A1 Debt Assistance - Bankruptcy Information Australia
   
The below case studies are of actual clients, but names and full detail are omitted to protect their privacy.
To contact us for a free appraisal of your situation and explain how bankruptcy would affect you - click here.
Or simply  1300 79 74 73 now.
Case 1 - Tax problem - helped by A1 Debt Assistance
Client was operating as a Sole Trader and had trouble getting paid for some jobs that he had done in the past - as often happens to Tradies. He had not lodged a tax return for 3 years as he found it tough to make ends meet. He was hoping to be able to improve his business and planned to contact the Tax Department when he had sufficient funds to cover his tax obligations. The business did not improve sufficiently and the stress of our client became too much. His health and relationship suffered and he was concerned that he would be convicted of tax evasion. Given that he never planned to evade his tax obligations, A1 Debt Assistance was able to estimate the amount of tax owed and include it in his bankruptcy. He also had to include all of his other debts, which included 5 credit cards, 12 suppliers and a car loan. He had the choice to keep the car and continue with the payments or surrender the car and include the full amount that was owed in the bankruptcy. As he had no further debts, he was now in a position to keep the car and maintain the payments. He also found that with the lowered overheads, his business was actually making a good income - so he was able to continue trading in the business and get a fresh start. His taxes got written off, the stress was gone and he now can focus on building his business without the pressure of the old debts.
Case 2 - Jobloss and Credit Card Debt - helped by A1 Debt Assistance
Client was Financial Planner who was layed off during the Global Financial Crisis. Given his high income he had a number of Credit Cards that he was managing but also took advantage of by using it for purchases and the odd trip to the snow fields. When he lost his job, he had savings and could not get any Centrelink benefits. He decided to make only minimum payments on his Credit Cards and try to make his savings last whilst he was looking for another job. Unfortunately this was not a time to secure a job for Financial Planners, so he was off work for much longer than anticipated. In the end he could no longer maintain the minimum ppayment on his Credit Cards. He went on hardship payments for 3 month, after which time he also had gone through his savings. By the time he contacted A1 Debt Assistance he was on Centrelink payments and felt that he could not accept any lower paying jobs as that would not help him with his Credit Card obligations - he was suffering from depression and had seperated from his partner. Financial stress often causes this and your health and relationships suffer more than you would know at the time. A1 Debt Assistance did this clients Bankruptcy within 5 working days. The total debt that was written off was approx. $85k. As he was fully relying on Centrelink payments, his total fee was $399.00 and he got a fresh start. The client took on a job that paid him possibly only half of what he got in his old job, but the key to this was that he actually was left with more surplus income to spend on himself, as he no longer had any debts to service. He got back together with his partner and no longer suffers from depression. He is now getting a reasonable income and is trying to get back into a career job with a high income, but he does not have the pressure about having to secure such a role overnight.
Case 3 - Retired Professional - helped by A1 Debt Assistance
Client was a retired business executive on a pension. He did not plan his retirement too well and took a substantial amount of credit card debt into retirement with him. He was accustomed to eating out and buying things he liked without thinking of the consequences. He had a solid credit histroy and was able to continue his lifestyle for 3 years into retirment. The way he did this was by using one credit card to pay off another - however, this eventually caught up with him and most off his credit cards were frozen. He was not a fraudster, he simply was irresponsible with money. It was always his believe that he would be able to get the odd consulting job here and there and catch up on his credit cards, but the odd jobs did not cover his cost of living. He was in a relationship but did not live with his partner, she was not aware of his dire situation. He went through extreme stress when he woke up to his problem and could not see a way out, he'd been suffering for quite some time before contacting A1 Debt Assistance. He was at the stage where he could no longer answer his phone, in fear that it was Debt Collectors chasing him. Within 3 days A1 completed and lodged his Bankruptcy documents. He has told his partner what he had done and how he was living above his means. He now gets a pension, resides with his partner and when he gets the odd consulting job, he actually has some spare cash. It is not the lifestyle he was used to, but considering his lack of planning for retirement, we restored his existence and he can actually answer his phone again and sleep at night. We wrote off in excess of $170k in Credit Card debt. He was able to keep all of his possessions including his car.
Case 4 - Home Owner - helped by A1 Debt Assistance
Client was going through a divorce and lost his home during the divorce settlement to his wife. He had an income of about $70k and bought himself a house with the loan making up 95% of the actual value of the new property. He decided that he would furnish the home in a stylish fashion and used credit cards and store credit for these purchases. Unfortunately he did not manage to make the most of the interest free period with the store loans and he ended up paying huge amount of interest for most of his furniture. This had a negative impact on his weekly budget and he found himself in a situation whereby he simply could no longer meet his payment obligations. As home values have dropped in recent times, he no longer had the option to sell his home and get himself out of debt. The loan was now higher than the actual value of the property. He tried to service his debt by entering into a Part 9 Debt Agreement, but this still was too much and he started to struggle with paying his utilities and doing the weekly grocery shopping. When he strated to fall behind in his mortgage repayments, he contacted A1 Debt Assistance. We set up a budget for him, so that he was able to make up the mortgage arrears prior to entering into bankruptcy. As there was no equity in the property he was able to keep the house but we included all of his other debts in the bankruptcy. There is a chance that the Government can sell his house if the value increases, however this is still a much better outcome than he expected prior to speaking to us.
Recent Testimonial from Bill & Carolyn - November 2011:
Dear Troy and Karen
Just a note of thanks and appreciation for the great service 'A1' have provided to us. This was always going to be a stressful time, but having your knowledgeable and assured guidance at every stage of the process helped get us through it as positively as possible. We found that your service went beyond the financial and legal aspects and included a genuine understanding of our personal emotions and stresses – truly important and valued at this difficult time.
Perhaps as importantly, your support and advice has been there for us well after the initial processes were completed, helping us put any problems that might arise in their proper perspective and enabling us to deal with them with a minimum of fuss and anxiety. We're also very appreciative of the fact that your advice has always been readily accessible even after your move to Queensland.
We wish you luck and success in your new location and would not hesitate to recommend you to anyone who might need your services in future.
Yours sincerely,
Bill and Carolyn,
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
A1 Debt Assistance is a family business run by Troy and Karen, working from our home office. As such, our overheads are much lower than most and our fees are amongst the lowest in Australia.
You don't pay for our office rent, or a receptionist and you certainly don't pay for any of us to wear expensive suits - consider the savings this provides us over other businesses in our industry.
We'd love your Feedback:
As a small business we are always keen to learn what people think of A1 Debt Assistance after visiting this site. Please email us with your thoughts, positive or negative, it all helps to further improve our content and our ability to help people who are looking for help.
Please email us your feedback to info@a1debtassistance.com.au and perhaps you wish to add this site to your favorites for future visits or recommend a friend in need.
Click on the article Headline to be transferred to the publisher and read the full article.
Bankruptcy and Home Ownership by Troy Eichelberger - posted 30/09/2010
Act Now - Let A1 help you through this difficult time.
Make an appointment for your free phone consultation by clicking here, or simply ring
1300 79 74 73 to speak to either Karen or Troy now.
For further information, please email me on: info@a1debtassistance.com.au
Extra Income opportunity for our clients: A1 Car Ads
You may also consider registering for the chance of a little extra income if you have a reliable car.
Visit www.a1carads.com.au
A1 Car Ads is a new business that promotes your car as an advertising space to Companies Australia wide. Go to the website and see for yourself if that is something that may interest you.
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