Hi all - hoping to hear from anyone who has filed for bankruptcy - was it easy to keep your car? Can you still use Afterpay? Does it affect applying for new rentals?
Hi all - hoping to hear from anyone who has filed for bankruptcy - was it easy to keep your car? Can you still use Afterpay? Does it affect applying for new rentals?
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9 Replies
It won't affect applying for rentals but you won't be able to use afterpay. Your car needs to be valued under a certain amount to keep it, I think it's about 9k. If you google "apply for bankruptcy australia" scroll past all the ads until you get to the government site and it has all the info there.
The irony, filing for bankruptcy and wanting to know if you can still get afterpay.
You need a major shift in mindset.
She didn't ask for financial advice and the need for bankruptcy might have nothing to do with reckless spending. Injury, illness, dv, divorce, death of a partner, insurance issues are just a few reasons. If OP was bad with money she would already be banned from after pay.
Not necessarily, if she priorities that over paying her bills.
It doesn't matter the reason, if you're filing for bankruptcy, you have hit rock bottom and you should be focusing on the bare essentials, not discretionary spending via afterpay.
Remember there are creditors on the other end of every bankruptcy, wonder how they would feel about her question.
There's many places that provide necessary services that accept afterpay like tyres, mechanics, uniforms, dentists, doctors, vet etc. Its not ideal but when you're on a low income its good to know there's a back up for when those expenses pop up.
Fair enough, didn't realise, as a poor single mum, I've always tried to avoid them, feel like they are dangerous trap.
I've only seen cool stuff that offer it.
You want to avoid bankruptcy if you can. It can seriously affect your your ability to borrow in the future. Look at the moneysmart.com.au website for information about free financial counselling that should be able to assist and answer questions. There is also info about bankruptcy and alternatives. This service is free in Australia and they give unbiased advice.
I filed in 2013 and it was the best decision for me leaving a DV relationship (which is what the debt was from and it was over 150k) , being a single parent who wasn't working at the time. I've built my life back up significantly since then, since 2019 have had phone plans, credit cards and car loans and afterpay. But my mindset with debt and money is different now and I work hard at making sure I maintain healthy credit habits.
You can have a car under a certain amount. From memory If you earn over a certain amount then they can actually claim money from you, you can't travel, they have the right to hold your passport. I only had a pre paid phone until I was out of the initial 3 years.
I have yet to try buy a house so not sure on impact there.
It's not easy. Be certain your ready to live a credit free life for the next 4-5 years. And possibly longer for some things (I.e. I had to have a joint person on my car loan or they wouldn't accept it)
Sorry you went through that.