I amassed quite a bit of debt last year in a car crash suicide attempt. I was very fortunate to have come out of it with my body mostly intact and am doing much better physically and mentally now. I'm actually doing great aside from having all of this debt. About 30k is for property damage from the crash (a telephone pole) and the rest is medical debt that my insurance would not cover (I live in New Jersey btw). My health insurance provider claimed that the burden fell on my car insurance provider, but my car insurance refused payment due to it being an "intentional act". Even though I would argue that at the time I was at the mercy of a mental illness and I feel like that clause exists to prevent insurance fraud which this was clearly not.
Anyway, after discussing with my family and consulting a lawyer, I came to the decision that filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy may be my best bet. Though at the time I couldn't even afford that and was not working for a while afterwards because I was in intensive treatment for my mental health (I was still in high school at the time of the attempt). Since then, I have saved up enough to pay for my bankruptcy, but I'm not certain this is what I want to do.
I don't really have much. I technically still live with my mom as that is my permanent address, but have been working seasonal jobs out of state that provide lodging. I can pack up everything I own into a couple bags and be onto the next thing. So, that might make me a good candidate for bankruptcy as I have little to offer and am not making much money.
Most of the institutions I owe money to have sent an initial bill and nothing else. I'm not expecting my debt to just dissapear, but this seems strange to me. Why would they not be following up? It has been an entire year and I've heard nothing. With one exception: my orthopedic doctor has been repeatedly sending a bill that stands at around 6k.
I checked my credit reports today because I would need them for the bankruptcy and none of the debts are listed. Actually, nothing is listed. I've never had a credit card, so I guess I just don't have any credit?
I also plan on going to college in the near(ish) future, so how would a bankruptcy affect my student loan options? My parents have terrible credit, so they couldn't help me much there. Should I try to negotiate my debt down and work out a repayment plan? I'm not making much as it is and I'd be making a lot less as a full time student. Do I have any other viable options? I don't want my life to have to revolve around this debt.
Submitted June 08, 2018 at 08:40PM by ziggyscottdust https://ift.tt/2HwnmqX
