step account so i suppose that will have to go
  it's the little things i'm worried about like what happens to my direct debits meantime etc
• waiting for insolvency people to ring me back now. i'll talk to them and see what they advise. the sticky is i'm with a DMP at the moment so i may have to cancel it before i can go ahead.
  would they let me keep a car? 10 yrs old renault espace for the 3 kids? i want to sell it anyway and get smaller but i can;t think about that at the moment
  many thanks for all your replies and help. i'm feeling a bit better about it all now