Job loss, bankruptcy and probably depression

[Kryten]

Is all en-route. Happy days, eh?

Payday was friday. No pay. Our MD wanders in, gives us the speil "we're asset rich, cash poor, trouble with investors, you'll be paid on Monday, any bank charges etc we'll settle for you".
It's no tuesday, still no pay, talks with investors have fallen through and it looks like the companies going under. It's only a small local IT recycling firm although we've got 2 other locations, noone at any of them have been paid.
"It's just a job", is the attitude of many of the folks here. I'm one of 2 head engineers, and this job is my dream job. I was hoping to be here for many, many years. And I'm likely to lose it.

Baby is due end of August, that's not long now. The one shining beacon of light in this shit-stained reality we're living in. 27k of unsecured debts, wife can't get out to work in her condition, bankruptcy is looking like a very good option. Difficult for us for a year, but the child gets a decent and fresh start to his life.

So, thing's are getting on top of me now, and I want to remain strong for my wife and unborn child. I'm hoping something pulls through with work and we get paid late rather than never, and something is done about the morons who head the company up, sapping money away where it's not required. Our building is the only one making a profit, and there's potential here. Loads of it.

I wish I could go to the bank and ask for a couple of hundred thousand and buy into the place. It won't buy much, but enough to separate this place from the morons at the top. Get our MD back in place running things the way he wants to, because he's one of the only people nearer the top who has a clue what they're doing and what this place is worth.

Excuse the rant, just something I felt like getting off my chest. In the meantime I'll continue searching for crap warehouse jobs on the internet and attempting to fill in these ludicrously worded bankruptcy forms.

Oh joy.

 

[Trem]

Usually with stuff like this it ends up for the best, I have actually never been proven wrong on this theory. May not happen instantly but karma always works out one way or another.

Chin up chum.

 

[TdC]

quite a challenge there Kryt. had any updates regarding the situation? if your location is the only one turning a profit then who knows what can happen? that said, it's only smart to cover your bases and jump on the jobhunt smartish. Perhaps also keep a feeler out with your MD? You seem to like him, and that may work, but remember he's in the same boat as you obv.

Chin up fella, I'm sorry to hear this happen to you, but (cliché alert!) try to view it as a sea of opportunities opening to you rather than the doom and gloom it may seem. It may take a while and it will certainly be hard, but things will work out, I'm sure of it, and you'll be getting that mini-Kryt the USB pacifier with the flashing LED's when you want

 

[Kryten]

heh, cheers I know what you mean

Been signing up for all the usual jobsites this morning and having a good hunt around.
I like the MD, as do most the folks here, mostly because he's one of the most straight talking, blunt and to the point people I've ever met in my life. Spades a spade, and if you don't like it, to his words "fuck off you c***".
He's hard as nails and close to tears himself over this situation :/

 

[bob269]

Yeah deffo keep in touch with the MD, the last place i worked when they went bust the MD setup on his own and offered me a job, altho he was a **** so i told him to fo, but you get the point

Eitherway, i'm sure he's got plenty of contacts which could help.

 

[Trem]

Yeah deffo keep in touch with the MD, the last place i worked when they went bust the MD setup on his own and offered me a job, altho he was a **** so i told him to fo, but you get the point

I remember that, still makes me laugh.

 

[DaGaffer]

That's a crying shame, especially as you'd think you're job would be in something of a growth industry at the moment, with all the WEEE regs. Nothing in the public purse they can get hold of? Grants etc?

 

[bob269]

Also if the company goes Insolvent you will get redundancy pay.

 

[Kryten]

Posted my details on Jobsite.co.uk and within an hour had a phone call and offer of a contract position for £10 an hour. Quite impressed, just gotta hold out till end of play today to see what's going on with this place :|

 

[Fweddy]

That's terrible Kryt, from reading the tech forum it's obvious how much you love your job. Great that you're getting offers already though, that must make you feel a fair bit better about the situation.

 

[Rubric]

That's harsh Kryten, you seem like such a nice guy on here helping everyone out it just don't seem fair.

I did the whole bankrupt thing back in 2004, if you need any advice about it drop me a line, i can put you in touch of a great forum as well with alot of people who have been through it.

Hope it all works out for you, you never know you could be one of these £250 a day consultants this time next week

 

[Kryten]

That would be nice

Cheers for the offer of help on the BR thing. I've found a few forums with good advice so far anyway, bankruptcyhelp.org.uk and moneysaving expert, and I think there's another at home I know of (consumer action group?) all of which have loads of help. Just have to try and get through to the CAB to get some local aid, but their phonelines are jammed. Probably full of people from my firm

Had a lot of support so far so it's not looking that bleak. I'm starting to look upon bankruptcy more of a fresh start than as "you're going to end your life" so it's looking positive already.

 

[Kryten]

Rubric : out of interest, after your BR who did you go to for a bank account?
I hear good things about Co-op but the nearest branch is a half hour drive away, no good :/

 

[Cadelin]

Thats sad news Kryten.

While I know very little about your exact personal situation regarding your debt, I would advise you to talk to your bank. Declaring yourself bankrupt is not something you should do lightly. Your bank will also lose out if you declare yourself bankrupt. Banks are also trying to get rid of all possible bad debt at the moment because of the credit crunch. If you go to them an explain the situation and your current plans they might well slash your debt because to them its alot better to get say 5k (out of 27k) out of you than nothing. Obviously this still might not be ideal for you but at least you can ask.

For job hunting look for things in the NHS. There are lots of IT related jobs being created in the NHS at the moment. Its reasonably well paid and secure!

 

[Calaen]

I agree with Cadelin.

 

[Kryten]

Yeah, I'm registered with the NHS career site, and have recently applied for something with no luck there Something should come up though.

We've been advised bankruptcy as we owe 27k to 8 lenders, our main bank account is not in debt, it's just moronicly bad money management & bad fortune over the past with credit cards and loans. It's annoying me really as I'd much rather pay what is owed rather than take bankruptcy but sometimes options are limited.
If I had 5k to use, it'd have been used to clear up over half of those lenders debts

 

[Rubric]

That would be nice

Cheers for the offer of help on the BR thing. I've found a few forums with good advice so far anyway, bankruptcyhelp.org.uk and moneysaving expert, and I think there's another at home I know of (consumer action group?) all of which have loads of help. Just have to try and get through to the CAB to get some local aid, but their phonelines are jammed. Probably full of people from my firm

Had a lot of support so far so it's not looking that bleak. I'm starting to look upon bankruptcy more of a fresh start than as "you're going to end your life" so it's looking positive already.

No probs, Best way of looking at it too. These days there are so many of us who have been through it. Especially now the rules have changed. The website is Debt Help UK Forum - Index It used to be a charity type thing once upon a time but now it has some DMP behind it. The forum though has alot of nice peeps who have been through it and also some quite knowledgable legal types around.

Rubric : out of interest, after your BR who did you go to for a bank account?
I hear good things about Co-op but the nearest branch is a half hour drive away, no good :/

As i am sure you are aware there are only 3 banks who will accept an undischarged bankrup.

CO-OP, i had the same problem as you and the whole process of opening an account by mail can take weeks. This Cashminder account is the only account that you can get with a debit card (visa electron) so if this is important it so might be an idea to open one of the others while you wait for it.

Barclays, I don't know why but i just have this thing about not liking Barclays, i had an issue with their staff once when i went in a branch to enquire about something

Nationwide. The one i plumped for. Charges are steep if you step out of line but pretty good customer service and account had all the features i needed apart from a debit card.

The only problem you will encounter is if you owe any of these three money when you go bankrupt as they won't entertain any account for you.


However don't whatever you do open your account before you go BR though as it will get frozen and can be a pain to get the OR to release it.

Once you have been discharged which can be 6 to 9 months these days for straightforward cases get a copy of your discharge certificate (£60) from the court and get yourself down to Natwest for their step account which comes with a solo card.

Just make sure you have all the best advice you can get and only use the CAB if they have a trained debt counsellor not someone who is reading from a manual. National Debtline is a good charity run orginisation to talk to if your CAB is rubbish.

Oh and a crazy thing to note is you can withdraw cash for the bankruptcy fees on your credit card without fear of reprisal

 

[Bodhi]

You aren't the only one with a chronic debt problem mate, I'm currently 31K in the red (unsecured) after an oh-so generous credit card company upped my limit to 13K when I was on 10K a year (or a student as they're otherwise known) - things have kind of spiralled on from there. I got lots of angry sounding letters from DCA'a threatening to take me to court, however after bills and dept payments I have £50 to last the month, so they aren't going to get a penny off me.

Unfortunately they're having a bit of a mental effect on me too - working in Sales I put an unusually high amount of pressure on myself to earn some good comission, which has lead to a pretty bad case of anxiety disorder. This means it can sometimes be bloody hard to leave the house in the morning, and makes cold calling the hardest job in the world. I've been the doc's and got some brain medicine, started it today we'll see how it goes. It isn't supposed to kick in for a couple of weeks but I do feel better already.

I am looking at bankruptcy myself, it really doesn't seem to be the issue it was years ago. You can be mortgaged up again in 3 years, and if you do things proper afterwards I'm sure your credit file will be good again in 6. Unless you own your own house I see no reason not to, really.

APART FROM IT FUCKING COSTS 475 QUID TO DECLARE YOURSELF BANKRUPT!!!!!!!!!


"Hi, I'm here in court to prove I have no money, here's 475 quid."

Sounds like

"Hi, I'm not a murderer." *stab*


:|

 

[old.user4556]

Jesus Kryt, I'm sorry to hear all this; I really am.

I've not lost my job before, but I may be under threat (along with others) due to this whole credit crunch. When I was a kid my family went through two redundancies (my dad, main bread winner) and I remember it clearly as if it was yesterday, and how hard it was. We managed to get through it though. Good luck and all the best in this time.

 

[throdgrain]

Sorry Bods but blaming your spending on credit card companies is just a classic example of the blame culture world we live in.

They lent you the money, now you have to pay it back. I guess I see it a bit different as I'm a collector for a credit card company, I hear these excuses and all the shouting and blame - and tears - all day long. It's sad to be honest, but dont go blaming other people, you just have to deal with it.

I know about being out of work too. In the big recession in the early '90s I was out of work for 18 months, I ended up with 2 CCJ's, and other large debts. But what could I do? I just had to get through it, I had 2 young children to feed. After a while the phone got cut off, so I didnt get any more calls Could you live without your phone? Your internet? Maybe you'll have to, yet loads of the people I speak to on the phone think this is a necessity of life.

After that time I started working with bikes, and that job lasted me 14 years, my dream job really, till I was redundant nearly 2 years ago, so I know how you feel Kryten. Now I have to listen to these people whining on about how its somebody elses fault they're in debt, whining about the charges, even though they knew all about it when they got the card. It aint my dream job, christ I'm so close to leaving at the moment every day I get through is like a miracle, but I know I have to do what I have to do, and thats the end of it.

 

[Tom]

Its difficult not to sound condescending here, but is there anyone left who would pay their debts back, rather than write them off?

I don't mean to sound judgemental. Kryt, do you have a mortgage? If I were that much in debt I'd simply transfer it to my mortgage and consider downsizing. Heck, I could sell my house and buy a spiffing boat and be debt free if I wanted to.

 

[Cadelin]

Sorry Bods but blaming your spending on credit card companies is just a classic example of the blame culture world we live in.

They lent you the money, now you have to pay it back. I guess I see it a bit different as I'm a collector for a credit card company, I hear these excuses and all the shouting and blame - and tears - all day long. It's sad to be honest, but dont go blaming other people, you just have to deal with it.

I don't want to de-rail this thread but the credit card companies must accept SOME of the blame. There are lots of things in life we are not experts at. We have to trust the doctor/plumber/mechanic that they are doing their job correctly and not trying to screw us over for their own profit. Credit/loan companies should be no different and its ridiculous the amount of debt some people can find themself in.

 

[Mey]

Yes, If I had debt i'd pay it back. But then i'm from a family of bankers

 

[throdgrain]

I don't want to de-rail this thread but the credit card companies must accept SOME of the blame. There are lots of things in life we are not experts at. We have to trust the doctor/plumber/mechanic that they are doing their job correctly and not trying to screw us over for their own profit. Credit/loan companies should be no different and its ridiculous the amount of debt some people can find themself in.

You cant do plumbing, but you CAN COUNT CANT YOU ?

Let me add some stuff to this.

I talk to people sometimes with huge debts, one couple recently had 90k in unsecured. How the fuck did they get to that state? For gods sake does no-one do a reality check now and then?

I know about having debt, I said so two posts up But people have to take responsibility for thier own actions, be it taking the kids to school (THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD HAVE WARNED ME THERES A BUSY ROAD OUTSIDE MY HOUSE) to driving badly (I CRASHED MY CAR GOING TOO FAST, IT WAS THE CARS FAULT THERE SHOULD BE A LAW) to gun laws for that matter (I GOT SHOT, BAN GUNS, I GOT STABBED BAN KNIVES, I GOT A BAD INJURY FROM A CHEESE GRATER, BAN!!!)

When I suggest to people that they should take some of the stuff they bought with thier cards, and sell it for a quarter of the value at a boot sale to raise some cash, it's amazing how they decline to do so. They say "I cant do that, its worth much more than that", yet when I point out that they havnt actually paid for it anyway, they get all upset

 

[Mey]

I don't want to de-rail this thread but the credit card companies must accept SOME of the blame. There are lots of things in life we are not experts at. We have to trust the doctor/plumber/mechanic that they are doing their job correctly and not trying to screw us over for their own profit. Credit/loan companies should be no different and its ridiculous the amount of debt some people can find themself in.

Do you want them to hold your hand whilst you are out shopping aswell?

 

[Rubric]

The reasons why people end up in situations are never as black and white as some people think. Credit card companies have overlent to people. People have overspent. Six of one and half a dozen of another imo. Chuck some unforseen circumstances in and sometimes the situation is not viable to struggle back from and Bankruptcy is the sensible option.

Buy now pay later is part of our culture at the moment and has been actively encouraged by Mr Brown to keep his pretend economy going i fear insolvency figures will be on the rise this year.

 

[Rubric]

Do you want them to hold your hand whilst you are out shopping aswell?

I thought you only held hands while selling consolidation loans Mey?

 

[Rubric]

You can be mortgaged up again in 3 years,

|

Really? Show me the mortgage company i'm waiting for mine to drop off my file.

 

[Mey]

I don't care what you say Rubric, loans from reputable lenders with the aim to clear other debts are useful and worthwhile.

 

[Rubric]

I don't care what you say Rubric, loans from reputable lenders with the aim to clear other debts are useful and worthwhile.

Useful as in they are easy to sell to vulnerable people and make easy commission for you?

Still this is not the time or the place.

Best of luck Kryten, hope it all works out for you and if i can help with anything else give me a shout.