Heads up on chapter 13

[bentbad]

Hi,
We are doing chapter 13. I really hate it, tried to work out payment plans with cc's and they turned me over to collection after I paid as agreed.
Anyway, what can I expect as far as things like phone service, saw a post where someone was canceled (cell phone), so should I expect anyone I have a contract with to drop me now? Will insurance rates go up? Any other surprises?
Thanks.

[vleisme]

Cell phone won't drop you unless you don't pay the bill. Our insurance did not go up we are with State Farm (auto and homeowners.)

[Flamingo]

Hi,
We are doing chapter 13. I really hate it, tried to work out payment plans with cc's and they turned me over to collection after I paid as agreed.
Anyway, what can I expect as far as things like phone service, saw a post where someone was canceled (cell phone), so should I expect anyone I have a contract with to drop me now? Will insurance rates go up? Any other surprises?
Thanks.

You should not be dropped by your cell phone carrier unless, as the other poster stated, you do not pay the bill. It may be tough for you to afford the cell phone bill during a 13 - we let our contract run out and cancelled our phones just prior to filing because we just could not afford it anymore and learned to live without the convenience of cell phones. If you reside in a state where insurance profiling is allowed (our state recently did away with it as some other states have), you may see your house and car insurance rates rise if your credit report is pulled at renewal time. If you are a long term customer, it may rise but not a lot and it may just be to the usual yearly increases others experience. If you are under other contracted items like home phone, trash collection, electric, pest inspections, etc., etc., they will not be dropped due you filing a bankruptcy but of course will be dropped if you don't pay the bill.

Accounts that may be dropped when you file are any open, zero balance credit cards you may have that are not included in your BK and you do not close out on your own. Once the creditor gets wind of your flling, the majority of the time those accounts are closed by the lender.

[$$only4ever]

Our auto insurance never went up. We filed Chapter 13 in 2005. We changed cable companies in December 2007 and we were not required to make a deposit, it was business as usual.

[bentbad]

Thanks for the information. I'm just hoping to still have a life after this is done. Flamingo, are you saying a 13 leaves no money for extras like a cell phone? Not what I'm hearing from my lawyer. Too late to back out now, but if you all have been through it you must know how nerves get on edge.

[Flamingo]

Thanks for the information. I'm just hoping to still have a life after this is done. Flamingo, are you saying a 13 leaves no money for extras like a cell phone? Not what I'm hearing from my lawyer. Too late to back out now, but if you all have been through it you must know how nerves get on edge.

You can list your cell phone costs in your paperwork that you will submit to your attorney and he will go over that with you along with your other utility costs. Your attorney will work things in as appropriate. In our situation, our contract ended about two months prior to filing and we just cancelled our contract at that time because we just could not afford the payment and to us at that time the cells were just a big convenience and not a necessity. We did without cell phones for about 3 years until my job changed and required me to be on the road more. We then had no problem obtaining a regular contract with Verizon for a familiy plan. Believe me, I am well aware of the frayed nerves prior to filing. When I look back at that time I wonder how we got through it but you do and you get it done and over with!

[MajorMike]

Cell phone won't drop you unless you don't pay the bill. Our insurance did not go up we are with State Farm (auto and homeowners.)

Our State Farm insurance went up!!! They saw the BK on our credit file and raised our rates...

[Cali]

Our State Farm insurance went up!!! They saw the BK on our credit file and raised our rates...

That is my biggest fear that our insurance will go up. We have USAA and live in CA, so not sure if they are allowed to up it here or not. We have a great rate for 2 vehicles full coverage and renters insurance.

[One Half Full]

If you really need an "emergency" telephone to walk around with, I have a Virgin. The Minimum payment system is 20$ every 3 months. that equals 6 dollars per month to use it. Believe me, it came in handy. I took it out with me the day I had a bike wreck and broke my leg. I was able to call the police and ambulance. It is worth 6 dollars per month. As far as real costs, it is 18 cents a minute.

[bentbad]

It pretty much sounds like weather this or that will happen depends on individual circumstances. One thing for sure though, shit is going to hit the fan.
The plain fact is I put a bunch of stuff on cc's, some of it was legit, most of it was bull, some of it was just stupid. Now it's time to pay the piper.
Life is going to change, and should. If not I think we will just end up in the same boat in a few years.
A fool and his money were lucky to get together to begin with I guess.

You know a couple or three years ago we were out of town, spending the weekend on a pre-Christmas shopping spree. Had plenty of credit and we were doing all we could to stimulate the then booming economy. We were already in the hole but the way out hadn't collapsed. Sitting on the bench watching the other people when this older woman sat down beside the wife and myself. We got into a conversation and soon enough she was telling us about living through the depression and how people today were getting in such debt. You all know how it is, hear "young people today" and it's hard to keep listening.
But I did listen, I thought about this woman and her advise many times. Even though I had heard the same advise many times. I thought about her advise but never changed one thing, except finding more ways to spend money.
Sometimes I can't help but feel that God talks to us in these ways, sure would be great if it wasn't so subtle. How about a big smack across the face to get my attention next time before I nearly lead my family into destruction?
Thanks for a place to vent.

[Flamingo]

It pretty much sounds like weather this or that will happen depends on individual circumstances. One thing for sure though, shit is going to hit the fan.
The plain fact is I put a bunch of stuff on cc's, some of it was legit, most of it was bull, some of it was just stupid. Now it's time to pay the piper.
Life is going to change, and should. If not I think we will just end up in the same boat in a few years.
A fool and his money were lucky to get together to begin with I guess.

You know a couple or three years ago we were out of town, spending the weekend on a pre-Christmas shopping spree. Had plenty of credit and we were doing all we could to stimulate the then booming economy. We were already in the hole but the way out hadn't collapsed. Sitting on the bench watching the other people when this older woman sat down beside the wife and myself. We got into a conversation and soon enough she was telling us about living through the depression and how people today were getting in such debt. You all know how it is, hear "young people today" and it's hard to keep listening.
But I did listen, I thought about this woman and her advise many times. Even though I had heard the same advise many times. I thought about her advise but never changed one thing, except finding more ways to spend money.
Sometimes I can't help but feel that God talks to us in these ways, sure would be great if it wasn't so subtle. How about a big smack across the face to get my attention next time before I nearly lead my family into destruction?
Thanks for a place to vent.

Both my mom and dad (now deceased) lived through the depression. My mother constantly told us what it was like and to save money and not buy anything we did not need or could not afford. Her family was the only one that she could remember in her area where the father was employed because he worked for the railroad. Her family was somewhat well off during that thime cause her dad (my grandpop) had his job the entire time. She told stories which would make your hair stand on end as to how people survived and what they did to survive. She was right - it can happen again. Remember what caused the depression - the stock crash. While the government now has buffers in place to try to avoid all that happening again as it did, if you are carrying a big debt load and things start to occur as what is occuring now, and then you lose your job or your spouse loses his/her job, it doesn't take much to see what can happen.

I remember when the first credit cards started coming out in the 1960s and how innocent people were at that time and had no idea what they were getting into when the new stores opening up were offering those cards to shoppers stopping in. The only credit at the time I grew up in the 50s and 60s was maybe your local corner grocery store (and I mean grocery store that was nothing like today) allowing you to place your order, they would deliver it, and since they knew you well you could pay it when you stopped in again or mail them a check. Same with milk deliveries at that time. My mother would leave a check in the milkbox for the delivery man to pick up.

So that little old lady that some of us may have encountered in our lives was a wake up call that many of us just refused to answer and just ignored. Everything today is get it now whether or not you need it or to buy it to impress someone else and keep up with your neighbors.

[kmb]

So far we haven't had any problems with anything going up or being cancelled (other than our credit cards of course). Our cell phones have been fine, and while our car insurance went up a bit, our agent told us it was because of regular increases and had nothing to do with our BK. Our homeowners insurance also went up, but we had a claim last summer due to wind damage and water, so that was the cause. We recently switched our satellite TV from one provider to another to save some money and we had no issues--they didn't check our credit. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed at this point. I was even able to refinance my leased car with the company holding the lease--they just extended the payments at the same interest rate until it's paid off, which saved us from having to try and find another car and paying a super high interest rate.

Good luck!

[aa06a47]

I "had" State Farm, they cancelled me after I filed a weather related claim (2nd claim in over 25 years of doing business with them). Believe me, my new insurance is over 2x what I was paying with State Farm and I went with a cut rate insurance company. Most of the name brand insurance companies wouldn't talk with me do to the bk and recent claim.

[Cali]

So far we haven't had any problems with anything going up or being cancelled (other than our credit cards of course). Our cell phones have been fine, and while our car insurance went up a bit, our agent told us it was because of regular increases and had nothing to do with our BK. Our homeowners insurance also went up, but we had a claim last summer due to wind damage and water, so that was the cause. We recently switched our satellite TV from one provider to another to save some money and we had no issues--they didn't check our credit. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed at this point. I was even able to refinance my leased car with the company holding the lease--they just extended the payments at the same interest rate until it's paid off, which saved us from having to try and find another car and paying a super high interest rate.

Good luck!

Who do you have insurance with?

[kmb]

Our insurance is through Allstate, we've been with them for 3-4 years, so not a super long time.