Why is the bank pushing us to clear debt faster... advice?

UK Bankruptcy Law Forum
1

Hey everyone, I could use some advice. My business partner and I went bankrupt as a limited company a while back. Not our fault—a big client went under, and it dragged us down too. Now we both have our houses tied up with a charge from the bank.

The liquidator took all the money from our other clients, leaving us with a £90k debt. We’ve been paying £1k/month for the last 18 months (so £18k paid so far). Now the bank says they want a better offer or a lump sum and expect the debt to be settled in 2 years. That’s just not possible for us.

Why would the bank suddenly push for this? And worst-case scenario, can they take our houses if it goes to court? Any advice would be amazing. Thanks in advance!

2

Sounds rough, mate. Do you have anything in writing confirming they agreed to £1k/month?

3

Vail said:
Sounds rough, mate. Do you have anything in writing confirming they agreed to £1k/month?

Yeah, we’ve got the agreement in writing. Thought that’d be enough to stop them from changing their terms.

4

Vail said:
Sounds rough, mate. Do you have anything in writing confirming they agreed to £1k/month?

If it’s in writing, they might have a harder time pushing for new terms. But IDK, banks can still get aggressive.

5

Do you know how much equity is in the house? That might be why they’re pushing.

6

True said:
Do you know how much equity is in the house? That might be why they’re pushing.

Good question. Not much equity left, to be honest. Could that still make them go after it?

7

True said:
Do you know how much equity is in the house? That might be why they’re pushing.

Depends. If there’s not much equity, they might try other ways to recover the debt instead of going after the house.

8

Have you talked to a debt management company? They might be able to negotiate something better for you.

9

Sky said:
Have you talked to a debt management company? They might be able to negotiate something better for you.

We haven’t. Do you think it’d help at this stage? Feels like the bank just wants their way no matter what.

10

Sky said:
Have you talked to a debt management company? They might be able to negotiate something better for you.

Totally worth a shot. They could help you push back or at least buy more time.

11

Why are they pushing for two years? Maybe they have internal targets or want to close out the account.

12

Reeve said:
Why are they pushing for two years? Maybe they have internal targets or want to close out the account.

That’s what I was wondering. Feels like they’re in a hurry for no clear reason.

13

Reeve said:
Why are they pushing for two years? Maybe they have internal targets or want to close out the account.

Could be something like that. Banks often have policies to clear certain debts quicker.

14

If it goes to court, they might try for repossession. But IDK, with £1k/month payments, you’re showing effort.

15

Chen said:
If it goes to court, they might try for repossession. But IDK, with £1k/month payments, you’re showing effort.

Yeah, we’ve been consistent. Hopefully that counts for something if it gets to court.

16

Chen said:
If it goes to court, they might try for repossession. But IDK, with £1k/month payments, you’re showing effort.

Exactly. Courts don’t always side with banks if you’re making reasonable payments.