Each of our experts have selected real examples of how their particular specialism can assist people resolve their debt concerns in the right circumstances. We hope that these case studies help to demonstrate the theory in real terms. We also trust that they will illustrate how those who make the brave decision to take act on their unmanageable debts can quickly find relief in the situation being brought under control.

Bankruptcy Success Story - Valerie

I thought that my world was going to fall apart in April 2004, when a creditor I could not pay took me to Court for a debt I could not pay.  My partner had left me and my little boy, who was eight at the time, and we lived in property in the South West where I had no hope of getting a re-mortgage to pay my debts as a surveyor had diagnosed it with “concrete cancer”.  I had other debts as well and knew I would never be able to pay them without my partner’s income to rely on, and no child maintenance as he refused to pay me anything.

I ignored the County Court Judgement which followed and the statutory demand, and when the Court date came for my bankruptcy hearing, I did not get up until lunchtime believing that if I stayed under the duvet it would all go away.  Sadly this was not the case and a bankruptcy order was made against me.  I don’t think that I have ever felt so frightened in all of my life.

Things did not improve when I had my meeting with the Official Receiver, who told me that because there was equity in my property it would have to be sold.  When I asked them how I would be able to find a property to rent on my limited income, they told me that was not their problem and that my case would be sent to an Insolvency Practitioner who would take over from them.  I was at my wits end over the next couple of weeks, not knowing whether my son and I would be out on the streets, with no home.  I tried to keep it away from him, but he kept asking why Mummy was crying and what could he do to make me better.  That made me cry even more, and the duvet became more and more welcoming.  I started taking lots of time off work, which led to me having a written warning about my absence. 

And then Melanie Giles was appointed as my Trustee, so I thought it would only be a matter of time before she would take my home away from me.  She called me to a meeting at her offices and I was terrified to be honest as I knew that I would soon be homeless and that I could not afford to pay rent in the town that I has always lived in and where my son was really happy at his school.  I braced myself for bad news, but have to say that that meeting was one which has really changed my life.

The first thing that Melanie said to me was that she was not here to put me out on the streets, but that the property would have to eventually be sold to enable some money to be repaid to my creditors.  She had calculated that I owed about £35,000 and there was equity in my property of about £15,000 – so there was not enough to pay them in full, but I understood that I would lose my home.  Melanie explained that she would not take any steps to do this for the first year, to give me time to find somewhere else to live – although I would have to keep up my mortgage payments to avoid the property being possessed by the lender.  As this was far cheaper than renting, I felt as if I had been thrown a lifeline – which was just buying some time in reality. 

Over the next year or so, Melanie arranged to put the property on the market, but due to its structural problems there was very little interest, and I was allowed to stay in the property so long as the mortgage was paid.  At this time property values in our area were rising rapidly, but I took little interest in this as I knew I would never be able to buy my own home again.  By the end of the first year of my bankruptcy, I had been discharged, and by the end of the second year I had completed a part-time college course which enabled me to get a far better paid job.  For the first time in a number of years, I actually felt on top of things, and now able to explore options in the local rental market.  With my son going up to the high school in the next year, I needed to find somewhere to live close to his secondary school, and noticed that there was a new housing development being built close by on a shared ownership project.  I wondered if I would be able to rent one of these properties eventually.

Then to my surprise, and out of the blue, Melanie telephoned me to say she had accepted an offer on my property – and the good news was that she would be able to pay creditors in full and there would be £40,000 of equity available to come back to me.  I could not believe it – not only was I paying all of my debts in full, but would have enough money to put down as a deposit on a new property.  We moved in a little over a year ago – to the housing estate near my son’s school - and I have never looked back.

I went from the depths of despair during my bankruptcy, but now realise that with a sympathetic and astute Trustee, it was really the best thing that ever happened to me. Although the upturn in the property market a couple of years ago undoubtedly helped, I am so pleased that my creditors eventually got paid as I did not borrow the money with the intention of not paying it back.  I have realised that bankruptcy is not something to be afraid of, and am glad I had an understanding Trustee who was always willing to chat me thought issues and concerns which cropped up along the way.

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