Debt clinic with James Max on LBC on Sunday 10th January.
This is the third time James and I have done a ‘Debt clinic for Londoners’ and it was amazing the topics we got through in the hour-long show.
These are the ones that we managed to get through;
Zak had debts of £13,000 and we spoke about the options of a Debt Relief Order (DRO) or bankruptcy and went through how these work. Next call was Paolo who was looking for advice on where to find a new bank account after going bankrupt.
Dave from Chingford was next and he called the show to say he was concerned about a friend who was asking him about bankruptcy. Dave did not know how to respond as he did not understand the procedure. I explained how it works but stressed that all cases must be looked at on their merits and what fits for one person may not apply to another.
Kate then called and wanted to understand more about Debt Consolidation Loans (DCL). I gave one example of a situation when a DCL was appropriate and one when not.
Mark then dialled up and said that he was in an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) that had now ended but was being chased for a debt that he was sure was included in the IVA. I gave him advice on what to do explaining that the debt recovery company can no longer pursue the debt if it was previously part of the completed IVA. Mark was referred back to the firm that handled his IVA so that they can write to the recovery agents. Simple really once you know but worrying for Mark, now he is a lot happier.
Next up was Simon calling from the Dominican Republic, who was worried about where he stood on debts in the UK on which he had not paid anything since 2003. I covered the Limitation Act and how unsecured debts can be statute barred after six years if no payment or acknowledgement has been made during that time.
Ismail telephoned as he needed advice on how to improve his credit rating as he was recently refused a loan.
Alan from Ilford wanted advice as he had lent a friend £20,000 but it looked like he was not going to get his money back and wanted to know where he stood. Basically he is the same as a credit card provider or a bank that had given a personal loan. If the friend is made bankrupt then Alan will get the same dividend payment, if any, as the banks. The way to protect your money is to secure a charge on the person’s property, if owned; more advice was given on the show about this.
Wendy then asked how to help her son who was being taken to court for a county court judgment by a lender for the sum of £4,000. Wendy was advised to go to court with her son as in his absence the court could make an unrealistic order of payment which could make matters worse. Wendy was advised to make the court aware of his other debts and expenditure commitments against his income.
Steve from Heathrow also enquired about £18,000 worth of old debts going back seven years and was referred to the Limitation Act.
Jane called in worried about her home because her ex-husband was about to go bankrupt. Jane wanted to know if she would lose the home as it could be seen as an asset in his bankruptcy.
Apparently the house was transferred over to her three years ago and that for the last five years Jane has been the only one paying the mortgage.
Based upon the information Jane gave it is highly unlikely that the house would be at risk in her ex-husband’s bankruptcy because of the length of time Jane had been paying the mortgage.
Another caller, Mike, quickly followed with a query about whether a creditor has to first obtain a county court judgement before they can proceed to apply for a charging order. The answer is yes unless the individual concerned volunteered to allow the charging order to go on the property.
The last caller was Paul from Yeovil; he had debts of around £20,000 and was in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Paul was medically retired and did not know how to deal with his mounting debt problem.
As Paul was so late in the show and due to the circumstances relating to his debts I decided he would be my ‘star of the show’.
I always have one star every radio phone-in I do. This means that I will personally call him and help plan a way forward. James Max has asked to be kept updated with this as well with a view to Paul coming back on the show to explain what has happened.
I will update this via my blog once I have spoken to Paul.
You can listen again on the LBC podcast which should be available next few days.
Get out of debt - Cashpoint September
This a FREE PODCAST with me talking to James Max and covering all your options on getting out of debt, listen out for bankruptcy, Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAS) and debt management plans among other things. Thu 24th Sep 2009 @ 13:58.21 - 19m 42s
All future shows I do will be posted on the home page.
