"GB" wrote in message
...

"Aonghus Heatley" wrote in message
...
Your daughter should think quite hard about going bankrupt, especially
if
she has other debts. These days it's pretty much an automatic discharge
after a year.

If she can face that prospect, then you are in a very strong bargaining
position with the finance company. She can make them a pretty low offer
to
get them off her back. If they don't take it, they get nothing because
she
goes bankrupt, and gets rid of her liability altogether, including any
other
debts she has.

I would agree with the other posters here that bankruptcy should be an
absolute last resort - it is undertaken far too often in the UK and most
people are unaware of the drastic implications.

Interesting. I agree that a 2000 Pound loan seems a bit small to go
bankrupt
over. All the down-side of bankruptcy, and only a small amount written
off.

Nevertheless, it would be helpful if you just spelled out what the
'drastic
implications' are for the benefit of anyone else reading this. It does
seem
to me that it is actually not that severe a process. The daughter already
has a bad credit record (see the rest of ths thread), so will a bankruptcy
make it that much worse?

There is a difference between a bad credit rating and a bankruptcy I would
have thought and any financial planning after the loan is cleared may depend
on having *some* access to credit - a bankruptcy will take this away from
her for several years and will even after this hang over her - a history of
bankruptcy, even if the bankruptcy is no longer in effect, can stay with
someone for a long time.

I'd stress that it should be an absolute last resort, but it is an option.

"Aonghus Heatley" wrote in message
...


I'd stress that it should be an absolute last resort, but it is an option.


My thinking is a bit coloured by the people I have known who went bankrupt.

I had one client who was hit very badly in the early-90's property crash. He
had a really ghastly year desperately trying to avoid bankruptcy, ducking
and diving financially, and making very poor long-term decisions in an
effort to pay off the most demanding creditors. All this with no real hope
of getting things sorted out. He aged about 10 years during that year.

Then, he went bankrupt, and his problems largely evaporated. Nobody was
chasing him for money any more. Last I saw of him, he had emigrated to
Ireland and reconstructed himself financially. Seemed to have no problems
getting credit in Ireland.....

A friend of mine, a solicitor, went bankrupt. That meant he lost his job,
but he is quite happy teaching law these days. He had a crippling lease on
his practice premises, etc, but that is all behind him. He's still living in
the same house, kid goes to private school, etc etc

Another client went bankrupt ... well never mind, you get the picture.

This was all before the latest reforms, when it took 3 years for an
automatic discharge, not 1 year as now.

I agree bankruptcy is not a step to be taken lightly, but surely better than
struggling on for years and years with a debt that cannot be paid down.

In article ,
(Stuart A. Bronstein) wrote:

I'm about to apply to have one of them determined :-)

For a situation involving high interest rates? What's it about?

Capital One card. Had it for years, and haven't used it for about the
same length of time. I got it a little after my (now well spent) fraud
conviction, since it was the only card I could get.

Dispute over claimed foreign usage. I've never been to the US, but hey
claim I filled up a car in Seattle, 20 minutes after settling a hotel
bill in New York! Both at a time I can prove I was shopping in ADSA from
a receipt on my Barclaycard.

They are charging me interest and charges on a £200 credit limit and a
disputed balance of £204, amounting to over £50 a MONTH!

That's around 400% APR.

They have had a letter before action including a 'full and final'
settlement offer of a little over half the current balance, offered
without prejudice or admission. They have not replied in the 7 days.

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981

"Odie Ferrous" wrote in message
...
Random Observer wrote:

I do seem to vaguely recall reading the news about cases where judges
annulled loans with ridiculous interest rates. Perhaps it is an unfair
term? Maybe one of the other posters here can talk about this more...

I recall this too.

I also recall reading that the practice of "adding on" (in this case
£500) ridiculous amounts for insurance and / or fees was frowned upon.

I'd take this up with the CAB.

Or the FOS