I cant find a way through on my own

[seth10]

Hi,

I have owned a company for about 3 yrs. The company has £12k company loan with a directors guarantee attached. (The director being me.)
I personally have £17k in debt which means a total of £29k

We are in the process of winding up the company because of many unfortunate events. (Stock being delayed for over a month and loosing sales over that time as a result, paying for advertising and then a company going bust and not getting money back etc.)

If things go ok, we will end up with no other debts except the above from the company. (I.E if we manage to sell all stock in a quick timeframe for decent prices.) If not we can between £5k to £10k onto the above figures in futher debt.

My wife has debts of around £3k (loan)

Me and my wife own our house and have a mortgage of around £155,000. It is currently worth between £160,000 to £165,000 at the most.

Because of the winding down of the company I am going to have to look for other work after the finishes, My wife works too. We cant see a way out of our debt. The total amount we pay each month is around £860

I am finding it hard to cope, eat, sleep, work or function on a day to day basis due to the amount of stress and worry this is causing us.

On top of all the above, we are planning to move to another country (Where my wife is from) and have been planning that for years. Our plan was to sell our house and move over and start again but we have no idea if an IVA or filing for Bankruptcy will effect my Visa application and it worries us both to death.
(I am applying to move to NZ on a spouse via.)

I really wanted to see if anyone can help with suggestions regarding the above and to give a little support/guidence and advice as its got to the point where it is too much for me to deal with on my own.

Also if anyone can give any advice with regards to if we will still be able to move?

Thanks.

[emma_t]

Hi Seth and a big welcome to the forum

Debt is such a worrying time and you really need some expert advice, I am sure an expert will be along soon to answer your post and give advice.
You will feel much better when you know what you are facing and what the solutions are, so hang around.
Emma

[Adam Davies]

Hi
Once you find a job you could consider an IVA,once you move abroad you can carry on paying into it,no problem.You will have an equity release clause in an IVA,so when you decide to move you may have to pay over some of your equity[if there is any]to your IP.
If you opt for bankruptcy you will have to take advice from the relevent authorties to see if it will affect your visa application,a simple phone call should confirm this.
regards

[seth10]

Thank you for the replies.

So does that mean an IVA "wont" be an issue with residency? (or does the same apply.)

Also, obviously if we arrange an IVA over here, the amt we pay each month will depend on our income - expenses here but when we move we will be earning on a different currency. Can this be taken into account at that point?

Its all so difficult to imagine a way through. Thank you for all of your help.

[MelanieGiles]

You will need to check that out with the New Zealand authorities to see what effect bankruptcy may have on your application. With the uncertainty, and absence of any firm employment, I would personally not enter into any formal repayment programme with your creditors until you decide what you are going to do for a living and more importantly are you going to move abroad. A letter to your creditors advising them of your intentions would be courteous, and regular updates with token payments will probably stop the beavy letters and phone calls until you can see the wood for the trees.

[seth10]

Thank you all for your advice, This forum does make you feel a littl less "alone" and both of your advice is good.